Fabulous Five Blog Hop

Today, I'm blogging as part of the Fabulous Five Blog Hop. Thanks to V.S. Morgan, a fellow Decadent Publishing Author, for tagging me. She's got a delicious book out called The Gift, it's part of the 1NS series and is a light BDSM with M/M Romance. For more on that book and what she's got coming up check out her Fabulous Five post.

Now, the questions: 

What am I working on?
I'm currently neck-deep into two different projects at the moment. My Highlander Erotic Short Story Anthology, which will release in October and a Contemporary Romance series.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?
My highlander project is about fallen women, no unrealistic virgins in those stories. I also steer away from the deep, written accents because I'm not a fan of them myself and I wanted to write a delicious story with out them. 

For my contemporary romances, I'm all about unlikely heroes. I believe on going outside the mold and after a hero you wouldn't suspect. Instead of fire fighters, soldiers, and billionaires think nurses, hair stylists and accountants. I firmly believe everyone deserves a happily ever after.

Why do I write what I do?

I believe in challenging myself. Every project I take one is about personally challenging myself to either think outside the box or face a certain trope that I don't like and take it on. For example: I despise zombies. One of my biggest fears is facing a zombie apocalypse. Anyhoo, there was a call for zombie fairy-tale re-tellings and I stepped right in and wrote one. Of course, it hit the rejection list, but I have plans to re-vamp for a self-publish venture in the future.

How does my writing process work? 

Well, it's ever-evolving. I'm still in the stage of figuring out what works. I know what works for short stories, but novella's and full-length projects I'm still developing my process. Recently, I've been playing with conflict boxes. My main writing style is to get a basic plot outline completed- especially knowing how the story ends. If I can see the ending and the black moment, I can write it. After that it's all fill in the blank and a bit of organic writing... allowing the characters to take me on a journey.

Now, this is the part where I tag other authors, but the deal is that most of the authors I know are furiously scribbling away at their computers writing the next novel. Blogging time is extremely limited. So, I won't directly tag anyone, but if you want to post on the blog hop shoot me an email and I'll forward you the deets!

Happy Writing Everyone!

Guest Post +Release Day: Truth or Dare by Elizabeth Morgan

I so excited to be hosting fellow Decadent Publishing Author Elizabeth Morgan. She's discussing how she got started in writing, and the rise from the ever dreaded slush pile. Not to mention find out about her latest release: Truth or Dare

Although, I have been writing on and off since childhood, it wasn’t until I was studying Musical Theatre in college that I really started to get into it on a serious note. We often got assignments that involved us writing scripts as a group. Having to do this for college, I started to play about with my own ideas and produce my own work.

After reading one of my plays a friend suggested to me that I try writing a book as I could add as much detail as I wanted in to it. (She mainly suggested this, because I had gone and wrote a huge amount of background for both the world and the characters, and naturally to some degree, it wouldn’t be needed for a play.)

A year – and tons of other stuff later – I decided I would give it ago and sat down and started planning a book. It took me nine months to complete, and then after letting a few friends read it I ripped it to shreds and began re-writing it again. (That book was Cranberry Blood. My Urban Fantasy which I am re-releasing this summer along with its prequel She-Wolf.)

I think I got about roughly 60 rejections for the first three stories I wrote before being offered my first contract. Sadly the company shut down, and I found myself back at square one, but what can I say? I was determined that someone would like my stories, and I was right, February 2011 I got a contract offer for my modern fairy-tale re-telling of Rapunzel, Razel Dazzle, which was published in May 2011. (Razel Dazzle has since be self-published and re-released, and is available to buy from most online retailers.)

Since then I’ve had seven books published – I’ve had the rights to the three mentioned above, along with two others reverted back to me, either by request, or due to one of my publishing companies shutting down. All books have been, or will be re-submitted or self-published – and today: book number eight has released.

Truth or Dare? Is a naughty little erotic romance story that I whipped up after being inspired by a scene from the Big Bang Theory. (The scene where Lenard and Penny are drinking tequila? Yeah, that’s the scene. ;-P)

Ooh, now I've never watched the Big Bang Theory, but if it's that inspirational then maybe I should give it a shot, after I read this book.

Do you dare tell the truth?

A tequila fuelled game of Truth or Dare is not Dani’s idea of fun, but when Cameron, the jerk who rejected her a year ago is the one provoking her into playing, how can she say no? Not that he’s giving her the option in the first place.

Bravado compels her forward, but when the dares get physical and their friends leave them alone, Cameron’s questions turn to her feelings for him, and unfortunately, lying is not part of the game.

Will a dare give Dani the courage she needs to tell Cameron the truth?

Get your copy at:
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Author Info:

Elizabeth started life wanting to be an actress because she loved entertaining people. She enjoyed nothing more than being able to make people laugh and to help distract them from reality for a few hours.

She studied Musical Theatre in college, but during her second year, her mind started to overflow with story ideas, so she began writing plays. Slowly, over the following three years, she was writing more and more, channelling every ounce of her imagination into the written word.

Now here she is, years later, hiding away like a hermit in her little cottage in Cheshire, England, writing like crazy and loving every minute of it.

Author Links:
Website 
Blog 
Twitter 
Goodreads 
Facebook

Writing = Leading

As writers we're constantly developing imaginary characters, worlds, decisions, and ultimately different takes on fake or current social norms we've experience in our past or present. Writing is a way to express, maybe not our personal feelings on a politically charged topic but, how we believe it would effect different people and their make-believe personalities.

Fictional accounts from the Historical perspective give us ideas on how things came to be in our future and how maybe one person could have influenced change in the past. Dystopian novels take political, religious, and ethical ideas to extremes to show possible futures. Horror stories let us hypothesis scenarios of science going too far or how making out casts of different individuals may affect an environment in a negative manner. Romance novels also attack taboos, characters overcoming personal obstacles to find true love, and a myriad of other troubles.

No matter what you write, the power of your words has the ability to lead. By leading, I mean to create change in a person's mind about a topic or to influence them in ways they never thought possible.

I'll leave you this Friday with a brief TED Talk called: Leading with Lollipops.

Craft: On Writing Descriptions of People

I was having a brainstorming session with my crit partner months ago and my delay in writing this post is equally long, but I wanted to finally get this out.  

Following said mentioned brainstorming session I remembered a little #editortip from Adrien-Luc Sanders. To quote:

Think of people who've made an instant impression. Most compelling trait? Probably not their eyes.

Those 2 sentences and 1 question stuck with me long after reading them. Then I had to know: How do I look at people? What's the thing I notice first or look at first when meeting a new person? For me it's the traits I like least about myself, for others it may be what they are attracted to the most. Each person is unique in their personalities as well as what they are drawn to.

So, why is it we're all after the eyes. Is it the easiest to write? The most common feature? The windows to the soul aspect? The final question you have to ask each of your character's is: Do you really look a person in their eyes first? And go deep. Dig into your character and put yourself in their shoes. Are they shy? Then probably not the eyes, probably the shoes or the scruff on a chin would be the first thing they'd notice. A tall person might find more interest in someones hair or their shoulder's, especially if their are around a lot of folks a bit smaller then themselves.

Bottom line is that by using their observances of other people around them you can show certain aspects of their own personality versus telling the readers.

What do you think? Is it easy or hard to focus on different descriptors to lead the view one character has on another?

It's Official!

I’m getting published!

Yes, you better believe it. It’s been a pretty long journey, but I’m happy with the results. So far I can tell you these factoids:

- The book will be published by Decadent Publishing

- It’s a short story feature for their 1 Night Stand Series (click to check it out).

- This will be an e-book release only.

- It is erotic romance and for my friends who may not read those types of stories I completely understand. I’ll write more stories for other genres I’m sure.

- I couldn’t be happier. This story blazed out of nowhere and I really didn't plan on writing it right away; until the characters wouldn't leave me alone. *Fellow writers you know how that goes.

There were so many people that helped make this possible and I can’t thank them all enough for the feedback, the support, and the Hoo-Ra’s since the announcement. If you have heard my personal thanks you can be sure that it will be coming soon. 

It's Really Works

When I first found my crit partner (I know I talk about this a lot) and we swapped pages I knew the feedback would be rough. I put on my big girl panties, strapped into my leather skin armor, and waited. The recommendations came and I wanted to cry, but I reminded myself that I wasn't perfect. No one is. This wonderful partner was here to help me grow, help me become a better writer.

I didn't think it would be possible. I didn't think I would get better. There were so many thinks to learn. Tell vs. Show, proper comma usage (I still suck at this), leaving the -ly words at home, making my dialogue read like actual people talking. Pretty bad, right? I'm still not perfect.

Side story: I used to be able to first draft an academic paper and nail it on the first try. A+ all around. This was the way it went in Elementary, Middle School, High School, and College. Hell, I wrote an essay on the state of Kansas in the 5th grade and my teachers wanted to know what books I used because they thought I plagiarized the descriptions. Poo on them for not believing in my flowery, flowing prose. So, to see how much my fiction writing sucked compared to my non-fiction writing was a blow to my very small ego. *smiles*

A year and a half later: My editing skills are better. I can write dialogue for real fictional people *oxymoron, I know* I can see the telling vs. showing. My commas aren't so misplaced. I've learned to write sentences without the typically-not-needed 'was' and 'that'. I'm still having a bit of trouble with passive writing, but if all the other things are becoming clearer I have hope for the future and my ability to clear out the passive for active.

I wouldn't be in this place without my critique partner. I wouldn't be so eager to let others rip up my work without finding someone I could trust to tear me apart. This readied my mind for the people I don't know very well to tear me apart.

Side story: The rip up, as I call the critique process, is something I desire greatly. I know now the importance of honest feedback. No matter how bad it is I want to know every little nit pick. Down to the possibility you hate my heroine's hair color. Recently, in a group crit session I got three critiques on the same pages. Two had barely any comments and some nice supporting remarks. I felt jipped because deep down I knew these pages contained errors. They had issues and I wanted a rip up. The last critique came in and when I opened the pages to red lines and comments everywhere the only thing I could do is smile. Aloud I said, "That's more like it."

The moral of the post is, even if you think critiquing and partners is a waste of time. It's not. It's essential. It changes you from the writer you were to the writer you will be. If we're not learning, if we're not getting better, then what the hell are we doing?

The Next Big Thing

I got tagged, virtually tagged, by the forever wonderful Lexcade over at Going from Nobody to Somebody. To re-hash, the dealio for those who don't know, which is probably no one since everyone knows (does that even make sense, I need sleep), The Next Big Thing is a lovely little tour/meme for selected authors to answer questions about their latest and greatest WIP, salute the author that tagged 'em, and tag 5 more lovelies to take part in the fun.

Let's get busy!

What is the working title of your next book? 

Bona Fide: Beauty 

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Coincidentally my day job. The people I work with same the damnedest, hilarious things and their lives spin like a soap opera. A few of my closest co-work pals seemed in need of happily ever afters; even if reality isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm committed to delivering the HEA for each of them 1 book at time. Bona Fide: Beauty is just the first story.

What genre does your book fall under?
Contemporary Romance (a girl has to start somewhere)

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I've only got the two main ones, but for a teaser bit I'll list out some secondaries. For main hero, Devlin, Ben Barnes. For main heroine, Kat, Marion Cotillard. Best buddies Christiana, Natalie, and Betty: Lynsey Bartilson, Sharon Stone, and Mena Survari

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 
Kat needs a promotion, for all the right reasons and some wrong ones, but she won't get it unless she can convince the delectable Dev, personal image consultant extraordinaire, that she's serious about changing her attitude and foul mouth for a chance at career success.

Will your book be self-published or agency? 
Hoping for the big agency win, but if it doesn't happen I'm open to any and all options.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 
It's still in progress. I'm fast drafting, but the holidays were a momentum killer. Here's to a new year. *cheers*

What other books would you compare the story to within your genre?
I would say it's a cross between Megan Mulry's mouthy feminine snark, and Shannon Stacey sweet with a touch of hot mess; add in some character growth and giggles a la Jennifer Crusie.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The who is some people I work with. They say the darnedest things and I can't help but incorporate some of the hilarity. The what is the unconventional hero. We read about the billionaire's, the celebrity playboys, and the self made businessmen. What about the guy you least expect? Those are the guys I'm writing about.

Now for the tagging:

Phoenix Sullivan, who desperately needs to write another book for me to read.
Amalie Berlin, she knits and does awesome things with her hands. I can only imagine her writings is just as awesome.
Chad Thomas Johnston - eclectic, music lover, and all around awesome guy. Creatively  he's one of the most inspirational people I know. Couldn't ever compare and wouldn't want to steal his thunder.
Lori Sizemore- My critique partner and woman of awesome!

I honestly couldn't think of anyone else to list because almost everyone else I would list has already taken part in this meme of awesome. So dear reader if you would like to take part feel free to say I tagged you too. If you leave a comment with a link to your blog I will happily come and read about you-the-next-big-thing. :)

And I'm spent...

The last 2 months have been a bit insane. I got roped into this crazy submission call, originally proposed by my critique partner. The submission call involved fairy tale retelling with *drumroll* zombies!

I know what you're going to say next: "But Landra you hate, and I mean despise with every ounce of your being, zombies."

I'm also aware of this fact, and... did I mention I was dragged into this by my critique partner. The conversation went a bit like this:

Her: This is insane but, Entangled has a call for fairy tale retelling zombie romance short story/novellas for Halloween. It's got my creativity flowing.

Me: What's this crazy idea you're having? I like it.

Her: We should each write a story for submission. It's due by July 31st. Doing it together will act as motivation.

Me: But we have less than 2 months to write it.

Her: That's right. 1 week to brainstorm, 1 week to plot, 2 weeks to write, 2 weeks to edit, and 1 week of wiggle room I think we can do it.

Me: It would definitely be an experience for deadlines and writing short stories.

Her: So you're in?

Me: Uh... yeah.

Alright flash forward about a week later and she texts me.

I just remembered something: You hate zombies. Like they seriously creep you out. How are you doing with this?

I told her as long as the good guys get to win I can do this.

Then things got crazy. I brainstormed, plotted, and then lost my touch. It took about a week to get back in the groove. Then I wrote (kickin' and screamin' all the way) until I thought everything was crap. I wrote some more, and sent the pieces of the story to my lovely CP to rip apart. In between the power outages, heat waves, monsoons, and random disasters I managed to finish the story and begin edits. The last 4 days were probably the worst, and then I had to write a query.

Bottom line of this crazy rant: I. Did. It. I submitted the story. I'm ready for rejection. I learned a ton of things through writing and editing, which I'll include in another post. But regardless of what happens this is a learning experience and even if it does go beyond a standard form letter telling me to try, try again I know that I can.

What this means for you, dear reader, I'm back. Give me a week to recover, but after that be ready for review time. If you've emailed me be ready for a response.

I'm disappearing... I'm writing

They say: 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'. In the case of this blog I'm not sure if that's true. I'm due to churn out some reviews I've promised over the last couple months, but I've been bitten-- by the writing bug. I'm plotting like crazy, going insane because I've relinquished my pants.

I've taken up conflict boxes, excel spreadsheets, and turning points. There are days when I think the torture will never end, and others where I know I'm doomed to never put a decent word to the .doc. While I'm pulling my hair out you can still catch reviews over at The Season and at Indie Books R Us, if that's what you're looking for.

As far as what I'm working on... I'll never tell; at least not yet. I don't like jinxing myself. Instead I'll keep the momentum rolling, cross my fingers, and pray that I'll write the actual book sometime in the near future.Until then it's plot until my eyes are seeing spots, and the characters are so ingrained in my brain that I start having conversations with them.

Fails and Fabs- Jan. 7th, 2012

My first writing goal related post! As mentioned previously in my 2011 Recap, Lori Sizemore (my critique partner) and I are putting the pedal to the medal in 2012 (at least we're trying to). Each week I'll be posting a Fails and Fabs post on Saturdays to cover my writing success (fab) or lack thereof (fail).

I hope you enjoy these. The posts are more designed for my public humiliation and torture; a way to keep me from lying to myself and be more responsible. :)

Fabs
-Started review blog  'Indie Books R Us' with Cate and had a fairly successful launch week.
-Posted 3 reviews.
-Successful evaluation of initial story ideas; meaning my ideas seem to work and our solid.

Fails
-Novel plotting came in at 1.5 hours. (boo!) I'm supposed to be plotting an hour a day.
-No new review posts or anything finished.
-Spent more time reading this week then anything, double boo! (A plus if you're reading only for fun but I have commitments)

Plus side! Lori reports that she didn't write a thing! Woot/Boo! So right now my 1.5 hours of plotting are leaving her in a trail of dust. My resolve is to plot more, as new ideas have sprung a leak in my brain since midnight Friday.

Motivational Photo of the week:

Just a swallow- the proverbial glass

Today I feel like something out of Harlem Nights!

The scene: Della Reese is the rough talking madam Vera, who works Sugar Ray's (Richard Pryor) brothel. She's standing in the kitchen of Sugar Ray's house making sandwiches, goes to remove the orange juice from the refrigerator and all that's left is a swallow.

Her line: "Benny, you put this orange juice back in here, ain't nothin' left but a swallow!"

And that's my proverbial glass at the moment-- just a swallow. Usually I would say that it's half full, positive energy  to keep it that way. Then just as I'm turning the other cheek, ignoring another negative pitfall, something else occurs or happens to knock a little more juice out the glass.

Now I'm down to a swallow, and I don't have the will or desire today in adding anything else to the glass. My question for writer's: Do you feel like this? Do your characters?

I recently read a book where the protagonist was consistently being treated horribly, in some of the worse ways imaginable. The reasons for the protag's treatment were flighty at best, but somewhat realistic in the world we live. The problem was the story made me angry. It was a little too close to reality, and no matter what the protag did he couldn't fill that glass beyond a swallow.

In reality most characters are written with more than a swallow left in their glass. Who wants to read about someone experiencing horrible luck, with no relief in sight? No one, even I don't (as I pointed out). We want happy endings, a reprieve from the harsh true that the world tends to inflict on it's inhabitants; with more challenges versus successes.

I think it's okay for a character to run around with just a swallow, but not for long. Something has to lift that character's level in the glass, a love interest, a surprising windfall or a miraculous medical procedure that cures them of their ailments. So while I'm down here in Swallow-ville, wondering if things will ever turn around and examining my own thoughts for some truthful reflection, maybe I'll take the time to make sure some of my characters aren't down here with me. If they are then that needs to change...quick!

The Devil Inside

Undoubtedly, self publishing is the new hot topic. Everyone’s talking about it from Chuck Wendig over at TerribleMinds to a plethora of authors that are doing it, thinking of doing it, or against doing it. Damn…you would think I’m talking about some sort of new, taboo sexual act.
Truth is I’ll admit to thinking of self-pubbing at one point. The little demon jumped on my shoulder and said, “Yes you don’t need money stealing agents or publishers to tell you what to do. You can do everything on your own and it will be like flipping off the candy cane sucker that cut you off on the highway last week.” Yes, naïve. Again devils will say anything negative and horrendous to get me to agree, untruths are the best.

Problem is after a little more reading I realized I’m young in the writing world. I don’t know nearly enough about the pubbing biz to determine the path I want to take. In this case I agree with Chuck, focus on the writing, get nitty gritty with that 80k manuscript and choke the life out of the sucker until it decides to conform to your greatness. In my opinion, throw publishing ideas out the window. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to plan and plot your rise to the upper echelons of the author world, where everyone will love you and you’ll hit the big time when the King deigns to call your book a success or flopping piece of monkey poo; either way you’re successful… he mentioned you right?

But think of it this way: If the book isn’t ready then you can’t publish it. So why debate over the method you will use to gain success. Worry more about that word document that you need to remember to back up on a jump drive or you will likely lose it in the impending computer crash from the subliminal messages being programmed into this post. Learn about the biz in your blog readings, article pandering, etc. after the novel is complete/edited, and the query and synopsis are in fine figure form.

Let me say I didn’t take my own advice and I’m suffering for it now. Yes, suffering. I’ve got a handful of maybe not crap story plots and ideas, a novel still in need of editing, a crappy query, and a non-existent synopsis. Instead of honing my awful ability to write something cohesive without sounding like a rambling hyena, and turning words into the flowing poetry of angels in Victoria Secret wear, I’ve been reading blogs on pubbing, e-pubbing, agents, etc. I need to be reading more of this and this. Let’s talk GMC. Let’s talk coming up with a decent plot. Let’s not talk counting deviled eggs before mom makes them.

For all the allure of self-pubbing I think this is where some of us may have it backwards. We get into the blogging world and find tons of authors, agents, and writerly folk. During that researching binge we get lost and all we find to read is authors talking about the latest trend (self-pubbing) or authors who just landed the agent, trying to land the agent, or in the process of publishing with said agent. We hear about the business, but not enough about the craft. Maybe it’s my unfortunate tendency to check-in with the blogging world on the wrong day.

Bottom line if you don’t have something finished… I mean truly finished, like a porcelain toilet after the marines have taken toothbrushes, and scrubbed on hands and knees for 5 hours, to the point that I could eat a bowl of cereal out of the sumbitch; then don’t drop into the pubbing foray. Stick to honing, stroking, and cultivating your writing capabilities. If this blog proves anything it’s that I need to be doing just that instead of listening to the devil inside.

Writing Profession Series- The Proposal Writer Part I

It's week 3 of the Writing Profession Series and I'm learning tons! How about you??
This week it's all about Proposal Writer's!! Now proposal writing is a huge topic...
So, without further adieu I'm turning this over to the expert. My guest today is Phoenix Sullivan, author, animal lover, farm owner, and extremely experienced proposal writer. Let's just say, she knows the job details intimately. Take it away Phoenix!

Mix one part technical writer with two parts copywriter, add a dash of the creative and you’ve whipped up a proposal writer.

What’s A Proposal?

Companies wishing to buy equipment in bulk or to have certain services performed solicit bids from contractors who in turn audition for the work. Some bids, such as for window washing or providing one or two printers for an office, are uncomplicated. The contractor sends the potential customer some marketing brochures and price lists and lets the customer choose their own solution.

More complicated services, such as designing and building a new headquarters or installing and maintaining a network system for 60,000 employees worldwide, often require a team of differently skilled people to:

• Meet with the customer

• Understand the results expected

• Design a solution that meets those expectations at a competitive price

• Present the solution in a clear and compelling written proposal

• Negotiate the close

Proposals are often written by committee. For large, complicated deals, the proposal team might consist of :

• Salespeople who will ensure the language of the proposal is geared toward the customer’s specific needs and focuses on how the proposed solution addresses what the customer values most, be it cost, how fast the work can be done, or service after the sale

• Technical people who will flesh out the details of the proposal with specifics on timelines, what products will be used and how exactly the solution will be put together and delivered

• Financial and marketing folk who will ensure the price is competitive enough to win the business while still being profitable for the contractor

• Proposal writers to add the magic it takes to put the benefits, features and costs of the solution together in a way that tells a compelling and persuasive story that strikes the perfect balance between sales and marketing language and that keeps the customer’s concerns front and center

The Proposal Document
The format of the proposal itself is usually dictated by the customer who might provide a template of questions to be answered by all the contractors who are bidding. There might be word count limitations imposed. For especially complex services, there might be several sections requiring multiple teams of experts working on their own sections simultaneously.
Depending on the services being proposed and the customer’s guidelines for the document, a proposal can run anywhere from 2 or 3 pages to several hundred. And when the government is the customer, page counts can be pushed into the thousands.

One constant you can count on is that the customer will provide a hard deadline for delivering that’s impossibly short and that will be met with only seconds to spare. Be prepared to deal with high stress and short tempers.

Whoa... and Phoenix worked as a proposal writer! Whoo, a song comes to mind.
"She works hard for the money!"
I have to say that being a technical writer alone is intimidating at times. I can only image the pressure that comes with proposals. Obviously proposal writer's are required to be a jack of all trades when it comes to knowing the business they work for.
In my opinion there are some things to consider:
-You should probably have an experienced background in whatever product or field you are going to be conducting proposal writing for. Example: I wouldn't want to write proposals for farm equpiment. I know jack diddly about farming.
-Formatting and editing skills are most likely required. The way Phoenix describes it, a proposal writer is the one who ultimately formulates the pitch. Typos and bad grammar will get poor results for sure.
-Short or long, creative flair is a must. Proposal writer's have to make the idea sound delicious.
-Based on the fact that a proposal writing could combine the work of multiple entities, you have to be able to pull the important pieces together.

Okay, so proposal writing is detail oriented and very demanding. What do you need to become one and what are the benefits?
Stop by tomorrow for Part II of The Proposal Writer.

Big thanks to Phoenix for being a guest. For those of you wanting to learn more about my wonderful, talented, firey guest visit her blog. Also, Phoenix recently published a wonderful novel called Spoil of War. You can read my review here and if you want to buy this fantastic work of fiction go here! Important tidbit: I'm not the only one mesmerized by Phoenix's tale, check out the other reviews on Amazon... you'll see what I mean.

Writing Profession Series- A look at different ways to be a writer

In the coming weeks, I've decided to write several blogs on being a writer.
The Writer Profession Series, is what I'm calling it! (Thought it sounded prim and proper).

With this series I'll cover several different writing jobs including: Book Author, Technical Writer, Copywriter, Magazine Journalism, Freelance Writing, and any others suggested or that I stumble across.

As I prepare for this adventure my question to you is: What writing professions would you like to know more about? Are you a professional writer and if so, which type and would you like to interview with me on my blog describing your job to the masses?

Writing Methods

I got 'em. You got 'em. So what's 'em?

The all- knowing precious writing method. That's 'em!
We all write differently. Sometimes it's just sitting down and cooking up a first draft. For others it's outlines and character outlines, and pictures. Then some go even further with research and details on the setting, plot, time period and all that jazz.

I write in strange ways first with an idea or a scene; sometimes this involves random dialogue. Then comes more ideas spawned by the characters in the scene, their thoughts and feelings. How does the character find their way out of their problems, what problems do they have, etc. From there my story begins to take flight. In some cases the best outlines fail me. My stories develop minds of their own, twisting and writhing according to the last scene. As if you are building a road, but you haven't decided where it will go until you get to the next bend.

So, what writing method do you employ? Is it one filled with blood, sweat and tears as you try to find the right words and thoughts to bless the pages with? Are you the studious outliner, who has everything lined out and rarely are changes needed or made?

Hobbies oh my!

A quote I hear all to often: "Write what you know!"

This quote speaks volumes, and I have seen the influence of this words when I hear authors talking about settings for their books being in the same state they live, or character personalities based on people they know personally. Writing what you know tends to come naturally, from the vocabulary you use to the conflicts you create for your characters. In some ways even the most far out fantasy book has elements of author life experiences.
You're looking for the point right? Well, I'm getting to it. Patience, dear readers!

That being said, I have been analyzing my hobbies. Do my hobbies increase my knowledge to a point that I can write about them? Do these hobbies expand my vocabulary and mind? Are my hobbies merely just the chance to escape the mundane, humdrum of the daily life?

Let's list said hobbies:
Reading
Book Review
Blogging
Tweeting
Internet article surfing
Paranormal research/ Host of online Paranormal Show
Website Design
Cooking
Playing Violin
Marketing Director for Dog Rescue

Most of these hobbies are definitely geared toward enlightening my mind with stimulating content. I read anything and everything. From news updates to the latest historical romance. I blog to hone writing skills. Designing websites is just another one of those things I do because I'm nice. I tweet to expose myself to authors and the writing community because they are much more exciting then most of my extended family, and network of day job co-workers. I cook because my fondness of food equates to bringing it up in almost every conversation. I help doggies because I can. Hosting a paranormal show was just a suggestion by the DH. He thought I would be good at it and I guess I am.
Random Fact about me: I am my own worst critic about everything I do. A little self conscience I know.

In the end my hobbies enrich, relax, and give me a purpose beyond just going to work and coming home every day. I'm not changing the world, but I am not living ignorant in it. I would say there is an attempt to accomplish my dreams. At the same time, I don't believe to be an expert in my hobbies and I am certainly not an authority to write about them.

So, what about you? Do your hobbies enrich your life and your writing? Are you an expert on said hobbies, and feel you could successfully integrate them into your fiction? Got any hobbies to recommend?

My First Story

As a writer you create worlds-- entire new worlds with crack monkeys, pitchfork twins, and sprawling landscapes of filth intertwined with bliss. Your first story is one of those that you don't imagine will ever see the light of day. By first story of course, I mean that one you wrote as a small child. The one that made you think for a brief moment that you would be a writer when you grew up, enchanting the minds of thousands of helpless people with your imagination.

Today's post is about my first story. Technically this story was a short story, which I am going to gladly post as a homage to National Short Story Month. In the first grade we were given a blank book, with about 15 blank pages inside. The hard cover had an line drawing, mine was a Unicorn. Not only were we required to fill the book with poems and stories, we also had to color this creation's cover as well. My talent's of color and coordination as a 6 year-old were not so great. Meh!

Now my formidable, extremely intelligent, 1st grade teacher Mrs. Wolf helped us by formatting the content of our book. Certain pages were saved for poetry, and she would provide the outline of the poem. Then 5 pages were set aside for a short story, which had to include illustrations.

I'll admit I was at a loss until my father said, "You should write about duck food."

So began the creative process and hence my delightful children's tale 'Duck Food':

The Duck woke up by the barn. He was hungry. He saw animals eating. So he went by the horse and he said, "This is not duck food."
He went by the cow and he said, "This is not duck food."
He went by the dog and he said, "This is not duck food."
He was sad and he was hungry. He walked with his head down. He ran in to a board. He looked up. He saw ducks eating.
"This is duck food!" He said and he was not hungry.

By:  6 year-old Landra Graf

My question: What was your first story about? Did you have horrible hand drawn pictures? What inspiration caused this story?

Fears! Do you have them?

Ever walk into a room, everyone turns to look at you, silence hangs in the air, and suddenly you feel like you just entered a conversation that secretly had you at the butt end of a joke. No?

How about this one? You stand in a group of 3-4 people. You are talking and enjoying a conversation about random, senseless llama troddle. Then Epiphany strikes and you blurt out the phrase aching to release from your lips. No one in your little group says anything, crickets chirp, and you're left feeling a bigger idgit then you thought you were back when Susie Loosey pulled your hair, and gave you a swirly during Truth or Dare at that sleepover 20-some years ago. No?

Let's just say that those particular situations are usual for me; an everyday occurrence one might say. If they only happened once in a great while then maybe I would believe it to be just a coincidence. But the fact that these situations happen to me all the time leaves only one explanation. I'm odd!

Odd is nice... sometimes. Being odd has provided me with the chance to meet some great people a la Twitter, Blogger, Wordpress, and so on. Though I find that not everyone will stick around after they meet me, the real me. I am naturally a strange creature with different tastes, and moods that swing quickly through the jungle branches.

I'm not making any sense?

I know.

Bottom Line: This year is about learning to love myself, love my writing, and stop letting little pesky emotions like rejection, self conscientious and the overwhelming fear that I am secretly scorned by everyone get me down! I'm gonna learn better grammar. <--- How's that for the first lesson?
I'm devoted to becoming happy with myself.
My new motto: Don't banshee howl about it unless you plan on changing it!
Even then, you should only howl for 10 minutes max because you could lose your voice.
Finally, I'm gonna stop being swayed to act a certain way just to impress others. I'm Landra! You either like me or you don't. Regardless I ain't am not going nowhere anywhere. <--- See? I'm learning something.

Question: What are your inner fears? As a writer? As a person? How do you overcome them?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I'm sure most of you remember the years when the internet was first getting started. I still remember my first Yahoo! Mail account and the old version of Hotmail. I can recall the droning of dialup as you would connect to the WorldWideWeb and slowly wind your way through Netscape (the preferred choice of web browsing for a short time, at least in my neck of the woods).

Now things move at the speed of light. I can watch just about anything on the Internet. I don't need television anymore or the local news channels. The news, weather, and current events are at my fingertips. These strange occurrences that make couch lounging take on a whole new meaning go beyond the simple extended pleasures of the Internet.

Land lines are almost non-existent and good luck finding a phone booth. Everyone has cell phones and if you don't have one a pre-paid version is available for $30 or less at the local Wal-Mart. Laptops are the new way to use computers. We need instantaneous pleasure for our fingertips. Real letters and cards, gasp! Who has ever heard of such things?

Physical writing is sooo overrated. I mean when have you, an author, written an entire book by hand I ask. I take notes by hand, copy character outlines in the fine cursive I learned from Mrs. Mullins in the 3rd grade (FYI: her neck was covered in moles and we used to call her Mole-ins. I know, not nice).

The idea that you could communicate with editors, agents, and authors without having to be invited to some special dinner or visit New York has all but disappeared. Thank you Twitter! Not to say I don't appreciate this new twist to events. I am having more fun then I would have if I had been more serious about writing 10 years ago.

Bottom line: The depravity of this posts exists in my personal amazement of how far technology and worldwide communication has evolved in 10 years. I am thankful for it and at the same time mystified. The changes we see now will only be eclipsed in the next 5 years, with new websites and inventions to take our imaginations and relationships beyond their current sphere. We may not be transporting ourselves in hover cars or time traveling in Deloreans, but we are engaging with others in ways that no one would have imagined in the days of horse drawn buggy.

My Elephant Got Eaten by a Lion

The last couple of weeks have been mind-numbing to say the least. Here I am, an aspiring writer, in a contest to write a 60k novel in 60 days (one huge elephant) and I got devoured by a lion (life, job, life).

That's right, a taunt, thick-maned, full-grown adult male! This lion includes hospital trips for my co-worker (the only other person who knows how to do my job), my car getting caught in a giant rain puddle, entire family sick and ill, Easter holiday and guests, and 60 hours work weeks.

Now I have to regroup! How do other writer's do it? I can't run away to a secret island or hidaway. The hubby and kids refuse to be left to their own devices. Locking myself in a room for an hour is practically impossible.

Do you ever feel like when you finally have a handle on your dream that fate tends to shove it's way in to de-rail you?

That's how it feels right now! Crappy Fates! Solutions and tips are welcome!