Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tweeting?

I bought the new 2013 Writer's Market this weekend. I am hoping to finally make some edits to my humorous, kind-of-sort-of sci-fi story, that I have tentatively titled Hey Man. After browsing through, I realized it might not be as easy to find a market for as I originally thought, and originally I thought it would be pretty difficult.

In the front section of the Writer's Market there is some helpful advice to writers; one item being that I should have a goal of posting to a blog once a week, which inspired this post but we will see how long that last. It also suggested that I should be Tweeting and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet, although I did just get an iPhone and it's practically begging me to be on Twitter...kind of.
It's not that I think the people on Twitter don't post about important things. There are ups and downs to content on any form of media. My issue is that I'm just not sure I'm ready to be limited on how many characters I can use to say what I need to say. Although, I could consider it a challenge. It's not about how many words you use but what you say. A story can be told in only a few words.

 "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." -Ernest Hemingway








Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Ideal Reader


Recently I posted that there was a list of projects that I am currently working on. The first project I mentioned was to start/continue another novel.
A few years ago I started a literary novel that was going to be about a passive young women struggling to find self-confidence as she starts a new relationship.
I’ve written some literary short stories before and the last novel that I wrote was also literary.
Of the three fiction works I have gotten published, Double Take, Sweaty Palms and Faith In the Moonlight, none of these were literary but a good chunk of my work is. That said a lot to me. Maybe I’m not all that good at writing literary fiction. Or maybe publishers just aren’t interested.
On top of that I started to realize that all of my work was depressing. It makes sense because I had written most of it at a time when I was really down. The problem is that I don’t feel that way anymore. I have changed and so has the audience I write for.
In his book, On Writing, Stephen King talks about having an “Ideal Reader.” It’s the one person that you try to please when writing your story, because you will never be able to please everyone.
I think I used to write to please myself. I wrote a lot of emotional and joyless stories so that I could sort out my life and how I was feeling.
Over the past year or so I felt differently. I’ve been writing with someone else in mind.
I still write for me. Writing is still fun and therapeutic. When I finish something the sense of accomplishment is amazing.  I am still conveying the messages that I want to say and telling the story that I want to tell but when I write, I want to write it in a way that will make my Ideal Reader enjoy the story.
A literary story just isn’t the way. So I’m restarting. I can still use the stuff I’ve written but I am now adding an element to the story that will take it from literary to mystery.
Maybe I will never win the Nobel Prize in Literature with this story, but there was slim chance of that anyway. At least this way I write something that someone else will hopefully enjoy reading, even if it is just one person. 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

I'm Going Back

First off, this is my 500th blog post! I would post a look back on my blog over the past years but that can be done in a few sentences rather than a whole post. The last 500 posts have been about the many failures and few triumphs of my writing and how the good and bad events in my life  inspired and hindered my work.

That about sums it up. Now on to current news. I am out of my mind. I have gone back to school. It's been a goal of my for the last five years but I have continuously put it off for one reason or another until now.

I am really excited. I love school and always have. I would take at least one class every semester for the rest of my life if I could. I love learning new things. Some things I like more than others. (Sorry math and science but you are at the bottom of that list). And yes, there are times when I will complain about certain assignments, teachers or work loads but overall I enjoy school.

One of my biggest regrets in life is not starting college right after high school and not working harder at staying in school but in the end I cannot dwell on these things. They have made me who I am and I cannot change it. All I can do is go forward.

Wish me luck!

Currently Reading: The Chronicles of Narnia

Monday, August 13, 2012

The Projects


A few posts back, I mentioned that it was my hope to get back to writing more. And I have been successful. I actually have a few projects going on right now. I’m starting/continuing a new novel. By that, I mean I am taking an old idea and making it new. And I have plans to work on a nearly finished novel. Plus an attempt to dabble in the art of non-fiction for a short, work related project.
Also, I have this 30 before 30 list that was inspired but Jenni. I know it’s several YEARS before I turn 30 but I figured I would start early. (Okay, several months L.) Anyway, enough pouting about getting old, three of the items on this list have to do with writing. Not to mention that I am keeping track of my 30/30 list by writing my goals and accomplishments in my journal. And maybe a few updates on the blog.
Aside from projects, I have a couple of small goals, the first being to blog more. The second, being to actually post reviews on goodreads.com rather than just give a star rating.
I’ve actually found time to work on these thanks to two things. One, I found a nice park near work where I can walk to on lunch, sit down and write. The second is that my husband is working an extra job this summer so he is now gone more. Instead of spending my time hanging out with him I have been writing. What will happen when the weather cools and I can no longer walk to my park and my husband goes back to one job? We shall see. Until then, I am writing!


 Currently reading:- Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
About to watch- Grimm

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Three's company too!

How is it that I stock piled pre-written blog posts and still managed not to post for over a week? There's a simple explanation. We got another dog!
That makes three. And most people have been very happy for us. A few have been worried that they will become a pack and start ripping each others' throats out. So far all the young two have done is wrestle and play non-stop while the older one naps, which seems to make everyone happy. Things may change but only time will tell.  All I know is that while we weren't looking for another dog, I am very happy that we rescued our new dog. After five months in a shelter he deserved a good home and we have a lot of space and love to share.

While I haven't gotten much writing done, I have done some reading. I finished The Help, which was a really good book. I'm looking forward to renting the movie. Also, I read a YA book called I Hunt Killers. It was  a good read as well. I posted a review of it on my goodreads.com page.

In other news, tomorrow, I am planning on meeting with some other creative people in the area and discussing ideas. It's the groups first meeting and should be a productive experience. I'll try to post about how it goes.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Measure Your Life In Love

Yesterday, my husband's grandfather passed away. While I did have the privilege of spending time with him, I didn't know him really well but I look at Facebook and see all of his kids and grandchildren changing their profile pictures, followed by comments from many people. It's easy to see he was a good man who is loved.

It is hard to watch my husband hurt and not be able to do anything for him. That makes my heart hurt.

My mind is filled with thoughts about loss, love and life

I don't know a lot about my husband's grandfather but I know he bought a copy of Tuesdays With Morrie for my mother-in-law. She let me borrow it and when I read it there was a note stuck in it from her father. It was an nice letter. He talked about how things were going with them and said that he hoped she enjoyed the book because he did.
I can see why he enjoyed it and I think it's beautiful that he wanted to share it with his family. That gesture alone says a lot about the kind of man he was.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book about love and life. If you haven't read it, you should. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Library and the movies; my kind of day.

I didn't mention this in my last post because it didn't seem to fit but, wow, blogger has really changed. If I accidentally repost or delete or do something weird it's because I am adjusting to the new changes. Although, so far everything seems similar to my gmail account.

I have today off since I worked Saturday. I was going to finish painting my kitchen, but instead I went shopping. I also went to the library and checked out  The Help and a new YA book that caught my eye called I Hunt Killers. I've never heard of it before but the title sounded interesting and once I read the jacket I thought I would give it a try. The tag line said something like "What do you do when the world's most notorious serial killer... is your father?"

Anyway, hopefully both books will make for some good reading.

I suppose I could paint tonight but it's cheap movie day and I have yet to see the new Spider-man. Not sure how I feel about them redoing Spider-man so soon. We shall see.

Also, I just finished reading the third book in the Millenium series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I didn't like it quite as much as the first two, The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire, but it was still a pretty good book. I put up a slighlty more detailed review at Goodreads.com 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Write?


Not so long ago, I used to write things. No, I’m not talking about facebook status updates that let my “friends” know that I made some awesome homemade chicken fingers in my new deep fryer. I mean I used to write novels, short stories, articles and blogs. I used to blog all the time about what I was thinking, writing, reading, watching, doing. I wrote about things I loved and causes that I cared about.
And over the last five years the amount that I write has steadily declined. I went from novels to grocery lists.
Yes, a lot has changed since then. I am no longer the single girl that is dealing with a lot of major situations that all seem to collide into each other at the same time. I am not alone anymore. Many of my struggles have passed. I am genuinely happy.
Five years ago it seemed like anvils kept falling down on my head driving me further and further into a hole.
Now I feel like my life has flipped upside down. I have gained so much and it feels like now there are so many hands reaching out to me and pulling me up out of that hole.
Instead of bad things piling up, good things are happening. Yes, there are bad things too but they are a lot easier to deal with when there is good in there as well. The abundance of amazing people that have come in to my life is amazing and the bonds with the people that were there before have strengthened greatly.
But I’m not blaming happiness on the reason that I don’t write nearly as much anymore. The blame falls to me. I have not made it a priority. I made building my relationships, establishing a home, and enjoying life a priority. It’s what I needed.
Now those things are feeling pretty solid. They don’t seem to need as much work as they once used to. Right now I find myself with a lot of time on my hands. I know eventually that will change but until then I hope to get back to writing a little more. 

Sunday, April 15, 2012

A Rally of Writers 2012

Life has been hectic lately. I've got a lot going on at work and the house buying process continues, but yesterday I finally got some time for me and I went to A Rally of Writers.

I had been to the conference once before, about 6 years ago, when I was much more diligent about writing. I really liked it but I just hadn't found my way back since. This year my writing group decided to go and we went as a team.
It was nice to have people that I knew there, especially because I get anxiety in big social settings. The other good part about having them there was that we were able to reflect on how what we had learned and how it applied to each other's work.
It was a really great conference. We went to sessions on how to submit your writing, the revolution of eBooks, magic realism and avoiding cliches. The sessions were great. I learned a lot of helpful hings on what to send to editors and how to turn cliches upside.
And, yes, I am one of those people that didn't really like the eBook until I found out that more people are reading now than ever because it's easier, which means more books are selling and authors are making more. So even though I will continue to buy real books, I will stop bashing the eReader.

Overall it was a really good conference. Our writing group is going to try to make it a yearly thing and I encourage anyone near the Greater Lansing area that is interested in writing to give it a try.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Completing

Writing group did not meet last week but I was able to send Hey Man to another writing friend for some feedback. I'm trying to decide if I should jump right back into editing or give it a week or so while I work on something else. I have so many writing projects I would like to start I do not even know where to begin.
There are a few small memoir type things that I would like to write while they are still fresh in my mind. I've been very neglectful of my journal the last few years and I feel like this is kind of a way to catch up. And while I may not be writing them with the intent to publish, that's okay. My current objective is to get back in to a regular writing routine and to get some practice. I have been out of the game for a while and need to work the kinks out. I'll probably work on those for the next few days and evaluate from there.

In other news, I finally finished A Dance with Dragons. My sister-in-law suggested the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin a few years back and I finally started reading it a while ago. Of course, thanks to a sub par librarian, I started by reading the third book, A Storm of Swords. I thought the writer referred to a lot more past events than is usual for a first book in a series, but I caught on pretty quick.
Of course, had I been smart enough to glance at the first pages before the story started I could have avoided this but I didn't. Eventually, I figured out my mistake and I went back to the beginning. I've been reading all the way through since. Now, I have finished the fifth. I am eager to read what comes next but I have been warned by long time fans that I will probably be waiting...for about five years.
This will drive me mad. When it comes to reading I am a completest. I have to finish things. Even if I completely dislike them. Yes, I finished the entire Twilight series just because I couldn't not know how it ended.
So I'm hoping, but not counting on, the success of the HBO series to motivate Mr. Martin to produce this one a little faster. Until then..

Just finished reading: A Dance with Dragons-George R.R.Martin
Currently listening to: Dancing Days-Led Zepplin
Recently watched: Friends With Benefits

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Finally finished.

I finally finished 'Hey Man' after working on it little by little for over a year. Writing group is suppose to meet tomorrow so ideally, I will get some final feed back on it and then start editing.
In other news, our house hunt has resumed. Last year our house search lasted 5 months, with 2 agents, 4 offers, viewing 16 houses and still no house.
Today we started with another agent. We went to view 3 houses and couldn't get into 2 of them. The 3rd house we didn't really love. So the search continues.
Also, I tried to buy tickets to see Elton John and they had sold out within 2o minutes. Bummer.
So to sum up my day so far. Story finishing=good. House hunting=okay. Ticket buying=bad.
Now off to clean the house and hopefully go to dinner with my husband for an early Valentine's Day celebration.
Until next time!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

How long?

My writing group finally got together. It's the first time since November. The month of December always seems near impossible to meet, particularly this year when both Christmas and New Year's fell on Sunday.
While our meetings have been somewhat less frequent the last few years, I am thankful for writing group. It is really the only thing that has kept me writing. Of course, once again I put my work off to the last minute. However, today I thought I might actually finish the story that I started working on about a year ago.
It's a comedy, that was suppose to be sci-fi and still kind of is, but not really. And the best title I have come up with for it so far is Hey Man. Can you tell the creative juices have definitely been flowing?
Well, the more I wrote the more I dug myself into a whole and couldn't figure out how to end it. Then last week, knowing that writing group was fast approaching, I started working on it on my lunch. But then I came up with an even better conclusion. Unfortunately, this idea needed research so it would have to wait.
I should have went to work on it right away but first I had to go to the circus with my niece, which was awful due to a poorly planned seating arrangement that I could complain about for hours but won't. Then my husband and I were off to our aunt's 50th birthday party.
So I woke up this morning and researched, then started cranking it out. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough time before writing group. They only received half a scene and I have still yet to finish my story. Hopefully, I actually finish it before the morning of our next meeting.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Missed.

I don't want to say that I've made a new year's resolution. For one thing, I'm two weeks late. For another, I never seem to follow through with them.
What I can say is that I have finally gotten around to updating this thing and I feel like total crud about the fact that it's been half a year.
I have missed so many amazing opportunities to write about. The coolest being that I had a short story called Faith In Moonlight published in Conceit Magazine back in July. Yes! I missed telling everybody that. I love that story and I was so pumped about it but I let it slip by. I am so mad at myself for that.
There has also been the ups and downs of life. A new marriage, a dog that passed away, a new job, a search for a new house, a new puppy. And the list goes on.

But I've really missed writing. I think about it all the time. And I always think I should start writing again. Then I say I will start the next day and I don't. Until 6 months has passed by and I haven't written a post. I've been working on the same short story for a year. I've continued to meet with my writing group but monthly meetings have turned into more like bimonthly meetings, if that. And I have tracked my life events in the same ways I always have but even my journal entries and emails to Jenni are fewer than they used to be.
I got sidetracked by life, I guess. And I'm happy now. When my life was miserable, I cranked out the writing without hesitation.
Anyway, 2012 has started well. We continue our search for a new house and head toward completing our first year of marriage. We enjoy our dogs but struggle with the challenges of a puppy and an old dog. I continue to try to find a career that I love and can actually get paid for. So life continues and I will try to write about it more.