Posted in Friday Ramblings

Friday Ramblings From An Author-Another Busy One

Posted on by writersauthorsbooksandmore

Nope, it wasn’t just last week because this one’s felt busy too. Still haven’t gotten to my summer reading and it might turn into fall reading.

The two week synopsis writing boot camp ends tomorrow and I can’t believe how fast it flew by. My students have been some of the best and have worked their butts off to get their synopsis written. I’ll be sad to say goodbye to them because they’ve been so great.

I did manage to get a back title released, book two in my Perfect Pairings series. I made the cover myself and here it is-

forever yours

I can’t remember if I mentioned it but my How to Write A Romance Novel is being translated into Portuguese, Spanish and now Italian. I’ll post something about how you can get your work translated because it does broaden the audience for your work and another way to earn some extra income.

I hope next week isn’t so hectic and I can enjoy what I think is going to be a scorcher of a week. Tomorrow’s supposed to be near 100 and rain seems to be a thing of the past lately.

Hope you all get outside and enjoy summer  (if it’s winter where you are maybe there’s still something to do outdoors!).

 

Have a fun week and happy writing to all.

 

 

Posted in Friday Ramblings, Uncategorized

Friday Ramblings From An Author-Short Week

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Happy Friday everyone.  This week’s seemed strange and I don’t mean in a bad way but with a holiday on Tuesday it feels like it was cut in half and made it seem extra busy for me…not sure why.

Summer’s well underway but not my summer reading. The only thing I’m reading right now is a book I’m reviewing. I’ve yet to get to the first book on my list which is a Sue Grafton book…yes it’s almost the end of the Kinsey Milhone stories. For those of you who don’t know it was these books that inspired me to try my hand at writing my own female PI story. Yes, way, way back when women PI stories weren’t a dime a dozen. The books also gave me the confidence to write in the first person…so many editors told me to change my story to third person. And guess what? I’m glad I never did.

Speaking of mysteries, in the last few weeks I’ve been doing what I suppose you’d call some soul searching and I’ve decided I need to get back to writing mysteries. I have three I’ve started but never finished and next month I’ve told myself that’s going to change. By the end of the year those three unfinished projects will be checked off my to do list. There, I’ve shared that with you so hold me accountable. If you haven’t heard me mention my mystery WIP during a Ramblings from August onward then leave a comment or drop me a line.

Have a fun week and happy writing to all.

Posted in Friday Ramblings

Friday Ramblings From An Author-Workshops…Classes

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It’s raining and thunder is rumbling in the background and strangely enough it’s my favorite background noise for writing. Anyone else like a certain type of  weather to write to?

The June workshop I’ve been teaching finished today and my students were such a wonderful group of writers that I’m sad to say goodbye to them. Tomorrow the synopsis boot camp kicks off. It’s a two week class and is taught through the Outreach International chapter of RWA (if anyone’s interested). Then on Monday, a four week class starts and it’s a boot camp focusing on how to fix a story that’s been rejected. That’s offered through the Low Country chapter of RWA so once again if you, or anyone you know might be interested in a revision style class, tell them about this one.

I’m teaching during July and August for the first time and I know it’s going to cut down on my time usually devoted to summer reading. I’m already way behind with working my way through the books on my list which I’ll share with you soon.

I have another class live on Skillshare. It’s part one of what will be a three part class on self publishing. Here’s the link if you’re interested in that topic-

http://skl.sh/2ufcJSW

Needless to say, with the workshops and working on new classes I haven’t had much time to devote to my WIPs. I get rights back to the second book in my Perfect Pairing series in July so that’s on my radar for a revamp. I also have a couple of non-fiction titles that are about 25% done. And not forgetting two fiction WIPs that never seem to get done this year.

It’s sort of an extended holiday weekend for many so for everyone in Canada, Happy Canada Day and for those in the US, Happy Fourth of July.

Stay safe and have fun.

Happy writing to all.

 

 

Posted in Monday Writing Prompts, Uncategorized

Monday Writing Prompt-Letter Writing

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This week’s prompt is about letter writing.  You’ve probably heard about people who decide to write a letter to their younger self and that’s what your character decides to do.

At what age is ‘their younger self’ and what do they discover about themselves and the past during the process.

I think this one will be really fun and should be a great exercise on character development too.

Happy writing.

Posted in Friday Ramblings

Friday Ramblings From An Author-Self-Publishing Made Easy

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Welcome to summer…or winter if you’re in the southern part of the world. It doesn’t feel much like summer today but I’m not complaining because the cooler temps are just fine with me.

This week I’ve been participating in an online retreat. Not a writing one, but workshops that center around creativity. One common theme is that sometimes, even when we’re busy, we need to take a step back from our work or even take a few days off. The workshops have been my much needed recharge…I even followed along with the yoga workshop this morning.

The taking a few hours out each day has slowed me down but I think that’s been a good thing because I’ve felt more energized when I’ve got back to work.

I even released a book this afternoon….Self Publishing Made Easy.  Here’s the cover…and yes another one I designed myself.

 

my highgarden

I’m in the middle of planning a three part class on the topic for Skillshare and hope to get the first part recorded and loaded to their site sometime next week.

So my insight for the week and a tip I’ll pass along to you, even when you’re busy or on the days when you’re trying to write and the muse is up and gone, take a break, do something else and then simply try again.

Have a good week and happy writing to all.

Posted in Friday Ramblings

Friday Ramblings From An Author-I’m So Glad It’s Friday

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Ever had one of those weeks?

Yes we all have them and this week it was my turn.

It’s been a hot and humid week and where I live that means storms. And storms mean the power and internet connection goes out more than you’d like.

If you work at home that’s not a good thing. When you can’t go without your cup of tea first thing in the morning that’s a very bad thing!

When the power finally came back on, the internet did too but then it went away again…I’ll cut the story short and say the modem went bad and the technician has just finished installing a new one and outside wiring. I’m so happy that it’s Friday and now I can start to get caught up on my work.

This week has taught me a lot, power up all  your gadgets every night so they’re at full charge should the power go out. Invest in a hotspot for emergency internet connection. Look into buying some portable solar panels. And most of all, buy a camping stove so you can make yourself a cup of tea and be less cranky.

At least I got some work completed before disaster struck and next week….keep those fingers crossed, I’ll be uploading some new classes to Skillshare and completing one of my non-fiction projects.

Have a fun week and happy writing to all.