Guest Post - Confessions of a 'Serious' Writer

I know I've been remiss in posting my own blogs for the past several months and I promise I'm hanging my head in shame right now. But I'm reeeeaaaallly hoping that the awesome guest post I'm about to give you will, if not earn your instant forgiveness, at least let me buy your love back through bribery.

Vanessa Eccles is one of the many talented authors that I've had the good fortune to become acquainted with over the past year. In that time I've learned that not only is she tirelessly dedicated to the craft, but that she puts that same level of investment into everything she does. She has recently launched an online literary journal showcasing southern writers and has also been documenting the transformation of a house into a loving home on the Ode to the Simple Life Blog. Did I mention that until her recent graduation she was ALSO a full-time student? Her strength, dedication, and energy are definitely an inspiration!

Vanessa Eccles

Her Official Bio:
Vanessa K. Eccles is the founder and executive editor of Belle Reve Literary Journal. She has an English degree from Troy University, and her work has been published by Deep South Magazine,  Suite T (a blog by Southern Writer’s Magazine), and Wisdom Crieth Without. She is the author of Psalms of Me and Collecting Light and is currently working on a YA novel. She blogs at The Writer's Block.

And now, on to Vanessa...

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I've been seriously pursuing a career in writing for about four years now, and with every passing year, I've noticed more eccentricities about myself than the year before. My mind soars into a state of contemplation every time a unique phrase or picturesque landscape emerges, which keeps me constantly thinking about the oddities and utter perfections found in the world around us. Tolkien’s theory on people was “not all who wander are lost.” He’s right – they’re just writers. Writers are natural wanderers. We wander about the world looking for inspiration. And let’s just face it, we can be downright weird. I am no exception to the rule, so I’m going to reluctantly confess some of the things that I've learned about myself since I've become a “serious” writer.

1. I hear voices.

Oh, yes. You read me correctly. Luigi Pirandello described it right in his play Six Characters in Search of an Author. Sometimes characters come to me living and breathing with their own problems and their own stories. Unfortunately, some of these characters are naggy, annoying gnats that will not buzz off until their stories are told. The upside is that this makes me write more so that I can escape from the guilt.

2. I am a dreamer.

I’m not sure it’s possible to pursue a writing career without being somewhat of a dreamer. It’s a tough business, and often the rewards are slim. So for many of us, our real hope with writing is bringing the story to life for readers and having them resonate with something we’ve shared. I dream to someday smell my words and hold them in my hand in a physical print form.

Belle Reve Literary Journal

3. I am a hoarder.

I admit it. Ever since pursuing my dream, I’ve acquired more books than I can house. My ever-growing library can be found stacked on my piano, boxed in the garage, a few in the car, some at my parent’s house, and at least one on every flat surface in my home. It’s madness. But to be a good writer, one has to read. Reading is the study of the craft, but it’s also a crippling disease that has taken over countless hours of my life and has made me, as Phil Robertson would say, “happy, happy, happy.”

4. I’m a spoiler.

My poor husband has just now entered the world of reading, and I’m utterly ecstatic about it! We listen to audiobooks together and discuss them, but I cannot help but tell him where I think the writer is going with the storyline or what I think is going to happen next. Sadly, I’m often right. The same thing happens with movies. I have become one of those horribly annoying people that tell everyone what is going to happen at a movie. Go ahead, throw your digital popcorn at me. I deserve it. I know I need to keep my mouth shut, but it’s an inescapable compulsion. I’m not sure if I’ve become the psychic of entertainment because I write or because I read so much. Either way, I need to stop for the love of my husband and everyone else around me. Wish me luck on that. ;)

5. I’m a loner.

After reading the first four confessions, I’m sure you’re thinking, “She’s a loner because she’s nuts.” And I’m happily inclined to agree with you. I've become more of an introvert over the past few years than I ever thought possible. I enjoy silent time and inward reflection. I love escaping into novels, be it mine or someone else’s. What’s interesting is that writers can be alone and not be alone at the same time. We enjoy our imaginary time filled with our imaginary characters. We’re like kids with imaginary friends – only our friends are better developed and well-rounded. (Well, they’re supposed to be.) And truth be told, writers write when they are alone. So doesn't that make us all loners?
If you’re considering becoming a “serious” writer, I hope I haven’t scared you off. We’re an eccentric group, but we have to be. In order to share something different with the world, we have to be able to see the world in a different way.

In all seriousness, what I’ve really learned about pursuing my writing career is that it’s okay to be myself. That’s what makes me and my writing unique. Nothing is more inspiring than the freedom of being wonderfully weird.

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Thanks so much to Vanessa for her awesome post!! This is such a wonderful description of every writer I know. I can only imagine my friends reading #5 and shaking their heads about all of the times they've accused me of trying out for the Hermit Olympics. Maybe this will help explain things for them :-)

Guest Post - Benjamin Epstein, Author of 'Captive of the Orcs'

I've had the pleasure of meeting so many new and interesting people since good fortune (yes, and hard work) favored me with a publishing contract. Some of them I've met through social networking and others have reached out and contacted me via email. But possibly the most fun of all has been getting to know my fellow authors in the Center One stable. Writers tend to be interesting characters (though I've been told 'sociopath' might be a better word), and I have the pleasure today of introducing you to one of the interesting characters I've gotten to know since joining the publishing world. 

Benjamin Epstein is the author of 'Captive of the Orcs' and was kind enough to write a post on his writing process for me to share. Here's the quick list of how to find him:

His Book on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16173854-captive-of-the-orcs 

The Blog on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6870983.Benjamin_Epstein/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CaptiveOfTheOrcs?fref=ts

Amazon: http://amzn.com/0983002266

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captive-of-the-orcs-benjamin-epstein/1113753877?ean=2940016151168

Thanks for joining us today, Ben!

One of my fellow Center One authors suggested that if I write a blog post about writing, she would repost it on her own website.  So, in the interest of cross-pollination, that will be the subject of my current essay.

           The funny thing is, I haven't often been asked about strategies for writing.  Not that I'm exactly sure what the best way is.  I think there's a lot of stereotypical responses one could get: The types you might find from books, or creative writing classes.  Funny thing is, my old College classes nearly destroyed my writing forever.  My confidence was shattered when I was an undergrad, and I lost all conviction to my own opinions.  If it wasn't for my mentor during my literary internship, I don't know if I ever would have gotten it back.  How that happened is a story I'll save for another time.  

           But if I were to teach a writing workshop, and decide on a way that was generally helpful for aspiring writers, what would I say?  Let me suggest some important components, without much of a sensible order.

           #1: Coffee.  

           Yes, I am serious.  For me, writing without this glorious little stimulant is like driving a car without gas.  I might be able to roll downhill in neutral, but not much more than that. Most of my work was composed in the local Starbucks or Coffee Bean.  I find very little gets done at home.  Too many distractions.  But if I uproot myself and go in public with the intention of getting work done, it's more likely that I'll get a few pages of worthwhile material.  Not a certainty, of course, but it's a little trickier to waste time.  Though hardly impossible.  

           Once I made the separation of home for rest, and coffee shop for work, I grew more productive.  And it gives my day some regularity.

           #2: The slush pile

           This is something I learned back during the above mentioned internship.  If you don't work in the editing business, or a related field, I'd recommend a little gem of a book by Denny Martin Flinn:  "How Not to Write a Screenplay."  Flinn gives a front row seat to the mistakes of unskilled authors.  Flat dialogue. Terrible description. Non-sensical plots.  Too much or too little exposition. Overwriting. Underwriting.  Lack of word variety.  But my descriptions are not doing this justice.  Nothing can make you appreciate a good book until you read a bad one.  

           That may well be a problem with your old High School English class.  Remember how Mrs. Jones gave you great works to read by Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, Melville?  Works with enough genius and profound insight to withstand the test of time? But if she had you read, say, the short stories left behind by the previous graduating class, maybe you'd have an appreciation for the type of dreck that ends up on the desk of an overworked, underpaid editorial assistant, in a company that's looking for one good manuscript in a pile of a thousand bad ones.  

           It's a life changing experience.  And if you realize that when you submit your own query for publication, even if your work is wonderful, it's going to be tough for that intern to pick it out from the other incoming envelopes. Needle in a haystack indeed! And how do you really know that you're better than the rest?  

           And I ask the same questions of myself: Do I have talent?  Or am I just another egomaniac, hoping that my little thimbleful of ability can compete with the likes of a  J.K. Rowling or a Steven King, let alone the literary voices that still echo from previous centuries?  Sounds awfully presumptuous on my part, even if I recognize that at one point, King and Rowling were also first time writers, and undiscovered.  

           When you become conscious of what the incoming manuscripts are like for the editing company, it may grant a bit of humility to your own efforts.  Not that I'm saying you should give up writing.  Every author hopes that they're the cultural inheritors of an J.R. Tolkien, or a Virginia Woolf.  But we may be another Joe and Jane Unknown Writer, fated to obscurity. So be it.  It is a hard but necessary lesson to learn that the world doesn't revolve around us.  

           #3 Literacy

           Let's be honest: we have moved from a literary culture to a visual one.  Television is accessible to all.  And if not TV, there are movies, video games, and other modes where moving images replace using your eyes to track the printed word.  

           The worst offenders of the above slush pile are those, I think, spend their time watching television, to the point that they can tell you more about the Kardashians than the works of Agatha Christie. (By the way, can someone tell me who the Kardashians are, and why people pay attention to them?)  

           I don't make any claims to be widely familiar with the literary canon, and I am conscious of large gaps in my own reading history.  And I am aware of how many hours I misuse in my leisure time that could be better spent with books. Still, I do remember reading Crime and Punishment and Don Quixote  during long commutes aboard the New York subways.  Not to mention Moby Dick, Treasure Island and the Bible during my dead time in one of the most boring jobs I ever had.  And though I was a little old for Harry Potter when it came out, I still made my way through the series.  It's foolish to be unaware of a cultural phenomenon, past or present. 

           Ah, but here I am again, offering criticism for potential writers, in the form of pointing out the same bad habits I struggle with.  And who am I to be giving this sort of advice?  Is this just my pedantic side of me, the part that wants to lecture and sound high minded, without giving actual description of the craft?

           Maybe so.  So tell you what.  I'll write another essay soon, on some of my personal tricks that probably won't work for anyone else but me.  Call it my coming attraction.  

Tour Stop and FREE MONEY! Working for "The Man"

Find Elizabeth on Facebook!

I'm super excited today to be a tour stop for the AMAZINGLY talented Elizabeth Seckman! 

(Skim at your own risk - there's a giveaway within!)

Elizabeth is an author, a wife, a mother of FOUR active boys, and yet she is one of the most prolific bloggers and productive writers I know. Add to that already impressive mix her great personality and ability to get you giggling within 2 minutes of meeting her and you should be as surprised as I am that she hasn't taken over the Tonight Show yet!

Elizabeth's 2nd novel, Healing Summer, hit the shelves in December and as far as her readers are concerned the next one can't come soon enough. I'm a hardcore Fantasy/SF addict, but Elizabeth has a flair for wit, situational irony and dialogue that made me happily add her first novel, Past Due, to the incredibly short list of romance novels that not only have I read, but I've loved! Take a look a the blurb for Healing Summer and even try telling me that this doesn't sound like a blast to read:

Click here to find 'Healing Summer' and 'Past Due' on Amazon!

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds...
Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?
“Healing Summer” is the second book in the Coulter Men Series.

Find all of Elizabeth's tour stops here!

As part of Elizabeth's Blog Tour she's agreed to let her hosts give her the first prompt that popped into our silly little heads. Brave, isn't she? Given that I'd been dealing government job frustrations at the time, I gave her the prompt of 'Working for 'The Man.'' Being the sweetheart that she is, she took my temper tantrum rant and turned it into the inspiration for an ode to her husband... 'The Man' at her house :-)

Working for the Man!

In my house, Da Man is Mr. Chad Seckman!

 He’s the king of the castle-

The prince of all he purveys-

The master of the manor-

The shiz of the nit…

And he has no clue where his clothes are kept-

Or how to match an outfit-

Or the name of his favorite salad dressing-

Or the names of his kids’ teachers-

Or his cousins-

But!

He always knows where I left my keys, my purse, and my phone.

And he’s the one who fills the toilet paper roll, the dog food bin, and the gas tank.

We have a special relationship-

He’s the boss and I’m the board. 

Don't Miss What's Next!

If you can't tell already, she's FAR nicer than I am. In fact, she's so nice that she's even giving away $100 to a lucky winner of this Rafflecopter giveaway. Be sure to enter and share the love!  You can also find all of her other stops from this tour here. Check them out and be sure to vote for your favorite by commenting on her page!

For the roll-up, here's the skinny on how to find Elizabeth in all of her favorite hangouts:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Seckman-Author/361427683923220

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5806570.Elizabeth_Seckman 
Blogger: http://eseckman.blogspot.com/
Her Books: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_17?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=elizabeth%20seckman&sprefix=elizabeth%20seckman,aps,489&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aelizabeth%20seckman&ajr=2 

The Price of 'What If'

I recently had a chance to catch up with an old friend that I haven’t seen in years. We met ages ago in class at the University of Kentucky (which neither of us finished) in Lexington, KY (where neither of us stayed). But while we were still starry-eyed coeds we had so many plans, from opening an aviary together to having double weddings and making sure our children went to school together and grew up to be best friends. 20 is a great age for making plans. 30 is a great age to be grateful if those plans didn't pan out.

Now we’re both 32, never married and without children, and both of us have managed to find success in our own ways despite not finishing college. And though we both have parrots, neither of us ever went on to open that aviary (Flights of Fancy, we wanted to call it). Our chat was too short for having been apart for so long, but after we laughed about the silly ideas we had of what our lives would be like before the realities of stress, taxes, and cellulite, she asked me a very important question.

Em: “Do you ever wonder ‘what if…’?”
Me: “I write fantasy. It’s my job to wonder What If… Everything.”

I was being glib at the time, but I really should have given more thought to her question and given her the kind of answer it deserved. The truth is, ‘What If?’ is the price I paid for everything that I am today and everything that I have ever written.

Every decision we make, no matter how large or small, closes the doors to infinite possibilities labeled ‘What If,’ and behind those hide all of the other lives we might have led. It’s easy to imagine what those doors might look like; in my case, I picture them standing in a long Wonka-style hall dwindling away to a tiny speck at the end. Incidentally, the carpet is purple. I’m tempted to visit my earliest What Ifs for fun, like the one that would have led me to a life of hardened crime if I’d chosen to play the Baroness instead of Lady Jaye or Scarlett when we played GI Joes as kids. Or maybe the What If from those days in college when I decided to sidetrack my dream of writing by giving up on my English major and declaring Business instead out of a sensible fear of starvation. It’s so tempting to open those doors again… but the price you pay to make that choice is the same you paid for this one. Open another door and the one behind you shuts forever.

Granted, that was a fairly gross generalization (the kind I’d normally hate to read, let alone write) and if I dwelt on that analogy for too long I’d end up frozen in a decision-paralysis and even the Hershey bar vs. Snickers choice at the vending machine would send me into a drooling fit. But sometimes taking an idea to an extreme is useful because it helps prevent you from taking the more moderate consequences for granted. And here’s the kicker:

It’s every bit as true in writing as it is in life. 

Were you wondering how much longer before I turned this into a post about writing? I held off longer than I thought possible. But think about it… As writers we write life the way we see it (or would like to see it) and we have no less difficult decisions ahead of us than the characters we create. There have been so many times in the past that I've wrestled with some plot problem or another and finally moved on, convincing myself that it was minor enough that I could work it out later. Well, guess what? It turns out that there are no minor plot problems.

Those problems represent decisions that need to be made because every element in your story line is dependent on the rest. And if it isn't, then in all likelihood you have extraneous fodder sneaking into your story that needs to be gutted to make your novel tighter. Making the right decisions early on is crucial to completing your vision and making sure your ‘What Ifs’ don’t haunt your characters on their journey to the end you want them to have; the doors that you might inadvertently close with a hasty/easy choice might not even be evident until you’re ¾ of the way through your book! Unlike in real life, we do have that wonderful thing known as The Second Draft where we can reopen the doors we needed and perfect the journey. But could anything be more magical than getting all the way through your First Draft and discovering that because you were careful in your decisions and true to your vision, you don’t have to rewrite almost everything?

And be sure that this is a ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ kind of moment for me. Having completed only four full novels, it might be four or forty more before I can master that trick in my outlining. I may be aware now of the importance of these issues that I usually ignored, but I’m also about to delve into a heavy rewrite for my 2nd draft of Tilt because I had never given any credence to it before. So to quote the sagest advice we ever receive as kids, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” - Some real American heroes.

Goodreads Giveaway!

Check it out!! 

Click the widget below for a chance to win one of 3 copies of Alice Will to be given away at the end of the month!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Alice Will

by Ashley Chappell

Giveaway ends January 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Trouble With Smiting Envy

"And Lo, with my cart I shall smite thy ankles..."

I think all writers embed traits in their characters that they identify with on many levels whether or not we’re even aware that we’re doing it. Sure, we can make our characters noble, strong, and full of integrity and other do-gooder stuff. It’s always fun to write a hero because just about all of us spent hours in childhood running around with blanket-capes, make-shift swords, or feather duster magic wands rescuing neighbor kids or the family dog from some unthinkable dragon or other beast. As a kid, you dream about being the hero everyone loves. But then we grow up and start secretly dreaming about being the villain because at some point we discover that the bad guys really do have all the fun.  Think about it… how often during the day do you pause to daydream about saying what you REALLY want to say to that customer, or getting even with the jerk on the road, or saying something inappropriate to the 8-year old in the line behind you at Walmart that keeps banging your ankles with the cart while his mom plays on her iPhone?

If any of those last three scenarios ring true to you, then Congratulations: You’re well on your way to villainy! Maybe not on a world domination level, but you’re certainly not alone in your secret evil-doer desires. In fact, just last night Steven made me aware of one of my own villainous day dreams I've been living out through my writing, completely unaware (or in denial), of course. 

We were trying to leave Publix during rush hour and it turned into a game of Dodge the Idiot about to back into you, Dodge the Idiot about to walk into your car, and ended with sitting stuck behind the person who took a good 5 minutes to decide which way to turn. That trip gave me a fresh reason to curse someone on an average of every five seconds. And curse them I did! That was when Steven made the connection for me: “It’s a good thing you don’t have a smiting problem,” he said.

But oh, how I wish I did!

The smiting problem referenced is a constant growing pain of the young demi-goddess Trotter in my fantasy series. Her smiting finger has a mind of its own; anytime something frightens her or just particularly irritates her, her out-of-control powers decide to smite the offender for her. Usually it’s by accident. But Steven made me realize that I’ve been writing my own secret revenge dreams not into my villains, but into my hero! I’ve had a ton of fun writing about the smiting debacles, but with her it’s an unconscious reaction rather than a conscious intent to burst some annoying person into flames.

Maybe it’s because I managed to sneak my own villainous urges into my hero that I didn't recognize it for what it was – apparently my guilty subconscious pulled that one off right under my nose – but now that I've made that connection to Trotter, I feel like I’m more open to explore this dark side that I've already planted in her from my own evil roots. Even heroes blow up at people when they’re stressed (notice I said blow up AT people, not blow people up), so it might even help me make her a more tangible character as I work my way through this series. Nobody can believe in a perfect hero anymore, after all.

I think my next writing exercises are all going to involve putting her in some dark scenarios and letting her just do what comes naturally. Besides… I have to make a Walmart trip again soon and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of pent-up villainous urges to deal with J

Signed 'Alice Will' Book Giveaway!

As promised: Your chance to win!

I'll be giving away a free SIGNED copy of 'Alice Will' so I can share my book launch excitement with someone :-) It will even come with its very own linen tote to make it easier to carry it from shade tree to shade tree without having to spill your wine.

The contest starts at 12:00 AM, Wednesday 11/27 and ends at 12:00 AM on Wednesday, 12/5. There will be multiple ways to enter, and each entry increases your chances of winning! Enter from the widget below or from Facebook. You can enter every day. Go ahead; stack the odds! :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway