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

Tomboy Diva

I’m a natural-born tomboy and I always have been. Give me a pair of jeans, cargo pants, a hippie-looking pull-over, or a tool belt and I’m right at home. Set me loose in a department store full of accessories and fashionable clothes and I’m likely to have a retail-induced panic attack. It’s probably the same way Captain Rogers felt when he walked out into modern day Manhattan surrounded by strange and alien modern contraptions.

Yes, this is me at my best. 

So why am I suddenly obsessing over clothes, nails, jewelry and hair for next week? The biggest thing that has ever happened to me in my LIFE is happening next week (I can still say this is the ‘biggest’ because I haven’t gotten around to popping the question to Steven yet). My first novel hits the shelves on Tuesday, and on Thursday we’re heading down to Miami for the book launch at the Miami Book Fair. What I should be thinking about is honing my pitch, being sure I’m ready to discuss every aspect with it, having at least 20 quick answers for ‘What’s it about?’ and generally just being professional and prepared.

Instead, I've been digging through my cabinets for make-up that I haven’t worn in ages and trying to perfect the ‘author look,’ as if there even is such a thing. I’m even going shopping again tonight (albeit at Mountain High Outfitters) to try to find the perfect shirt of the Prana persuasion. My nails are perfectly purple, and I even had my hair dyed at a salon for the first time in about 4 years. Though, I have to admit I’m really enjoying that last part; not seeing the gray for a change is nice.

I've been thinking about this completely out-of-character recent behavior of mine and I’m no longer afraid that I’m suddenly turning from a die-hard tomboy to a prissy prom queen. It was a concern at first, especially considering I don’t have enough room in my closet to support a shoe habit, but then the zits started popping up and two things happened. First, I howled like said prom queen upon finding zits the morning of prom. Not little bitty ones, either. Big, painful, red welts on my cheek of the sort I haven’t had since high school. Horrifying timing, of course. Second, I realized that they were the physical manifestation of the stress I've apparently been channeling into the ‘Gossip Girl’ kind of persona I've been wearing lately. *Note: I hope that’s a good analogy. I've never actually seen an episode of ‘Gossip Girl,’ but the title and commercial strikes me as the type of show where shallow reigns and geek stains.*

I’m not prone to stress, so I guess it’s not surprising that I’d been suppressing the reaction until the cauldron of stress and chocolate started bubbling over with some odd side effects. And now that I recognize what’s going on with me, I can at least start getting my head straight. So I’m nervous. Big deal, right? I SHOULD be nervous, but most of all excited and satisfied that my years of working on my writing have finally begun to pay off in the way that I've always dreamed. But on that road I’m going to experience my first public bad reviews, my first nerve-wracking appearances, and I’m going to have to learn to be a more social and outgoing person. Normally I like to hide at the back of a room and sneak out before anyone realizes I’m there. Not in the creepy Unabomber way; more like the awkward wallflower way.

So yes, there is plenty of reason for me to be nervous and anxious, but there is plenty of reason for me to be proud and confident as well. I’m still going to go shopping tonight, but I’m not going to obsess like I have been. I’m going to relax and have fun. I’m going to make fantastic new memories and meet incredible new people along the way. I've worked hard to get where I am and I’m going to continue to work hard and take this new direction as far as humanly possible.

And it all starts with showing up and being comfortable with myself next week in Miami, no matter how many pimples I get.  Besides... that’s why God invented Photoshop.

And The Winner Is....

Well, well, well, after some technology surprises, fails, and slight misdemeanors, my first giveaway is officially at an end! I've had the chance to meet so many new people during this swag event and I've even gotten to know where the pitfalls are in using the internet for things like this. We have so many devices and so many different browsers with which we access webpages now and they all have their own little quirks; some of them are more set in their ways than a little old lady of 110 years. Some blocked the comment form, but let folks email me, some blocked emails and let folks comment or follow me, and some couldn't get to me at all through Blogger and sought me out through Facebook. Next time, I’m going to go even simpler and do it through Facebook – anyone who leaves a comment gets an entry! J

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for...

Congrats to the following ladies for being the winners of my first giveaway: 

Diane Carlisle, Shanna Hartwell, and Aubrey Oberlander!

I'll be getting with each of you so I can ship your packages, but in the meantime, go buy a lotto ticket because today is your lucky day! :-)

EXTENDED - Swag Time!!!

Just look at all those goodies!

Due to late interest and a quirk in Blogger that's keeping some folks from commenting, I'm going to extend for 24 hours! NEW DEADLINE: 7:00 PM Wednesday, 11/17. Winners will be announced by 6:00 PM on Thursday. Good luck, everyone!

It's time for me to start giving stuff away! I thought about some different ways of doing this particular giveaway (there will be more down the road), and came up with some pretty creative ideas involving everything from trivia to Twister. Then I decided it might be best to not scare off my readers before I even have any. "Simplify," said Thoreau, and if anybody can be simple it's me, gosh darn it.

The Goods

I'll be choosing 3 random winners per the rules below to win a package with a lovely linen tote, a marvelous mouse pad, and a boss bookmark. Keep in mind I can ship only within the Continental U.S..

The Rules

So, you feel like winning something? (Auburn Tiger fans pay special attention: This might be the only other thing you win all year :-)) As promised, I'm keeping it simple. Follow all three steps listed here and the beautiful gifts in the picture can be yours!

1. Comment on this post. That's a toughie, isn't it? 
2. Follow the blog. If you're already among my followers, then you've not only joined my list of favorite people, you've also saved yourself a step. If not, simply use the handy-dandy gadget on the right side of this blog (The "Join this Site" with Google Friend Connect button).
3. Last but not least: Email me here to let me know you've entered. Don't worry, I won't sell your email address to annoying salesmen, government spies, stalkers, or anyone else for that matter. I'll simply use that email address to contact the winners for their postal addresses.

The entries begin at the time of this posting and continue until 7 PM CST on Tuesday, October 16th  Wednesday, October 17th (tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow).  I'll announce the winners here on Wednesday Thursday, so check back soon and good luck to everyone!

Girl Gone Wild... for Tech.

An era has just ended. No one else likely noticed it because it was such a small era, but it was an era that was all mine and I will miss it even if no one else cares. What I’m mourning is the longstanding era of Low-Tech Ash. Until recently, I've considered myself a born again Neo-Luddite, but I just took another giant step toward Neo- and away from –Luddite.

I like to think that I’m an open-minded person, so my technology aversion hasn't been out of obstinacy even though I can be hard headed over just about everything else. More than anything, it’s been due to the fact that it seems like 90% of the new gadgets are aimed at entertainment and distraction. And god knows I get distracted enough without the extra help (Oooh, shiny!). This is the same reason why I canceled cable and have to ration Netflix to myself. Passive entertainment is my writing kryptonite; if not for all of the hours I've spent playing games and watching Big Bang Theory (non-stop, seasons 1-5) I might be 5 books deeper into the Aevum franchise by now.

The best part about my iPhone? 
My new dragonfly case!

So the last thing a person as easily distracted as I am needed was an iPhone, right? That’s what I've been telling myself every time I had to get a new phone and with smartphones dominating more of the market every year, it was getting harder and harder to find a plain-Jane (apologies to anyone named Jane) low-feature phone without a data plan. And I guess all of this is my long-winded way of admitting that Yes, I finally caved and bought an iPhone. And what’s worse? I’m in love with it and I’m wondering how I ever communicated before Siri.

Don’t think I jumped in all at once, however. I took baby steps toward an app-driven life, starting with the purchase of my Nook Tablet in February. As a writer, I've rebelled against the eReaders for years; I wanted to have a book, a REAL book, in my hands when I read with pages that turn and can be dog-eared to my place and that show the wear and tear that is the love you have for them when you read them over and over again until the binding breaks down. Not to mention the lovely smell they get after years of reading that is somewhat reminiscent of stale milk and nursing home. I mean, really, why would anyone want to give that up all of that nostalgia and authenticity? When I got the Nook I promised myself it was just going to be for convenience when travelling and to help make sure I didn't just completely let the stream of new tech pass me by. Of course, in my luddite snobbery I was also thinking I should be more familiar what I was rejecting so I could be armed with appropriately snarky responses to everyone else who couldn't survive without their iPhones and iPads (Note: Never miss a chance to prepare snark in advance).

The next thing I knew, I was reading almost exclusively on the Nook and I’d spent WAAAAAY more than I’d intended on eBooks. It turns out that my frequent headaches that were due to eye strain (every book lover knows how hard it is to get the pages in just the right light) disappeared almost instantly when I switched to the eReader and the neck aches I’d always gotten when I read were absent when I read on the Nook. Long story short: lesson learned. I put my snark and snobbery aside and admitted that hey, here’s a piece of new technology that actually HAS improved my life in unexpected ways. Even if it did put a dent in my bank account due to the new ease with which I could purchase books. 

So I guess it’s safe to say that the Nook was my gateway tech. Shortly thereafter I discovered that not all apps were the evil time-wasters I’d branded them and now some of them have even changed the way I work and increased my productivity. Evernote, for instance, has virtually replaced my much-loved leather journal for organizing my thoughts on writing projects, and Dropbox has changed the way I store and access my writing. I’m no longer dependent on remembering to back up to my memory stick and constantly trying to remember which version on the 3 machines on which I work is the latest.

This time when my phone contract was up and it was time to upgrade, my next step finally felt more natural and less like a betrayal of my anti-tech nature. It was time for the (insert dramatic music) iPhone 4S. I didn't play with it much during the first couple of days I had it; I felt the same about it as a dieter would have about a box of truffles that showed up on her doorstep. Oh, maybe just one little caramel app for now. And how about this little app here? It’s nougat, it really doesn't count anyway.  And the more I sampled little tastes of what the phone had to offer, the more my iTunes budget looked much like that box of chocolates after a short period of restrained self-denial: Empty.

But the convenience! What did I ever do before without mobile banking? Without Sound Hound to tell me what awesome song is playing at the restaurant AND give me the lyrics? Without Pepperplate to create a grocery list for me based on what recipe I want to cook? Without AllTrails to plan my next back-packing trip? Without Smug Mug to make all of my pictures look like pro shots? And without Siri to type all of my messages for me, compile my playlists for me, book restaurant tables for me, AND keep up with all of the things I would otherwise forget?

And so it goes... While I’m still a DIY fiend, homesteader in training, and staunch reality TV hater, I’m now also an iPhone-toting, eBook reading, tech-flirting hipster chick.

(Is it still hip to say hip?)

Sent from my iPhone (Not really....)

Upcoming SWAG

COMING SOON!

I know I've been gone awhile, but keep your eye out for a giveaway I'll be hosting here for Alice Will swag! There will be tote bags (pictured below) and mouse pads for 3 lucky new followers. Stay tuned!

Small Tote Bags by Vistaprint

Book Trailer for Alice Will!

For all of you not close enough to bear witness (consider yourselves lucky), I just did the Happy Dance. Despite the fact that my dance moves border on the epileptic, I think it was a well-earned jig. And why am I doing the Happy Dance, you ask? *Please, please, please ask!!!* Well, I’ll tell you...

I got my Book Trailer today! Please enjoy and share with everyone :-)

Author Interview and Cover Reveal - S.P. Cervantes

Once again today I have the privilege of sharing another fantastic author from Center One's stable of talent. S.P. Cervantes is the author of the upcoming novel Always and Forever, the first installment of the highly promising Shadow Hill series. I've had the pleasure of getting to know S.P. over the past few weeks and she is a passionate writer full of wonderful ideas. Her debut novel is a YA fantasy, but don't let that fool you. In addition to wizards, covens, and terrifying monsters, Always and Forever entices the reader with a budding, yet tense romance between Ava and Dalton, two of the novel's very well-drawn characters. What else could a reader ask for? From her book jacket...

Click here to pre-order your copy!

Twin sisters Ava and Hannah were ripped from their peaceful seeming lives into a whirlwind of attacks and war only to learn the real truth about their existence.
Nothing was as it seemed anymore and may never be again. They had already lost their father in childhood now they have to cope with their mother's kidnapping as they watch those sworn to protect them risk their lives.

A: How long have you been writing?
S: I have been writing since I was in grade school. My older brother was really into the choose your own adventure stories, and I would try and make up my own. As I got older I wrote mostly short stories, but was never confident enough to share them. 

A: How would you describe the main theme of Always and Forever?
S: The main theme for Always and Forever is about a girl becoming a woman trying to understand herself and the power she has while facing challenges and danger that have her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself and the world she lives in.

A: Most authors have a love hate relationship with writing. What did you love/hate about writing this novel?
S: I love writing the Secrets of Shadow Hill series. I began Always and Forever while pregnant and on bedrest with my twins as a way to keep my mind sharp and positive. Writing has always been a stress releiver for me. The fantasy genre lets me be creative and focus on something other than my busy life.
The most difficult part of writing is finding the time and letting go of my insecurities. I am a mother of 3 and a teacher, which keeps me very busy. Luckily my husband is very supportive of my writing and gives me time when I am "in my groove" and have to get my ideas down. I don't know if any of my books would have ever gotten done without his support and help with my kids. My twin sister was pivitol in encouraging me to get over my insecurities and putting my book out there to be published. I knew if anyone would tell me my book was horrible, she would. She is an avid reader and I respect her opinion greatly. I always tell my students that you will never reach the stars if you don't try, and am glad that I finally decided to take my own advice.

A: I love that the story is written from each of your main characters’ POV. Was it difficult to switch modes between their voices?
S: The struggles for me in writing the story from my two main characters' point of view was not being repetitive. I felt by writing from both points of view, I could better tell the internal struggles the two characters were having while facing danger. I loved writing the story from this type of format.

A: What can we look forward to next from the Shadow Hill series?
I am very excited for the next stories from my series as more secrets of Shadow Hill are revealed. The second book has a lot of action and is very suspensful. There are a lot of twists and turns as my main characters face struggles and danger while trying to protect their coven and the world. I literally could not stop writing it and hope my readers will feel the same way when reading it. I am very proud of this series and am excited to share them!

Great answers, S.P.! For all of you wanting to learn more secrets about Shadow Hill, click here to read sample chapters of Always and Forever.

Author Interview and Cover Reveal - Ronda Paige

Today I have the unique privilege of hosting my first interview with not only a talented author, but also a co-worker and a friend. Ronda Paige is the author of Patience's Love, a sea-faring, swash-buckling epic romance guaranteed to leave you breathless. Ronda is also an author in the Center One Publishing stable and this, her first novel, will be available 11/13/12. Click on the link below her beautiful cover art to check out sample chapters and pre-order your own copy today!

Click here to pre-order your copy!

From the Book Jacket:  Patience Douglas was to be the most shy, demur, fragile, docile creature on the face of the earth. In short, everything Patty MacDouglas (Captain Flame) was not. She would dress in the most feminine and frilly dresses, with her hair left long, and she would even use a breathless coy tone of voice to further separate the two personalities...

Terrance Bordeaux was a disappointment to his family, a fop in the truest sense of the word. Traveling at a whim, dressing in whatever the latest fashion and spending his father's wealth without concern, quite unlike the businesslike Terror of the Seas.

Fate put the two together; however, could either trust enough to allow the other to see their true self?

A: How long have you been writing?  

R: Off and on since my senior year in High School.    Studyhall, fan fiction with my friends as lead characters.  We had a lot of fun with that.

A; What was your initial inspiration for Patience’s Love? 

R: A computer game :-). Probably from the mid eighties, don't remember the name, just that it was one of the early ones, text based and had something to do with escaping from a pirate ship.

A: Patty MacDouglas is a striking and strong female lead; did you have any real-life role models for her character? 

R: My Mom, she was a very independent self reliant person,  she taught me to be the same.  That and working in what was once considered a male dominated field you learn how to handle various situations.

A: What was the biggest challenge for you in writing this novel?  

R: Time.  The released version has gone through many drafts.  I wrote in spurts, laid it aside when other things took priority, then would start again.  The main story line was there, but the details of the story took years to unfold.

A: What can we look forward to next from Ronda Paige? 

R: A lot I hope, at last count there were nine concepts.  The next one however is a trilogy which follows the relationship between two law enforcement officers set in the future where law enforcement is on a Stellar scale.

Thanks to Ronda for making herself available! Take a look at her sample chapters on Center One's website here. 

The Disposable State

I’m breaking form a little today with my first non-writing blog in ages. But this is a topic that has been bothering me for a long, long time.

Photo from  loveyourbackyard.blogspot.com

Do you remember the days when making a big purchase meant making a lifetime investment? When even small purchases were quality construction and then cared for and well-maintained – that’s why we still have our grandparents’ furniture and dishes when our modern equivalents tend to be replaced on an average of less than 10 years. There was a time when it was unthinkable to not take pride in what you owned, and in taking pride you took care of it and extended the life of it as long as possible. It wasn’t that long ago that it was also unthinkable to hire a contractor without checking references, reputation, and qualifications. Especially not based simply because that contractor gave the cheapest price. That was when people knew what “You Get What You Pay For” really means. It was a warning to keep someone from making a poor investment, not a cheap grumble to make after the deed has already been done.

Not that long ago at all... But now we live in a world with so many options all vying for our attention that the focus has been switched to the cheapest option, even if it’s truly only cheaper in the short term. What happened to planning ahead, thinking ‘down the road,’ and preparing for the long term??

The reason this is bugging me right now is that I drive past examples of this every single day on the way to work. We live in a new neighborhood where construction is still ongoing, so the salesmen and other contractors still circle our new neighbors like vultures with offers of inexpensive home improvements like fences, gutters, etc. But right now it’s the fences that irk me the most. Imagine this...

Congratulations! You’ve just made a sizeable investment in the purchase of your brand new home! What’s your first big step? Maybe you should build a fence to keep your dog in and your neighbors out. But wait – do you know how to build a fence? Shucks, no. Hey, look - There’s a guy over there putting flyers on mailboxes that say he’ll beat any other price to build a fence, how convenient and cheap!

One year later... Take a drive through our neighborhood and see fence after fence already rotting because part of the cost savings they’d gotten was that the contractor didn’t stain or seal the cheap pine boards in any way. Oh, and where they didn’t cement the posts in and then didn’t even pack them tightly enough entire rows are starting to lean one direction or another. And because they only used two rows of support 2x4s and one cheap nail to hold the pine boards in each, boards are popping right off the nails everywhere you turn. Because of those cheap nails, rust is streaking down the wood because the nails aren’t even for decking. The bottoms are curling up because they were placed right on the ground because, hey, it’s easier to nail in place that way, right?

And the people who live in these nice new houses with fences that look 20 years old want to complain about the contractor they paid up front who suspiciously disappeared without giving them any kind of warranty on his work... But they’d just wanted a ‘for now’ fence at the time. It was cheap and it was good enough ‘for now,’ already thinking that they wouldn’t be in this house for more than 4 or 5 years. So why bother with it?

Why spend a good $3,000 on something that might only last you a couple of years before you have to spend almost the same amount just to keep it from falling down? And why don’t people ask themselves this before they throw the money AND resources away?

We have a fence, too. It was the first thing that Steven wanted to do, and within a couple months after he bought the house we were in the back yard getting ready with post hole diggers, cement, rot-resistant cedar fence boards, rust-resistant decking screws, and enough 2x4s for three support rows all of the way around. Not to mention many gallons of water-proofing stain. This part isn’t bragging on my part – Steven was the architect and his commitment to quality in everything he does is one of the many things I love about him. If he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it right. It took us a long time working on the weekends and after work some evenings, but because of taking the time and taking pride, we have a fence that will still look this good 20 years from now, and a prospective buyer will see that what we have done adds value.

The best part? Even though we used much higher-end materials, the total cost was cheaper than hiring a fly-by-night contractor because we did the work ourselves. And this year after we apply a new coat of stain to our beautiful fence, we’ll get to sit on the back patio and enjoy a nice glass of wine while we watch our neighbors replacing fence boards, propping up posts, and cursing the cheap and rep-less contractor they hired to do a cheap job... for doing a cheap job.

Steven, the handsome architect, building the frame.

One cold day in January, but we still installed two sections of fence boards
because we were so anxious to see the fruits of our labor

Not quite the finished product, but close! This is before
installing the lattice and staining.
  

Steven taught me so much about carpentry
during this project. We made a great team!

The Sit-Down-Shut-Up Method

Sit down and shut up.  No, no, I didn’t mean you. I meant me. This is my process, you see.

At least, it was.

I tend to be very easily distracted by just about anything; noises from outside, noises from inside, cats needing cuddles, sparkly motes of dust floating by the window (oh, look at that one!)... This has led to many challenges in finding a writing process that works for me. There have been a few iterations in the past involving everything from blaring Atari Teenage Riot or recorded heartbeats to timed brainstorming and word association games. Not surprisingly, most of these didn’t work. Let’s take a look at a few of my past attempts...

1.       The old Drown-Out-The-World method. It’s safe to call this one my default method with a few variations. This is what I always return to when nothing else I’ve tried has helped my sad level of focus. I’ve used white noise, thunderstorm sounds, loud repetitive rage music, trance music, non-vocal jazz, loud fans + music, and even some of the kooky alpha- wave beats from YouTube. The result? I just end up humming along and not writing. 

2.       The mind-focusing game method. This was one I picked up out of some forum that I thought might have merit. The idea is to start focusing on a problem or a strategy (anything from Free Cell to Risk) and let your brain naturally start weeding out distractions for you before your writing session begins. I’m sure it probably does work for some writers out there, but for me it just led to hours wasted because apparently strategy games are my digital crack.

3.       The cardio method. This one is pretty much exactly what it sounds like and it probably came from the same forum as the above failed method.  Basically I was supposed to do 20-30 minutes of any form of cardio and it was supposed to have a dual effect: Eliminate physical stress allowing me to mentally relax, and flush some unknown toxins (possibly the beer) from my blood stream to let me think more clearly and without distraction.  The problem? If I could make myself do cardio I’d still be in last year’s pants.

4.       The reward method. This was the short-lived method in which I tried rewarding myself with chocolate for a high word count. Although it resulted in a lot of words written, it also meant erasing entire crappy chapters that were hastily written in a desire for chocolately satisfaction. Incidentally, it also coincided with the worst acne break-out since my teens and probably a big part of the reason I still can’t get into last year’s pants.

5.       The punishment method. Even more short-lived, this one was probably the silliest and most desperate I’ve tried. Anytime I found myself getting off-track and distracted whilst writing, I had to hold my breath until I finished a sentence. All I really got out of this was a bunch of very short sentences and a few dizzy spells.

Sad, isn’t it? However, all of the failed attempts at finding my own personal writing process did help lead me to one major discovery: Dealing with the external distraction isn’t my problem. In fact, since I sat down to write this blog I’ve darted off on about 10 other tasks that somehow popped into my mind and are not even tangentially related to this blog. I’ve been checking Facebook, re-checking Facebook, researching a hand-held vacuum cleaner, checking my bank account to see if my utility payment posted, Googling for a picture of a hobo spider, etc. I just plain can’t control myself.

I always thought that “Sit down and shut up” was the first step to writing, but it turns out that this might be my first obstacle to writing. Sitting down and shutting up is apparently handing the reins over to my brain and giving it carte blanche to start spinning its wheels wherever it wanted to go. Sometimes it trips over a good story element on the way, but usually it’s more like trying to walk 5 dogs on 5 leashes who all want to go a different direction. 

So it was with this in mind that I tried the exact opposite approach when I got to a road block in my writing this time. I stood up, walked around, and talked to myself about the book for about twenty minutes. Loudly (thankfully Steven wasn’t home so his doubts about my sanity still haven’t been confirmed). In this twenty minutes of talking to walls, cats, and houseplants I managed to advance three plot lines, flesh out a character that was giving me trouble, and devise a solution to a complicated plot problem that needed a big finish. By the time I sat back down to write I was ready to do backflips in excitement and I got another 1,500 words out in no time at all.

No more quiet time for me. Apparently there is nothing like the sound of your own voice to drown out your thoughts. Now I’ll talk to myself in the car, when I’m doing the dishes, in the shower, pretty much any time I’m alone. The only thing left that can't seem to drown out is the happy little chirping I keep hearing while I work out solution after solution aloud: “I found my process, yippee! I found my process, yippee! I found my process, yippee!”

Now that you've seen a few of my oddest attempts at methods, what are the strangest you've tried?