Three Years And Counting

 I haven’t posted to my blog for a long time. Did you miss me? I missed all of you. So why haven’t I posted? Life got  in the way. It certainly wasn’t lack of interest. It was Cancer.

So, three years ago I was diagnosed with Stage IV Breast Cancer. A very aggressive fast growing version. Which required a lot of treatment (Chemotherapy, Surgery, Radiation, Immunotherapy). It started in my right breast and then quickly moved into my lymph nodes. 

The early diagnosis was bad. When the surgeon told me that there was nothing he could do, I very nearly lost it. It was like he was signing my death certificate in advance. Fortunately, my Oncologist wasn’t the type to just give up and move on to the next patient. She held my hand, let me cry and then went to war against it. She also came down on the surgeon for his attitude.

So, here I am, 3 years later. 3 years I might not have had if I hadn’t kept fighting. By doing everything I was required to do to take full advantage of all my treatments. 

I must admit, the side effects are pretty bad. Some of which will be with me for the rest of my life. But, I’m not giving up. I’m still here. Still winning against it. 

I didn’t do this alone. My husband has been and is my rock. Fighting his own fears, stayed by my side every step of the way. He pointed out that even this was included in our wedding vows. In sickness and in health. The man is a saint.

Now I’m making a choice. Not only will I continue the fight against Cancer, but I plan to get back into the groove of writing. So expect to see more of me writing about the things I love.

The Casting Couch

You’re starting your book. You’ve worked out the plot, the main characters have names, and you have a general idea what they look like. Or do you?

Some authors have the ability to mentally see what their character looks like in precise detail. That little mole under the left eye. The long eyelashes unfairly given to a man. The tiny scar she has on the edge of her collarbone. The way the hair grows back from her brow.

Unfortunately, I’m not that good at that. I generally manage hair color, eye color, and probably height. I get stuck on coming up with details beyond that. I can’t mentally see them beyond a vague blur of their features.

I flip the idea sideways to make it work for me. If this was a movie, who would I cast in the role of the main character. Then bang (!) I have a clear image of what my character looks like and some physical traits which I can modify depending on my plot needs.

Let me give you an example of how that worked for me.

In the book Watching Shadows - Book 1: Paranormal Shadows I had the character of Tyler Buchanan. I knew the kind of person he was and that he had a quirky sense of humor and charm. But for his physical description… Vague is the word. Until I saw him on television. More precisely, I saw him on MacGyver. Richard Dean Anderson became the physical template of Tyler Buchanan. I aged him a little, put a few gray hairs at his temple and suddenly he became easier to write and describe. His personality settled right in with a perfect fit.

I did the same with other characters in the story. Evan Richardson is Ben Browder. Alonsa Matthews was physically based on Holly Marie Combs.

Now that being said, I realize that how I see my characters and how a reader will see them in their mind's eye are two very different things. This is just my process on one aspect of my novel writing. I pin their pictures to the wall while I’m writing.

Of course there were times I looked at Tyler and said “What is wrong with you?”

So how do you come up with your character looks? Comment below.

Your Writing Goals

A new year and have you made any resolutions? Are they the same ones you made last year? How about the year before? I see you squirming in your seat. The resolution game always starts out with excitement and then a week later they are either put aside or forgotten and the year continues on.

Depressing isn't it? Especially if you want to publish your novel. Every year I say "I'm going to publish." Every year it doesn't happen. Why? I allow distractions to pull me away from what my goal is. I don't have time. Or, I don't have the money. There is always something in the way. Something I allow to get in the way.

New year. New resolution? No. This year I'm not making a resolution. This year I am making goals. The reason I changed my thinking was due to a free webinar I listened to last night. I recommend reading what this man has to say. Michael Hyatt is someone I have found that actually inspires me to do better.

So I'm writing down my Goals. Number one: publish in 2016. Now this is where it gets interesting. That goal is vague and undefined. Not very actionable, is it. So this is where the productivity training comes in. I need to drill down and figure out what steps I need to make this happen.

So here is another link for you. Just so you know what steps you need to take and how to set them up. Joel Friedlander has an online book planner that will help you do just that. Definitely worth the money to subscribe. The Book Planner is a great site to keep you going. My biggest problem has always been "What to do when?".  This site gives you a lot of hand holding.

This is just the beginning. This year, lets make this happen.

Those links again:
 Michael Hyatt
The Book Planner

Now I'm off to get back to work. :)

What are you Planning to do?

NaNoWriMo - To Panic or Not To Panic

I see you out there. Sneaking into the Halloween candy with furtive motions as you contemplate tomorrow. Tomorrow. November 1st. All Saint's Day. El Dia de los Muertos. National Bison Day.

Great big scary, ain't it?

Whether you're new at it or a veteran, Day one is one of the worst days. Whatever time you sit down to start the next Great Novel, you all have to face the same thing. 

That first blank page.

How do you start? You type Chapter One. Your word count is now a rocking two. Your mind starts to swirl and cramp. Where to start. How to craft that first sentence that hooks the reader. 


BUZZZZZZTTT!!!!!!


Now that you've wasted a couple hours of your life along with inhaling several pounds of leftover Halloween candy, take a step back. Take a deep breath. There, that's better.

The advice you'll hear about how to start will go along the lines of: Just write something. It doesn't matter what. That kind of advice tends to not to be much help to me. I need more help than that. If you're reading this then, like me you'll need a little more help too.

So, how to start. 

Tip #1: You've been thinking about this book for a while. Scenes have been swirling around your head all through the month of October. Stop worrying about where your novel starts. Write the scene that has been in your head. Start there. You can worry about where it goes in December.

Tip#2: The first words you write are: It was a dark and stormy night.
Now write why your character is thinking that. Is it a dark and stormy night or a bright and sunny day? Are they on a planet or out in space? Why would they think that line. As you write you'll find the ideas start to flow and you can transition to where you want your story to go.

Example:

      "It was a dark and stormy day. Hunter Reid glanced up at the cloudy sky and frowned. It would be darkfall soon and he was no where near where he had planned to camp for the night. Thanks to a landslide that had blocked part of the sixfor, Hunter would now have to find another route to Orange. And it didn’t look as if he would be making his usual overnight spot before the mists started. There was nothing more miserable than trying to sleep in the mists. It seeped into everything and made everything colder. "

Excerpt from Orpheus Rising

That was how I started NaNoWriMo 2005. It's my usual go to when stuck.

So what are your tricks for starting a new novel? Let me know in the comments below.

NaNoWriMo Tips & Tricks

So, it's halfway through November and you've been banging away at your story. Your words flow, the story unfolds, your word count is on target and then..... nothing.

Writer's Block. There are those who say Writer's Block doesn't really exist, but I disagree. The imaginary voices in your head stop talking. Your characters are sitting around staring at you, waiting for you to tell them what to do.

You're stuck. You need to keep writing. The advice from others is... write. It doesn't matter what you write. Write anything.

I have always found that little bit of advice useless. How many times can you write "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy" without beating your head on the wall.

These little tricks I've used are for when you've stopped banging your head and you've stepped outside and taking a deep breath. These little tips are also wonderful for word count.

Last but not least, these are suggestions you are free to ignore once you finish reading this post. I won't be offended. Really. I promise.

1. The Coffee/Tea Ruse: Chose your primary or secondary character for this. Have them make coffee/tea the same way you do. Detail every single step of the process. Pour the water. Measure the grounds/tea leaves. How much water. How much coffee/tea. What do they think about while it brews? Coffee/tea done? They pour it into a cup. How do they take it? Black? Cream and sugar? How much of each? They take it to the kitchen table? Or do they go outside? Do they sit on a chair or on the top step of the porch?They sit down and take a sip.

The above was 100 words. Now image how many words you'd get if you filled in the blanks. When I do this, the character is thinking during the process of either what happened or what is going to happen. I often get sparked with an idea for another scene or other interaction and I'm off again.

2. The Song & Dance Routine: Chose a character at random. Then pick your favorite song. It can be a current pop song you've been humming the last couple days. Don't stress on which song. If you're stuck on that, turn on the radio and chose whatever song is playing.

Now, your character has to sing. It doesn't matter how badly or how well they sing. Not only do they sing it, but they have to act it out. If you chose more than one character, they they have to dance together for the duration of the song. When they are done, the bow to the applause of the Ninja Hamsters. Where did the Ninja Hamsters come from? Let your characters ask that question. You don't have to give them a valid answer.

I've used the second method myself. In one of my earlier science fiction NaNo attempts. I had the characters break into a rendition of "I'm Just A Sweet Transvestite" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In a world where women are rare, that wasn't completely out of place. I got almost 1,000 words out of that scene.

3. The Sex Scene: I include this because I know a lot of writers will use this when they are stuck. It doesn't matter if it's appropriate or not. Just detail it out.I don't use this method myself since sex scenes are as hard for me to write as action scenes.


These are just a few ideas to help you along with NaNoWriMo. It doesn't matter if you need these scenes or not. It's your word count that matters. It is Quantity, not Quality we want during November. Quality is for the editing process in December.

Now, gag your internal Editor and prepare to Write Your Novel!

Do you have any tricks you use to keep you writing? Share in the comments below.

Writing Preparation

So here we are in October. The month has a lot of meaning for me. It is my favorite time of the year.

It is the first full month of Autumn. The air is turning cool, the sky is a different shade of blue. And the trees. Oh, the trees. Changing out of their summer dresses and into their lavish fall gowns. Scarlet shades of red. Golden yellow, bright and waving. Warm orange, standing tall between the reds and yellows. Even the rustic browns stand out like accessories against the vivid shades of their peers.

In other words, I love Autumn. At the end of the month we have Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain. It is also the most stressful day of my year.

The reason for my stress is that October 31st is also the day before the start of NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month is an annual event where writers around the world sit down with their laptops or tablets or notebooks & pens and attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.

I've been doing this event since 2004. I wrote about 2000 words of a paranormal romance and promptly crashed and burned. Unmotivated and no real idea what to do with it.

2005 on the other hand I slammed out a fully fledged apocalyptic science fiction novel. A fantasy in 2006. 2007 was another science fiction novel. 2008... and so on. I've succeeded seven times in the last 11 years which isn't too bad.

So now begins the planning stage. Though I'm more of a Pantser than a Planner. But I do like to have a basic idea of what I'm going to do and I've start doing research that I use while writing.

So are you going to sign up for NaNoWriMo this year? Let me know in the comments below.

Battling the Procrasti-Demon

Welcome to the Procrastination Relief Workshop.

Ummm....

Well, we haven't gotten around to setting up anything or send any invitations... But I'm sure we will... eventually.

Does this sound familiar?

I'm going to write a novel.

But I haven't gotten around to it. But, I will. Someday. When I'm ready. When the time is right. When I settle down. When I have more time. After the baby. When the kids go to school. After I've settled into this job. When my spouse gets a raise. After I pay off the house. When the kids start high school.

You say you're not that bad?

What about these:

Tomorrow. This weekend. After my TV show goes off. When the kids go to bed. After dinner. When the dishes are done. In the morning. After lunch. When I'm on break.

Or this...

I read this blog first.

I battle the Procrasti-Demon daily. Unfortunately it wins a lot. I was going to write this blog last night, but I was enticed away by the lure of watching Chess in Concert for three hours. By then it was bedtime. I'll do it in the morning, I said. After I've had my coffee.... Let me watch the morning news first.... After this movie... When I finish hanging up the laundry... After I eat...

And my day is gone and the Procrasti-Demon wins again.

The thing is, it doesn't always win. There are moments when I can ignore him. I just have to keep trying. Eventually my wins will outnumber my fails.

How do I know I'm getting anywhere? Well, I've written more blog posts in the last month than in the last couple years. That's a win.

I'm also trying the reward system. If I post a blog today, I get a Root Beer Float ice cream bar.

So if you're reading this, I'm eating ice cream.

Okay, you're read my  post. Go write something!