My Two Cents about Writing...

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This month, I'm participating with other bloggers in the Sisters in Crime Blog Hop.

What are some things that new writers need to know?

1. Good writing is work. If you want to be a writer, you need to make time to improve your craft. This means writing and rewriting.

2. Write. Write. Write. Keep writing. Dreaming about being an author doesn't cut it.

3. Spend time proofreading and editing. If you're not good at it, find someone who is.

4. Find a good critique group. You need people to read your draft and provide constructive feedback. I love my mystery group (SinC-Central Virginia). It's made up of readers and writers. They don't pull punches, and that's what I need to improve.

5. Use social media to network with other writers, agents, and readers. Build your platform. But balance your networking and writing time.

6. Be strong. There are going to be rejections, bad critiques, and not so favorable reviews. Learn from them and move on. It stings, but take what you can, and don't dwell on them. And don't obsess about your number of followers, sales, and reviews. It will make you crazy.

7. Have fun. Enjoy what you do and every step in the process. I can't explain the joy that comes when you see your author's copy or your name on the cover.

For more writing blogs, check out Maggie King's site. Also see #SinCBlogHop and #SinC-Up.

You can find me on Twitter @CrazyforWords13 and on Facebook.

 

What's Your Writing Playlist?

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I love music, and it's a part of just about everything I do. I even have a "Play it Loud" list for driving on the interstate in the red Mustang.

 I was asked recently what's on my playlist for writing. And it depends...

With fifteen different, themed playlists with hundreds of hours of music, I usually listen to rock or country with a fast pace and uplifting words. I write and edit better when there's a beat. These are my favorites right now:

  • Kid Rock
  • Florida Georgia Line
  • Train
  • Pharrell Williams (He's from Virginia Beach too.)
  • Colbie Caillat
  • Neon Trees
  • Fun.
  • Bruno Mars
  • Sara Bareilles
  • Uncle Kracker

But, I also often go back to old friends:

  • Van Halen
  • Elvis
  • UB40
  • Prince
  • Billy Joel
  • Elton John
  • Culture Club
  • Duran Duran

And if you're a mystery writer who's stuck, put on Train's "50 Ways to Say Goodbye." He offers a variety of ways to get rid of that annoying character.

What do you listen to when you write? Is there a specific genre that works best for you?

For more blogs about writing, check out author, Maggie King.

#SinC-up and #SinCBlogHop

 

 

David Baldacci's KING AND MAXWELL

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I took a break from writing to read David Baldacci's King and Maxwell. I like his series about the former Secret Service agents.

This one begins during a storm on a dark road. King and Maxwell find a young man running in the rain with a gun. This rescue leads to a new case where everything is not as it first seems. The boy's father and a lot of money have disappeared during a secret mission in Afghanistan. The private eyes learn that the scandal goes all the way to the White House.

King and Maxwell battle a paramilitary group and multiple government agencies with all kinds of letters in their acronyms to solve the crime and find out what happened to the missing man and the money.

This is my favorite of Baldacci's series. I love that parts are set in Virginia. Baldacci is a good storyteller with strong male characters. His female characters are often caricatures. It reminds me a lot of how Hemingway portrayed females in his work.

King and Maxwell is well worth the read. There are enough plot twists to keep the reader guessing all the way to the end.

Catch Phrase: A Lesson for Writers

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My nieces introduced me to Catch Phrase this weekend. It's a timed game where you have to describe a word or phrase without using any part of it. So, not only do you have to know what the thing is; you've got to find a way to communicate it to your team in a way that they will understand. It's frustrating when your team doesn't get what you're describing.

It's the same with basic business communications. To pass on a idea to your readers, you need to:

  • Be clear and concise.
  • Use words that are understandable to your audience.
  • Look for common experiences.
  • Present the material in an organized fashion.
  • And proofread to make sure that your message is clear.

Best wishes with your writing. It's often harder to write in a plain, clear fashion. It often takes several revisions and some editing.

My Winchester Adventure...

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Last weekend, we visited Winchester, Virginia, and we toured the most beautiful library that I've ever seen. The Handley Regional Library is in the downtown district. The dome, stained glass, spiral staircases, statues, and books, books, books are incredible! What a great place to spend an afternoon!

We found Patsy Cline's grave at the Shenandoah Memorial Park and visited her home on Kent Street.

Virginia is such a scenic state. To a girl from the flat part of the state, the mountains are majestic, and I can't wait to get back to see them when the leaves start to change.

Steve Berry's THE COLUMBUS AFFAIR

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Steve Berry's THE COLUMBUS AFFAIR doesn't feature his usual sleuth, Cotton Malone. The novel explores the question that Christopher Columbus may have used a manufactured name and background to hide the fact that he was Jewish. And he left a treasure behind in the New World.

The story bounces around Europe, US, and Jamaica. And it pits a disgraced journalist against his estranged daughter in a quest to find Columbus' hidden treasure. 

The mystery and the action are good, but I think I like Berry's Cotton Malone stories better.