What It Takes - Tips for the Writing Journey

I borrowed this meme from the fabulous Judy Penz Sheluk. This is great advice for anyone on his or her writing journey. Usually what keeps someone from succeeding with writing goals is not the lack of creativity or ideas. It’s the determination and grit to put in the time to hone your craft and learn about the industry.

I looked up some synonyms for hard-working:

• Diligent

• Persistent

• Industrious

• Enduring

• Relentless

Writing is work. If you want to be published, you will have to wear many hats and put in the blood, sweat, time, and tears. Each milestone in the writing journey brings new tasks and challenges. You need to find what works for you and your career. You need to carve out your writing time and guard it fiercely.

Build your author platform. Even if you’re fortunate to be traditionally published, you will still be expected to maintain a social media presence on a variety of sites and have a website and email list. It takes time to interact with your readers and build your following.

If you are querying agents or publishers, it takes time to research a good fit for your book and to prepare the needed documents to submit. Make sure you follow all instructions. The shotgun approach isn’t effective. You need to do your homework and find out who specializes in your type of book.

Prior to your publication date, you’ll have several rounds of edits and proofreads. Any missed deadlines or delays will affect the publication date. You need to make sure you check content, cover, and formatting. I found incorrect headers and footers in one anthology draft. In another anthology, part of a story was missing. Always read your proofs.

Pub day is exciting and lots of fun, but there are marketing tasks that need to be done before, during and after the celebration. Planning helps here. Decide where you’re going to spend your promotion time and money.

It is exhilarating to hold that book in your hand (Finally!) What an accomplishment and a lot of work. It’s a matter of balance. The writers I know who have deadlines and a routine are the most productive and most successful.

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Barbara Monajem

I’d like to welcome author, Barbara Monajem, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Books, books, books.

Things you need to throw out: Ditto. I got rid of some but so far can’t bring myself to cull any more.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My computer. It doesn’t matter where I am. I used to be able to write on paper, too, but my handwriting has deteriorated steadily and is now almost illegible.

Things that hamper your writing: Not having any idea what will happen in the next scene. Having a great idea about the next scene but not having time to write it.

Things you love about writing: I’m a pantser, so I just start writing and see what happens. It’s a thrill when the story comes together despite my complete lack of planning.

Things you hate about writing: Hate is too strong a word, but I don’t like promotion much. This is partly because I’m introverted and partly because I haven’t figured out how to do it without losing writing time, which is already hard to find.

Things you never want to run out of: Food and water.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Yarn that I will never use, especially if the moths have gotten to it.

Words that describe you: Introverted.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Ditto. Being introverted is inconvenient. I have learned to introduce myself to people at meetings and conferences, but I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable doing so.

Favorite foods: Cheese, almost any kind. Raw oysters. Most kinds of fruit. Arugula. Chocolate. And many more…

Things that make you want to gag: Baked beans. They don’t make me gag anymore, but I found them disgusting when I was a kid. I remember eating at a friend’s house, and dinner proved to be a big plate of…baked beans! Aaaagh! I was way too shy to complain, so I mastered the urge to gag and swallowed every mouthful.

Favorite beverage: Tea, especially with a bit of rose or cardamom flavor.

Something that gives you a sour face: Lemon juice, but it’s a good kind of sour.

Something you wish you could do: Speak several languages fluently.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: I don’t regret learning anything!

The last thing you ordered online: One of my own books. By accident – I clicked the wrong button.

The last thing you regret buying: See above.

Things you always put in your books: Romance, although in mysteries it’s either secondary or a slowly building relationship over several stories.

Things you never put in your books: Graphic violence

Favorite things to do: Writing. Cooking. Walking.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Well, I hate making phone calls. I would eat bugs if they were prepared properly. However, I’ll take a pass on running through a fire. Phone calls are much easier, when in put in perspective.

Most embarrassing moment: We ate at Olive Garden, and I was so full that I undid the button on the waistband of my skirt. I forgot to button it up again, so when I stood up to go, my skirt fell down! But it was actually pretty funny rather than embarrassing.

Proudest moment: I don’t think much in terms of pride. Maybe when my first paperback was published, eons ago?? It was a children’s fantasy, and I was thrilled, although I didn’t write anything else for ages after that.

About Barbara:

USA Today bestselling author Barbara Monajem wrote her first story at eight years old about apple tree gnomes. She published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young, then moved on to mystery, fantasy, and Regency romance for adults. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.

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Lady Rosamund and the Poison Pen:

Lady Rosamund Phipps, daughter of an earl, has a secret. Well, more than one. Such as the fact that she purposely married a man who promised to leave her alone and stick to his mistress. And a secret only her family knows—the mortifying compulsion to check things over and over. Society condemns people like her to asylums. But when she discovers the dead body of a footman on the stairs, everything she’s tried to hide for years may be spilled out in broad daylight.

First the anonymous caricaturist, Corvus, implicates Lady Rosamund in a series of scandalous prints. Worse, though, are the poison pen letters that indicate someone knows the shameful secret of her compulsions. She cannot do detective work on her own without seeming odder than she already is, but she has no choice if she is to unmask both Corvus and the poison pen. Her sanity—and her life—are at stake.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B087BBLLNL/

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen-barbara-monajem/1136829963

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/lady-rosamund-and-the-poison-pen/id1507264864

Lord Bellweather’s Lady:

How does a lady escape a fate worse than death? She runs away to the fairies...

When Augusta Furlough flees her vile brother to plead with the fairies to take her in, she’s rescued by a handsome stranger on a huge, dark charger, and whisked away to his home. Grateful but suspicious of his motives, she’s determined to leave and try the fairies once again.

Lord Bellweather, the half-human liaison with the fairies, spent most of his youth in their realm. Now he’s taking his place in the human world and must adapt to its peculiar customs. What better prospect for marriage than a delightful lady who understands human society and also believes in fairies?

But it’s not that simple, for Augusta is branded a madwoman, and Bellweather is also part hellhound, a ferocious otherworldly beast with which not even a desperate madwoman could fall in love.

Buy links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Bellweathers-Lady-Magical-Regency-ebook/dp/B08HSHKYBM

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Bellweathers-Lady-Magical-Regency-ebook/dp/B08HSHKYBM

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Lord-Bellweathers-Lady-Magical-Regency-ebook/dp/B08HSHKYBM

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Lord-Bellweathers-Lady-Magical-Regency-ebook/dp/B08HSHKYBM

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lord-bellweather-s-lady

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lord-bellweathers-lady-barbara-monajem/1137618360

#WriterWednesday Interview with Tina deBellegarde

I’d like to welcome author, Tina deBellegarde, to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Self-promotion. It’s so hard to say to a world full of great writing, Look at me, I’m an author, read me!

Easiest thing about being a writer: When the story and the characters take over. It fascinates me every time and it’s my favorite part of writing. I feel like I’m channeling.

Words that describe you: energetic, optimistic, compulsive problem-solver

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Short, worrier, insomniac, chatterbox (while also being an introvert)

Favorite foods: Croissants, lemon ice-cream, gnocchi, pizza on the grill, fresh fruit of any kind

Things that make you want to gag: Peach fuzz. It’s making me pucker just writing it.

Favorite music or song: Bossa Nova – It relaxes me under any conditions. I cook to it, I write to it, I clean to it.

Music that drives you crazy: Harpsichord

Favorite beverage: Daytime: Coffee, coffee, coffee. Evening: Bourbon

Something that gives you a sour face: Kiwi, love them and yet…

Something you wish you could do: Sing. My sister has a beautiful voice. Me, not so much. I grew up in a household where my dad sang or whistled all the time. My parents often played music at dinner and my dad would stop his meal to take me, my mom or my sister for a twirl around the kitchen. I could dance, but I couldn’t sing.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: File taxes and decipher legal documents.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Lemon ice-cream. A ride in a hot air balloon.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Snakes

Things you always put in your books: Music always seems to make it into my stories.

Things you never put in your books: Sex

Things to say to an author: Stick with it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Do it my way.

Favorite things to do: Writing, cooking, baking, binging old films, sitting in front of a fireplace reading, sitting by the ocean reading, sitting under a tree reading…talking to my husband and son about books and films.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Public Speaking

Most embarrassing moment: Playing Betsy Ross in the school play next to my second grade crush Patrick Henry.

Proudest moment: Seeing my son Alessandro off to live in Japan the day after he graduated. I thought he was so courageous and adventurous to just pick up and do that. I was so sad, but I never shed a tear until the plane took off. Sad or not, I was so proud of him. Ten years later he is still there.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Take hot air balloon piloting lessons

Something you chickened out from doing: Karaoke. Did I mention I can’t sing?

The coolest person you’ve ever met: A serenading monk at the Daisen-In Zen Temple in Kyoto. When he learned I was from New York, he sang My Way for me.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I once passed Mary Tyler Moore on the street walking her dog. She was so completely covered with a scarf, hat and huge dark glasses that I never noticed her. My friend, who was MTM’s neighbor, told me after the fact.

About Tina:

Tina deBellegarde lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis and their cat Shelby. Winter Witness is the first book in the Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Series. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. When she isn’t writing, Tina is helping Denis tend their beehives, harvest shiitake mushrooms, and cultivate their vegetable garden. She travels to Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro. Tina did her graduate studies in history. She is a former exporter, paralegal, teacher, and library clerk. Visit her website for more information and purchase links: www.tinadebellegarde.com

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Use Your Time Wisely - Tips for Writers

“Use your time wisely,” was the mantra of my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Wells. Make sure you use available time to work ahead and complete tasks. I can still hear her voice in my head. This applies to writers, too.

There is a lot of downtime or waiting time in the writing process. When you send queries to agents or publishers, you could wait weeks or months for the response (if there is one). If you’re traditionally published, there is also a lot of time between signing the contract and getting your box of books.

Use your time wisely. Write your next book. Many publishing contracts are for a series. If you’ve only written the first book, you will suddenly have a series of deadlines. There is also a lot of downtime after you send the manuscript to your editor and before you get proofs.

It took me close to five years from when I started my first Delanie novel until it was published. I’ve gotten faster over the years. I have a daily quota now when I’m writing a novel. I try to hit my word count during each writing session. It does make a difference. I wrote two novels, one novella, and three short stories last year. I also did revisions and edits to two other books.

Writers need to build their social media platforms when they start writing. Start a blog or podcast. Find ways to grow your email list. Build up followers on your sites. Agents and publishers do look at your sites to see how active you are on social media.

You need to balance your life and your writing time, but make sure you’re taking advantage of the downtime.

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Tammy Euliano

I’d like to welcome mystery author, Tammy Euliano, to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My dogs underfoot – they keep me company and entertained Things that hamper your writing: My dogs underfoot – they want to be entertained (“the ball’s not going to throw itself ya know”)

Things you love about writing: When I get in the flow and the characters seem to know where they’re going and it all makes sense and the words rush onto the page…wait, that wasn’t me, just kidding.

Things you hate about writing: That the above doesn’t happen more often. Also, unlike my day-job, there’s no metric to know whether I’m doing it “right.” In fact, there is no “right.” It’s so non-quantitative and therefore different from my day job and therefore also something I love about writing.

Favorite beverage: Diet Mountain Dew Something that gives you a sour face:

Coffee or tea…or alcohol unfortunately. My mom always said I’d be a better mother if I’d learn to drink wine in the evenings.

Something you’re really good at: staying dedicated to an exercise plan – every morning at 6am. Something you’re really bad at: staying dedicated to an eating plan – every morning at 7am, and 8am, and 9:30am, and…hey wait, I’m hungry.

Something you wish you could do: play tennis with a decent forehand

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: play racquetball because now I stand too close to the tennis ball, expecting the shorter racket…or maybe, just possibly, having played racquetball briefly 40 years ago is only an excuse…naaahhh

Last best thing you ate: Captain Jack’s ice cream dessert at Ale House

Last thing you regret eating: Any ice cream that wasn’t part of Captain Jack’s

Things you always put in your books: a wonderful dog

Things you never put in your books: sex, at least so far, but my husband says I need to…but I don’t think he knows what he’s suggesting…ugh

Things to say to an author: I loved your book, loved your characters, loved everything about it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I liked your book, but you should have …

Favorite places you’ve been: Banff, Canada; Swiss alps; Galapagos; Costa Rica; most anywhere hiking or skiing with friends or family

Places you never want to go to again: Haiti, anywhere with A-- wait, did you say people might read this? Just Haiti

Favorite books (or genre): Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache series!!! And of course Harry Potter which I read aloud to my whole family on the sectional couch.

Books you wouldn’t buy: anything meant to spur hatred and dissension without presenting a balanced opinion. Yeah, rules out most of the non-fiction section.

Things that make you happy: Time spent with family, friends, dogs, outdoors, mountains, beaches, playing sports, games, sunrises and sunsets, Gator sports

Things that drive you crazy: traffic; other people “sharing” their music at volume on the road (mine of course is universally loved); people, especially medical trainees, who don’t recognize the responsibility that goes with opportunity.

About Tammy

Tammy Euliano writes medical thrillers inspired by her day job as a physician, researcher and medical educator.  She is a tenured professor at the University of Florida, where she's been honored with numerous teaching awards, nearly 100,000 views of her YouTube teaching videos, and was featured in a calendar of women inventors (copies available wherever you buy your out-of-date calendars). At home, she plays games or sports with her family, cuddles her dogs, reads, and writes medical thrillers. Her debut novel, “Fatal Intent,” will be published by Oceanview in March, 2021. 

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Say Cheese - Headshot Tips for Authors

Authors need a professional headshot. Selfies or photos taken with a cell phone are great for social media candids, but they shouldn’t be your primary image. Here are some tips that I’ve learned through the years.

• Invest in a professional photograph. Your writing is your business.

• Lighting and location are key.

• Make sure you’ve done your hair and makeup.

• Choose clothing that has a solid color and not busy or patterned prints.

• Choose jewelry you want to appear in the photos. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and others will show.

• Take several outfits with you if you are having a studio session.

• Outside shots are great, but be mindful of the wind and background photobombers.

• Choose a photographer who can touch up your photo digitally.

• Avoid using a photo where you’ve cropped out others. You can tell that you’re standing beside someone.

• Update your author photo regularly. I have been to author events where we were looking for the person in the photo, and it turned out to be from 20 years ago.

• You need quality photos that can be used on the web and in print. You should have copies of your photos in different sizes and pixel quality. (You don’t want to send an 8x10 or a 11x14 to a blogger or a reviewer.)

• Make sure that you have the rights to the photos and that you can use them in your promotion.

In a past life, my husband was a photographer, and he does great photos for me. But I do go to a studio for my headshots. The one that I use does hair and makeup before the session, and it’s always a fun afternoon.

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Ellen Byron

I’d like to welcome one of my favorite mystery authors, Ellen Bryon, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Books, my needlepoint projects, my doggy.

Things you need to throw out: So much I can’t even list it all! Our house could be on an episode of Hoarders.

Things you need for your writing sessions: my computer – desk or laptop; a printout of my notes; a Papermate Sharpwriter pencil.

Things that hamper your writing: the internet.

Things you love about writing: coming up with a great plot twist, a wonderful image, or a clever joke. Things you hate about writing: those moments or hours when none of the things mentioned above are coming to me.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Just doing it.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Pretending that “research” counts as writing!

Things you never want to run out of: Ideas.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Any item of clothing that didn’t fit when I bought it, but I bought anyway because it would fit when I “lost weight.”

Words that describe you: driven, generous, creative, funny.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: stubborn, obsessive, impatient, competitive.

Favorite foods: Pizza, spaghetti, sushi, cake, See’s chocolate.

Things that make you want to gag: Cilantro and anything coffee-flavored. Even See’s. If I bite into a piece of chocolate and it’s coffee-flavored, I not only spit it out, I rinse my mouth. I even hate coffee ice cream, which even non-coffee lovers seem to like.

Favorite music or song: “Get Down Tonight,” by KC and the Sunshine Band. I think it’s the best pop song ever written and no one will ever convince me otherwise. I live for all songs KC! My favorite band EVER. Music that drives you crazy: Slide guitar. It’s like nails on a chalk board to me.

Favorite beverage: Tea.

Something that gives you a sour face: Root beer. Blecch. And have I mentioned I hate coffee?

Favorite smell: roses.

Something that makes you hold your nose: garlic.

Something you wish you could do: go en pointe in ballet. Not having achieved this is one of my biggest regrets.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Needlepoint. It’s a very pricey hobby. But I do love it and it relaxes me.

Things you always put in your books: recipes, even though I’m not much of a cook.

Things you never put in your books: dead children or animals.

Favorite things to do: Write, dance, read, and needlepoint.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Clean. Some people clean to procrastinate from writing. I write to procrastinate from cleaning!

Most embarrassing moment: In high school, I played Duke Vincentio in an all-female production of Measure for Measure. The kid doing a costume change for me forgot to put out the pants for my costume, so I had to go onstage in just my tights. Thank God I at least had those on!

Proudest moment: Winning the Agatha Award for Mardi Gras Murder.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Have our daughter. Although there are days when both of us might not agree about this!

Biggest mistake: Turning down an overall deal from a studio that would have forced my then-TV writing partner and I to work on a show we didn’t like. In the end, we should have sucked it up and worked on the show because the deal would have had better long-term effects on our career.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Martha Stewart, who I worked for as a cater-waiter when she was just starting out. You’ll find me standing next to Martha in a photo on page 29 of early editions of her first book, Entertaining.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I’ve either written for or interviewed a ton of celebrities and honestly, they all looked like their photos. Sometimes they even look better, as in the case of a certain actress with the initials LL who was caught up in the college admissions scandal. I met with her on a possible project years ago and she was even prettier in person.

About Ellen:

Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Her new Catering Hall Mystery series, written as Maria DiRico, launched with Here Comes the Body, and was inspired by her real life. Her pen name was the maiden name of her late nonna, Maria DiVirgilio, a long-time Astoria resident. Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

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Buy links  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647531/murder-in-the-bayou-boneyard-by-ellen-byron/

 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=murder+in+the+bayou+boneyard+a+cajun+country+mystery&crid=JGK2M6U6FKH&sprefix=murder+in+the+bayou%2Caps%2C202&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_19

Getting Focused - Staying Focused

I’m not sure about you, but since the pandemic started, I’ve had days where I had trouble focusing on writing. I call it COVID brain. I get distracted by life, Zoom meetings, social media, horrible news, you name it. Here are some tips that have helped me focus, refocus, and stay focused.

• Take a break from the news and news sites. It’ll still be there when you go back to check it. Constant bombardment of bad and depressing news takes its toll on you, your attitude, and motivation.

• Try to schedule your writing time as work time and have tasks that need to be completed (e.g. writing, editing, revising, etc.). I stay on task when I know there’s a deadline.

• If you’re writing, set goals for daily word counts. This helps me stay on track and to see progress.

• Find your team. The writing life is often lonely. Make sure you have writer friends to share celebrations and bumps in the road with.

• My critique groups keep me motivated. I’m in two groups, and we meet once a month. I know I have a deadline to provide pages to them. I also like hanging out with my writer friends to see what they’ve been up to lately.

• Turn off the streaming, TV, internet, or other distractions when you’re working. I’ll check my social media sites, but I close the browser after a set time. It’s too easy to get lost in puppy or kitten videos.

• Limit your research time. It’s important when you’re plotting, but if you stop writing to research something, you often don’t get back to your rhythm. Make a note in the margin and save your research tasks for another time.

• Don’t edit or revise while you write. Get your first draft down. Then go back to do your polishing.

• When you can’t get motivated or the words don’t flow, take a break. Exercise, do something creative, take a walk, or take a nap. Use the time to refocus your thoughts. Sometimes, when you relax your mind, you’re able to solve the plot holes and get around the roadblocks.

• If you get off track, don’t beat yourself up. Assess where you are and start your writing process again.

I hope you’re doing well and being productive during this crazy time. Watch out for the distractions! Be safe!