What Have You Done for Your Writing Life Lately?

Professionals in all kinds of fields need to do continuing education or training for their certifications and careers. Writers need to keep up with new trends and old standards in the writing, publication, and marketing worlds as well.

This is a lot easier in the pandemic world since many workshops and conferences have gone virtual. I have been able to attend writing conferences, training, workshops, and other meetings that I wouldn’t normally be able to do if I had to travel. And I’ve learned a lot this year.

Writing organizations offer many free or low cost courses. Many of these are recorded, so you can watch them on your own schedule and not have to participate in the live event.

Many tools like Google Analytics, Canva, Bookbrush, etc. have great training videos for their products. And if the vendor doesn’t, more than likely you can find some folks who have posted how-tos on YouTube.

You need to make sure that you’re growing and learning. You need to add new tools to your toolbox and improve your craft, but don’t overdo it and let it cut into your writing time. Early in my writing life, I bought every book on writing that I could find. Then I realized I was reading more about writing that I was actually writing. I kept two of the best books, and the rest went to the friends of the library sale for someone else to use.

Life-long learning is important. The publication world and social media seem to change on a daily basis. Make sure that you do something for yourself.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Melissa Powell Gay

I’d like to welcome my friend, Melissa Powell Gay, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things:

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens (and all the Sound of Music songs.)

Things you need to throw out:

Reams of paper that are drafts of my first novel. (Was saving them for the posthumous library.)

Favorite music or song:

See answer to first question.

Music that drives you crazy:

Songs filled with profanity, written and performed to shock. I like hip-hop and rap. But the more radical rappers (especially women) do a disservice to womankind when they verbally masturbate, eviscerate, eliminate, and denigrate their sexual partners in front of millions of followers. Not a good example for the young ones watching-and we know they’re watching.

Favorite beverage:

I’m addicted to Diet Coke. I know, I know, it’s not as hip or as funny as saying I’m addicted to Coke but DC is my monkey.

Something that gives you a sour face:

Lemons, definitely lemons.

Favorite smell:

Lavender. And the top of a baby’s head. Is the latter too creepy?

Something that makes you hold your nose:

These days? Voting in the national election.

Something you’re really good at:

Seeing both sides of an argument. However, it’s a curse when I have to decide which flavor of ice cream is the smarter choice.

Something you’re really bad at:

Extemporaneous answers but give me five minutes and a web browser and I can nail it.

Something you wish you could do:

Fly. With a cape. And boots. Got to have the kick-butt boots.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do:

Scroll while writing. My daily writing routine sometimes gets highjacked by The Sirens of Social Media

Something you like to do:

Nothing.

Something you wish you’d never done:

Told my husband I can cook.

The last thing you ordered online:

Is this a trick question? A book, of course.

The last thing you regret buying:

That dress I really liked but it was a tad snug however I convinced myself that I’d drop a pound or two before the day of the big event then I didn’t so the dress is still in the closet, with the tags still on it, staring at me EVERY TIME I OPEN MY CLOSET DOOR.

Things you’d walk a mile for:

Water. A bathroom. In that order.

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

Listening to political speeches. Listening to others talk about the political speeches.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living):

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog. You mean together, right?

People you’d cancel dinner on:

The guy that forgot his wallet the last time we meet for dinner.

Favorite things to do:

Make up stories. This comes in handy since I’m a fiction writer.

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

I don’t react to coercion very well. I do, however, force my characters to do it.

The coolest person you’ve ever met:

My husband.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video:

I met Samuel L. Jackson at a Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas once. He was gracious and polite, unlike the surly and devious characters he often plays in the movies.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

Ah, “I read your book.”? No, seriously, the nicest thing a reader has said to me is, “I liked your book. I gave it to my friend to read.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

Reader: “I really like that part where she smashed in the guy’s head.”

Me, to reader: “Wow, thanks.”

Me, to myself: “I’ve never written a scene like that. Maybe I should.”

About Melissa and Her Books:

Melissa Powell Gay lives and writes in Glen Allen, Virginia. Featuring the Southern storytelling genre, her novels and short stories champion themes of self-reliance and independent thinking. Sprinkled with a dash of humor, her work is for any reader over the age of eighteen. She is the author of four books and is busy working on her fifth.

Talking To Herself  (October, 2020)

 It’s Christmas. The year is 2049 and Amara Vivian Graves is mourning the loss of her husband of forty years. While participating in a bio-nanochip treatment plan to address her depression, Amara finds herself hurled back to the year 1999. There she meets the younger version of her future husband. Over the course of her second Christmas of 1999, Amara must decide to stay in the past or return to her reality of day-to-day living without her one true love.

When Are You Leaving (2016)

 Set in southwestern Virginia, this story is about small town living in a 21st century world. Iris Lee, an unemployed bank executive, comes home to Mt Pleasant to take care of her aging parents and to find out why the local police want to arrest her father, a paragon for Virginia gentlemen, for selling drugs to the locals.

Every Now & Then (2018)

Every Now & Then is a second Mt Pleasant novel. A dual narrative, the Now reveals hidden family secrets and why they called Iris Lee’s father “Mr.” Henry. The Then narrative takes the reader back to mid-20th century and tells the story of Henry and his brother Ben and their love for one woman.

Parkland Tales, Stories for 3 a.m. Readings (2016)

Hailed as a pleasant distraction on sleepless nights, this series of connected stories is about the furry and feathered residents of Parkland, an urban park. Inspired by city parks and classic literary characters like Don Quixote, Bambi Deer, Romeo and Juliet and others, Parkland Tales is for every adult who still likes a good story to ease into sleepy times.

 All titles can be found at Amazon Books, Barnes & Noble Online, and any Indi Bound Online bookstore.

Support a local bookstore. Consider purchasing these books online at Book No Further (Roanoke, Virginia) and Book People (Richmond, Virginia.)

Let’s Be Social:

Website

Facebook

 Twitter

How Much Editing Does Your Work Get?

Editing and revising are my least favorite part of the writing process, but I would argue that they are probably the most important. This is the part where your work is refined, polished, and made the best it can be. You usually only have one chance when querying an agent or an editor, and your work needs to be its best. I have a writer friend in another genre who always says he doesn’t have the time or money to invest in editing. Without revisions, you’re not submitting a quality product. You can also find critique groups, critique partners, or beta readers who can help you get your WIP (Work in Progress) in shape.

After I have done two or three or ten rounds of self-revisions, I submit it to my critique group. We meet monthly and read 50 pages of everyone’s WIP. It helps to get different perspectives and reactions to your stories. It is also a mystery critique group, so all the members are familiar with the conventions of the genre and subgenres.

Then when after all those revisions, I send the manuscript to a small group of trusted beta readers who are also mystery writers. We read each other’s manuscripts.

For manuscripts that I plan to query, I usually hire a professional editor for revisions and proofreading.

After I make all these changes, then the novel is ready for my agent and publisher for final reads and edits. That’s usually three or more rounds of edits/revisions.

Writers need a thick skin. Edits and revisions often feel like criticism when really they shouldn’t be. We do a lot of things well, and our editors help us produce the best possible product for our readers. The ultimate goal is to sell books.

The first time I submitted my beautiful manuscript to the critique group was eye-opening for me. After the feedback, I wanted to throw it in a drawer and abandon all hope. I learned to wait a few days after the meeting before I made edits. That gave me a bit of time to review the constructive criticism and not react emotionally. Most is extremely helpful. Many times things that I thought were perfectly clear in my mind we not necessarily clear to the early readers.

As a writer you need to hone your craft, and that comes with practice and feedback. It’s important that you build your trusted network of early readers, critiquers, and editors. I learn as much from the discussions of the others’ work as I do from the discussion of my pages.

Sisters in Crime, James River Writers, and other writing groups often has critique groups, workshops, and opportunities for authors to help other authors. Check out the online and local groups in your area.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a great celebration!

Ours will be much smaller, but we’ll still get to connect with friends and family over Zoom. Be safe!

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with J. A. Dennam

I’d like to welcome author, J. A. Dennam, to the blog for the Thanksgiving edition of #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: My chickens, motorcycles, and traveling the Midwest.

Things you need to throw out: 9/10 of my belongings. With age I have come to appreciate the minimalist lifestyle.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Coffee, a quiet space (my she-shack in particular) and Internet.

Things that hamper your writing: Rules.

Things you never want to run out of: Ground beef and toilet paper.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Excuses.

Words that describe you: Trusting, creative, tolerant, affectionate, hermit.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Procrastinator, obsessive-compulsive.

Favorite foods: Key lime pie, pizza, and cheeseburgers.

Things that make you want to gag: Pineapple on pizza. Who thought that was a good idea?

 Favorite smell: My husband fresh out of the shower.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Rotting corpses.

 Something you’re really good at: Improvising.
Something you’re really bad at: Social media.

Things you always put in your books: Hot sex.
Things you never put in your books: Weak heroes and heroines.

Favorite places you’ve been: South Dakota and Wyoming.
Places you never want to go to again: Big cities and hospitals.

Favorite things to do: Ride motorcycles, get pedicures, and write books that excite me.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: A full-time desk job…which I have.

Things that make you happy: My family, home, and growing bucket list.
Things that drive you crazy: My family, home, and growing bucket list.

 Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Skydiving.
Something you chickened out from doing: Working on a scissor lift. I have a terrible fear of heights.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I was late to work because I couldn’t put your book down until 2:00 am.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I see Danny Bennett in you (heroine in TRUTH AND HUMILITY). I wish!

About J. A.:

J.A. DENNAM resides in a small Kansas town with her husband and children. Creativity is her strong suit having nurtured a career as a western artist and graphic artist.

Storytelling, however, has been a part of her life since childhood. At six years of age, insomnia forced her to endure many long, sleepless nights staring at the ceiling. After confessing her problem to her older sister, the two of them decided to tell each other stories to entice sleep; however, the inevitable snore always tore through her sister’s nose before she could utter the words Once Upon a Time. So the stories began to flow in silence, her imagination taking her to quiet, private places so enthralling, the sudden trick was to stay awake.

Those habits carried on to adulthood until the need to purge her stories demanded she put them in print. Her fascination with romance, fast cars, and adventure films is what structures her novels today.

Let’s Be Social:

 Website: http://jadennam.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/jadennamauthor/

Twitter: J. A. Dennam (@JADennam) / Twitter

Instagram: Author J.A. Dennam (@ja_dennam) • Instagram photos and videos

Goodreads: J.A. Dennam (Author of Truth and Humility) | Goodreads

New Vocabulary For The New Normal

The new normal brings with it a whole host of challenges and new ways of doing things. It also brings its own vocabulary. I received a notice from the AP Style Book a week ago about its new standards for Covid-related words. Here are some interesting words and phrases for your lexicon.

Blursday - This was my favorite. Covid Brain makes it hard for me to remember what day it is sometimes.

Corona Babies or Coronials - Children conceived during the lockdown.

Coronacation - It’s a staycation during the quarantine.

Corona Cuts - Cutting one’s own hair during the pandemic. Don’t cut your bangs!

Covid-10 or Covid-15 - A reference to weight gain during the quarantine.

Covid Brain - That fuzzy-headedness you get because of all the change, gloom, and anxiety.

Covid Idiots - You can figure it out. Maskhole is often a synonym.

Doomscrolling/Doomsurfing - This is when you scroll through your social media feeds looking for news of the next crisis.

Extreme Teleworking - When there’s no split between home and work life. It feels like it’s all day, every day.

Fashion Mullet- When you professionally dress for a video conference from the waist up and wear shorts or pj bottoms with your flip flops. (All business on the top; party on the bottom.)

Flatten the Curve - The work done to stave off the virus and reduce the number of infections.

Hamsteren - Hoarding (stuffing one’s cheeks like a hamster).

Magpie - Like hamsteren, it’s storing supplies for the lockdown.

Maskne - The facial breakouts caused by wearing masks for long periods of time.

Quaranteam - These are the small group of folks in your bubble who you have contact with regularly.

Quaranteens - Teenagers during the pandemic.

Quarantini - Any cocktail you mix at home.

Virtual Happy Hour - Video meet up with friends for drinks or to socialize.

WFH - Work From Home

Zoombombing/Zoomraiding - When others, with bad intentions, crash and take control of video conferences.

Zoom Fatigue - That feeling that comes from way too many video conference calls.

Zumping - Breaking off a relationship via Zoom.

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Valerie J. Brooks

I’d like to welcome author, Valerie J. Brooks, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things: my Paris pen; my crystal-encrusted moon necklace, à la Stevie Nicks; my library

Things you need to throw out: recently, I redid my writing studio and threw out binders of papers that no longer seemed useful now that we have the internet; plus I took everything out of the room and only put those things back that I really wanted, much easier than trying to pick it off, one at a time.

Things you need for your writing sessions: my Bose earphones while listening to Creative Mind System’s “Vision” and “Inspiration” by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson

Things that hamper your writing: getting started

Things you love about writing: it’s a combination of the immersive, like reading a great book, and the analytical; writing psychological femmes-noir thrillers is like solving a puzzle

Things you hate about writing: getting started

Hardest thing about being a writer:

When I was a visual artist, people saw my work in its different stages and said things like “I could never do that!” Now you can even post your paintings on the web. Writing a novel is different. It takes a long time to finish a novel, and it’s difficult to get out to your audience. Plus, some people think anyone can be a writer just because everyone can put words to pages.

Easiest thing about being a writer: LOL; Ok, seriously? Probably having your own hours.

Favorite music or song: Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”

Music that drives you crazy: klezmer

Favorite beverage: kombucha
Something that gives you a sour face: lima beans

Favorite smell: amber
Something that makes you hold your nose: heavy chemical perfumes

Something you’re really good at: theorizing, according to my husband
Something you’re really bad at: trying not to fix everything

Something you wish you could do: sing professionally

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: I’m happy about everything I’ve learned, even if I’m not good at it, because it always has a benefit, especially for a writer

Something you like to do: travel more, but that’s not an option right now
Something you wish you’d never done: given my dad fits when I was a teen

The last thing you ordered online: purple fairy lights for my studio

The last thing you regret buying: a “Smart Reusable Notebook”; it sounded great, but it had that horrible plastic smell that makes me sick

Things you’d walk a mile for: People; I’d walk a mile or more for my family.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: things don’t bother me, but self absorbed, aggressive people with no empathy do

Things you always put in your books: themes of justice and fairness; dogs; and three-dimensional characters
Things you never put in your books: gore for gore’s sake; sex can’t be gratuitous, must always develop character.

Things to say to an author: “Really? How cool. Tell me what that’s like?”
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I have this great idea that I think you should use for a novel.” So many people ask right away, “Oh, have you published?” Not a good start.

Favorite places you’ve been: Paris
Places you never want to go to again: none

Favorite books (or genre): I’m an eclectic reader, but at the moment, I’m reading anything noir as that’s what I write.
Books you wouldn’t buy: cookbooks

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Stevie Nicks, Richard Branson, Michelle Obama, Helen Mirren, Laura Lippman.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Trump and his minions

Favorite things to do: writing and gathering with my family
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: dusting

Things that make you happy: dancing and being with my family
Things that drive you crazy: not being able to be with my family because of Covid

Best thing you’ve ever done: had a family
Biggest mistake: I don’t think of mistakes as bad. If you didn’t make mistakes, you’d never learn.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: be a professional writer.

Something you chickened out from doing: rappelling into caves with the family; I hate that type of physical “adventure”

The funniest thing to happen to you: too many to mention!

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: too many to mention!

The coolest person you’ve ever met: my bestie, Jan Eliot, who is one of the world’s best and one of a few female syndicated cartoonists with her strip “Stone Soup”; sadly she’s retired and we all miss her daily strip.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Robert Kennedy; he looked small, irritable, and was unfriendly, nothing like Jack

The nicest thing a reader said to you: I had a stranger call me from Maine to say how much one of my stories affected her and how much it helped her to read the story; it was in the anthology France, a Love Story, and was about what I learned about my father the first time I went to ParisThe craziest thing a reader said to you: at a wedding, I was approached (almost accosted) by someone who was a tipsy and wouldn’t let me up until he told me the story he was going to “give” me to write.

 About Valerie

Award-winning author Valerie J. Brooks is a lifelong writer and reader, enjoying everything from Daphne du Maurier to the latest Scandinavian crime writers. Her English war bride mum and artistic army officer dad raised her and two siblings in ultra conservative New Hampshire during the 1950-60s. Growing up in puritanical New England, she was drawn to the gothic, to secrets, mystery, and the dark side of human nature. As her mum once said, “You’re a good girl who wants to be bad.” Now she has the perfect conduit for her “bad girl” side—writing noir.

Her college studies of film noir led her to write noir. She combines her interests in politics, culture, travel, psychology and women’s issues while writing strong, gutsy women who make mistakes and have lots of baggage. As the saying goes, and Brooks expanded upon, “Well-behaved women seldom make history—or good novels.”

She received an Elizabeth George Foundation grant and the Monticello Award for Fiction. For four years, she served as fiction editor at Northwest Review, was a member of the Oregon Writers Colony board of directors, and co-founded the Willamette Writers Speakers Series.

She writes psychological femmes-noir thrillers. The first in a trilogy Revenge in 3 Parts was a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award and a winner in the International Reader’s Favorites Awards in the thriller category. Her second novel in the trilogy Tainted Times 2 has just been released.

If she were hypnotized and regressed, she said she probably would have been a psychiatrist or a witch.

Book Links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Parts-Valerie-J-Brooks/dp/1732373205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534903639&sr=1-1&keywords=revenge+in+3+parts

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/revenge-in-3-parts-valerie-j-brooks/1129217190?ean=9781732373211

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/revenge-in-3-parts

iBook

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/revenge-in-3-parts/id1420858674?ls=1&mt=11

Bookshop.org

https://bookshop.org/shop/valerie_j_brooks

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Tainted-Times-Novel-Angeline-Porter/dp/1732373221/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1598817737&sr=1-1

Nook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tainted-times-2-valerie-j-brooks/1137513394?ean=9781732373228

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tainted-times-2-1

 Bookshop.org

https://bookshop.org/shop/valerie_j_brooks

iBook 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/tainted-times-2/id1528910926?mt=11&app=itunes

Let’s Be Social:

Website

http://www.valeriejbrooks.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/NoirTravelStories

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/valinparis/

Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.com/valinparis/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/ValinParis

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriejbrooks/

Book Marketing Ideas in the Middle of a Pandemic

The pandemic turned book marketing and events upside down. Thankfully, a lot of conferences and workshops have moved to virtual formats. Authors, book sellers, and event planners have had to muster their creativity and find new or other ways to do things.

Here are some ideas to add to your toolbox.

1. Blog Tours (Paid and Free) - Look for blog tour services that will help you set up interviews, reviews, and guest posts.

2. Facebook/Twitter Parties - Look for companies that provide hosted social media parties (usually for a fee). They organize the event on an event page or a site where an author can “take over” for the event. You can also create your own party. It’s a good idea to have some writer friends join you and to do a variety of give aways. Make sure you review the social media platform’s terms and conditions. They do change from time to time.

3. Make a list of all your author/book friends who have blogs. Ask for an interview or guest blog spot to promote your new book. I offer interview spots for authors on my blog. You can send me a message on the “Contact” page if you’re interested.

4. Talk to your indie bookstore owners. Many are doing free and ticketed virtual events.

5. Reach out to your librarians. Many are doing virtual programs, and you can pitch a panel or workshop that you can lead.

6. Look for book clubs who host in-person or virtual speakers. Ask friends and watch Facebook groups. There are lots of book clubs that have moved to the virtual space.

7. There are also services out there that help authors expand BookBub, email lists, and other social media followings.

If you’re going to use a service, read the fine print, and ask other author friends about their experiences. Make sure the service caters to your genre and type of book.

What else would you add to my list?