Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts

Straight from the Mouth of Christine Amsden, Author of the Urban Fantasy 'Kaitlin's Tale'

How to Work Hard and Lose Money

I love writing. Loved it since I was a kid, staring out the window and daydreaming about being an alien princess sent to Earth because my planet was at war and I was in grave peril. My parents didn't tell me for my own protection, of course. When they did, I'd get properly mad for a while, then forgive them. After all, they did have my best interests at heart and besides, who has time for anger when you have a planet to save? Okay, then I turned thirteen and my mom became the villain of the piece, but I got over that around the time I went to college. By then I had rewritten the story so many times that it became more than a daydream – it was my adolescent coping mechanism.

I dreamed of becoming an author, too. (You can be a writer without becoming an author. Really.) From the show “Murder, She Wrote” I gathered that an author was instantly recognizable across the United States when she introduced herself. Whenever Jessica Fletcher met one of her many, many fans, I'd imagine if was me:

“Christine Amsden. You're not THE Christine Amsden?”

“Why yes, yes I am.”

“I've read every single one of your books! I love them.”

“Oh, thank you. You're too kind.”

You have heard of me, right? Christine Amsden? Author of the Cassie Scot series, The Immortality Virus, Touch of Fate, and most recently Kaitlin's Tale? Of course you have! I've traveled the bloggersphere for years, been well-reviewed, won awards, and sold thousands of copies of my books.

I'm pretty sure Jessica sold hundreds of thousands of books though. Maybe millions.

Wait … what's that? You loved Cassie Scot and can't wait to read about her friend Kaitlin? (Seriously, you can put that in the comments. I won't mind. :) ) Oh, thank you. You're too kind.

Seriously though, writing is a labor of love. Becoming an author … getting published … is incredibly hard work. Authors do most of their own promotion these days, which may be why 90% of books don't sell more than 100 copies. Or maybe it's because the market is simply saturated with books on every topic known to mankind. We're talking hundreds of thousands – and that's before we get into self-publishing. Book sales haven't increased due to this significant upturn in publishing. In fact, they've decreased overall! The print industry has taken a huge hit, with ebook sales actually going up through 2013. After that, they leveled off and it's anyone's guess what they will do in the future.

Amazon has cornered the ebook market in a way that frankly frightens me. Ask any author at all and you better believe they're doing business with Amazon. We don't have a choice! But Amazon is looking for ways to increase ebook profits for themselves that don't necessarily mean increased profits for authors.

What does this all mean for you? Maybe nothing. Maybe you're still working on your labor of love and if so, good for you! Writing can be cathartic. It's a form of creative expression and I'm a big fan of creative expression.

I just know that writing is also almost always done with an audience in mind. It's more than words on a page, more than a daydream. It's a plea to be heard. I get that.

I also know that I'm an extremely hard worker. For some reason the “lazy author working on his book” is a popular cliché, but I don't see it in my writing circles. I see hundreds and hundreds of people, just like me, who work very, very hard. Many of them are good, too! It's hard not to be when you write every day for twenty or thirty years, even if you only carve out an hour each day. And that's the kind of dedication I'm talking about. It's the kind of dedication that I myself have put into honing my craft.

The American Dream suggests that working so hard should reap certain financial rewards. In some fields, perhaps, but if you're going into publishing then the odds are good that you're going to work hard and lose money. Breaking even or making a small profit is awesome. Making a living … well, bestsellers do exist. Just think about how many bestsellers there are vs. how many authors there are.

I'm still dreaming. I'm entitled. :)

But I'm also realistic. For over three years now, I've taken on editing projects in addition to writing my own stuff. The editing pays better, and with much less effort. If I could stop writing, I'd switch to editing full time, but it's kind of an addiction. So I use editing to support my writing habit.

If you've got a writing habit and need professional help feel free to contact me and ask about my editing services, which include developmental editing, coaching, and copy editing. My rates are very reasonable. :)


Oh, and my books are great. I've bled my soul into them. I'm not sure how far above breaking even I've swum financially, but I still have the satisfaction of knowing that I've written them. And of course, I have the dream.


                                                                                         Title: Kaitlin’s Tale

Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal romance
Author: Christine Amsden
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
About the Book:
Kaitlin Mayer is on the run from the father of her baby – a vampire who wants her to join him in deadly eternity. Terrified for her young son, she seeks sanctuary from the hunters guild. But they have their own plans for her son, and her hopes of safety are soon shattered.
When she runs into Matthew Blair, an old nemesis with an agenda of his own, she dares to hope for a new escape. But Matthew is a telepath, and Kaitlin’s past is full of dark secrets she never intended to reveal.
About the Author:
Christine is the award-winning author of the Cassie Scot series, the story of the only ungifted scion of a family of powerful sorcerers. Her latest novel, Kaitlin’s Tale, follows the trials of Cassie’s best friend as she falls in love with Cassie’s arch-nemesis. Christine’s other titles include The Immortality Virus, Touch of Fate, and Madison’s Song.
When she isn’t writing, Christine is often editing or coaching other authors. In recent years, freelance editing has become almost as great a passion as writing itself. Plus, it supports her writing habit. Christine is a wife, a mom, and a foster mom. She lives in Olathe, Kansas, just outside Kansas City.
Connect with the author on the web:
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Straight from the Mouth of 'Butterfly Waltz' Jane Tesh

Jane Tesh is a retired media specialist and pianist for the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mt. Airy, NC, the real Mayberry. She is the author of the Madeline Maclin Series, A Case of Imagination, A Hard Bargain, A Little Learning, and A Bad Reputation, featuring former beauty queen, Madeline “Mac” Maclin and her con man husband, Jerry Fairweather.  Stolen Hearts is the first in the Grace Street Mystery Series, featuring PI David Randall, his psychic friend, Camden, Randall’s love interest, Kary Ingram, and Cam’s career-driven girlfriend, Ellin Belton, as well as an ever-changing assortment of Cam’s tenants.  Mixed Signals is the second in the series, followed by Now You See It and Just You Wait. Jane’s mysteries are all published by Poisoned Pen Press, located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Butterfly Waltz is her first published fantasy novel from Silver Leaf Books. All of Jane’s books are on the light side with humor and romance.

Jane’s website is www.janetesh.com.  Her blog can be found at www.janetesh.wordpress.com.  She also has a Face Book page for the Grace Street Series, www.facebook.com/GraceStreetMysterySeries.  Her Twitter page is www.twitter.com/janetesh, and her Amazon Author page is www.amazon.com/author/janetesh.

Questionnaire:

Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

Writing chose me!  I’ve always been an author as far back as I can remember (which is way back, trust me.)

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

It’s terrific!  I am in control of my universe.  I can’t control anything in real life, but the fantasy world bows to my commands.  That’s the main perk.  The demands are few, and I don’t mind them.  A little extra work for publicity, attending events, maintaining a blog.  It’s all for the good of the cause.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

In 1968, when I was 18, I decided to get a book published.  Self-publishing was very expensive and the product didn’t look as polished as self-published books are today.  From the beginning, I knew I wanted to be traditionally published.  So, I typed my novels on a typewriter, hoping I didn’t make too many mistakes that had to be corrected with
Wite-Out or Correcto-Tape (Ten points for any of you out there who remember those!) found boxes that were the right size, and mailed them to New York.  This was the only route for quite some time.  When computers arrived, I switched over and sent my novels and queries via email, although some publishers still required a hard copy.  Then, after many years and many well-thumbed editions of Writer’s Market, I found Poisoned Pen Press.  I received a contract for my first book, A Case of Imagination, in 2005.
I love working with the folks at PPP.  Since it’s a smaller company, everyone’s on a first name basis, and all problems are easily taken care of.  Certainly a publishing company worth waiting for. 

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

My parents and siblings were always tremendously supportive and still are.

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

My Chihuahua, Pearl, sleeps in her bed during my writing time and gets my full attention at all meal times. 

Are your plants actually still alive?

After a long day at the computer, gardening is a great activity and gets me outside.  My plants are all alive and okay. 

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

Ha, ha, ha!  Single and retired! 

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

About 20 years into my search for an agent and/or publisher, I managed to get an agent.  I was very excited.  Now we’re getting somewhere!  But the agent wanted me to change the hero of my novel into a woman.  She said if I did this, she could sell my book.  However, if I changed him to a her, this radically affected all the characters in my mystery series.  His best friend, a man, would be looking at him in a completely different way, and his love interest, a woman, would—well, it would be another story.  I couldn’t do it.  I thought, have I made a huge mistake?  I finally have an agent, she’s telling me what to do to sell the book, and I can’t do it.
I learned just how much I was willing to compromise to achieve my goal, and the answer was: not that much.  So the agent and I parted ways (nicely) and I continued to send the book out.  Eventually, Poisoned Pen bought it and left everyone’s gender intact.  So I got what I wanted.  But there for a while, I thought I’d really messed up.
I didn’t ever get another agent. 

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

Face Book and Twitter are great ways to get the word out about new books, book signings, events, reviews, and videos.  I also use Amazon Author Central and Goodreads.  Those are the only ones I’ve explored so far. 

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

I set up as many signings and events as I can handle.  I like to have Goodreads Giveaways whenever I have a new book out.  I really enjoy making book trailers for my books using Animoto.com. 

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

Recycle! 

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above don’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

What I love about being a published author.  It’s such a relief to have accomplished a lifelong goal.  When I was 18, I wanted it to happen with all the passion and angst of 18.  It didn’t happen at age 30 or 40, but at age 55, two months after I retired after30 years as an elementary school media specialist (a great day job). 

Made it!  Deep breath.  Now to keep it going.

I was lucky enough to find early on that one thing that gives my life meaning and purpose, the one thing that no matter what horrible, discouraging, or painful event happens, I can say, “I still have this.” My one thing is writing and it’s a gift I am very grateful to have.



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Straight from the Mouth of 'Ashamet, Desert-Born' Terry Jackman

Terry Jackman’s debut novel is Ashamet, Desert-Born, an adventure fantasy in an Arabian Nights world – or is it? (oh, Terry is really Teresa but NOBODY calls her that) Otherwise she’s a mild-mannered English lady living in a pretty village, not so far from the Manchester United stadium, with an ancient cross, cobblestones and a duckpond. Don’t believe her? Check the wiki entry for Lymm, or http.lymm.com or www.lymmvillage.co.uk/blog and see for yourself?
Well, that’s one version.

The other Terry, apart from being an English teacher who grew up in a house without books, was once the best qualified professional picture framer in the world. Which led to articles, seminars and guest appearances, and ultimately into fiction.

And if you think that’s odd ask her how she sold her first three articles, and how Ashamet got published!


Questionnaire:

Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

I’m sure there are people who actually decide that but honestly I just needed to write. In fact my first articles were my way of finding out if I could write anything worth reading. I hadn’t planned on getting sucked into more for another ten years. I always wanted to write fiction. I just got delayed enroute. 

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?
         
          The perks? You can live inside your head for hours, days, years, where all kinds of fascinating things and people have sneakily taken up residence. And you get to meet great real people, both readers and writers.
Demands? You need to get all those fascinating things and people onto a page, before they nag you to death!

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

          I went traditional. Some of my best friends have self-published successfully but I guess I don’t have that degree of confidence, or nerve. Getting paid has always been my way of checking that what I’ve written is good enough. I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask about the nitty gritty of it though, since for me it was enormous fun from start to finish.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

          Happily my family have been very good about my continual absences from their lives, to the point of humoring some strange woman who actually can’t concentrate on writing if they’re too near. I think that says it all.

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

          No pets these days, I’m afraid, but my husband has learned to cook a lot more than fish fingers.

Are your plants actually still alive?

          Ah. Only if I put them next to a water tap, thus reminding myself to water them. Occasionally.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

          Um. I have been known to ignore calls, helped by the fact there’s 1] an answering machine and 2] the few people who know my mobile number also know it’s wise to text. And I usually leave early for work, so I can read or think on the bus then grab a coffee in town and work on, with one eye on the clock and less distance to cover. And did I mention my other half can cook?

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

          Oh that’s SO easy. As you may have gathered I love writing, but I’m not good at submitting. I sent Ashamet out twice. One UK publisher held onto it for a year, the other said it was “too difficult to market”. Ah, I thought, it’s not good enough then, and shelved it. Yes, I know one is supposed to send and send and send and… but I didn’t.
Only then Dragonwell Publishing heard about it from someone else and asked if I would be “interested” in sending them something! Instant panic and emails to friends, the best of which replied, “Stop panicking woman, just send it!” and so Ashamet was sold, in ten incredible days. Truth really can be stranger than fiction.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

          I like talking to people, but I don’t enjoy selling ‘me’, so a lot of my interactions are with people I already know, like the British Science Fiction Association where I coordinate the writers’ groups, and swap crits, or NorthwriteSF, which is a face to face group for published writers (something I couldn’t do when I started out). Or even reading stories for Albedo One magazine in Ireland and giving some feedback. I guess I like to pay forward.
          I like to follow discussions too, on Facebook or LinkedIn, but otherwise I think my favorite social media is now face to face at conventions. I’ve met some lovely people that way, and listened to and taken part in some great panels. (I’m actually a pretty good moderator, being a nicely balanced Libra type.)

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

          Since Ashamet is my debut the only answer I can give to this is: I’d love some. I do know some people have pre-ordered, which feels wonderful, and yes, I will be pushy enough to mention the date in my regular page in Focus magazine. After that… a Brit publisher had very kindly invited me to read as a guest at one of their own launches in July, and another has offered to add copies of Ashamet to their dealer table. (See what I mean about lovely people?) But honestly I’m really crossing my fingers and hoping that enough people will read it and give favorable reviews to spread the word. I’d far rather have other people say Ashamet is worth reading than claim it myself.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

          Scream, as in bad? The last time someone asked me that question I chose the remark “There’s no demand for it”, which I always heard just after I’d asked for something! But about this, I don’t think I can complain at all right now. So far for me the whole publishing experience has been a lot more fun than I expected. I might have muttered something unladylike when we had to scrap the original cover art quite late in, but then I think the new version is even better – so who’s complaining?

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

          I love that I’ve achieved this goal, and that someone loved Ashamet enough to ask for it.
I love having a publisher who discusses everything, and an editor who kept making me laugh and wanted words adding rather than taking out.
I love the idea that other people, I hope, will enjoy reading Ashamet, Desert-Born as much as I enjoyed writing it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Ashamet, Desert-Born
Genre: Fantasy/adventure/romance/paranormal
Author: Terry Jackman
Website: www.terryjackman.co.uk
Publisher: www.dragonwellpublishing.com
Find out more on Amazon
A desert world. A warrior nation that worships its emperor as a god. But for Ashamet, its prince, a future filled with danger...
Ashamet is confident his swordsmanship, and his arranged marriage, will be enough to maintain the empire’s peace. But when a divine symbol magically appears on his arm, closely followed by an attempt on his life, he no longer knows who to trust. Worse, the strange attraction he feels toward a foreign slave could be another trap. As events unravel, too fast,Ashamet must find out if this innocent young male is a tool for his enemies--or the magic key to his survival.
"Ashamet, Desert-Born" is a debut adventure fantasy with an exotic Arabian-style setting and elements of same-sex romance.


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Straight from the Mouth of 'Fantastical' Marija Bulatovic

Marija Bulatovic was born in the 1970s Yugoslavia immigrated to the Chicago land area, just ahead of the 1990s Yugoslav wars and the breakup of the country.

Marija has spent 15 years working in hi-tech industry and is an accomplished business professional driving enterprise business with Fortune 500 companies.

She currently lives in Seattle with her husband and son-who was the catalyst for FANTASTICAL.

Find out more on Amazon

Questionnaire:

Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

While I didn’t set out to pursue career as an author, I was moved to do so after the birth of my son.  FANTASTICAL is a legacy to my son, as his birth was the catalyst for the book. 

These stories were born with my son.  Uncertain upon entering a wholly new phase of life, I sought wisdom and enlightenment – and a break from the daily routine of feedings, lack of sleep, and disorientation.  I was in search of something that would lift my spirit, make me laugh, and transport me, if only for a moment, to another, less tangible, place and time. 

While the world in which these stories unfold no longer exists, I still cling to the many lessons it taught me.  Because of my fantastical childhood, I know in my heart that life is much more than a sum of mundane survival activities.  I know that it’s fluid, magical, brimming with love and connection.

This book was indeed the respite I needed.  It freed my mind to roam the wild landscape of a bygone era and lifted me on the wings of Balkan stardust.  I hope it will do the same for my readers.  My hope is that these stories amuse and transport my readers, sustaining them on their journey as they have me on mine. 


Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

Great question and IT is different for each author based on their expectations. As for me, IT is all it’s cracked up to be and I’m enjoying the journey.  Just to bring a book project forward and have it published is a huge personal and professional accomplishment and to be able to talk about it and bring it to the broader audience is wonderful and very rewarding. 

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

I chose to self-publish.  FANTASTICAL is a work of passion and a very personal and dear project to me.  As such, I was interested to personally and deeply become involved in all aspects of publishing, from identifying the right experts to edit, illustrate, layout, and print the book to working with a tremendously talented publicist to bring it to light. 
Self-publishing is enormously labor and time intensive, but also very rewarding and profitable, assuming one is able to make investments to get the book to the finish line.
The pros are that you, as an author are 100% in control of your book and the every aspect of it.  You are the final decision maker and owner of the outcomes-good and bad. It’s a wonderful opportunity to merge one’s creative talents with flawless execution.  It does require much self-discipline and hard work, but it’s also a rewarding process.  While the world of self-publishing tools and services can feel like a maze, once the author understands them, they are generally easy and efficient to use.
The cons are that you have to invest money, time and energy to personally research and identify everything that shapes the book: editors, publicists, designers, printers, distributors, etc.  This is no easy task and authors can feel discouraged by it and by the long road ahead.  The self-publish path also requires that you make personal investments or raise money to fund your book project-which done right, is not an inexpensive proposition. 

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

Great question and self-publishing a book is definitely a commitment! My family was extremely supportive along the way.  Specifically, my wonderful husband, Gerry Miller, and my parents, my eternal guides and strength, Smiljka and Ljubomir Bulatovic, were extremely encouraging, reading and re-reading the stories, critiquing, asking thoughtful questions, reviewing designs and all-around cheering me on.  Also, my broader circle of family, especially my wonderful in-laws KyungAe Bea and Ralph Miller, were very generous with their time and feedback. And of course, my mentor, Joe Keller, and a number of dear friends cheered me on every step of the way!

This is for pet lovers.  If you don’t own a pet, skip this question, but do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

No pets hereJ but I love animals.

This is for plant lovers.  If you don’t own a plant, skip this question, but if you do, are they actually still alive?

Yes, I own a number of plants, some of which were sitting on my desk as I was writing or making directional decisions about FANTASTICAL! Just looking at them during the writing process provided me with a sense of calm and when I needed a break, I loved watering them and rewarding their peaceful inspiration.

I currently have a beautiful jasmine plant at my home which is always a reminder of my childhood, these stories, as its scent prominently figures in FANTASTICAL.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

There are certainly many distractions to writing or any other form of work.  I did most of my writing during my baby’s naps, when the house was quiet and when I had the best ability to focus. 

On the other hand, knowing that there would be distractions, I would plan around those, block time on the calendar for writing exclusively and put 100% of my energies toward FANTASTICAL during this time.

It’s definitely a balancing act!

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

The fact that a lot of FANTASTICAL was envisioned and created while nursing my baby is probably the craziest thing about the project! Much of it at night too! 2am, 4am feedings…

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

I’m not far down the social networks path yet, so can’t comment from experience if one is better than others. 

However, I am a networker and a connector by nature, so I’m reaching out to everyone is my broad circle of friends, family and associates letting them know FANTSTICAL is out, encouraging them to read it and if they like it, review it and share the good word with others.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

I’m just starting out, but it’s very nice to already have book sales! It’s a good tangible validation of 2 years of deep personal investment. 

Especially, as a self-publishing author sales are very important and a way to sustain the project. 

That’s also a beauty of self-publishing, once you are published, the revenue is yours! (minus printing, distribution costs, but NO publisher revenue share)

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

I’d like to encourage anyone who’s looking for a little magic, a break from the mundane, a pinch of humor in their lives to pick up FANTASTICAL and transport themselves, for a moment, into a world that has vanished from the map but not the mind and open themselves up to magic in their own lives! 

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

Publishing and especially self-publishing a book is a major accomplishment, professionally and personally.  It’s very rewarding.  My journey as an author is just starting, I’m thrilled for it and am happy to have put good energy into the universe via these stories! Hope my readers enjoy it as much as I do! Cheers!



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Straight from the Mouth of 'Wishes and Sorrows' Cindy Lynn Speer

Writing is like fencing.

One of the things that is the hardest, I think, for any writer is finding time.  I made it worse for myself, on top of being a full time secretary for a busy department, taking care of the house…I help run a branch of a medieval re-enactment society.  (The Society for Creative Anachronism) It’s a college branch, and so it’s filled with University students who are both amazing and exasperating, all at the same time.  All filled with drama and promise and good sense and craziness.

And one of the things I do is that I teach fencing every Thursday night, without fail. 

Or mostly without fail. 

Anyway.

I asked them a couple of weeks ago, what the most important key to being a successful fencer was.  I got a lot of good answers…but the one I was looking for, the one that I think is the most important, is discipline.  Talent is nothing if you do not make yourself work at your art.  Passion means nothing if you do not work to perfect your form. 

To become a great fencer or writer – from now on the terms are interchangeable --  you need to make yourself settle in.  Put aside distractions.  Do things you don’t really want to do.

I drill…I drill a lot.  I don’t even want to confess how many hours have been spent simply moving the tip of my sword around a door knob to improve my point control.

I write…I write a lot.  I know there are millions of words that have gone into the ether, because I was trying to get things write.  This article alone has a block of 463 words that are getting deleted once I know I am done with this post and I don’t need to steal something from it.

Fencers – and writers -- must practice constantly.  Must watch others doing our craft…for fencers we fence each other, we watch others fence, we mentally critique what we see, taking it apart to see how we can use what we see to make ourselves better.  For writers, that’s why we read, why we read broadly in genres we don’t write it.  Watching a story happen and watching a fencing match are very similar.

We also have to feed ourselves.  Read period manuals, (I do historical fencing) read books about things we care about like, if you happen to write about a main character who is a chocolate maker (Who would do a thing like that?) – read books about chocolate history and making.  That’s the obvious stuff.  But you should feed yourselves in other ways, by spending time with lots of people (not just fencers) and learning about the world.  Because the world is more than the sword, or a keyboard. 

As a writer I chose a couple of programs and a USB drive (Actually, two, backups are your friend) to create a take with me workspace.  Laptop at home, work desk at lunch break, I have a space where I can take up from where I left off and create.  (I use Scrivener, because I love the ability to have the book separated in chapters, Liquid Story Binder is my world book.) 

I shut down the web browser, because I lack the discipline to not sneak a glance at Facebook or Gmail, like, constantly.  It’s a sickness that I am trying to curtail.

I keep promotion time very separate from writing time because it feels like vindicated work.  (“I didn’t write a darned thing today, but that’s OK, I spent an hour networking on Good Reads and Librarything!  That’s a step towards my future success, right?”)  Also, I can’t write and watch TV…but I can write posts, email people, use Twitter and all that good stuff while watching Once Upon a Time. 

Yes, I am one of those people to whom an open browser window is a major time suck as I wander about the web, looking up this,  watching that, and, in short, pouring my time down a huge sink.

Don’t be like me.

I don’t even let myself look up a quick fact while writing…because I tend to get lost.  It’s the same way with books, and magically my time and my energy goes poof.

Set up either a time to write or a word count.  I don’t do well with the idea of a set time to write, but I do OK with a set word count.  Either works well because it gives you a goal…you have made a promise to yourself that you are going to sit down and write.  It takes a lot to keep that promise, but after a time it becomes easier.  I hated lunges – still do – but the more I do them, the less my knees complain, the easier they are to do, because practice makes it easier.  The muscles in your mind that do the writing stay strong and toned (Yes, I am being figurative) and they hurt less and take longer to get tired, and if you write nearly every day it is easier to keep track of where you are, to keep the feel of the setting, your understanding of the character, all those good things alive and ready to be written.

So, take your guard, keep your back straight and…I mean…sit down, create a space, get organized, and write.  

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Title:  Wishes and Sorrows
Genre:  Short Stories, Fantasy, Fairy Tales
Author:  Cindy Lynn Speer
Publisher:  Dragonwell Publishing
Purchase from Dragonwell and Amazon 
About Wishes and Sorrows:
“Richly ambitious” — Publishers Weekly
For every wish there is a sorrow…
Wishes are born from sorrows, blessings are sometimes curses, and even fairy godmothers cannot always get what they want. In this original collection, Cindy Lynn Speer, the author of “The Chocolatier’s Wife”, brings to life creatures of myths and tales, mixing them into a vibrant tapestry of stories, happy and sad, magical and real, each lovingly crafted and sure to touch the reader’s soul.
Step into the world where magic is real, and every mundane bit of reality is as magical as a true fairy tale.
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n603087527_2141Cindy Lynn Speer is the author of several novels, including The Chocolatier’s Wifeand the short story collection Wishes and Sorrows.  She loves mixing fantasy, mystery and romance and playing with the old stories.  When not writing she can be found reading, teaching people historical fencing, and costuming.
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