Kellyn Roth's Blog: Kellyn Roth, Author, page 39

12 Days of Christmas: Esther Ashton’s New Dress

[image error]

Hello Folks!

Well, it’s time for Day #10 of the 12 Days of Christmas Party … and today I have a special treat for you! Okay, maybe not a “special treat,” but it is something special.

It’s the release of a new short story! Esther Ashton’s New Dress is purchasable on Amazon Kindle for just $0.99, but … since I know most of y’all are cheapskates, you can also just read it here. (There’s no link. Just here on this post, haha.)

(Also, because I’m going to have this book be free whenever I get the chance, it will eventually be perma-free, and … you know. I’m not stingy.

12 Days of Christmas: Favorite Movies!

[image error]

Hello, welcome to another of my posts for the 12 Days of Christmas blog party! Be sure to check out Faith’s blog every day to find more amazing posts!

Can you believe it’s only a week until Christmas? I sure can’t! Time has been flying all of 2017 for me, and it seems December is rushing more than usual.

One word for you, dearest December:

STOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!!!

[image error]

Today I’m going to be talking about my favorite Christmas movies. Most of which I watch almost every year. I mean … I haven’t watched them this year (I’VE BEEN BUSY, OKAY???), but … I’ve heard them playing in the living room while I’m writing blog posts and novels in this one?*

*You’re right, I have no excuse …

(Note: all the images were taken from Google. Credit to their respective owners!)

My Favorite Christmas Movies
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

What can I even say about this one? It is so wonderful! It’s a timeless classic. It has an amazing meaning behind an amusing story with great music playing in the background.

[image error]

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Love it! Also, I can almost recite it from end to end. Seriously. Try me sometime. Ask me to recite “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” (When we’re actually face to face … ’cause that might happen someday, y’know ….)

All the Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot

But the Grinch who lived just north of Whoville did not …

[image error]
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Y’all knew this one was gonna be here, right?

Okay, so, full confession … generally, I’m not a huge Jimmy Stewart fan. *hides* Sorry! He just annoys me.

12 Days of Christmas: Blog Tag!

[image error]

Hello Friends! Welcome to Day Four* of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Party, hosted by the marvelous Faith L. Potts of Stories by Firefly! I’m teaming up with 21 other bloggers to share the true meaning of Christmas – and have a great time while doing it!

For my first post for the 12 Days of Christmas, I’ll be posting a blog tag that anyone is welcome to take part in. You can view the questions here on Faith’s first post.

AND … that is all! I’m leaving my regular blogging schedule behind a bit next week with a post on Monday (and another the Monday after that, Christmas Day!), but otherwise, nothing is changing … except Christmas is here!

*I didn’t do the first 3 days; I’m going to be posting 5/12 days. 12 posts in 12 days is a lot of posts! *applauds the awesome folks who are doing this* *and Faith, who is doing 24!*

[image error]

The Official 12 Days of Christmas Tag
Rules

Link back to the 12DOC blog party or use the party graphic. Check!
Answer the 10 questions. Check!
Have fun! CHECK!

Questions
1 // Christmas is the season of hope, joy, and light. What’s your favorite thing to make this season bright?

Christmas music is the first thing that comes to mind! I don’t know about you, but when I hear Christmas music, I’m instantly in a better mood. It’s just so … happy. Even the kind of melancholy/wistful songs are happy. I looooove O Little Town of Bethlehem!

2 // Reading of the Christmas story, lighting the tree – Which tradition is most special to you?

Every Christmas, we have most of our Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve. Most of my family, my mother’s brothers and my grandparents, live very close to each other. We share 100+ acres of land.

And … every Christmas Eve, we go to each of their houses, open presents, have a progressive dinner … it’s loads of fun!

I also really enjoy listening to Christmas carols (I’m a huge music fan … can you tell?

Review of Victoria Lynn Designs

[image error]

Hello ladies and gents! Today I’m doing something a little different than usual. I’m reviewing a cover designer. Victoria Lynn Designs, to be more specific.

At the same time, I’m going to be revealing the cover for Flowers, the short story sequel to The Lady of the Vineyard. (Also, I’ve set a release date for January 13th, 2018! There may be a blog tour … stay tuned!)

Now, without further ado, here is my review of Victoria Lynn Designs!

[image error]

First of all … I’m a little prejudiced as I know Victoria fairly well (she’s also an author, and we are in the same groups and on Goodreads and such), so working with her was naturally very pleasant.

Therefore, I wasn’t really sure what to say when she asked me if I might possibly post a review on my blog other than, “I was very happy with her work, and nope, that’s it.”

So … I came up with some questions to ask myself about my thoughts. *isn’t complicated at all*

Why did you choose Victoria Lynn designs?

I’d seen that several of my friends had used her to make lovely covers and, to be honest, covers were cheap and Kell liked them. (Also, her portfolio is gorgeous! I like Hidden in Plain Sight and Choices for Max … and A Place Called Lonesome! And my own.

A Guide to Commenting Etiquette

[image error]

One of the most difficult things to master in the blogging world seems to be commenting on other peoples’ blog posts*.

*This is probably just me, but hey, I needed a blog post subject …

I don’t know why, but it’s hard! Even replying to comments on your own posts is hard on some levels. But on other blogs? AAAAH HELP ME.

What do you say? Do you be funny or serious? Should you comment long or keep it short? Well, that’s up to you! There’s a lot of freedom in many areas. (Hint: be yourself.) However, I do have some basis guidelines that I adhere to while commenting – either on others’ blogs or while replying to my own posts. And … today I’m sharing them with you!

[image error]

Be polite and courteous at all times.

This applies to almost everything you do on the internet – or anywhere, for that matter. Be nice!

If someone has an opinion you don’t agree with, don’t act like they’re stupid just because they feel differently than you. Don’t yell at them (you know, over the internet). Try not to get upset.

Appropriately, you can bring up your own opinion and argue for it, but don’t go overboard. It’s really better just to pull out of an argument if it’s going overboard. Friendly discussions are okay; keep it civil.

[image error]

No self-advertising!

What

So

EVER.

Not even a little bit! If you mention your own blog (unless blogging is the subject of conversation or something like that), YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG.

Self-advertising is never a good idea. When you come to someone else’s blog, you don’t come there for you. And yes, interacting with other bloggers is the best way to grow your audience …

But self-advertisement in this particular setting never is. Let them decide whether or not to check out your blog. More than likely, if you self-advertise, they’ll just roll their eyes and send your comment to the spam filter!

Examples of inappropriate self-advertising:

“Great post! Check out my post, pls: [link]”

“Hey, could you check out my blog?”

“I NEED COMMENTS COMMENT ON MY BLOG.”

“If you don’t check out my blog, a unicorn dies. SAVE THE UNICORNS.”

Okay, I might just click on the last one, just because that was … I don’t know. But still! C’mon, bloggers! We’re better than this; really, we are!

[image error]

Try to use at least some grammar.

If they can’t read the comment, then they won’t be able to … read it.

Yep, that’s basically it!

If you got this comment, what would you do?

phiffle motherejk alkdjgkj i love to tottodloe fixcke quick do???

Okay, you’re right, no one EVER commented that, but sometimes confusing sentences + bad grammar + bad spelling = something no one can understand.

And if they can’t understand you … what’s the point of commenting?

[image error]

Share a bit about yourself.

Now, PLEASE – don’t give your life story in the comments! This is something I’m inclined to do – and something I enjoy reading.

However … it’s probably not a good idea. How to avoid giving your life story? Don’t start like this:

Chapter One: In Which I Am Born

*cracks up at own reference* *doesn’t even know if I got the reference right* *because I only know it because Melly quoted it in Gone with the Wind (the movie)*

HOWEVER … it can sometimes be a good idea not to be completely closed-up. When you comment on someone else’s blog, like I said, it’s about them, not you … but oftentimes bloggers encourage you to tell them about your latest WIP or what’s going on in your life, and why not? I love hearing about other people.*

*That may make me a stalker, but whatevs. Be stalkers. It’s cool. (Don’t listen to me.)

[image error]

Don’t Be Creepy

Okay, so, I am the creepiest person in the world when it comes to commenting on other folks’ blogs.

I’m basically like this:

Hey, I’m a stalker from stalkersville. I’m basically rambling about umbrellas in your comment section while stalking you and gee, isn’t this fun? YOU DON’T KNOW ME MUHAHAHA

DON’T BE A CREEP LIKE ME. Example of creepiness include:

Not introducing yourself! Don’t just pop up on someone’s blog and be all like, “HEY WE’RE BEST FRIENDS” when they’ve never even heard of you! (& don’t assume they know you!) Take a moment to say, “Hey, found your blog while searching ‘ways to murder a priest with a hotdog.’ It looks lovely!” (Note: if someone’s already been on your blog, it doesn’t hurt to say, “Thanks for checking out my blog! I’m returning the favor!” or something like that, though it’s not necessary.)
Not getting to know them before you’re their bestie. I do this all the time – sharing my life-story in the comments again, haha – but you really shouldn’t just dive into their blog like, “WHUT UP OLD FRIEND HOW’S YOUR DEAD DOG???” But then, I’m an introverted kinda person (even online) who likes to develop a relationship (even online *is a little sick* *desperately needs a psychiatrist*) before sharing my deep dark secrets. Or ever. Because it’s the internet. BE SAFE.
Mentioning your bad habits. My niece licks me all the time. #nuffsaid (Even though that makes no sense in this context …) Really, if I were my niece, I wouldn’t lead with, “Hey, I lick my Aunt Kell. WHAT UP?!?!” (This is actually something you should never share.) (Ever.) (Just keep it to yourself.) (Perv.) (Even if you’re like six or whatever …)
Being a serial killer. #dontdothis #causeitscreepy

And … nope, that’s really it. I’ve given you my best advice for commenting … so go forth, young commenters, and take the world by storm! *shoves you out the door into the comment section*

Stalker on,

~Kellyn Roth~

Social Media | Website | Book Blog

p.s.

Practice your skills! I ain’t givin’ you no questions. Come up with a subject matter yourself, lazy bum.

(No, I’m not serious about this whole post. It’s 98% jokes, 2% common sense.)

How to Recover from NaNoWriMo

[image error]

If you’re like me, after NaNo you feel a little … lost. Sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. What to do with your life now that you’re not writing like a maniac?

Well, today I’m going to introduce you to my amazing Five-Step Guide to Regaining Your Life after National Novel Writing Month.

So, without further ado, I give you those 5 steps! I hope you enjoy them, that they profit you greatly, and that you end up following, liking, and commenting because of them*.

*I’m a terrible person, really …

[image error]

Set aside your book. Don’t think about it.

Thinking about your book after it’s finished(especially directly after NaNo) is the #1 Cause of the Insanity in the United States.

Really. Don’t even go there for a couple weeks.

When you’re exhausted and emotionally dead is not the time to look at those fifty-nine plot holes. Wait until you regain at least a portion of your mental stability*.

*assuming that happens at all, haha. If not, you might have to edit insane.

Take a deep breath, drink a glass of water, and eat something healthy.

Because you’ve been eating chocolate all month, and otherwise you are going to die of sugar overdose. You need your liver. Trust me.

And normally I’m not a health person*, but this is just common sense.

*I avoid being healthy. Like, routinely.

Read at least a dozen good books.

Immersing yourself in others’ fictional worlds will help you get out of your own and move on. Also, reading is fun, and you probably have a lot of catching up to do after NaNo! It’s a win-win situation.

Enjoy Christmas

And life and basically everything you didn’t enjoy during NaNo!

But especially Christmas. I’m starting to think that God knew when NaNo was and decided to put Christmas right after it just to give me a break*.

At least, that’s one theory …

*Look at me, being slightly irreverent … *decides that you all will forgive me anything* *but maybe not God* *shrugs*

Start another project!

Hopefully not writing, though! At best, you will have another manuscript ready to edit. This is ideal, and what I’m doing with At Her Fingertips at this moment.

However, if this is not the case, DON’T (and I mean don’t!) return to your NaNo project! Only superheroes start editing as soon as they finish writing! YOU DON’T HAVE SUPERPOWERS. Put your novel aside for at least a month. Trust me. It will go well for you.

If you don’t have an editing project, try writing a couple short stories or concentrate on brainstorming and outlining. Or … just set aside anything writing-related for a time and work on other stuff. Either way works.

[image error]

Well, I hope you enjoyed me post! Follow that Five-Step Guide to become the ultimate (and I mean ultimate) SURVIVOR OF NANO. Because you don’t want to just live through NaNo. You want to thrive through it. #cheesy #IDontCare

Until next week,

~Kellyn Roth~

Social Media | Website | Book Blog

p.s.

Did you do NaNo this year? Did you survive? Or is it your ghost typing a comment? Was this post even vaguely helpful? What’s your Hogwarts House? (I’ve never read/watched Harry Potter, but I just found out that mine is Slytherin!)

December 2017 Dares

[image error]

HELLO FRIENDS. Long time, no see! Well, okay, it’s only been a couple days since Wednesday, but lots has happened, and I’m more than ready to get back to our regularly scheduled programming!

This month we have some great dares for you (all taken from my extremely long to-do list, haha … NaNo is all-consuming, like I said!). And … we also have a lot of updates. And some plans for the coming months. Though I’m trying to make this post super short so you can skim it and then next week we’ll have #awesome again.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

December 2017 Dares
Reading

Read three review copies. I feel like this is going to be easier because I’ve made it a point to only accept amazing ARCs.

NaNo Update #5: Finishing Her Up!

[image error]

First of all, before I begin this last NaNo update … can we give a round of applause to my insta-graphic format? *a couple people clap* *everyone gives me a weird look* *I go hide in a cave and live out the rest of my days as a hermit*

Really, though. It was so easy to just change the text in the circle and the background image to another Scotland picture. #NaNoLifeSavers*

After this update, we’ll return to our normal posting schedule. Throughout December, there are going to be some fun posts. For a while, we’ll have all Christmas-themed, which is gonna be tons of fun.

*I should totally remember this and write a list of #NaNoLifeSavers next year.

[image error]

But now, what you’ve all been waiting for … the actual writing update.

[image error]

As you can see, in the last week, I’ve had a lot of upwards spiking! Yes, I hardly wrote anything on Friday, but on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day!) I wrote a total of 5,644 words. And then there were slightly smaller upwards spikes over the weekend and lots (3,207 and 4,841) on Monday and Tuesday.

I’ve yet to start writing today, but I’m hoping to make at least 2,000. Tomorrow will be the last day (*weeps*), and I’m hoping to (somehow) finish Beyond Her Calling before December. But I don’t know. It might not work out. #somuchtowrite #solittletime

You know what, though? I won NaNoWriMo on November 25th! Isn’t that exciting? My grand total is currently 60,408. It may get to be more than 70,000 before the novel is finished, but I’m not sure. I’ve been zipping through scenes recently.

[image error]

Now that we’ve gotten past the technicalities of writing, we can move on to how the writing (aside from word count and finishing) is going.

Well, I’m on point twenty-nine out of thirty-seven. So there’s still about eight points to get through. How long is a point? Anywhere from 200 to 2,000 words. Maybe more, maybe less. So no, I don’t know how long this is going to take to finish – or even how long it will be when it is finished.

Now I can just relax, concentrate on the book instead of the words, and get it done. Hopefully within the next few days. Because I have so much going on in December that it’s not even funny.

[image error]

But … I’m not all that pleased with the book itself? I mean, yes, at least I’m getting it down, but … it’s just not the same as At Her Fingertips. I blame it on shoddy preparation. And these stinkin’ characters being so hard to write.

I know Alice up and down and inside out. I just do. Everything about her is ingrained into my mind.

Ivy? She’s a puzzle. I want to portray someone with a slight mental disability without prejudice and in a realistic way and will concern for the era. And still thinking about Ivy’s individual personality. As if that weren’t enough, Ivy’s general cluelessness is much more annoying now that she’s an adult, and I have to figure a way around that.

Then there’s Jordy. I realized he had the same personality type as my best friend, so I thought, “Hey, I’ll just base him off Bailey a little.” Well … *coughs* That didn’t turn out so well.

You see, when you try to base a character off someone in real life, you’re continually reassessing his actions based on, “What would Bailey do?” when really each person is so individualistic (no matter what their personality type) that it’s impossible to judge that.

Besides, I don’t want to overthink things, and it causes me to overthink.

NaNo Update #4: Almost There!

[image error]

Guess what? I hit 40,000 yesterday! *cue cheering* Only 10K to go! Well … until I hit my goal. After that, I’ll probably have another 10K of writing until the book is finished … maybe more!

I feel like I’m not very far into the book yet. I’m officially on point 19 out of 38. So … almost twenty points to go. So technically I could get up to 80,000.

However, I don’t think I will. I think I’ll end up skimming over a good half of the points or reassembling scenes as the story progresses. And, of course, revisions will take out a big chunk in the end.

Only a week and a day left to write my heart out! I’m hoping to actually finish this book in a month, so it’s gonna be craaaazzzzzyyyy. But … I’m going to try. And you never know. I just might succeed.

[image error]

On non-writing-related news, it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow! As always, we’re going over to my grandparent’s house with my two uncles and their families and my sister and her family (so it’s like 20+ people in my grandma’s house … it’s okay … we compact).

Since they just live across the field from us (or down the driveway and up another driveway, if you prefer), that’s not really a long trip. I’ll probably walk over sometime in the late morning or early afternoon, and I won’t even break a sweat …

So I’m excited about that! I mean, I’m not really a big eater, but there still are lots of tasty food, and I like to see my relatives and all. Not that I don’t see them all the rest of the year, but whatevs.

However you’re celebrating your Thanksgiving (or if you’re not American and … aren’t), be sure to have a great day!

I get tomorrow and the next day off, but I had to do school the rest of the week, including today. *pouts* I get a longer Christmas break, though … so that’s nice.

[image error]

A couple of you have asked, so … yes, Aubrey is doing very well! She’s an absolute little sweetheart, and I love spending time with her.

Like any border collie, she has a couple weird quirks, but overall, she’s a lovely little thing. Super spunky and active, yet sweet. I really like her personality.

[image error]

Just FYI, I’ve posted a few pictures of her on social media (and will be posting more soon, hopefully), so that’s a good place to go if you need more adorable.

Update #3 + We Need You Questions! (again)

[image error]

Happy Wednesday, people reading this post (even if you’re not reading it on Wednesday)!

Yes, this is another post that’s getting out a wee bit late. Well, if you’re not in Pacific time (which most people I know online aren’t for whatever reason). Here, it’s not that late. (Or at least I don’t think so; any time before eleven is early morning to me …)

We’re halfway through the months of November … but I haven’t reached halfway with my novel.

Nope, I’m not behind (I actually have 28,631 – haven’t written yet today, though), but I don’t feel that I’ve reached the midpoint of my novel. I … guess it’s gonna be a bit longer? No problem there.