C.J. Miranda's Blog, page 2
September 22, 2017
Random Ways to Jump Start your Creativity
We’ve all been there. You want to write, you need to write, and yet nothing will come to your head to write. It’s one of the most frustrating things. But, as I mentioned in a previous post about developing your…
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September 16, 2017
September 3, 2017
Top 5 Online Writing Tools for Writers
As a writer, the world is constantly exposing you to writing tools. You can get story ideas from the most random things, like the scent of a candle or a woman’s necklace. It’s one of the most magical things about…
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July 30, 2017
How to Find Your Best Writing Process
For many writers, including myself, writing can be the most difficult part of their day. Here are 5 steps to make the most of your writing process.
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June 12, 2017
The 8 Steps to Submitting Your Work to be Published
Alright, so I’m a published romance author (as I’m sure I’ve mentioned a few, *cough* 1000 times). That’s all I’ve wanted to and tried to be, so I know my instructions may not apply to all genres or types of writing.…
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June 5, 2017
I was Featured in the Newspaper!
Never in a million years did I think my football-loving, academia-neglecting hometown would brag on me. Since the town is small and southern, growing up with my shy awkwardness was never easy. I have a whole other post about it…
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April 15, 2017
How Hating my Hometown Led to Being Published
In my debut novel, “Back to You”, I never mentioned a specific name for the small town at the core of the story. That was completely intentional. I didn’t want it to be some predefined mark anyone could find on a map. I wanted it to be adaptable to the reader’s mind like it was to Iris’, to give them the ability to hate it for its faults but then sometimes love it for its strengths. I chose to do it this way for the same reason I think I got into writing in the first place.
And that was the complete hatred I had for the small town I called home during adolescence.
Like Iris in the story, I grew up in a small town in Louisiana that was just a short drive away from its capital, Baton Rouge. I had neighbors that knew things about my family we didn’t tell them, places to go where it was guaranteed I’d run into people I didn’t want to see, and an experience at school that made me feel like a loser for wanting to get good grades.
I was shy, painfully sarcastic, and despised where I lived; all things I now ironically attribute to my being a published romance author.
Not only did my childhood inspire the setting in “Back to You” and the reasons why Iris left home for college, but it also gave me plenty of alone time to write and realize just how much I loved it. If I would’ve spent those middle school and high school years at the movie theater or mud riding like a lot of kids my age did, then I don’t think I would’ve fallen as much in love with writing as I am today.
Now that I’m older I realize some of my hatred for the town was self-inflicted, and that’s why, in “Back to You”, I also wrote about the good that can accompany life in a small town. The same good I overlooked simply because I already hated a few things about it, so why not hate everything? And that’s the abundance of care; the Saturday spent over a table of boiled crawfish, drinking beer and talking about the upcoming LSU football season. And there’s the people, the love, that make staying in a place like that worth while.
In the book, Iris had to take a step away to realize all of that.
And in real life, so did I.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find my own Weston to keep me there. Instead, I moved in with my best friend in a tiny apartment in a much larger city, but I think that I’ve been able to find the same peace with growing up there that Iris did. Would I ever want to move back? Probably not. But am I able to talk about the town without getting angry like I used to? Absolutely.
And now, whether living there actually helped me or not, I’m living my dream. I’m an author and doing things that that introverted, awkward little girl I used to be, the one who spent weekends typing away on a crappy laptop, never imagined possible.
If this post looks at all familiar, it's because it's the guest post I wrote for several different blogs that were kind enough to feature me and my little book here. I'm proud of this post though, so I figured why not feature it on my site as well?
Anyways, I hope whoever reads this realizes that there's beauty in every struggle. So much good can come from so much bad, if only you don't let the bad defeat you.
Love,
CJ :)
Back To You
Want to see the finished product? Here ya go!
March 3, 2017
Back to You Cover Reveal
Title: Back to You
Author: C.J. Miranda
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 25, 2017
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Cover Designer: Claire Smith
PREORDER NOW FOR HALF PRICE
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2l0tDRy
All others: books2read.com/back-to-you
Four years after the most confusing summer of her life, recent college graduate Iris Tilley is moving back home with no idea of the repercussions waiting to greet her. Going home means reconnecting with her dad, facing her motherless home, and confronting her gorgeous neighbor, Weston Alcorn .
And all of this, unfortunately, has to be done in a small southern town where gossip is a prized currency.
As the summer forges on, Iris struggles to find her place in a town that’s changed as much as it’s stayed the same, and it doesn’t help that Weston doesn’t seem to know how to treat her. Through awkward encounters, tense conversations, and heartbreaking revelations, neither Weston nor Iris can ignore the spark they ignited four years prior. But as Iris's past and the prospect of her future violently clash, it's no longer a question of can they ignore it, but will they have the chance?
PREORDER NOW FOR HALF PRICE
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2l0tDRy
All others: books2read.com/back-to-you
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
CJ Miranda is a twenty-three year old LSU graduate with a romantic side she’s never shown to the people in her life. Having grown up quiet, shy, and incredibly sarcastic in a small town she never felt a part of, CJ spent her spare time writing multiple romance novels that she posted for free online. Having done that since she was thirteen, she now feels that it’s time to pursue what has always been her dream.
When she’s not writing or reading, she’s either working at her day job or drinking wine with her best friend/roommate and laughing at whatever their diva dogs are doing.
February 23, 2017
Make Your Best Ideas With Mind Mapping
Okay, some of you may be wondering what exactly mind mapping is. I learned the technique from this article here. I saw it on Pinterest as a useful way to declutter my mind and immediately thought how much I could use something like that. Both in real life and for writing stories.
Basically, in the center of a blank sheet of paper, you write down the base of what you're wanting to think of. This could be overall story ideas, what a specific scene needs, or it could be things you'll need from the grocery store. Whatever's stuck in your mind that you need to get out.
From there, you just scribble down words and ideas, connecting them all with lines and arrows to other words and ideas that are related.
AND IT WORKS.
Well, it did for me. And I'm sure it will for you.
The first time I used it was when I was creating a character profile. I knew some of what I wanted, but I found myself focusing too hard on one aspect and then forgetting the other little fluttering ideas I had.
The most important thing is to not focus too hard. If you do that, then you'll be stuck on one idea and the mind mapping will be for nothing. Instead just run briefly through everything stuck in your head and scribble the most basic parts down. Reading back through them, you'll remember what they're about.
It IS your head after all.
So I hope this helps you all! Whether or not it's for writing, it can definitely come in handy when you're feeling overwhelmed.
Let me in the comments if it does :)
Love, CJ
February 7, 2017
Pros & Cons for Posting Free Stories Online
After spending six years on the site and posting to it four completed novels, I've decided to list out my pros & cons for using Wattpad and other sites like it.
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