Sandra L. Rostirolla's Blog, page 3
June 7, 2018
Literary Classics Seal of Approval
Some pretty great news arrived the yesterday. My novel, Cecilia, received the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.
Literary Classics writes that the CLC Seal of Approval is a designation reserved for those books which uphold the rigorous criteria set forth by the Literary Classics review committee, a team comprised of individuals with backgrounds in publishing, editing, writing, illustration and graphic design.
The review team described Cecilia as insightfully penned, with characters that are well-developed, and a plot that sizzles.
I now move onto the next step in the awards program. Fingers crossed for the 2018 Literary Classics Book Awards!
Literary Classics writes that the CLC Seal of Approval is a designation reserved for those books which uphold the rigorous criteria set forth by the Literary Classics review committee, a team comprised of individuals with backgrounds in publishing, editing, writing, illustration and graphic design.
The review team described Cecilia as insightfully penned, with characters that are well-developed, and a plot that sizzles.
I now move onto the next step in the awards program. Fingers crossed for the 2018 Literary Classics Book Awards!
May 7, 2018
The Ghostly Accidental Tide Pod Challenge
My blog post is supposed to go up every Friday. The reason I missed posting the last couple of Fridays was that I was in two minds as to whether or not I should post what I had written about. The piece was titled: “The Dark Side To Hollywood’s Ghosts” and it was centered around the secondary level of abuse in Hollywood: Ghostwriters.
From my experience, the most insidious use of ghostwriters is the film music world. Many moviegoers (and possibly Studio Executives) would be amazed at just how many films list a composer in the main title who wrote less than a third of the music. In some cases, said composer wrote nothing at all.
Do you remember the famous lip-sync duo, “Milli Vanilli” or the case of Martha Wash who sang uncredited vocals for “Black Box” and “C&C Music Factory”? Back in the 90s, these deceptive practices inspired a slew of successful ‘consumer fraud’ and ‘truth in adverting’ lawsuits. At the end of the day, the legal consensus was—the public has a right to know who really performed the music.
Apply such sentiment to what’s happening in the film scoring world—uncredited composers—and one could argue that the public has a right to know who really composed the soundtrack that they purchased.
"So," I hear you ask, "if this deception is happening on a daily basis, why is nothing done about it?" In order for change, those affected need to speak up; however, fear, financial obligations, and confidentiality agreements prevent ghostwriter composers from saying anything.
Rather than tackling this topic in-depth, I decided instead to tell you about the time my brain was in such a fog that I accidentally placed a Tide Pod in my dishwasher.
Please, for the love of all that’s good: DON’T PUT A TIDE POD INTO A DISHWASHER. The smell is grievously wretched.
I hadn’t intended doing such. I wasn’t trying a new Tide Pod Challenge. I simply wasn’t thinking because my mind was in a “Story Fog”. A story fog is when our body is going through the motions of an action, but our mind is deeply invested in hashing out new story plots or resolving a complex plot twist.
At the time of my gargantuan mistake, I remember thinking to myself, “Huh, this dishwashing pod feels very squishy.” Had I not been in my fog, I may have taken the liberty to double-check the package. Instead, I shrugged and popped the ball of odorous, floral stench into its compartment coffin and pressed: Start.
Things I am grateful for: My stainless steel lined KitchenAid dishwasher and glass Tupperware.
If you ever find yourself doing the same ridiculous thing as me and your dishwasher has a plastic interior—you are, as they say, up shit creek without a paddle. Whatever pungent chemical Tide puts in their pods, it seems to have a binding love for plastic and silicon. Good luck getting that smell out of the walls, floor, and sides of your dishwasher. Thankfully, my KitchenAid dishwasher has limited internal plastics.
The casualties of my stupidity include:
- A couple of wooden spoons
- A plastic spoon
- The grills of my Cuisinart Griddler
Of the three times a month my griddler’s grills are placed in the dishwasher, I had managed to include them in my one-off Tide Pod disaster. I tried, really I did, to get the stench out, but it came back with a vengeance whenever the grills heated up.
For anyone who accidently attempts this Tide Pod Challenge, first and foremost know:
- Ceramics and glass only temporarily hold the smell, so don’t throw them out. Simply hand wash in regular dishwashing detergents.
- Plastics will hold the odor longer, so you may have to toss things like plastic spoons. I have knives with plastic handles, which I kept because the blade is the only part exposed to food.
- I invested in expensive glass Tupperware, so no way was I going to throw out the plastic lids. I soaked them in bleach and they are fine. Be warned though, if you place plastic in the dishwasher when the smell is not 80-90% gone, those nasty little stench molecules will latch on. After your wash, your glasses & ceramics won’t stink, but your plastics will.
- Silicon is HIGHLY attractive to Tide Pod pheromones. To this day, the silicon lids for the cat food still have a nose-curling, zesty aroma, as do the non-slip edges of my cutting boards. The boards themselves are fine. So long as I don’t cut food on the silicon edges, I figure there’s no need to toss them.
Steps on how to deodorize dishwasher:
1. Remove the filter and flush the dishwasher with a rinse cycle. Do this until all the suds are gone in the filter trap. I made the mistake of keeping the filter in whilst flushing. However, the filter’s fine mesh traps the suds, prolonging the process.
2. If you have a plastic-lined dishwasher, consider stopping the insanity and buying yourself a well deserved, new, stainless steel washer. I highly recommend KitchenAid’s KDTE234GPS – it’s quieter than a church mouse and has a third shelve for large knives and flat objects.
3. Remove the shelves and wash them with diluted bleach and/or vinegar.
4. With diluted bleach and/or vinegar, squirt every nook and cranny inside your dishwasher, and I mean every. During the drying cycle, the suds bake and form a type of crusty, stinky, delight that will never wash away.
5. Clean the cutlery basket the best you can. Soak it in bleach if possible as it has many hiding spots for the baked delight.
6. Remove and clean any other baskets or hinge-type removable shelves, such as wine glass holders, as the crusty stuff gets caught in attachment hinges.
7. Do a wash with the Affresh deodorizing pods.
8. Keep plastics & silicon out of the next 5 or cycles. Your glasses & ceramics may smell a little when you first remove them, but the odor dissipates after a few seconds.
9. After every wash, remove the filter and soak in bleach. Keep doing this until it no longer smells. Of course, make sure you put it back before a wash.
10. After every wash, squirt the trays and any other plastic element with diluted bleach. I found the diluted bleach was better than vinegar. For the health conscious though, good ‘ol white vinegar will still do the job.
11. Expect the smell to take two weeks with daily washing and cleaning to dissipate.
12. I’m at about the 3-week mark, and all in all, it’s only a minor odor.
Good luck! Happy writing!
Don’t do the accidental Tide Pod Challenge and never allow yourself to become anyone else’s ghost.
Cecilia
From my experience, the most insidious use of ghostwriters is the film music world. Many moviegoers (and possibly Studio Executives) would be amazed at just how many films list a composer in the main title who wrote less than a third of the music. In some cases, said composer wrote nothing at all.
Do you remember the famous lip-sync duo, “Milli Vanilli” or the case of Martha Wash who sang uncredited vocals for “Black Box” and “C&C Music Factory”? Back in the 90s, these deceptive practices inspired a slew of successful ‘consumer fraud’ and ‘truth in adverting’ lawsuits. At the end of the day, the legal consensus was—the public has a right to know who really performed the music.
Apply such sentiment to what’s happening in the film scoring world—uncredited composers—and one could argue that the public has a right to know who really composed the soundtrack that they purchased.
"So," I hear you ask, "if this deception is happening on a daily basis, why is nothing done about it?" In order for change, those affected need to speak up; however, fear, financial obligations, and confidentiality agreements prevent ghostwriter composers from saying anything.
Rather than tackling this topic in-depth, I decided instead to tell you about the time my brain was in such a fog that I accidentally placed a Tide Pod in my dishwasher.
Please, for the love of all that’s good: DON’T PUT A TIDE POD INTO A DISHWASHER. The smell is grievously wretched.
I hadn’t intended doing such. I wasn’t trying a new Tide Pod Challenge. I simply wasn’t thinking because my mind was in a “Story Fog”. A story fog is when our body is going through the motions of an action, but our mind is deeply invested in hashing out new story plots or resolving a complex plot twist.
At the time of my gargantuan mistake, I remember thinking to myself, “Huh, this dishwashing pod feels very squishy.” Had I not been in my fog, I may have taken the liberty to double-check the package. Instead, I shrugged and popped the ball of odorous, floral stench into its compartment coffin and pressed: Start.
Things I am grateful for: My stainless steel lined KitchenAid dishwasher and glass Tupperware.
If you ever find yourself doing the same ridiculous thing as me and your dishwasher has a plastic interior—you are, as they say, up shit creek without a paddle. Whatever pungent chemical Tide puts in their pods, it seems to have a binding love for plastic and silicon. Good luck getting that smell out of the walls, floor, and sides of your dishwasher. Thankfully, my KitchenAid dishwasher has limited internal plastics.
The casualties of my stupidity include:
- A couple of wooden spoons
- A plastic spoon
- The grills of my Cuisinart Griddler
Of the three times a month my griddler’s grills are placed in the dishwasher, I had managed to include them in my one-off Tide Pod disaster. I tried, really I did, to get the stench out, but it came back with a vengeance whenever the grills heated up.
For anyone who accidently attempts this Tide Pod Challenge, first and foremost know:
- Ceramics and glass only temporarily hold the smell, so don’t throw them out. Simply hand wash in regular dishwashing detergents.
- Plastics will hold the odor longer, so you may have to toss things like plastic spoons. I have knives with plastic handles, which I kept because the blade is the only part exposed to food.
- I invested in expensive glass Tupperware, so no way was I going to throw out the plastic lids. I soaked them in bleach and they are fine. Be warned though, if you place plastic in the dishwasher when the smell is not 80-90% gone, those nasty little stench molecules will latch on. After your wash, your glasses & ceramics won’t stink, but your plastics will.
- Silicon is HIGHLY attractive to Tide Pod pheromones. To this day, the silicon lids for the cat food still have a nose-curling, zesty aroma, as do the non-slip edges of my cutting boards. The boards themselves are fine. So long as I don’t cut food on the silicon edges, I figure there’s no need to toss them.
Steps on how to deodorize dishwasher:
1. Remove the filter and flush the dishwasher with a rinse cycle. Do this until all the suds are gone in the filter trap. I made the mistake of keeping the filter in whilst flushing. However, the filter’s fine mesh traps the suds, prolonging the process.
2. If you have a plastic-lined dishwasher, consider stopping the insanity and buying yourself a well deserved, new, stainless steel washer. I highly recommend KitchenAid’s KDTE234GPS – it’s quieter than a church mouse and has a third shelve for large knives and flat objects.
3. Remove the shelves and wash them with diluted bleach and/or vinegar.
4. With diluted bleach and/or vinegar, squirt every nook and cranny inside your dishwasher, and I mean every. During the drying cycle, the suds bake and form a type of crusty, stinky, delight that will never wash away.
5. Clean the cutlery basket the best you can. Soak it in bleach if possible as it has many hiding spots for the baked delight.
6. Remove and clean any other baskets or hinge-type removable shelves, such as wine glass holders, as the crusty stuff gets caught in attachment hinges.
7. Do a wash with the Affresh deodorizing pods.
8. Keep plastics & silicon out of the next 5 or cycles. Your glasses & ceramics may smell a little when you first remove them, but the odor dissipates after a few seconds.
9. After every wash, remove the filter and soak in bleach. Keep doing this until it no longer smells. Of course, make sure you put it back before a wash.
10. After every wash, squirt the trays and any other plastic element with diluted bleach. I found the diluted bleach was better than vinegar. For the health conscious though, good ‘ol white vinegar will still do the job.
11. Expect the smell to take two weeks with daily washing and cleaning to dissipate.
12. I’m at about the 3-week mark, and all in all, it’s only a minor odor.
Good luck! Happy writing!
Don’t do the accidental Tide Pod Challenge and never allow yourself to become anyone else’s ghost.
Cecilia
April 20, 2018
Feedback Feed Forward
If the art of receiving feedback is a skill level akin to a preschooler's coloring book, then giving feedback is up there with Leonardo da Vinci.
When receiving feedback, first and foremost, all one need do is shut the hell up and listen. In other words, don't color outside the lines. At face value, this should be somewhat easy. All it takes is focus and self-control.
Once we have our feedback, we then need to decide what to keep and what to toss. Much like deciding if we want to color the grass green or take a risk and paint the rolling hills red.
Giving feedback, on the other hand, is not quite as easy. All too often, we worry about hurting the writer's feelings. We point out what we love about the story and dance around the elements that didn't quite work - you know, the important stuff.
Crafting objective input absorbs more of our time. We need to read slower, make notes, think about those notes and adjust if later in the story we come across a conflict pertaining to said notes. Sometimes, we may even need to read the story again, especially if the first read sweeps us away.
Many of us are too busy to put in such effort. It’s much easier to give the writer a cursory, "That was great, I loved it, well done."
Such notes don't help anyone and have no place in giving feedback; unless, of course, you truly are a da Vinci level reader analyzing a da Vinci level writer.
My advice to writers who offer to read other writers' work for the purposes of feedback, stop pointing out what you love and dig into the hard stuff. Take the time to help your friend or colleague. Don't worry about hurting them. Critical feedback always hurts and frustrates new writers. The good news is, most of them get over it.
I say most as some will hold onto a grudge like a two-year-old clutching its lollypop. If you encounter such people, just take a deep breath and remind yourself that they are kindergarten-level receivers of feedback. In the end, you can’t force them to color between the lines.
The truth is, by avoiding the task of giving strong, thorough notes, you're actually causing more damage for the writer. You’re not allowing them to grow,.
If you offer to give feedback, invest the time. Not only will your friend become a better writer, so will you. That sounds like a win-win for both sides.
Happy writing everyone!
When receiving feedback, first and foremost, all one need do is shut the hell up and listen. In other words, don't color outside the lines. At face value, this should be somewhat easy. All it takes is focus and self-control.
Once we have our feedback, we then need to decide what to keep and what to toss. Much like deciding if we want to color the grass green or take a risk and paint the rolling hills red.
Giving feedback, on the other hand, is not quite as easy. All too often, we worry about hurting the writer's feelings. We point out what we love about the story and dance around the elements that didn't quite work - you know, the important stuff.
Crafting objective input absorbs more of our time. We need to read slower, make notes, think about those notes and adjust if later in the story we come across a conflict pertaining to said notes. Sometimes, we may even need to read the story again, especially if the first read sweeps us away.
Many of us are too busy to put in such effort. It’s much easier to give the writer a cursory, "That was great, I loved it, well done."
Such notes don't help anyone and have no place in giving feedback; unless, of course, you truly are a da Vinci level reader analyzing a da Vinci level writer.
My advice to writers who offer to read other writers' work for the purposes of feedback, stop pointing out what you love and dig into the hard stuff. Take the time to help your friend or colleague. Don't worry about hurting them. Critical feedback always hurts and frustrates new writers. The good news is, most of them get over it.
I say most as some will hold onto a grudge like a two-year-old clutching its lollypop. If you encounter such people, just take a deep breath and remind yourself that they are kindergarten-level receivers of feedback. In the end, you can’t force them to color between the lines.
The truth is, by avoiding the task of giving strong, thorough notes, you're actually causing more damage for the writer. You’re not allowing them to grow,.
If you offer to give feedback, invest the time. Not only will your friend become a better writer, so will you. That sounds like a win-win for both sides.
Happy writing everyone!
April 13, 2018
Passive Words Were Written
If passive voice were a crime punishable by death, I'd be long gone of this world.
As I embarked upon my first novel, I hit upon the terms: active and passive voice. After abundant research, I thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong.
I didn't comprehend the severity of my crime until my editor and her red pen joined the mix. An extremely knowledgeable and supportive collaborator, my editor fixed and/or flagged every insidious episode of PVL (Passive Voice Love).
"Don't worry," she said. "I see this all the time. After going through this process, you'll stop the passive before it starts."
My editor was right. I am catching myself now. The problem is, my mind still seems to radiate to passive first, especially sentences starting with or using: "it was" and "there was".
For example, for some reason, I prefer to write: ... so long as there was a set of young female eyes admiring his physique.
As opposed to: ... so long as a set of young female eyes was near to admire his physique.
The struggle is real. I fight my PVL addiction daily.
In the words of Chicago: "Being without you, takes a lot of getting used to. Should learn to live with it, but I don't want to. Living without you, is all a big mistake. Instead of getting easier, it's the hardest thing to take. I'm addicted to ya babe, you're a hard habit to break.”
Happy writing every one!
As I embarked upon my first novel, I hit upon the terms: active and passive voice. After abundant research, I thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong.
I didn't comprehend the severity of my crime until my editor and her red pen joined the mix. An extremely knowledgeable and supportive collaborator, my editor fixed and/or flagged every insidious episode of PVL (Passive Voice Love).
"Don't worry," she said. "I see this all the time. After going through this process, you'll stop the passive before it starts."
My editor was right. I am catching myself now. The problem is, my mind still seems to radiate to passive first, especially sentences starting with or using: "it was" and "there was".
For example, for some reason, I prefer to write: ... so long as there was a set of young female eyes admiring his physique.
As opposed to: ... so long as a set of young female eyes was near to admire his physique.
The struggle is real. I fight my PVL addiction daily.
In the words of Chicago: "Being without you, takes a lot of getting used to. Should learn to live with it, but I don't want to. Living without you, is all a big mistake. Instead of getting easier, it's the hardest thing to take. I'm addicted to ya babe, you're a hard habit to break.”
Happy writing every one!
April 6, 2018
Where's The Beginning?
When people find out that I'm an author, one of the most common responses I get is: "I've always wanted to write a story too. I have this great idea, I just don't know where to start."
Undoubtedly, starting is always the hardest. Many agents and publishers, (and readers) project the quality of the author's writing based on the first sentence. One agent goes so far as to tell writers: “Tweet me the first line of your novel and I'll let you know if I want to read it." With such pressure, it's no wonder writers sit and stare motionless at a blank screen.
Writing a new story is no different to starting anything new - you've got to just jump in feet first. In answer to the question: "How do you know where to start?" I always reply: "I start with the first thing that comes into my mind."
Writing is rewriting. Beginnings, middles and ends can all change, but only if you first have a beginning, middle and an end. More than likely, by the time you get to the end of your story, you'll have a better understanding about the beginning. Perfect first lines can be crafted after the fact.
Only when we end, can we truly begin.
Happy writing everyone!
Undoubtedly, starting is always the hardest. Many agents and publishers, (and readers) project the quality of the author's writing based on the first sentence. One agent goes so far as to tell writers: “Tweet me the first line of your novel and I'll let you know if I want to read it." With such pressure, it's no wonder writers sit and stare motionless at a blank screen.
Writing a new story is no different to starting anything new - you've got to just jump in feet first. In answer to the question: "How do you know where to start?" I always reply: "I start with the first thing that comes into my mind."
Writing is rewriting. Beginnings, middles and ends can all change, but only if you first have a beginning, middle and an end. More than likely, by the time you get to the end of your story, you'll have a better understanding about the beginning. Perfect first lines can be crafted after the fact.
Only when we end, can we truly begin.
Happy writing everyone!
March 30, 2018
Dialogue - Let's Talk About It
Activities which I consider mundane - cooking, folding the laundry, exercising - are like medicine and tend to go down easier with a spoonful of sugar. The sugar I gravitate to is easy to watch films, usually in the comedy vein.
My go to favorites are: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Office Space", "Twins" and "Tropic Thunder". I've probably watched each of these films a dozen times, and I'm still never bored. When breaking down what I like about the films, I can say that they all have great casting, a fun story, fantastic music (seriously, go back and listen to the score for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and witty dialogue that never gets old.
When writing dialogue for my novels, I always ask myself: Is this conversation engaging? Would a reader enjoy it enough to want to read the passage again? Is each character response unique and individual?
In my first pass, I never edit the conversation. I let the characters banter until they reach their natural conclusion. Then hard work starts - whittling the elements down so the pacing is tight. Even though novels have the freedom to run longer, I keep the old screenplay adage in mind: Jump in late and get out early.
On that note, happy writing everyone!
My go to favorites are: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Office Space", "Twins" and "Tropic Thunder". I've probably watched each of these films a dozen times, and I'm still never bored. When breaking down what I like about the films, I can say that they all have great casting, a fun story, fantastic music (seriously, go back and listen to the score for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and witty dialogue that never gets old.
When writing dialogue for my novels, I always ask myself: Is this conversation engaging? Would a reader enjoy it enough to want to read the passage again? Is each character response unique and individual?
In my first pass, I never edit the conversation. I let the characters banter until they reach their natural conclusion. Then hard work starts - whittling the elements down so the pacing is tight. Even though novels have the freedom to run longer, I keep the old screenplay adage in mind: Jump in late and get out early.
On that note, happy writing everyone!
March 22, 2018
Stories Are Like A Good Cup of Tea...
...The Best Ones Need Time to Brew
When writing CECILIA, sometimes a story block would stop my writing for days at a time. One school of thought says I should plow through no matter what. To a certain extent, I agree. Other times though, it's good to let the fingers rest. Sometimes, all the story needs is time to brew a little longer.
Writing in the head is just as productive as writing with the fingers. The challenge is to balance procrastination vs productivity. I'm not sure if there is a secret to determining the difference, other than being honest with yourself.
If you keep revising the same scene over and over, or get lost in the story elements you've already written, chances are you're procrastinating.
If you’re truly taking puzzle pieces and spinning them on their head until something fits, keep working at it. Sometimes the best story elements are born when a writer perseveres with the laborious process of figuring the answer to a riddle.
Happy writing!
When writing CECILIA, sometimes a story block would stop my writing for days at a time. One school of thought says I should plow through no matter what. To a certain extent, I agree. Other times though, it's good to let the fingers rest. Sometimes, all the story needs is time to brew a little longer.
Writing in the head is just as productive as writing with the fingers. The challenge is to balance procrastination vs productivity. I'm not sure if there is a secret to determining the difference, other than being honest with yourself.
If you keep revising the same scene over and over, or get lost in the story elements you've already written, chances are you're procrastinating.
If you’re truly taking puzzle pieces and spinning them on their head until something fits, keep working at it. Sometimes the best story elements are born when a writer perseveres with the laborious process of figuring the answer to a riddle.
Happy writing!
March 8, 2018
March 4, 2018
Free CECILIA eBook!
Starting March 8th, CECILIA eBook will be free for download on AMAZON.
Start: Thursday, March 8, 2018, 12:00 AM PST
End: Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:59 PM PDT
Bookmark these dates and get your FREE copy of Cecilia.
Cecilia on Amazon
Start: Thursday, March 8, 2018, 12:00 AM PST
End: Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:59 PM PDT
Bookmark these dates and get your FREE copy of Cecilia.
Cecilia on Amazon
March 2, 2018
Setting Goals
I'm lucky enough to be part of a great Writer Group that meets once a month, and we've been doing so for the past 3 years. Each month, we set ourselves goals and hold each other accountable. Because of this, in two months, I'm 50k words into my second book.
I've set a goal to write 25k a month, which breaks down to about 1,300 words a day (with time off for good behavior). Now, instead of allowing myself to be drawn in by this or that show, I sit my butt down and focus on my 1.3k words. Sometimes I do more, sometimes less, but at least I know what I'm shooting for.
This process seems to really work for me. Rather than thinking about my daunting light at the end of the tunnel, I have little glow worms a long the way to help keep the trail lit.
Happy writing everyone!
I've set a goal to write 25k a month, which breaks down to about 1,300 words a day (with time off for good behavior). Now, instead of allowing myself to be drawn in by this or that show, I sit my butt down and focus on my 1.3k words. Sometimes I do more, sometimes less, but at least I know what I'm shooting for.
This process seems to really work for me. Rather than thinking about my daunting light at the end of the tunnel, I have little glow worms a long the way to help keep the trail lit.
Happy writing everyone!
