Amey Zeigler's Blog, page 4

5 Author Confessions

Okay, I saw something similar to this on Twitter as a hashtag, but I wasn't sure I wanted to confess my deepest darkest author confessions, so here we are here bearing my soul to the readers of my blog.

1. I've never been good at spelling. In elementary school, I once spelled "of" ove. Yeah. Spellcheck has saved me, but there are still words that are hard for me to spell: porcelain, chandelier, sauce (I can never remember if it is with an s or a c). Also, learning French really helped me to understand why English is so weird.

2. I read a lot of YA. My daughter usually pre-screens books and passes along the ones she thinks are worthy. If you want me to read something, you have to get it passed her.

3. I go to a lot of other author signings. I have a huge author-sighed collection of books. And it's growing.

4. I don't believe we are in competition with other authors. I celebrate others' success. If they win, we all win!

5. I don't usually write on the weekends or in the summer. With young kids, it's hard not to be distracted by their energy and their enthusiasm for life.

Anyone else want to confess?

Best Moments in Writing

I like to remind myself, during the slog of a first draft, or the thirteenth draft, why I am doing what I am doing. So you get to share in the joy of fruits. Or is it fruits of my joy?

Best moments in writing:

When I finally got a contract for my book.

When my mother-in-law called to say she laughed and laughed at a certain line: "She stood strong in her fat suit." I hadn't heard her laugh like that in a long time.

When reviewers write "Wow!" in their review.

When my friends actually like my book.

When people I don't know like my book.

When my characters connect with people.

Celebrate every victory! Stay positive! Enjoy the journey!

Emotion

There is humanity in emotion. We connect with others, walk a mile in their shoes. We gain empathy. I love reading because it helps us connect with others in meaningful ways. What do you prefer? Laughter or tears in your fiction?

Reading Fiction Helps Us Be Human

Fiction is a wonderful vessel for conveying emotion. There is humanity in emotion. We connect with others, walk a mile in their shoes. We gain empathy. We laugh, we weep, we hide under our covers in fear. Fiction helps us explore emotions from the safety of our couch. It's cathartic. It's a release. It helps us to see the other side of an argument. We learn to love people who don't exist except in our minds.

Make 'em Laugh or Make 'em Cry?

As humans, we experience a wide range of emotion. When I studied theater for ten years, I loved helping people feel something, whether it was to make them laugh or cry. There is something powerful in laughing but there is cleansing and healing in crying. In literature as well as the arts, we experience a wide range of emotion--fear, anger, hope, relief, repulsion, attraction.

Which types of books do you prefer? Do you like horror? Hopeful? Funny? Ones that open your eyes? Close your eyes in disbelief? Do you want to be uplifted? Inspired?

Advice for aspiring writers

When I was in college, I studied Theater. To anyone who knows me well, this is not a surprise. I love emotion: comedy, drama--all of it. We did a competition piece at college about the Holocaust and the visiting judge made a comment about how some of the actors' hands needed to be acting. During an emotional parting scene, our hands just kind of hung there instead of caressing or grasping, clasping in love, regret, longing, or desperation. It was a small detail that he saw our director missed. There was one piece of advice the visiting judge gave our troupe which has stuck with me over the years: "Continue to study the craft."

I'd like to give that as advice to any writer, but particularly aspiring authors: Learn the craft, continuously learn the craft.

I first started writing ten years ago. It took me a whole year to finish my first novel. Then I rewrote it a bazillion times, learning how to craft scenes, sentences, and chapters. I learned plot structure, conflict, and character. Then I wrote my second and the third which is published. But it took me years for my skills to catch up to the stories I had swirling in my head.

Can you think of other fields where we can constantly refine our craft?

Funny books

I love funny books, from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to Emma to Princess Bride. I like subtle humor, I like laugh-out-loud humor. I like it all. I think laughter is healing and helps us deal with our problems. I think we all need to laugh at ourselves and fiction is the perfect outlet to let us experience someone else's life first hand.

In addition to the ones mentioned above, I read comic books like Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, Pearls Before Swine, The Adventures of Tin-Tin. Some MG fiction, including Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz and the Attack of the Evil Librarians. YA like Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries. Adult like Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Old fashioned ones like P. G. Wodehouse's Geeves and Wooster series.

What are your favorite funny books?

Series versus serials

I have seen a trend lately in books series where book one doesn't really stand alone, rather it feels like part one of a larger story. It doens't have its own arc, or climax. Each story is a continuation of the last story. It seems more like a serial, book one stops the action with no resolution. Have you noticed this trend? Do you like it? Or do you prefer a series is where each book has it's own conflict that has to be solved by the end of the book and an overarching goal to be achieved by the end of the series? #askingforawriterfriend

Amazon giveaway

Hello! I forgot to mention here that I'll be giving away two paperback copies of my book on Amazon.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=RN...

Last day is tomorrow!

Just in time for Mother's Day

Only because the next two weeks will be the busiest week I decided to put my book on sale. My son is getting baptized in our church on 5-26 and I still need to send out invites, cut his hair (because pictures) and make sure his white shirt is clean! We will also have a birthday for him, because it's also his birthday that day. So as a tradition, I make any cake my kids want. One year I did a mermaid cake, one year a pumpkin cake (a bundt cake with orange fondant), an aircraft carrier. Yeah, even a Death Star. So these next two weeks will be busy. However.....

In case you wanted to buy Baker's Dozen and were waiting for the perfect opportunity, well wait no more! Here's a sale $2.99! Yay! Tell your friends! 5-11--5-25

While I'm cleaning the house for family and company, making cake, preparing a luncheon for 30 of our closest friends, you can relax and read my book! I'll trade you!