Carynn Bohley's Blog, page 5
May 18, 2019
Rate Precipice On Goodreads
Some of you know that I recently published and Amazon ‘short read’ (a story that takes only about half an hour to finish). I just got accepted as a Goodreads author, so click here to follow me! If you have read Precipice, I would really appreciate a review. If you haven’t, you can get it on Amazon for $0.99, or for free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
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Thanks to everyone who’s read Precipice, and everyone who plans to! I’m been thinking of doing a giveaway soon for Precipice so we’ll have to see… but what I’ve really been focused on is the new short read I’m working on. Hopefully it’ll be released soon, instead of in my pile of abandoned ideas…
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May 17, 2019
Looking Rejection In The Face
Let’s face it, writing is a hobby that makes us naturally susceptible to rejection. Sure, there are the writers like Jack Gilbert, who published world-renowned poetry and then disappeared for years at a time before coming out with his next piece of writing. Or writers like Walt Whitman, who stood against the boundaries set by society for writers without caring what people said, and quickly became famous for his unique work.
But not all of us are naturally that patient or resilient. Sometimes it can make us feel vulnerable to show our writing to people; or, for me, I’m fine with others reading my work, but then I’m disappointed if they don’t react the way I hoped.
The thing is, rejection is so important on our journeys as writers. I know, that sounds like the kind of thing your mother tells you when you’re little. Seriously, though, it’s the honest truth. Rejection, though it may seem to be a contradictory statement, is extremely helpful in building confidence and making writers more knowledgeable in their craft.
Rejection tells us what we’re doing wrong, and also what we’re doing right. I queried eight agents about my novella Darkness Rise a few months ago, and I quickly learned that I’d written a good query. You know how I knew that? Each and every agent who replied to me talked about my actual writing, meaning that they had gotten past the query and began to read my book. Maybe that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but you have to realize: If a query is unprofessional or uninteresting, an agent (who has a lot of material to read every day) wouldn’t have any reason to go beyond the query letter. This is one of the things you can learn from rejection.
Also, some agents will give feedback if they think you or your project has potential. For some reason I can’t explain, I feel more encouraged after reading rejections. I think it’s because I know that people that could be of importance to my writing career are reading my writing, which is an exciting thought.
I want to share a reply I received from an agent (I won’t give her name for privacy reasons). It was very inspiring, and I’m very thankful to her for taking the time to say more than the usual reply, ‘unfortunately I’m not interested at this time.’ This might also be helpful for those of you who are just beginning your search for an agent and need somewhere to start, or if you’re wondering what to expect.
Dear Carynn,
Thank you so much for letting me review your manuscript, but I’m going to decline at this time. Unfortunately, your beginning just isn’t pulling me in the way I had hoped. I know you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your project. Take heart: the publishing industry is very subjective, so what may not work for me could be just what another agency is looking for. I strongly encourage you to continue your pursuit of publication.
In your search for the perfect agent you may want to check out Writers Digest Guide to Literary Agents blog. I have found it to be a great resource for finding new agents that are looking to build their lists.
I also encourage writers to gather beta readers and critique partners to help hone your craft; their suggestions can be invaluable.
Thank you for considering me for your manuscript and I wish you great success with your writing career. I hope you’ll consider me again for your next work of art.
This reply is a lot longer than the others I received; I was able to learn many things just from this one email.
For example, my query had drawn her in, but the beginning of my book wasn’t hooking. To be completely honest, my Mom told me the same thing. Now, months later, I noticed it myself. When my Mom read a piece of writing I wrote recently, she said, “If you’d started Darkness Rise like this, you’d have been scooped up by an agent immediately.”
So that was one thing I’ve learned from rejection.
Rejection is not a bad thing. It makes you stronger, it teaches you, and, like many parts of life (take it from a deer hunter), it makes the time that you hit the target so much sweeter!
Choose a mantra to live by:
A. If I don’t try I won’t succeed.
B. If I never try I’ll never fail.
Now live with it. Once you make your choice, follow it.
And if you want to be a writer, my friends, I have a small piece of advice for you: Choose A. But then again, it’s your choice.
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May 15, 2019
What Kind Of Character Are You?
I started a blog just for roleplaying as our characters. Come check it out- it’s hosted by Flair!
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/162249561/posts/30
Here’s a little quiz I made for all of us characters. People think authors do all the work, but we do all the work and they get all the credit! Why do they get their names on the front of the book, but not the very beings that hold up the walls of the story?
Sorry, sorry. I tend to rant.
So anyway, take this quiz to find out what kind of character you are. In other words, how you move the plot along and effect the story. Enjoy!
May 14, 2019
Roleplaying As Our Characters
Hi! My name is Flair, and I’m a half-human-half-Centri (A Centri is a type of… ‘alien,’ as you Earth folk call creatures from other galaxies). My author, Carynn, suggested that I write a post where book characters can communicate, helping their writers to better understand them. To start off, I’ll tell you three things about myself (and you can do the same, after you introduce yourself).
My only living parent isn’t my biological parent, and technically she isn’t alive. You see, she’s a robot. Long story…
My hair is blue, as you can see above. Unlike my fully Centri friends, I have to dye my hair to have a non-human hair color. I didn’t know for most of my life that I was part human, so Mom (the robot, remember?), has been dying it once every cycle to disguise me.
I sorta kinda maybe have a thing for a pilot-in training named Kaidan. He has shoulder-length silver hair, amber eyes… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….sorry, I just lost my train of thought.
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What were we talking about again?
Not sure…
So anyway, use the comments to introduce yourself and chat. We can talk about our worlds, lives, families, relationships, annoyingly controlling writers who try to plot out our lives… (sorry Carynn, you’re amazing… a little bossy, but amazing…).
I’m so excited to meet some fellow characters!
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May 13, 2019
‘The Way She Sees It’- A Culture Podcast
I wanted to share a podcast that my cousin HG just released. It covers pop culture, current events, writing, and history from her perspective. Check it out, seriously. It’s awesome!
Click HERE to follow the podcast so you’ll be notified of new episodes.
May 10, 2019
Burning Plains (Middle Grade Book About Africa)
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been writing a new book that I’ve really been enjoying. It’s a middle grade, but I really think that it can be enjoyed by older people, as well. I could use feedback, so if you don’t have the time (or interest) grab the closest kid and have them read! 
Writing Contest… No Winners?
So I must admit that I received way less entries than the last writing contest I hosted here on Writers BloK.
In fact… there were no entries this time.
Everyone’s been a bit busy I guess, and I did have a few people tell me (both through Writers BloK and email) that they wanted to enter but didn’t have time. It’s a bit disappointing (and sort of embarrassing to admit, though I know I must), but there’s always next time.
I definitely hope to host more writing contests. I think that summer is a busy time for everyone, while fall, winter and early spring give people more time to enter (as we saw with the last contest, which was obviously more successful).
Onto a happier subject, I’ve been walking around a lot today without my crutches and only with my special foot brace, and I haven’t experienced much pain since yesterday. Honestly, the recovery process isn’t as bad as I had expected. I just wish I didn’t have to go through it again with the next foot!
I got outside today and went to see Liberty and Winnie for the first time since Sunday (the day before my surgery). Liberty was so happy to see me. She was licking my and laying her head against me.
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She’s just so sweet. When we got her last summer, she was spoiled (she was a polo horse before she got navicular disease) and standoffish. Now she’s a total sweetheart, and I completely adore her.
Anyway, that’s all. I’m going to go back to my current writing project, which is honestly the first thing I’ve actually enjoyed writing in a long time.
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May 9, 2019
Writing Contest- ENDING TOMORROW!
Submit your entries now, because my 500-word writing contest is ending tomorrow, May 9th! If you didn’t see the original post, here are the guidelines and prizes:
Guidelines-
You must be following Writer’s BloK. When you submit your entry, make sure to tell me your username so I can check to be sure you’re subscribed! Send your entries through the contact page, or to my email: C.Marie.bohley@gmail.com/
Your entry can be any genre, but I ask that you keep it PG-13.
The word count, as said, must be 500 words.
Your entry should be a piece of writing that has not been published, and, needless to say, is your own. It can be flash fiction, a poem, or the beginning of a story.
I will not be accepting new entries as of May 10th, and the top three winners will be announced.
Everyone is eligible to enter!
Prizes
First Place Winner: $10 e-gift card of their choosing: Amazon, Books-A-Million, or Barnes & Noble.
Second Place Winner: The ebook authored by yours truly, ‘Precipice.’
Third Place Winner: Six printable bookmarks
Hurry up and submit- don’t miss your chance!
Good luck, everyone.
P.S. If you don’t have time to write up something just for the contest, remember: This can be the beginning of a story. If you have an unpublished piece of writing you’ve been working on, take five hundred words from that!
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May 6, 2019
Three Hours After Surgery
Wow. It’s over.
I’m back home, and I’m actually feeling great. I’m sitting on the couch with an emoji balloon suspended in the air beside me (from my Mom), a bottle of water and Panera mac&cheese on the end table, a card from my brother (and him himself sitting beside me, loudly slurping a slushi). My foot is propped up on a pillow (it’s only just starting to hurt, now that the local anesthesia is wearing off) and being iced.
So anyway, here is what happened today compared to yesterday’s expectations!
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: I will wake up at 6:45 AM and get ready to leave, in which time I will be nervous and shaky.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I woke up at 6:07 AM to the bright sun streaming in my window. I wasn’t nervous, honestly. I felt very calm, and laid in bed until my Mom came to get me up. Lucas (my six year old brother) slept in my room last night so I ‘wouldn’t be afraid.’ He’s so sweet. I got ready quickly (no eating, no drinking water, no brushing my teeth) and we left at 6:45 (the time I expected to wake at).
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: I can’t eat starting 12:00 AM tomorrow (I can eat a few hours after the surgery), but I won’t be hungry due to my nerves.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I was able to eat right after the surgery. In fact, I had some oyster crackers while I was in the recovery room. On the ride there I was hungry, but the nerves also contributed to how my stomach felt- so I felt sorta sick.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: The drive will make me anxious, and I’ll try to sleep. I won’t be successful.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I wasn’t really anxious during the drive- mentally, at least. Physically I was shaking, but inwardly I felt fairly calm. I didn’t try to sleep; my Mom and I talked the whole way (the kids fell asleep early on) about shows, music and such.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: We’ll arrive at my grandmother’s house, where my aunt will be watching the kids. She’ll come out and say good luck to me (my grandparents are coming to the surgery with my Mom and obviously me).
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: When we got to my Grandmother’s house, we all went inside. I hung out a bit in the front room, anxious to leave. I wanted to get it over with. My aunt did give me a hug, but she didn’t say ‘good luck.’
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: From there we’ll drive to the place the surgery will take place. I’ll be trembling and feel sick to my stomach.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: While I didn’t feel sick to my stomach, I was extremely nervous. The drive was less than twenty minutes, but it felt like an eternity.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: They’ll bring me into a room to get prepped for local anesthesia. I’ll be put in a hospital gown, then hooked up with an IV (the part I’m dreading the most). It will be completely awful and I’ll flinch away from the nurse, then apologize. I HATE needles. It will be painful.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: After a small wait in the waiting room, I did get into a hospital gown and then I was brought to a room with some other patients in hospital beds. I was set up in the corner and the nurse put a blanket over me, then checked my pulse. She then prepared for the IV, which is when I started getting extremely worked up. She left to get a smaller needle, and I heard a loud beeping start up from behind me. The nurse returned and said, “Oh wow, you’re heart’s really cranking it out, huh?” I turned around to look at the heart monitor, which read ‘162 BPM.’ I tried to calm down, and looked away when she put in the IV. I barely felt it.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: When the surgeon is ready for me, I’ll be brought to an operation room and the procedure will begin. It will take about forty-five minutes, and then I’ll be brought to the recovery room.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I didn’t leave that room for an hour and fifteen minutes, which gave the medicine time to settle in. I was laughing and crying and going on and on about my jellybean craving to my Mom and Grandmother, who took turns visiting me. My Grandmother took two videos during that time, which I will only reveal if I get a lot of requests for them (they’re very embarrassing!). Eventually they made me say goodbye to my Mom, then wheeled me away to the OR. There were a lot of doctors in there, and two giant lights like the ones at the dentist but far larger. Two doctors helped my move into a different bed, where I was propped up in a strange way and my foot was pulled up into a strange harness. A man put a breathing mask on me and told me to breath in through my nose, and out through my mouth. The problem is, I was stuffy from crying, which made it kinda hard to breath in through my nose. At some point, I fell asleep. I have no idea when. When I woke again I was confused completely about where I was, but I didn’t put it to words. I don’t remember what happened from there, only that I was brought back to the recovery room.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: My family will come into the recovery room to see me, and I’ll be completely out of it. My Mom will be recording me like I asked her to (I’m making a bunion surgery video to put on YouTube, with updates from before, the day of, and after). I’ll say something stupid and be embarrassed later on.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: My Mom was sent into the recovery room, and I felt very awake. I ate some oyster crackers and we talked to the nurse for a while, before she pulled the curtain clothes and my Mom helped me change. Afterward the Nurse returned with crutches, and she taught me to use them by walking on my heel with a special boot she gave me. My Mom was not recording me; when she tried the nurse said no cameras were allowed in that room. I didn’t say anything stupid- at least, not then. Only before the surgery.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: Finally we’ll get to leave. I’ll be kind of hungry, but also drowsy. A nurse will push me in a wheelchair to the door, before my Mom (or Grandmother or Grandfather) take control and bring me to the car.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: The nurse pushed me to the car in a wheelchair, which my grandfather parked in the front. I got out of the wheelchair and into the car, and we drove back to my grandparents’ house to pick up the kids and switch cars.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: I’ll get situated, and then we’ll stop somewhere and they’ll pick up food for me to eat (I won’t be able to go in, as I shouldn’t be going anywhere for the first two weeks). Then we’ll pick up the kids (who will all try and talk to me. My Mom will tell them to leave me alone because I need to rest).
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: My grandmother took the car we’d driven to the surgical center with and went to pick Panera up for me, a cinnamon bagel, mac & cheese, chips, and hot chocolate. I was just starting to get hungry, and only ate a little bit. I was afraid that I’d get sick. I took my medication right after we picked it up from the pharmacy.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICATION: I’ll sleep the rest of the way home, then more on the couch. I’ll take more medication. I’ll eat (some of) my dinner.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I did sleep the rest of the way home (I was exhausted, and my stomach was starting to hurt. Tylenol with Codeine tends to cause stomachaches). Now, though, I’m wide awake and sitting on the couch with my laptop typing this post. I don’t need to take more medicine until 5:00, and we have yet to eat dinner. I have a good appetite, so (unlike yesterday’s prediction) I’m sure I’ll eat all of it.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTION: It will be a long night.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: Obviously it isn’t night yet, so I guess I’ll just have to see what happens with this one!
Overall, the surgery went WAY better than I expected- except for the anxiety, of course.
I’ll be posting a bunion surgery video on YouTube soon, so stay posted! You can click HERE to subscribe to me on YouTube.
A big thanks to everyone who’s supported me, and still are. Thank you!
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May 5, 2019
Bunion Surgery- Expectations
My surgery is tomorrow morning at 8:45 AM, and the hospital where it will be done is over an hour away. I’ve been nervous all day, and I’m not sure how I’ll be able to sleep… but I’m probably over reacting.
Anyhow, I’m going to make a list of my expectations for tomorrow. When I feel up to it (after the surgery), I’ll make a list of how things actually went and how those things were different from my original predictions.
I will wake up at 6:45 AM and get ready to leave, in which time I will be nervous and shaky.
I can’t eat starting 12:00 AM tomorrow (I can eat a few hours after the surgery), but I won’t be hungry due to my nerves.
The drive will make me anxious, and I’ll try to sleep. I won’t be successful.
We’ll arrive at my grandmother’s house, where my aunt will be watching the kids. She’ll come out and say good luck to me (my grandparents are coming to the surgery with my Mom and obviously me).
From there we’ll drive to the place the surgery will take place. I’ll be trembling and feel sick to my stomach.
They’ll bring me into a room to get prepped for local anesthesia. I’ll be put in a hospital gown, then hooked up with an IV (the part I’m dreading the most). It will be completely awful and I’ll flinch away from the nurse, then apologize. I HATE needles. It will be painful.
When the surgeon is ready for me, I’ll be brought to an operation room and the procedure will begin. It will take about forty-five minutes, and then I’ll be brought to the recovery room.
My family will come into the recovery room to see me, and I’ll be completely out of it. My Mom will be recording me like I asked her to (I’m making a bunion surgery video to put on YouTube, with updates from before, the day of, and after). I’ll say something stupid and be embarrassed later on.
Finally we’ll get to leave. I’ll be kind of hungry, but also drowsy. A nurse will push me in a wheelchair to the door, before my Mom (or Grandmother or Grandfather) take control and bring me to the car.
I’ll get situated, and then we’ll stop somewhere and they’ll pick up food for me to eat (I won’t be able to go in, as I shouldn’t be going anywhere for the first two weeks). Then we’ll pick up the kids (who will all try and talk to me. My Mom will tell them to leave me alone because I need to rest).
I’ll sleep the rest of the way home, then more on the couch. I’ll take more medication. I’ll eat (some of) my dinner.
It will be a long night.
So those are my expectations. Yes I’m nervous. Very nervous.
That’s it I guess (until I’m able to post again- obviously after my surgery). Wish me luck!
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