Angela Kay Austin's Blog, page 23
March 17, 2012
This much I know...
Everything you do in life has a purpose or meaning. I know there are a lot of people out there who will disagree with me, but let me tell you why I believe this before you disagree.
In high school I couldn't decide which college I wanted to attend. Although I'd received scholarships to various schools of merit, none of them really spoke to me. Then, one day, some college recruiters came to my high school (their alma mater) and blew me away! I wanted to be a part of that type of excitement. So, I'd set my mind on that college, and nothing less would be acceptable. I applied (late) and waited.
Nothing.
The other offers began to dwindle, and still nothing.
I was so disappointed and discouraged that I'd decided to blow college off and join the military. I took the ASVAB, provided them with my medical records. Everything moved quickly. My parents disagreed, but I didn't care. I was going to do what I wanted.
Then, I received a letter in the mail welcoming me to my dream college! But, I hadn't received a welcome packet from the college itself, it was from my campus liaison.
How was that possible? Had I really been accepted, or was this a cruel joke of the universe?
Nope, it was true. It was all true. I'd made it, and literally only moments before I signed my name on the dotted line for the U.S. Army.
In so many ways, my life has had many moments like this one, each one speaking louder and louder to me and directing my life in some marvelous way.
One of those moments lead me to meet my guest this week at Romancing the Pen. Truly a friend and a fabulous author, Charmaine Gordon.
She has truly lived an exciting and interesting life from the stage to TV to writing to family and friends.
Join me this week at Romancing the Pen as I welcome her once again.
It was 2:30 a.m. when the phone rang. I fumbled for it, my heart starting a race toward bad news. Our doctor s voice urged me to hurry. I crammed into clothes as if I expected this call. It is only a fever that won t go down, isn't it? Our doctor shook his head. ...We did everything possible to save him. I held him in my arms when he took his last breath. Carly, I m so sorry. Settling in beside my Bob, I held his cooling hand and asked the two words spoken many times during our years together. Now what? This time there was no response. I was on my own for the first time. When my fingers touched his wedding ring, I slipped it off and held it in my fist. The gold band was warm. I clung to him. Come back to me, dearest. Sometimes what you wish for is more than you can live with.
In high school I couldn't decide which college I wanted to attend. Although I'd received scholarships to various schools of merit, none of them really spoke to me. Then, one day, some college recruiters came to my high school (their alma mater) and blew me away! I wanted to be a part of that type of excitement. So, I'd set my mind on that college, and nothing less would be acceptable. I applied (late) and waited.
Nothing.
The other offers began to dwindle, and still nothing.
I was so disappointed and discouraged that I'd decided to blow college off and join the military. I took the ASVAB, provided them with my medical records. Everything moved quickly. My parents disagreed, but I didn't care. I was going to do what I wanted.
Then, I received a letter in the mail welcoming me to my dream college! But, I hadn't received a welcome packet from the college itself, it was from my campus liaison.
How was that possible? Had I really been accepted, or was this a cruel joke of the universe?
Nope, it was true. It was all true. I'd made it, and literally only moments before I signed my name on the dotted line for the U.S. Army.
In so many ways, my life has had many moments like this one, each one speaking louder and louder to me and directing my life in some marvelous way.
One of those moments lead me to meet my guest this week at Romancing the Pen. Truly a friend and a fabulous author, Charmaine Gordon.
She has truly lived an exciting and interesting life from the stage to TV to writing to family and friends.
Join me this week at Romancing the Pen as I welcome her once again.
It was 2:30 a.m. when the phone rang. I fumbled for it, my heart starting a race toward bad news. Our doctor s voice urged me to hurry. I crammed into clothes as if I expected this call. It is only a fever that won t go down, isn't it? Our doctor shook his head. ...We did everything possible to save him. I held him in my arms when he took his last breath. Carly, I m so sorry. Settling in beside my Bob, I held his cooling hand and asked the two words spoken many times during our years together. Now what? This time there was no response. I was on my own for the first time. When my fingers touched his wedding ring, I slipped it off and held it in my fist. The gold band was warm. I clung to him. Come back to me, dearest. Sometimes what you wish for is more than you can live with.
March 15, 2012
Character Inspiration
Luke Evans, actor
March 10, 2012
Finding your passion
For anyone that's traveled along the road of storytelling with me, you know that I was laid-off in 2010. At that point in my life, I decided to make the decision to take the time, while I focused on my own business, to also put more time into my writing.
When I became more driven, everything with my writing changed. My family and friends took my writing more seriously, I attended conferences, met other authors, and eventually sold my first piece to Red Rose Publishing.
This week on Romancing the Pen, my guest is Cassandra Carr. As I got to know Cassandra, her story didn't sound unlike my own. It's been a pleasure to learn a little about her and her journey.
I hope you'll drop by Romancing the Pen, and join us this week!
BLURB:
Luc, Carter, and Jake make up the Buffalo Intimidators' top scoring line. Each of them is also a client of massage therapist Eva. When they decide they want to be more than clients, they approach her. Eva's been secretly lusting after the guys for months but was afraid to say anything, trying to keep everything on a professional level.
She agrees to a menage relationship, but when people on the team start getting sick, will it turn into more than a fun roll in the hay with her hockey boys?
When I became more driven, everything with my writing changed. My family and friends took my writing more seriously, I attended conferences, met other authors, and eventually sold my first piece to Red Rose Publishing.
This week on Romancing the Pen, my guest is Cassandra Carr. As I got to know Cassandra, her story didn't sound unlike my own. It's been a pleasure to learn a little about her and her journey.
I hope you'll drop by Romancing the Pen, and join us this week!
BLURB:Luc, Carter, and Jake make up the Buffalo Intimidators' top scoring line. Each of them is also a client of massage therapist Eva. When they decide they want to be more than clients, they approach her. Eva's been secretly lusting after the guys for months but was afraid to say anything, trying to keep everything on a professional level.
She agrees to a menage relationship, but when people on the team start getting sick, will it turn into more than a fun roll in the hay with her hockey boys?
March 6, 2012
Rules for writing fiction
As written for The Guardian by Michael Moorcock, novelist.
1 My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt.
2 Find an author you admire (mine was Conrad) and copy their plots and characters in order to tell your own story, just as people learn to draw and paint by copying the masters.
3 Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel.
4 If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction.
5 Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development.
6 Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution.
7 For a good melodrama study the famous "Lester Dent master plot formula" which you can find online. It was written to show how to write a short story for the pulps, but can be adapted successfully for most stories of any length or genre.
8 If possible have something going on while you have your characters delivering exposition or philosophising. This helps retain dramatic tension.
9 Carrot and stick – have protagonists pursued (by an obsession or a villain) and pursuing (idea, object, person, mystery).
10 Ignore all proferred rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.
February 25, 2012
What would you do if there was a knock on your door in the middle of the night?
After I glare through the peep hole to see who's banging on my door, I may open it :-)
But, what if the person on the other side tells you that he's running from the police?
Well, that's exactly what happened to my guest this week on Romancing the Pen.
Larion Wills writes from the past to the future. With strong characters, no matter the setting, she drags you into intricate plots in genres you didn't think you liked with a fast moving style that keeps you reading. Visit her at her website to keep abreast of previously published and those coming.
blurb:Veteran, Ward Overland's wanted nothing but quiet, his wildlife book published, and to stop poachers. Being saddled with a woman to retake his photos was the insult. Acting as her guide to said animals was the injury. Worse, falling for a poacher's trap and being saved by her. Still, he couldn't let her just walk away.Tragedy locked Callie away from life. Only the need for money convinced her to take the job. The sooner it ended with the abrasive and rude loner the better. Saving him from death changed everything. Watching him regain strength for the journey home, she found one part of her still alive…passion. The rules…no strings, no relationship.The poacher wanted Ward dead. He didn't figure on Callie, either time.Traps: find it at MuseItUp Publishing.
But, what if the person on the other side tells you that he's running from the police?
Well, that's exactly what happened to my guest this week on Romancing the Pen.
Larion Wills writes from the past to the future. With strong characters, no matter the setting, she drags you into intricate plots in genres you didn't think you liked with a fast moving style that keeps you reading. Visit her at her website to keep abreast of previously published and those coming.
blurb:Veteran, Ward Overland's wanted nothing but quiet, his wildlife book published, and to stop poachers. Being saddled with a woman to retake his photos was the insult. Acting as her guide to said animals was the injury. Worse, falling for a poacher's trap and being saved by her. Still, he couldn't let her just walk away.Tragedy locked Callie away from life. Only the need for money convinced her to take the job. The sooner it ended with the abrasive and rude loner the better. Saving him from death changed everything. Watching him regain strength for the journey home, she found one part of her still alive…passion. The rules…no strings, no relationship.The poacher wanted Ward dead. He didn't figure on Callie, either time.Traps: find it at MuseItUp Publishing.
February 20, 2012
One day I will...
See it for myself!
February 18, 2012
Writer write
Do you choose what you do in life, or does it choose you?
While watching Oprah's interview of Viola Davis on her recent Oscar show, Viola said, "...the two most important days in a person's life...when you're born, and when you know why."
So, if you agree with Viola, and I do, then what you are born to do is always a part of you. You just have to stand still and listen.
My guest on Romancing the Pen this week is Regan Walsh. Regan joins me to discuss why she writes, and how she talks with us about how she feels about people telling writers to write what they know.
She'll also discuss some of the influences for her novel Whisper's Cape.
Join us at Romancing the Pen this week.
While watching Oprah's interview of Viola Davis on her recent Oscar show, Viola said, "...the two most important days in a person's life...when you're born, and when you know why."
So, if you agree with Viola, and I do, then what you are born to do is always a part of you. You just have to stand still and listen.
My guest on Romancing the Pen this week is Regan Walsh. Regan joins me to discuss why she writes, and how she talks with us about how she feels about people telling writers to write what they know.
She'll also discuss some of the influences for her novel Whisper's Cape.
Join us at Romancing the Pen this week.
February 15, 2012
Character Inspiration
Brian Austin Green, actor
February 14, 2012
Kiss Kiss Kiss
Ahhh Valentine's Day. What is it that makes you love (or hate) the day so much? I am like so many others, I've had my fragile love affair with V-Day.Whether single or in a relationship (depending on where I am in a love affair,) I've attended the all black affairs, had the ladies' night out, curled up on my sofa with my lover, or just watched a movie with a bottle of wine.
But, why does Valentine's Day hold such an elite place in all our hearts?
Historically, the significance and origin of Valentine's Day is a bit scrambled to say the least. Depending on which tale you choose to believe, maybe the day birthed from the tales of Chaucer, or they mark the history of one of the several historical figures (that can be found) who carried the name Valentine at a point in history that fits with the timeline of the holiday. Who knows, the day has been added and removed from calendars throughout history.
What makes us treasure: hearts, birds, red, white as it relates to Valentine's Day?
Does this look familiar:
The rose is red, the violet's blue,The honey's sweet, and so are you.Thou are my love and I am thine;I drew thee to my Valentine...
(I thought I thought of this as a kid..BRILLIANT! No, Gammer Gurton Garland, or any one of a number of poets before or after him who loved this particular form of poetry.)
Share some of your beautiful Valentine's Day poems with me. I'd love to read them.
February 6, 2012
Rules for writing fiction
As written for The Guardian by Hilary Mantel, novelist and short story writer.
1 Are you serious about this? Then get an accountant.
2 Read Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible. You will particularly hate the advice to write first thing in the morning, but if you can manage it, it might well be the best thing you ever do for yourself. This book is about becoming a writer from the inside out. Many later advice manuals derive from it. You don't really need any others, though if you want to boost your confidence, "how to" books seldom do any harm. You can kick-start a whole book with some little writing exercise.
3 Write a book you'd like to read. If you wouldn't read it, why would anybody else? Don't write for a perceived audience or market. It may well have vanished by the time your book's ready.
4 If you have a good story idea, don't assume it must form a prose narrative. It may work better as a play, a screenplay or a poem. Be flexible.
5 Be aware that anything that appears before "Chapter One" may be skipped. Don't put your vital clue there.
6 First paragraphs can often be struck out. Are you performing a haka, or just shuffling your feet?
7 Concentrate your narrative energy on the point of change. This is especially important for historical fiction. When your character is new to a place, or things alter around them, that's the point to step back and fill in the details of their world. People don't notice their everyday surroundings and daily routine, so when writers describe them it can sound as if they're trying too hard to instruct the reader.
8 Description must work for its place. It can't be simply ornamental. It usually works best if it has a human element; it is more effective if it comes from an implied viewpoint, rather than from the eye of God. If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action.
9 If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.
10 Be ready for anything. Each new story has different demands and may throw up reasons to break these and all other rules. Except number one: you can't give your soul to literature if you're thinking about income tax.
