M.A. Comley's Blog, page 17

Indie Chick Sarah Woodbury.

This week my guest is Sarah Woodbury from the Indie Chicks

TurningMedieval by Sarah Woodbury


[image error]Sometimes it's easy to pinpoint thosemoments in your life where everything is suddenly changed.  When you look across the room and say toyourself, I'm going to marry him.  Or stare down at those two pink lines onthe pregnancy test, when you're only twenty-two and been married for a monthand a half and are living on only $800 a month because you're both still inschool and my God how is this going towork? [image error]And sometimes it's a bit harder toremember.  Until I was eleven, my parents tell me they thought I was going tobe a 'hippy'.  I wandered through thetrees, swamp, and fields of our 2 ½ acre lot, making up poetry and songs andsinging them to myself.  I'm not surewhat happened by the time I'd turned twelve, whether family pressures or therealities of school changed me, but it was like I put all that creativity andwhimsicalness into a box on a high shelf in my mind.  By the time I was in my late-teens, Iroutinely told people: 'I haven't a creative bone in my body.'  It makes me sad to think of all those yearswhere I thought the creative side of me didn't exist.  When I was in my twenties and a full-time mother of two, my husbandand I took our family to a picnic with his graduate school department.  I was pleased at how friendly and acceptingeveryone seemed.And then one of the other graduate students turned to me out of theblue and said, 'do you really think you can jump back into a job after stayinghome with your kids for five or ten years?'I remember staring at him, not knowing what to say.  It wasn't that I hadn't thought about it, butthat it didn't matter—it couldn't matter—because I had this job to do and the consequences of staying home with my kidswere something I'd just have to face when the time came.Fast forward ten years and it was clear that this friend had beenright in his incredulity.  I was earning$15/hr. as a contract anthropologist, trying to supplement our income while atthe same time holding down the fort at home. I remember the day it became clear that this wasn't working.  I was simultaneously folding laundry, cookingdinner, and slogging through a report I didn't want to write, trying to get itall in before the baby (number four, by now) woke up.  I put my head down, right there on the dryer,and cried.It was time to seek another path. Time to follow my heart and do what I'd wanted to do for a long time,but hadn't had the courage, or the belief in myself to make it happen. At the age of thirty-seven, I started my first novel, just to see ifI could.  I wrote it in six weeks and itwas bad in a way that all first books are bad. It was about elves and magic stones and will never see the light of day.  But it taught me, I can do this! My husband told me, 'give it five years,' and in the five years thatfollowed, I experienced rejection along my newfound path.  A lot of it. Over seventy agents, and then dozens and dozens of editors (once I foundan agent), read my books and passed them over. Again and again.Meanwhile, I just wrote.  Awhole series.  Then more books, for atotal of eight, seven of which I published in 2011.And I'm happy to report that, even though I still think of myself asstaid, my extended family apparently has already decided that those years whereI showed little creativity were just a phase. The other day, my husband told me of several conversations he had,either with them or overheard, in which it became clear they thought I was so alternative and creative—so far offthe map—that I didn't even remember there wasa map.  I'm almost more pleased about that thananything else.  Almost.  Through writing,I've found a community of other writers, support and friendship from people Ihadn't known existed a few years ago, and best of all, thousands of readershave found my books in the last year. Here's to thousands more in the years to come . . .
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Links:
My web page:  http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/My Twitter code is:  http://twitter.com/#!/SarahWoodburyOn Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/sarahwoodburybooksLinks to my books:  Amazon and Amazon UK
Smashwords  BarnesandNoble  Apple

This week I'm sharing Suzanne Tyrpak's inspirational story with you.

  

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                                                Holes   
I used to think I had to be perfect. Ofcourse, I fell short of perfection on a regular basis so I frequently felt likea failure.
The only way to prevent failure is to hide.If we don't put ourselves out there, we can't fail.
To prevent myself from failing, I hid in afantasy world. As a young child, I longed to be a ballerina. I loved to dance,but more than that, I wanted to escape into the fantasy world of the ballet. Iwanted to live inside a fairytale,and in my mind, I did. I invented worlds I could escape to, perfect worlds thatseemed more real to me than life. Meanwhile, I ate, and ate, and ate. Not ideal,if you want to be a ballerina. My reality never matched my inner world.
I created this pattern, this external andinternal disparity, throughout my life. I brought it into my marriage,convincing myself that my marriage was perfect, while in reality it was a mess.Instead of leaving, I found escape in writing. I lost myself other times:ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Rome—worlds as far away from my reality aspossible. In my writing, I disappeared for hours, days, years. I got a jobworking at an airline so I could travel and do research. I got an agent. I feltsure I would be published.
Then my world fell apart. After nineteen yearsof marriage, my husband wanted a divorce. I fought it. Divorce didn't fit myidea of perfection, my fairytale. I viewed this loss as a disaster, but intruth it was an opening, a hole leading me to greater understanding andcompassion for myself and others.
[image error] I was broke, trying to live on what I madeat the airline. I was lonely. I had no time to write. Worst of all, I had toadmit my life wasn't perfect. I wasn'tperfect. Forced to accept myself with all my imperfections, I discovered that themore I could accept myself, the more I could accept others. Even my ex-husband.To this day, we remain friends.
Because I no longer had time to sit downand write for hours, the kind of time it takes to write a novel, I wrote shortstories. I wrote about my experience, about my struggles as a woman of fiftygoing through divorce and entering the dating world. Initially, I wrote thestories for myself as therapy. Then I began to share the stories with my writinggroup. They encouraged me to submit the stories to magazines, and several werepublished. I read a couple of stories at our local library and people laughed. Thenmy good friend, Blake Crouch, convinced me to publish the stories on Kindle. Afrightening prospect. What if my stories weren't good enough? What if theyweren't perfect?

 And then the universe stepped in.
At first I resisted. I'd had two literaryagents, and a longtime dream of being traditionally published. Self-publishingdidn't fit my idea of perfection. But, in reality, I no longer had an agent,and I hadn't worked on a novel for several years. What did I have to lose?Nothing. So I published Dating MyVibrator (and other true fiction).
My world changed, not because I was finallypublished, but because I changed. I finallyfound the confidence to pursue my dream despite my imperfections. I found thecourage to stop hiding and put myself out into the world. This freed me.
I rewrote my novel, Vestal Virgin—suspense in ancient Rome.Originally, my characters were a bit flat. Why? Because they were too perfect!I hadn't looked at the manuscript for two years, and a lot had changed for mein that time. I rewrote the book with a cold eye: cutting, digging deeper. Mycharacters became multifaceted, real people with flaws. I became busier and busier, caught in awhirlwind, trying to hold down a full-time job, write, promote my books and havea life. Trying, once again, to be perfect.
I had an accident at work. While moving a jetstair (which weighed over 1,000 pounds) away from the aircraft, my right footgot crushed. I fell, screaming, onto the tarmac while passengers onboard theplane watched. A coworker rushed me to the hospital for the first of threeemergency surgeries. I suffered intense pain due to nerve damage, broken anddislocated toes and, ultimately, amputation of a toe. As I write this, I'mstill recovering.
I spent five weeks at a nursing home, agood place for me (even though most of the patients were over eighty yearsold), because it would have been close to impossible for me to take care ofmyself at home. While there, I had a chance to meet alot of the patients and residents. All of us had obvious holes.
I learned a lot from the other patients.And I was forced to face my own mortality. Aging offers us the gift ofacceptance. In order to age gracefully, we must the release the idea of perfection.We learn there are some things we can change, and some things we must accept. And,when we accept what is, we may findthe good in even the most difficult situations. We learn to accept the holes inourselves and others. We even welcome imperfection.
[image error] Since the accident, I've been thinkingabout holes a lot. I've been thinking about being whole, in relation to loss.How can loss make a person whole? I've learned that loss can make a personstrong, more self-reliant. Loss can make us more compassionate to ourselves andothers.
Where I had a toe, there's now a hole, andthat hole reminds me that I'm not perfect. But, despite my imperfection, I amwhole. I am me. It would be ridiculous to think that I am any less of a person,because I'm missing a toe, because I have a hole. Just as it's ridiculous forany of us to think we must be perfect.
Physical wounds can't be hidden as easily asemotional and psychological wounds. And that's a gift. Physical wounds make usconfront our mortality, our humanity. Physical wounds can't be denied. They aretangible and force us to accept ourselves, with all our imperfections.

It's impossible to get through life withoutbeing wounded. Some wounds are obvious. Others are internal, even spiritual: theloss of the ability to trust, to connect deeply, to hold a friend and know thatyou are loved.

We run away from wounds. Try not to look at them. We think they're signs ofweakness, but our wounds—the holes in us—provide a doorway, a soft spot in ourarmor. We walk around armored, protecting ourselves with platitudes and false smiles,never touching our own vulnerabilities, afraid to share our tender rawness withanother or even with ourselves.

If we can touch the tender spots, allow ourselves to feel fear, sorrow, loss,we become closer to wholeness. The more we accept our holes, the morecompassion we can have for others. When we feel compassion we are able toconnect. We are able to expose our soft underbelly to another human being andshare the salt of our tears, the sweetness of our joy. That's what I want towrite about, that's what I want to share, because salt makes all the differencebetween a bland, protected life, and a true life: pulsing, bloody, messy,passionate and truly whole.Flaws, or holes, are what make a characterseem real—in life and in fiction. Perfection is impermanent, an illusion. Aperson who seems too perfect is repulsive. We don't trust him. We know thatperson can't be real. Holes speak of truth. Holes allow us to connect, toourselves and to each other. Our holes make us human, make us beautiful. Holesallow the light to shine through.
If someone had asked me last spring, "Wouldyou give up a toe in order to learn, in order to have time to write your nextnovel?" I might have said, "Yes."
Funny, how life works.
  Suzanne's story is part of the Indie Chicksbook.  [image error]
Find out more about Suzanne at her blog andhere's the links to buy her books.
blog: Who'sImagining All This?Suzanne Tyrpak on FacebookTwitter: @SuzanneTyrpak
Vestal Virgin—Suspense in Ancient RomeCurrently available on Amazon Amazon UK
Hetaera—Suspense in Ancient AthensCurrently available on Amazon Amazon UK

Inspirational story by Indie Chick Prue Batten

Mrs. So Got It Wrong Agent.



After writing forever, I decided to finallygo down the independent road in 2008. At that time, it was calledself-publishing and the track I decided to take was POD. Part of my reason forthe move was that my books had been declared commercially viable by the UKliterary consultancy that assessed them, but in every instance they weredeclined by the Big Six.The only time I had any sort of meaningfulcomment prior to POD publication was from a highly regarded English agent who saidshe loved the novels and knew she would kick herself for declining but felt Ilived too far away to engage with. I know I reside in the southern hemisphere,in a place called Australia, but this is a new world in which we exist.Amazingly there is a thing called email, something else called Skype and evenvideo-conferencing, so I was rather gobsmacked at her antiquated approach.This, I felt, was the time to take my destiny in my own hands!You see, I was getting older and with agecomes a degree of intransigence and that was when I took up the POD offer…basically in a fit of disgust at the 'old ways'.I did everything right: good covers, greatPR, super website and then a blog with which to engage with the reading public,even radio and print media interviews… you name it, I did it. Book Two came outand I continued to sell to a niche market online and in stores. At one point,my first novel took the prime display position in bricks and mortar stores,selling more than any other unknown first release for that chain. [image error] Then, whilst working on A Thousand GlassFlowers, I had the misguided idea that it would be nice to secure an agent whocould handle all this PR and marketing stuff and maybe help me push the barrowfurther. With the success of the first two novels under my belt, with stats ofweb and blog hits as well, I contacted the first Australian agent on my list.Imagine my surprise when two days later, ona Friday afternoon, she rang me to talk business.Her first comment after a loud monologue onher credentials was 'Why in the hell did you POD your first two books?' Ironic snicker followed this acid question.'Because I was tired of submitting the oldway and getting nowhere in a very long time.'But you've signed your own death warrant.''Then why are you talking to me?''I am intrigued that you managed to get theweb hits and the book-sales you have.'Her tone was sarcasm incarnate. Something about good books and hard work was onthe tip of my tongue.I was so flummoxed at this point that Iallowed her to ram-raid me and roast me. Heaven help me, I agreed to send hermss of the first two novels (even though they had been published!) Perhaps I am a masochist. Who knows?She read them and sent them back slashed topieces. These were fantasy novels about love, loss, grief and revenge, novelsthat have secured 5 star reviews. She had deleted every conceivable piece ofemotion from the manuscripts so that they expressed nothing. If she read themright through, I'd have been surprised as she asked elementary questions aboutthe plot resolution… questions that were answered in the denouement of each ofthe novels. Her editing was unbelievable, her spelling appalling and she got myname and address wrong for the return of the mss. Now remember… this is supposedlyone of the top agents in my country,top obviously not equating with manners and sensibility. [image error] When I rang her to say politely, thanks butno thanks, she lambasted me and said, 'You are a self-fulfilling prophecy.Small-time.'My reply was that if she had taken me on, what a good talking point she would have hadabout her exciting new author. As it was, I continued, I was declining anyfurther involvement with her as my books were out there and selling.'You have committed professional suicide.'***In the last three years, this agent is theonly negative in my writing career and far from depressing me, it proved to bethe biggest shot of tenacity in the arm! Reverse psychology at its very best!So guess what, Mrs. So Got it Wrong Agent,I'm having a ball. The books are now in e-form and selling well. My third novelconsistently took a place in the Top 100 of Kindle novels in its category notlong after publication. I've sold across the globe, I have a niche following,I've made the friends of a lifetime and I am master of my own destiny. Thereare two further books to be published in TheChronicles of Eirie and in a step sideways, my first ever historicalfiction will be published in February.And at this point in my life, I don'tregret not having an agent one bit!***Addendum: Whilst writing this piece for the anthology, I nursed my littlemuse, the dog who would jump up behind me on my chair and sit whilst I typed.He had terminal cancer and in the intervening time between publication of theanthology and the posting of my piece on these blogs, he has gone quietly tohis rest… a brave, funny companion who was my inspiration. I dedicate the abovetale to him… to Milo.



Website: http://www.pruebatten.comBlog: http://www.mesmered.wordpress.comFacebook: Prue BattenTwitter: pruebattenBooks may be purchased at: Amazon.co.uk http://amzn.to/v2mosZAnd at Amazon.com http://amzn.to/rHBVoy

All this hassle to claim back with-holding tax!

Well, this task so far has taken a frustrating three months to try and sort out.

As an Indie author, I upload my books to the various book sites in order to sell my work.
For the past three months, I've been trying to sort out my tax number with the IRS, so I can claim the 30% with-holding tax back on the money I've earned in 2011.

I had my W-7 form verified by my notaire and sent it off along with a copy of my passport to the US Embassy in Paris. Three months later, the day after Boxing Day, I received a letter from Austin Texas telling me to resubmit the form and to get another verified copy of my passport, plus now I have to attach an apostille as part of the Hague convention.

I made an appointment with my notaire again, only to be told that she can't sign or verify it, and that I have to travel 2 hours to get it authorised!

Are you kidding me?

Also in the letter from Austin they told me that unless my form reaches them by the 17th January 2012 yet another form would have to be submitted.

Then to crown it all, Amazon say in their terms and conditions that the W-8BEN form that we have to send after we've obtained our ITIN number had to be in by 31st December 2011, otherwise the tax that was with-held that year would not be paid out!

I've had to contend with this on top of the fact that as a non-US writer I have to cash my cheques from Amazon(as they don't pay by EFT) at my bank and each time they take 32 euros from me. But what really gets my back up is that US writers can have an EFT payment made to their bank account and DON'T get any tax stopped by the UK government.

Isn't that discrimination?

Come on Amazon and the IRS give an author a helping hand, will you?

All we want to do is write for goodness sake, and I thought France was supposed to be a bureaucratic nightmare, er not compared you lot it isn't.

Happy New Year!

Spent most of New Year's Eve planning the books I intend writing this year! It was like a thousand fireworks going off in my head! ;-)There will be two Justice books and numerous other projects too! I hope 2012 proves to be a productive and prosperous year for all of you too! [image error]  

Another Indie Chick story. Cheryl Shireman

This week it's the turn of the group leader, Cheryl Shireman to share her inspirational story with us.

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I Burned My Bra For This? OneWoman's Fantasy
By Cheryl Shireman
I'm a Baby Boomer. Which meansthat I remember bell-bottoms, Happy Days, and having only three channels on thetelevision. I played Donny Osmond albums on a record player. My parents watchedGunsmoke, and on Sunday nights we all watched The Wonderful World of Disney. Inthe living room. Together. On the only television we owned. Imagine that! Iremember the first time I saw Bonanza in color. I remember the first time Iheard about remote controls for televisions. The whole idea seemed ridiculous.With three channels, really, how often would it be needed? I remember theWatergate hearings playing on the television when I came home from school.  I also remember watchingfeminists (does anyone use that word anymore?) burn their bras and march forequal rights. I grew up believing that a woman deserves equal pay for equalwork and that a woman is not defined by the man she marries or by the childrenshe gives birth to. In fact, we were told that both men and children wereoptional. The idea seemed revolutionary at the time. It still does. Women weremad as hell and they weren't taking it anymore. We called it Women'sLiberation, and though it was never said, it was certainly implied (andbelieved in most circles) that a woman who did not work was a bit inferior to acareer woman. That was when such women were called housewives and not "stay athome" moms. Women were divided into two groups – those who worked and those whodidn't. Back then, no one thought that staying home and taking care of a familyand home was work. The women of my generation wanted more, demanded more, andbelieved we were entitled to just that – more. We sometimes looked at our ownmothers, most of whom did not have realjobs, as women who simply did not understand that there was more to life thanbeing a mother. If truth be told, we thought they were a bit simple-minded andwe secretly vowed to do more with our lives. And yet…as this Baby Boomer looksat her life, I realize nothing I have ever done, or will ever do, is as importantas being a mother. Not career, volunteer work, graduate school, or any creativepursuit. Nothing else even comes close to being a mother. Period.One of my children lives half anhour away, another is one state away, and the third is on the other side of theworld in Denmark. Yesterday, my husband and I spent the entire day with ourtwo-year-old granddaughter. She then spent the night. As I write this, I hearher gentle breathing in the baby monitor positioned atop the table close towhere I sit.To say that my children, and nowmy granddaughter, have filled my life with love and joy is an understatement.As children, they expanded my heart in ways I could never have imagined. Forthe first time in my life, I not only understood, but received unconditionallove. As adults, they are three people that I know I can always count on. Theywill always be there for me. Just as I will always be there for them. Can yousay the same about your career?There used to be a televisionshow called Fantasy Island. People visited the island and lived out theirfantasies – no matter how wild (okay, not that wild – this was primetime familytv in the seventies). Not too long ago, my husband and I had a discussion aboutthat old tv show and asked each other – What would your fantasy be? Mine waseasy. If I could have a Fantasy Island day, I would relive one day with mychildren. My son would be 10, which would make my daughters 4 and 2. We wouldspend the day doing whatever they wanted. Going to the park, going to themovies, playing games, baking cookies, or just sitting on the floor playingwith Legos and Barbies. I would hug them a lot. And kiss the tops of theirheads. And take tons of pictures. I wouldn't cook. I wouldn't clean. And Iwouldn't worry about my career.I would watch my son show hisyounger sisters how to do things, like he always did in his older brother sortof way. I would watch my 2 year-old daughter follow her older 4 year-old sisteraround the room, shadowing her every move. Just as she did, even through theircollege years when they shared an apartment near Indiana University. I wouldwatch the older sister taking care of her younger sister, as if she were herbaby. Which is what she called her when she was born – my baby.Bedtime would be later thanusual on that fantasy night. I would tuck them into their beds, fresh from bathsand smelling of shampoo. The girls smelling like baby lotion. My son would hugme goodnight with his long skinny arms and tell me he loves me. And I wouldfeel the truth in that. I would tuck in my girls and tell them it is time to goto sleep. I would take extra care in covering the older girl's feet, becauseshe always kicked her blankets off during the night. I would kiss the baby andhold her a little longer, because I would know that, as I type this she is inDenmark which makes visiting tough.And, as I walk down the hall andturn out the lights, I would call out to all of them, as I always did…"Goodnight. Love you. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning."And that would be my fantasyday. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with my career as a writer. Even thoughbeing a writer has always been my dream. My first novel, Life is But a Dream:On the Lake, was published earlier this year. The main character, Grace Adams,is a woman facing an empty nest and the possible demise of her marriage. Gracewithdraws to a secluded lake cabin to redefine her life and try to find areason to continue living. While at the lake, Grace not only finds renewedpurpose and hope, but when things take a turn for the worse at the lake, shefinds a strength she never knew she possessed. The novel is thought-provoking,sometimes frightening, and often funny (just like life). It is also, verydefinitely, fiction. I'm not Grace. Even though my"nest" is empty, I am enjoying this time and this new focus on my career. I amnot suicidal or lacking in purpose. My husband and I both work from home (hedesigns websites), we live on a lake, and our schedule is our own. It is trulya wonderful time in our lives. Sometimes I have popcorn for dinner. Enoughsaid. But, would my current life be aswonderful if I had not pursued career and graduate school and developed theskills I am using now? Probably not. I managed to combine work and school andmotherhood. I believed I could have it all, and do it all, but to be honest –the kids always came first. And being a mother is the strongest and best partof my identity. It is the thing I am most proud of. My greatest achievement. And,once in a while, I miss those days when toys where scattered across the floor,the washer was always running, and we bought eight gallons of milk a week.If you have children at home,cherish those simple every-day moments with them. They really will be gone inthe blink of an eye – sooner than you can possibly imagine. Put this book down.Now. Go sit on the floor and play a game. Pop some popcorn, put on one of theirfavorite movies, and cuddle up on the couch. Live that "fantasy" right now. Youwill never be able to recapture these moments. Enjoy them now. There is nogreater gift than the love of your children. Spend the rest of your day lettingit pour over you. And pour your love right back over them. You can come back tothis book tonight, after they are asleep.As I type this, I can hear mygranddaughter waking up. I am shutting my computer off. Right now, I am goingto go upstairs and scoop her up from her crib. She will probably wrap herlittle arms around my neck and ask, "Play blocks, Bomb Bomb?"And we will play blocks.
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This is one storyfrom Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. To read all of the stories, buy yourcopy today. All proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer.Also included aresneak peeks into 25 novels! My novel, Life Is But a Dream: On The Lake,is one of the novel excerpts featured. It is available at most online retailersin trade paperback as well as e-book formats.Amazon US Amazon UKBarnes & Noble
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This week's Indie Chick is Katherine Owen, this is her truly inspirational story.

This week's Indie Chick is Katherine Owen, this is her truly inspirational story.


One Fictionista's Literary BlissBy: Katherine OwenI was anointed a female fictionista by an overzealous GeorgiaBulldog fan on Twitter. I immediately took it for my job description. So, here's what you should know. I write. I write a lot. And,when I'm not writing, I think about writing alot. You may think we're having a conversation, but invariably I'm stealingyour name, asking how to spell it, and secretly describing the look on yourface in five words or less in my mind. My writing tends to be dark, moody, andsometimes funny. Sometimes, it can be a bit lyrical or even literary. It'soften edgy, so be forewarned. My readerscomplain they can't put my books down. Or, just when they think they've figuredthe story out, it changes and becomes something else. My stories tend to be dark and comprised ofbroken heroines; even the heroes in my books have a few flaws that causetrouble. It's true; my characters may disappoint you or surprise you or pissyou off, but I think you'll understand why they do what they do because of theway I write them. I strive to reveal the deepest underpinnings about life,about love, and about human nature, but it's not for the faint of heart. I'lltake you through a proverbial emotional ringer before reaching resolution and it'snever as predictable as you might think. Do I sound like your kind offictionista? Come along, darling. This way.Something else you should know about me is that I'm a hugeGeorge Clooney fan. Maybe, Up In The Air wasn'tone of his usual gigs, but I loved that movie. And, let's be frank, I watched ER without him for years, but it wasnever the same. Never. Anyway, Idigress. There's a scene in Up In The Airwhere he's telling this guy to follow his dream after George has told him he'sbeen laid off.  When I saw that scene, itwas as if George was practically speaking to me because I was there, two years ago, when I was laid off from a high techsales job, had always harbored a dream to write full-time, and went for itafter that. Is it a coincidence that UpIn The Air came out about the same time? I think not.  So now, this is what I do. Write. Write all the time. I'lladmit it was hard at first. It still is—hard, harrowing, humbling. Believe me,it would be easier to go out and get another high paying sales job than writefor a living because writing causes me to question my mental toughness so muchof the time. Can I do this? Am I goodenough? Yet, here's what I've learned: you just have to turn off thatvoice in your head off or ignore what is being said.  Sometimes, all you need to do is stand up foryourself, stop depending upon the opinions of others, and just go after whatyou really want. For me, that's writing. For you, it might be anything else,but just pursue your passion whatever it is.With this anthology, my debut novel, Seeing Julia is featured. SeeingJulia is a labor of love and represents a lot of hard work. Truly, thisbook has caused me as much grief as it has joy. After I first wrote this novel,I entered it into a literary contest and promptly forgot about it. I was busy. I was taking classes at The Writer's Studio, becoming literarysavvy, and writing another novel called NotTo Us. I remember it was a Monday morning in early June of 2010 whenI received a call from the president of the Pacific Northwest WritersAssociation telling me I was a finalist in the romance category with my entryof Seeing Julia. "What?" She asked me if I planned on attending the conference. "Well, I guess so."Lucky for me, I attended the summer conference, bought a new outfit, and wonthe Zola Award and first place with SeeingJulia the night of the awards dinner. It was a surreal moment, when I hadto go up to the front of the room with those seven hundred people watching andaccept my award. But, truly? I was more concerned about navigating all thosetables and chairs on my way up to the podium than actually seizing the moment.As word spread about my writing award win, self-doubt had already set in. Itwas a fluke. It was dumb luck. As high as my emotions soared about winning;they fell just as fast when literary agents still rejected my work. Yes, thewin opened a number of literary agent doors for me, but I wrote severaldifferent versions of that novel when a number of them took greater interest,but then wanted to change everything about the story. One agent called me upand lectured me for forty-five minutes about the book and then promised to takea look if I made more changes. I sent her the revised manuscript, but she nevercalled again. This was a year ago. I was at a crossroads with my writingand myself. I kept thinking if I did what they said and changed it, yet again, I would get to the nextstep—literary bliss. But I wasn't getting anywhere. Discouraged, but still determined, I reviewed what thecritiques and feedback about Seeing Juliahad been. Based on those, I sifted through what I thought would need to bechanged and began rewriting the story, workingday and night through most of November. With just getting a few hours of sleepeach night, I kept up the intense pace and by the time the novel was finished; I knew it was. I'm extremely proud of Seeing Julia. During the process ofrewriting it for the last time, I reached an important pinnacle with mywriting: I trusted myself. Confidence entered into the realm. And, along withit, swift understanding: I had to make myown literary bliss.  Two additional things became clear. First, it was essentialfor me to have complete control over the publishing of my work; and second, thepublishing industry was in the midst of a perfect storm because of e-books andI needed to take full advantage. And, so I did.In late April and early May of this year, I released twonovels: Seeing Julia and Not To Us. These books are available ase-books as well as print trade paperbacks.Many wonderful readers have responded to my work. They oftenreach out to me and let me know how they love my novels. I love and cherishtheir enthusiasm for my work.This is literarybliss. Of course, my family's number one complaint is that I write too much andall the time. Now, add to that the twittering and the facebooking and thewordpressing and now google plus-ing, and checking Amazon, and taking writingclasses; it's a full-time gig. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. The good news is that with the encouragement of my readersand confidence in my writing, I'm working on my third novel, When I See You, and hope to release this book before the end ofthis year.  And, I already have draftsfor two other novels, Saving Valentinesand Finding Amy.Oh yes, there are occasions, rare ones, when I'm not writing.That's when I like to drink a fine wine, check in with my family, and look atmy awesome view which I can see when I look up long enough from my computerscreen in my writing refuge. And so, welcome. Welcome to my little piece of the universe. I'll leave you with this—a philosophy I now live by, borrowedfrom one of the greatest women tennis players of all time: "You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisiveset, confidence is the difference."  ChrisEvertOh, Chrissy, you are soright!***
This is one story from IndieChicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazonand Barnes& Noble. To read all of the stories, buy your copy today. All proceedsgo to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer.Also included are sneakpeeks into 25 novels! My novel, SeeingJulia, is one of the novel excerpts featured. It is available at mostonline retailers in trade paperback as well as e-book formats.


 Seeing JuliaAmazonAmazon UKBarnes and NobleApple/iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/seeing-julia/id446055623?mt=11Smashwords (variouse-book formats for Sony e-book, Kobo, Apple iBooks and Diesel)Some of Katherine's other books. When I See You will be available this week on Amazon.

For more informationabout Katherine Owen, visit these links:Website: http://www.katherineowen.netBlog: http://www.katherineclareowen.comAmazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Owen/e/B004Z3BG3I/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KatherineOwen01Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatherineOwenauthorI'm on Tumblr,here: http://katherineowen.tumblr.com/

This week's Indie Chick is Katherine Owen, this is her tr...

This week's Indie Chick is Katherine Owen, this is her truly inspirational story.


One Fictionista's Literary BlissBy: Katherine OwenI was anointed a female fictionista by an overzealous GeorgiaBulldog fan on Twitter. I immediately took it for my job description. So, here's what you should know. I write. I write a lot. And,when I'm not writing, I think about writing alot. You may think we're having a conversation, but invariably I'm stealingyour name, asking how to spell it, and secretly describing the look on yourface in five words or less in my mind. My writing tends to be dark, moody, andsometimes funny. Sometimes, it can be a bit lyrical or even literary. It'soften edgy, so be forewarned. My readerscomplain they can't put my books down. Or, just when they think they've figuredthe story out, it changes and becomes something else. My stories tend to be dark and comprised ofbroken heroines; even the heroes in my books have a few flaws that causetrouble. It's true; my characters may disappoint you or surprise you or pissyou off, but I think you'll understand why they do what they do because of theway I write them. I strive to reveal the deepest underpinnings about life,about love, and about human nature, but it's not for the faint of heart. I'lltake you through a proverbial emotional ringer before reaching resolution and it'snever as predictable as you might think. Do I sound like your kind offictionista? Come along, darling. This way.Something else you should know about me is that I'm a hugeGeorge Clooney fan. Maybe, Up In The Air wasn'tone of his usual gigs, but I loved that movie. And, let's be frank, I watched ER without him for years, but it wasnever the same. Never. Anyway, Idigress. There's a scene in Up In The Airwhere he's telling this guy to follow his dream after George has told him he'sbeen laid off.  When I saw that scene, itwas as if George was practically speaking to me because I was there, two years ago, when I was laid off from a high techsales job, had always harbored a dream to write full-time, and went for itafter that. Is it a coincidence that UpIn The Air came out about the same time? I think not.  So now, this is what I do. Write. Write all the time. I'lladmit it was hard at first. It still is—hard, harrowing, humbling. Believe me,it would be easier to go out and get another high paying sales job than writefor a living because writing causes me to question my mental toughness so muchof the time. Can I do this? Am I goodenough? Yet, here's what I've learned: you just have to turn off thatvoice in your head off or ignore what is being said.  Sometimes, all you need to do is stand up foryourself, stop depending upon the opinions of others, and just go after whatyou really want. For me, that's writing. For you, it might be anything else,but just pursue your passion whatever it is.With this anthology, my debut novel, Seeing Julia is featured. SeeingJulia is a labor of love and represents a lot of hard work. Truly, thisbook has caused me as much grief as it has joy. After I first wrote this novel,I entered it into a literary contest and promptly forgot about it. I was busy. I was taking classes at The Writer's Studio, becoming literarysavvy, and writing another novel called NotTo Us. I remember it was a Monday morning in early June of 2010 whenI received a call from the president of the Pacific Northwest WritersAssociation telling me I was a finalist in the romance category with my entryof Seeing Julia. "What?" She asked me if I planned on attending the conference. "Well, I guess so."Lucky for me, I attended the summer conference, bought a new outfit, and wonthe Zola Award and first place with SeeingJulia the night of the awards dinner. It was a surreal moment, when I hadto go up to the front of the room with those seven hundred people watching andaccept my award. But, truly? I was more concerned about navigating all thosetables and chairs on my way up to the podium than actually seizing the moment.As word spread about my writing award win, self-doubt had already set in. Itwas a fluke. It was dumb luck. As high as my emotions soared about winning;they fell just as fast when literary agents still rejected my work. Yes, thewin opened a number of literary agent doors for me, but I wrote severaldifferent versions of that novel when a number of them took greater interest,but then wanted to change everything about the story. One agent called me upand lectured me for forty-five minutes about the book and then promised to takea look if I made more changes. I sent her the revised manuscript, but she nevercalled again. This was a year ago. I was at a crossroads with my writingand myself. I kept thinking if I did what they said and changed it, yet again, I would get to the nextstep—literary bliss. But I wasn't getting anywhere. Discouraged, but still determined, I reviewed what thecritiques and feedback about Seeing Juliahad been. Based on those, I sifted through what I thought would need to bechanged and began rewriting the story, workingday and night through most of November. With just getting a few hours of sleepeach night, I kept up the intense pace and by the time the novel was finished; I knew it was. I'm extremely proud of Seeing Julia. During the process ofrewriting it for the last time, I reached an important pinnacle with mywriting: I trusted myself. Confidence entered into the realm. And, along withit, swift understanding: I had to make myown literary bliss.  Two additional things became clear. First, it was essentialfor me to have complete control over the publishing of my work; and second, thepublishing industry was in the midst of a perfect storm because of e-books andI needed to take full advantage. And, so I did.In late April and early May of this year, I released twonovels: Seeing Julia and Not To Us. These books are available ase-books as well as print trade paperbacks.Many wonderful readers have responded to my work. They oftenreach out to me and let me know how they love my novels. I love and cherishtheir enthusiasm for my work.This is literarybliss. Of course, my family's number one complaint is that I write too much andall the time. Now, add to that the twittering and the facebooking and thewordpressing and now google plus-ing, and checking Amazon, and taking writingclasses; it's a full-time gig. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. The good news is that with the encouragement of my readersand confidence in my writing, I'm working on my third novel, When I See You, and hope to release this book before the end ofthis year.  And, I already have draftsfor two other novels, Saving Valentinesand Finding Amy.Oh yes, there are occasions, rare ones, when I'm not writing.That's when I like to drink a fine wine, check in with my family, and look atmy awesome view which I can see when I look up long enough from my computerscreen in my writing refuge. And so, welcome. Welcome to my little piece of the universe. I'll leave you with this—a philosophy I now live by, borrowedfrom one of the greatest women tennis players of all time: "You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisiveset, confidence is the difference."  ChrisEvertOh, Chrissy, you are soright!***
This is one story from IndieChicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazonand Barnes& Noble. To read all of the stories, buy your copy today. All proceedsgo to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer.Also included are sneakpeeks into 25 novels! My novel, SeeingJulia, is one of the novel excerpts featured. It is available at mostonline retailers in trade paperback as well as e-book formats.


 Seeing JuliaAmazonAmazon UKBarnes and NobleApple/iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/seeing-julia/id446055623?mt=11Smashwords (variouse-book formats for Sony e-book, Kobo, Apple iBooks and Diesel)Some of Katherine's other books. When I See You will be available this week on Amazon.

For more informationabout Katherine Owen, visit these links:Website: http://www.katherineowen.netBlog: http://www.katherineclareowen.comAmazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Katherine-Owen/e/B004Z3BG3I/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KatherineOwen01Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatherineOwenauthorI'm on Tumblr,here: http://katherineowen.tumblr.com/

Cruel Justice has now officially had it's highest ranking in the US chart.

Cruel Justice has now officially had it's highest ranking in the US chart.

#114 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals #3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals #5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Women Sleuths What an amazing ride for me and my baby!  

Cruel Justice has now officially had it's highest ranking...

Cruel Justice has now officially had it's highest ranking in the US chart.

#114 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals #3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals #5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Women Sleuths What an amazing ride for me and my baby!