Angela Joseph's Blog, page 26
May 29, 2014
Farewell To Maya Angelou
Yesterday the world said good-bye to an icon of American literature. Maya Angelou is best remembered for her memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Much has already been written about Maya’s turbulent, early years and her rise to phenomenal success in the arts, literature and political activism. Many young people met Maya through her memoir, which was required reading in high schools, and for decades, Maya continued to educate us with her wisdom and mesmerize us with the magic of her words.
Maya Angelou with Bloomberg and Nadler (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As a writer, I am always looking for words that stir my soul, quicken my pulse and thrill me beyond measure. Maya Angelou’s writing does that to me. This excerpt, taken from the poem Still I Rise is one of my favorites, and I daresay, the favorite of many:
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Gifted person that she was, Maya has left us a treasure trove of words that we as writers can live by. As I reflect on the life and passing of this “great light,” her words inspire me to remember that my beginning does not dictate my end. Maya’s light shines on.
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May 16, 2014
Creating Memorable Characters
English: Image at the beginning of Chapter 34. Darcy proposing to Elizabeth. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: George Allen, 1894. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some time ago I wrote a post about how important it is to create characters that your readers will love and will come to think of as friends. Think of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, or Katniss in The Hunger Games. How can we forget these characters? According to Donald Maass in Writing The Breakout Novel, what makes a character memorable is their inner conflict.
Donald Maass says, “In creating genuine inner conflict, it is not enough simply to create inner turmoil. True inner conflict involves wanting two things that are mutually exclusive. It is most effective when it tears your protagonist, or any character, in two opposite directions.” In other words, if she gets one, she may have to give up the other.
In my novel, Coming Out of Egypt, I tried to do this with my protagonist, Cicely. She is a schoolteacher, a Christian, whose only desire is to go on living a Christian life, take care of her ailing father and help two of her former pupils get over the effects of their abusive past. Despite her best intentions, Cicely falls in love with the detective who is investigating the murder of the girls’ father.
Her conflict now becomes both internal as well as external when the detective, now her fiance, tells her he may have to arrest the older girl for her father’s murder. Cicely doesn’t want to see her pupil arrested for murder because she suspects the abuse is what may have driven her to kill him, if in fact she did. Also, if her fiance ever finds out that she too was abused as a child, would that mean the end of their relationship?
What conflict does your character face? Does he/she have to deal with external as well as internal conflict? Share with us in the comment box below.
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February 2, 2014
Use It Or Lose It
Today I heard a sermon in church that had me thinking how the phrase above may apply to writers. We have all heard it in connection
Physical Fitness Test (Photo credit: The U.S. Army)
with physical fitness, but this sermon had to do with the parable of the talents. In case you’ve never heard it before, here’s what it is in a nutshell. Three servants were given 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent respectively. In the parable, the talents referred to money. The first two men worked their talents and doubled them, but the third man hid his in the ground. When their master returned, he rewarded the first two men for their accomplishments, but he rebuked the third man strongly. Not only that, he ordered that the one talent be taken from him and given to the one who had the most.
Use it or lose it! As I listened to the sermon, I wondered why the third man had done nothing with his talent. Was he lazy? Afraid? Indifferent? Whatever the reason, we as writers cannot afford to be like him. Many times I hear would-be writers say, “I can’t just bring myself to sit down and write.” Or, “I started, but I stopped.” Or some other excuse. If writing is something you want to do, do it. Don’t bury your talent in the ground.
Well, you say, I don’t know if I have the talent. You may not have the talent, but if you have been thinking about writing, then you have the desire. And writing is a craft that can be learned. Going back to the story above, I believe the master gave them talents according to their ability. The third man was not expected to produce as much as the first one did, but he could have produced something. You may not be able to sit down and write a 400-page novel right now, but you can begin by writing a blog post, an article, a poem, a short story. Whatever your level of ability, use it or lose it.
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January 19, 2014
Slow Down And Speed Up
I can’t believe it’s almost a month since I wrote my last post, but 2014 has opened as hectic as last year was. It seems like there are 
more people everywhere, more traffic on the roads, and less time to do everything. Or maybe I’m just getting older. I know that last one is definitely true. So, this is a reminder to myself, as much as to you, to slow down and speed up. Huh?
Sounds like a paradox, but what I’m trying to say is if you want to accomplish your writing goals in 2014, you may have to slow down on the things that don’t really matter and speed up on the things that do. What are the things that slow you down and clog your day? Is it phone chats, texting, web surfing, social media? Take a look at your day and see what you can chuck in order to have a more productive life. When you have found them, throw them out or cut down the time and spent on them.
Then you would want to increase:
a. Writing time
b. Researching time
c. Marketing time
Try it this week and see if this doesn’t improve your productivity. Do you have any other thoughts on the subject? Leave me a comment below.
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December 28, 2013
Economic Or Artistic Success: Which Do You Prefer?
One of my favorite Christmas pastimes is watching reruns of popular Christmas stories. This year with all the family activities taking
Copy of Sketch of Charles Dickens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
place, I didn’t get a chance to watch any of them. However, a post on AWAI’s The Writer’s Life, a blog I subscribe to, set me thinking about the authors and what they had to go through to create and market these stories.
The first one that sent me digging for information was the perennial favorite, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This manuscript, which was later to become a masterpiece, was first intended to be a political paper championing the cause of the poor and their children. Dickens himself had suffered humiliating childhood poverty after his father was imprisoned for debt and Dickens, at the age of twelve, was forced to leave school and work in a shoe-blacking factory. Dickens later decided that a Christmas narrative would be the most effective way to awaken the population to his concerns about poverty and social injustice.
Dickens took six weeks to write the story and it was published on Dec. 19, 1843. The book received immediate critical acclaim in London, and the first run of 6000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve. Initial reaction in America was not as enthusiastic, but the book later caught on after the New York Times published an enthusiastic review. Despite this, revenue from the self-published book was disappointing. Production costs ate into his profits, and to make matters worse, the book was later pirated in January 1844. Dickens sued and won, but the pirates, Parley‘s Illuminated Library, simply declared bankruptcy and Dickens was left to pay £700 in fees.
A Christmas Carol may not have been an economic success for the author, but it has impacted millions over the years and continues to do so today. So, which do you prefer – economic or artistic success? This famous work by a beloved author proves that no matter how magnificent our writing, financial success is not guaranteed. Rather, we should always strive to produce our best, most heartfelt work and let God decide the outcome.
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December 8, 2013
Creating Your Characters
Joyce Carol Oates at USF (Photo credit: shawncalhoun)
If you are a fiction writer, one of your major challenges is creating memorable characters. Think of your characters as the pillars of a structure. If they are not strong, or don’t have the necessary qualities to support that plot, it’s likely to collapse. If your readers don’t care for your characters, especially the major ones, chances are they won’t care for your story either. Think of a movie you saw that you really enjoyed. Why did you enjoy it? What do you remember about it? Of course, great acting may be one of the reasons you enjoyed the movie, but if the main character was weak, then the acting couldn’t do much to improve on it.
In my critique group, I get a lot of praise for my characters, even the lesser ones. I think it’s because I try to get to know them – their likes, dislikes, what makes them tick, what is likely to set them off – that sort of thing. When I began my first book in the Egypt series, I searched faces on the street and in magazines looking for the right faces to match my characters. I found that people in public gave me what I wanted more than magazine photos, for the simple reason that I could commit to memory their build, their gait, facial expression, mannerisms etc. Nothing gives me more pleasure than when my critiquing friends say, “I just love Marva,” or, “I just love David.”
In the video below, popular writer Joyce Carol Oates discusses how to create outstanding characters. Enjoy!
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November 16, 2013
My Writing Adventure by Dr. Jay D. Roberts, M.D.
Today, I am pleased to publish this guest post by Dr. Jay D. Roberts, a medical doctor and author of Break The Chains, a memoir. If you have ever read any of my blog posts, you know that I’m always encouraging writers, and myself, never to give up on your dreams. Here, Dr. Roberts shows us how he eventually overcame his fears and moved past rejection to achieve his dream.
Enjoy!
It started two decades ago in Palm Springs with my some of my friends – Harold Robbins knew some of my story and told me to write a book. I didn’t. A few years later, Sonny Bono told me I needed to tell my story. I didn’t. That same year, Sidney Sheldon echoed their sentiments. I still didn’t.
How could I? I can’t write. English was my least favorite subject in school.
Years later, for some strange reason I thought of my friends years ago encouraging me to write. I’d like to think they were screaming at me from heaven.
So I wrote, a memoir. It was awful. Read like an emotionless scientific paper.
So I stopped.
A couple of years later I thought about writing again. But this time a light bulb had gone off in my head- to become a doctor I had studied hard. To write I needed to do the same.
So I bought books on the craft of writing, lots of them, and read each one, several times.
I wrote and dug deep for the core of my story, as I had learned from my studying.
What I unburied was too painful. So I stopped writing for several months, maybe a year.
I prayed and began to attend writing conferences. At The Taos Summer Writing Conference, God sent me my first writing angel, Minrose. He knew I needed more help, so he blessed me with Julie. I listened to my mentors and applied myself. Wrote and re-wrote. I had entered the world of revisions.
I read a diverse collection of books to see how other authors had applied the art of writing in their stories.
I traveled, went back to the Philippines for forty days and nights (no intent to relate to Moses), to revitalize my senses and enrich my story.
More revisions followed- oh, the torture and necessity of revisions! But nothing compared to the rejections of my queries.
I became numb to being told- “Great story, but not a fit for us at this time.”
But I did not expect two cruel rejections.
One was from a senior editor at a major publishing house in NYC who had asked me to bring my manuscript. I can still remember her words, “I will not even touch your manuscript. Even if you could write, which you can’t because you are a doctor, nobody will buy your book because you are a nobody.”
The other was from an agent at a Christian Writing Conference who wanted to represent me. Her words ripped into my heart. “I’m sorry. I really love your story, but I can’t represent you. I didn’t realize that you were Catholic. The publishers I deal with will not work with Catholics.”
God wasn’t through yet. He sent me my third angel, Joan.
More revisions.
Prayers blanketed me from family and friends.
Then one miraculous day, Joan found my book a home with Tate Publishing.
God bless Dr. Richard Tate for believing in my story and all of the staff at Tate for their help in making my book a reality.
I am now learning the necessity of patience during the production process.
I look forward to the day this year that my book will be set out into the world. I pray that all can be set free.
So, here’s to all the “nobody writers.” Keep your dreams alive, write, rewrite, submit and resubmit. Let no one dowse your flame. Believe and you shall receive!
Break the Chains can be purchased at
AMAZON / B&N / TATE PUBLISHING
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November 5, 2013
NaNoWriMo 2013
Last year I decided to unofficially participate in NaNoWriMo, not because I wanted to write my novel in a month, but because I hoped to feed off the energy and motivation generated among writers during this month. There are live events near where I live, and I hope to attend at least one. This year my novel is almost complete. I’d hoped to have it completed by now, the first draft, that is, but my plot took an unexpected twist and I’m really enjoying it. So far, I have topped 102, 000 words, way more than I originally intended. However, I know I’ll be doing some slashing in the earlier chapters once I begin to edit. Anything that doesn’t advance the plot has to go. By the time I’m done, I expect to be under 100K.
So what about you? What does your NaNoWriMo look like? Are you attending any live events? What goal(s) have you set for yourself? Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re up to.
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October 24, 2013
On The Go With Mayra Calvani, Author Of Dark Lullaby
Today it is my pleasure to host Author Mayra Calvani on day four of her virtual book tour. Mayra is the author of Dark Lullaby, a horror novel. In this post, Mayra tells us a little bit about her book and what she is doing to promote it. Please leave a comment below for Mayra and you can also visit her at the links posted.
Since Dark Lullaby is only available as an ebook, I haven’t done any in-person events or signings so far. But there are many opportunities on the Internet, and October is the perfect month to promote a horror novel.
Besides this virtual book tour with the Working Writer’s Club, I’ve also been touring with PumpUpYourBook, Enchanted Book Tours, and I.O. Book Tours. I bought an ad on Goodreads and also on BookGorilla. I also hired someone to re-design my website (www.MayraCalvani.com) last month.
Reviews have been added to my Amazon purchase page and at one point the book’s rank went from the 400,000s to the 15,000s.
Have I earned back my investment?
No. Not yet, at least.
Horror is, in general, a tough sell, and book promotion is an ongoing process. To see results, one must be persistent and consistent.
However, I’d advise writers to never let book promotion stand in the way of their writing. As authors, our most valuable time is spent producing that next book.
About the Book:
At a tavern one Friday night, astrophysicist Gabriel Diaz meets a mysterious young woman. Captivated by her beauty as well as her views on good and evil, he spends the next several days with her. But soon he begins to notice a strangeness in her…especially the way she seems to take pleasure in toying with his conscience.
The young woman, Kamilah, invites him to Rize, Turkey, where she claims her family owns a cottage in the woods. In spite of his heavy workload and the disturbing visions and nightmares about his sister’s baby that is due to be born soon, Gabriel agrees to go with her.
But nothing, not even the stunning beauty of the Black Sea, can disguise the horror of her nature… In a place where death dwells and illusion and reality seem as one, Gabriel must now come to terms with his own demons in order to save his sister’s unborn child, and ultimately, his own soul.
BIO:
Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults and has authored over a dozen books, some of which have won awards. Her stories, reviews, interviews and articles have appeared on numerous publications such as The Writer, Writer’s Journal, Multicultural Review, and Bloomsbury Review, among many others. When she’s not writing, reading, editing or reviewing, she enjoys walking her dog, traveling, and spending time with her family.
ONLINE LINKS:
· Website www.MayraCalvani.com
· Blog www.thedarkphantom.wordpress.com
· Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mayra.calvani
· Twitter https://twitter.com/mcalvani
· Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/272703.Mayra_Calvani
Check out Mayra’s supernatural thriller, Dark Lullaby: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Lullaby-ebook/dp/B005UI7FOG
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October 6, 2013
Virtual Book Tour
I suspend my regular programming to bring you a very important announcement. I will be taking my book Women For All Seasons on a virtual book tour starting tomorrow October 7 until Oct 11. The first stop is at http: //margegower.com. When you visit the blog please leave a comment so your name can be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of the book, postage paid anywhere in the United States.
The book which is targeted to women of all ages (seasons) is based on stories of women of the Bible, and I think it will make a nice gift for yourself or someone you care about. Meanwhile, if you wish to jump ahead you can purchase a copy on Amazon from this link http://www.amazon.com/Women-All-Seaso...
Or from Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
In case you are hearing about my book for the first time, you can learn more about it and read a sample by clicking here
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