Robin Burrows's Blog, page 7

Nokar in the Guild Warz (too)

A fun activity for writers is to take your character(s) and place them in a different setting. For this snapshot scene I took my Nokar character and placed him in the world of Guild Wars 2. Of course, I had to make things difficult, so he’s a plant person in this alternate life and his one true love is a human.

Nokar in the Guild Warz

By Robin A. Burrows

Nokar stood on the balcony of a building overlooking the Claypool town square and watched the festivities below. He was surprised Eponee sent him an invitation to her gala. She must have been preoccupied with something else when she sent out the blanket invitation to the entire guild. Or perhaps she simply forgot that he joined the guild long ago when her sister first did.

The fireworks display ended and he finally spied her in the crowd – the one who filled his soul. At the sight of her, his chest clenched with a feeling akin to terror. She was still as beautiful as ever. It had been too long since he had glimpsed her face. He felt paralyzed and could barely breathe. But she didn’t notice him. Her human eyes couldn’t see as we’ll as his.

Today she wore a thin smile. He knew that face well – that loneliness. In the middle of this crowd, she was completely alone. Her lofty lord hadn’t bothered escorting her to her sister’s gala. If she disappeared no one would even notice she was gone.

He took a step forward; the sudden urge to run to her, grab her hand, and run away – almost overwhelmed him. He wanted to be the one to stand by her side and ask for her opinion, to make her feel included, to make her feel like she belonged – anywhere and everywhere she happened to be.

But that would never happen in this life.

He was born too late, at the wrong time, in the wrong body. And she didn’t remember. Not like he did. Not the endless dreams of what once was. He was just another stranger to her now.

He stepped back and his experiments scurried away from his feet. He had told the shades to stay behind. But they didn’t listen. They weren’t right. Maybe they never would be. But they were his only hope to become human again in this lifetime. He could always return to the Dream and wait, but not seeing her was worse. He’d tried it before.

Layla, the smallest, squeaked at his feet. She had the greatest empathy of any of his experiments. Before he could respond, Layla scurried off towards the party to do for him what he could not. Below, the revelers had paired off for dancing. She had taken pity on the only Charr in attendance, and was awkwardly stomping her way through a Charr ritual dance.

At least he hadn’t been born a Charr. At least this leafy body looked somewhat human. Her father would have never let a Charr suitor through the gates, much less catch the occasional glimpse of her fair face.

Layla glided up behind the Charr and watched them dance. He called to Layla using the link, but she squeaked back stubbornness. Not all shades obeyed him. But Layla had reached that point and gone beyond. She was too advanced.

Below, the Charr jumped at the sight of the young shade floating behind him. Layla tilted her head and squeaked, but no one understood. Revelers began to look around in concern.

Nokar hid below the wooden planks that surrounded the edge of the balcony. If they saw him at the gala, they would probably throw him out. He couldn’t bear to leave, not yet, not when he’d only just arrived. Not when it had been so long.

He waited until he heard fireworks once more before peering out again. Layla followed her through the crowd, the companion he couldn’t be. They had grown accustomed to its presence and ignored the shade like the many other young creatures that had often followed her home.

Now it was Eponee who caught his eye. He had never paid much attention to the youngest sister before. She was always busy with her silly games. Now every eye was on Eponee as she escorted a woman towards a human male waiting at the banquet table.

He imagined it was him waiting as a human at the table, and it was her sister that Eponee led to him. But the image fled from his mind as Eponee turned and he caught a glimpse of her pale, strained face. In that moment he felt her sorrow – and pitied her – because it mirrored his own shattered soul. Because no one should be forced to bear such a weight.

Who would have thought he’d ever feel pity for the girl who cost him his last chance with her sister.

His experiments stirred at his feet. Someone was near! He glanced around and didn’t see anyone, but the shades were sure they heard something on the balcony across the street. Nokar looked again.

A spot on the balcony shimmered ever so slightly. As he watched, the shimmering spot moved up the balcony and onto the roof of the inn. Someone was there. He was too close. He had probably already been spotted. The guild enforcers would be on their way to remove him from the gala.  It would be best if he disappeared now before he had to face even more embarrassment. Before he embarrassed her more.

As he made his way to the back gate, he looked for her one last time, but he could not see her through the other guests. He conjured up an image of her in his mind: a familiar smile curling around her eyes, her lips, her face. He would carry this image of her with him in his mind until the time came when he could see her once more.

~~~

Be sure to check back next Tuesday for another installment of my social media tutorial series.

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Social Media Tutorials: 00.5 How to access DropBox files while offline

Yes, I know DropBox technically isn’t social media, but a reader asked about accessing files offline. I thought I would discuss that before diving into the next tutorial.

Saving files for offline access

While you have internet, you should setup your files for offline access. (After following the steps below, you can test them by disabling the wifi/internet on your device before you leave home.)

Step 1 – Save the files to your DropBox if you have not already done so.

Step 2 – Open the DropBox app on your phone or tablet. You will see all of your folders. Navigate to the first file you want available offline.

When the star is filled, the selected file will be available offline. When the star is an outline, the file is only available with an internet connection.

Step 3 – Select the star. It’s in the top right corner on my tablet and on the middle of the bar at the bottom on my phone. The star will be filled in if it is selected or an outline if it has not been selected. Once you have selected the star your phone or tablet will download the document for offline use. Repeat this process for each file you want available offline.

Accessing files offline

Now you are traveling, and you’re at a place without wifi or Internet access. How do you view or edit the files you saved on your device?

Step 1 – Open the DropBox app on your device and navigate to the file you want to access. It must be one that you “star’d” previously when you were online.

Step 2 – If you only needed to view the file, then you’re done. You can view most documents from the DropBox screen. If you needed to edit your file, continue to step 3.

If you tap the box with the down arrow, you can open DropBox files in other applications.

Step 3 – To edit a file, select the icon of a box with an arrow pointing down. It’s on the bar on the top right of the screen on my tablet and the bar on the bottom of the screen on my phone.

Step 4 – Then select “Open In” on the box that pops up, and select your editing app on the next screen. (I use QuickOffice to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents because it you can make edits without losing formatting.)

Step 5 – Your document will open in your editing software. Make your edits.

Step 6 – Now you will want to save your edited document. I suggest saving it to a special folder for files edited offline. (You will not be able to save to DropBox while you are offline.) In QuickOffice I can create folders, so I have a folder called “Upload Later.”

Step 7 – When you have Internet access again, you want to be sure to replace the old version of the file in DropBox with the new version that you saved offline. The easiest way to do this is to open the new file and do a “Save As” and save it back to DropBox. Be sure to change the file name if you want to retain both versions of the file. I suggest making this the first thing you do once you have Internet access again because if you forget to upload the new version, you might find yourself editing the old version again. How do you find the new file to upload it? It depends on which program you use. In QuickOffice, I just open the app and I can access my QuickOffice files. QuickOffice also has built-in DropBox functionality, so I can drag the file from my offline QuickOffice file directly to DropBox.

I hope this helped answer some of your questions about offline files. My next social media tutorial will be posted on Tuesday two weeks from now.

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Poem: Possessed

This week I want to share a poem. It’s for all of the writers, artists, and other creative people. Be sure to check back next week for the next installment of my social media tutorials!

Possessed

By Robin A. Burrows

Being a writer

Is like being possessed

You carry the words,

Scene, page, or emotions

Within you

Like a heavy womb

With feelings

Until it grows

Too much to carry

And you must translate

The being within you

To paper.

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Social Media Tutorials: 00 Apps for writers and other creative people

A writer-friend recently got a smart phone and wanted app recommendations. I decided that would be a good idea for a blog, and my Social Media Tutorial blog series came to be.

The first installment will be apps for writers and other creative people. I plan to post a new tutorial once or twice a month.

I use a Windows-based PC and apple products for my mobile devices, so that is what I will be talking about. However, most apps have an equivalent Android app.

Dropbox

By far, this is the most useful app I’ve found as a writer. It’s basically an online storage account that you can sync between devices. For example, you can install the app on your phone, your computer, and your ipad/tablet. Any documents you place in the Dropbox folders will be available in all three places. If you are away from home and think of the best story idea ever, you can write a note and place it in the Dropbox folder on your phone. Then when you get home and log into your computer, the note will also be available in the Dropbox folder on your computer.

People also use Dropbox an off-site backup of those important manuscripts. If your house burns down and you lose your computer, hard drives, and paper manuscripts, your documents will still be available on Dropbox.

Accounts are private, but Dropbox has the option to share individual folders with your friends on Dropbox. This is handy for collaborating on projects. One note, I wouldn’t save any financial documents to Dropbox because anything online has the possibility of being hacked.

There are a number of competing services which do the same thing as Dropbox. I tried out the Google Drive since I have a lot of google accounts, but Google Drive kept converting my documents into Google Docs format which I couldn’t open using my office software anymore. There are ways to work around that (primarily being always open files in the editing software and never directly from the Google Drive), but if you accidently open something important, you might not be able to “un-convert” it. So I decided to go with Dropbox instead of Google Drive since Dropbox didn’t have that issue.

The Dropbox app is free. You start out with 2 gigabytes of space, but you can get up to 16GB by promoting the app and inviting friends to join. There are also several paid packages if you need more space. You can download Dropbox free here.

QuickOffice Pro / QuickOffice Pro HD

Every writer needs a word processing app. I tried dozens of apps, but QuickOffice is the only one I found that does everything I need it to do, and it has built-in Dropbox compatibility. I can create Office documents on my computer and save them to DropBox. Then I can open those Office documents in QuickOffice on my mobile devices, make edits, add text, add comments, etc. Or I can create documents on my mobile devices and open them later in Office on my computer.

My favorite thing about QuickOffice is that it retains formatting. This is especially important for writers in the editing process. Many people provide feedback to documents using the “comment” ability in Office. If you open that document in most mobile word processing software, those comments are either invisible or erased. So you’ve lost those comments when you reopen the document on a computer. All of that beautiful formatting that took hours to do also disappears in other apps, but Quick Office retains formatting. That is so incredibly wonderful for writers.

QuickOffice lets you create and edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents and their equivelants. (I haven’t actually tried a PowerPoint document yet, but the others work beautifully! There is an iPhone version (QuickOffice Pro) and an iPad version (QuickOffice Pro HD).

This app is not free. The price varies depending on sales, but it typically costs less than the amount you would spend for two people to eat out. You can run some iPhone apps on your iPad, but they run at the same size as the iPhone unless you use the 2X button to double the size. This doubles the screen size, but still uses the iPhone resolution, so things are blurry. I highly recommend buying the specific version of this software for the specific device.

You can find QuickOffice Pro and Quick Office Pro HD in the iTunes app store. I think it is also available in the Android app store. If you use a Mac as your primary desktop computer, and wants a mobile app that works well with that, Pages works well from what I’ve heard.

Social Media Apps

There are apps for nearly every social media platform. If you use the website version of FaceBook, FaceBook Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google +, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Flickr, or one of many others, there are apps for those. The best benefit of using apps for social media is it increases your availability. For example, let’s say you log into FaceBook on your computer and respond to messages from your fans once a day. With the app, you can choose to receive a free notification when someone comments on your page. (You have to have a phone with a data plan or connected to the internet via wifi.) Then you can respond to comments sooner. Customers/fans love it when they receive a quick response to their questions, and that can help improve your brand and brand awareness.

You can search for the apps for your favorite social media platforms in your app store. Most of these apps are free.

Hootsuite and other social media aggregators

Social media aggregators are tools that allow you to maintain multiple social media accounts in one place. I use HootSuite for this.

With HootSuite you can connect up to 5 accounts for free (including FaceBook, FaceBook Pages, Twitter, and Google Plus). Then you can schedule posts for each or all of those accounts from HootSuite. What does that mean? You can plan out your posts an entire month at a time and schedule them at your convenience instead of logging on at the exact time you want them posted.

With HootSuite, you can also view and respond to posts on your feeds. It’s convenient to see everything in one spot. One of my favorite things is the list/tab function. You can setup tabs that follow specific topics, lists, or keywords that interest you. This is most effective with Twitter, but you can setup searches for publicly available information on FaceBook (for example mentions of your name or the title of your book or the genre your write).

I do recommend first setting up your HootSuite account online the way you want it. Then, all of the tabs will already be there the way you want them when you import your data to your mobile device.

There are a number of aggregators and they might do slightly different things, but there is one important thing to keep in mind. The only way social media works as a promotional tool is if you are social. So don’t just schedule a bunch of posts and forget about it for a month. Setup lists to track the topics and people who interest you. Then respond to their posts (and of course respond to comments on your posts).

WordPress

I use WordPress for my blog, so I’ve found the WordPress app handy. I mainly use it to check the number of views and clicks on my website. However the app has a number of functions. You can do nearly everything on the app that you could do from your WordPress dashboard on the web. You can write new blogs, edit existing blogs and pages, approve and respond to comments, and even view your website in their mobile browser.

You can setup the app to send you notifications when you receive new blog comments. Then you know about and can respond to comments sooner.

GoodReads

If you are a reader, you are probably familiar with GoodReads. It is a website (GoodReads.com) where you can share and review the books you read. It’s also a great website for readers to discover new books.

If you’re a writer with a published book, you can setup an author’s profile on GoodReads where you can connect with your fans. Share your blog, your books, quotes, books you’ve read, give away books, and more!

The GoodReads app allows you to use most of functions of the GoodReads website while you are on the go.

NovelRank

NovelRank is an app that tracks the status of your books on Amazon. You should setup an account with NovelRank.com from a computer and add your books. Then download the app and log in with your NovelRank account information.

The app will tell you how many days/hours since the last sale of each of your titles on Amazon. It also shows you where your book is ranked on Amazon and the history of its ranking. It doesn’t show a lot of information, but it is exciting to log in and see a new sale!

Reading Apps

There are apps for most eReaders and eBook sellers. I primarily use the Kindle app because I can buy from Amazon and send to eBook directly to all of my devices using their Whispernet service. Then the Kindle syncs my progress in each book between devices when I open the eBook in a new device.

But there are a number of other reading apps. If you self-publish your own books it’s handy to have a copy of the apps so you can see your book how the readers see it. If you are just a reader, pick an app and try to stick with it. It can be annoying to have books scattered across several different platforms. But sometimes you can’t help it. Search for the name of your favorite reading app in your app store. Most are available on a variety of platforms for free because they want to sell books, not the app.

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New Mid-Season TV Shows for Winter/Spring 2013

With all of your favorite fall shows on winter break, what’s there to watch on tv? Well a new batch of shows are coming to televisions. Sadly some of them are replacing cancelled shows from the fall season. I know there are a couple of the fall shows I will miss. But there’s one or two that I think shouldn’t have been cancelled. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to pick a new one from the list below (please note that release dates may change based on network scheduling):

Jan 7 – Deception - drama/cop detective show on NBC. The previews hinted that this show would be the competitor to Revenge, but after watching the pilot, I don’t think so. Basically, a rich girl is murdered and her former best friend, who is now a cop, goes undercover int he family’s house to discover the truth. While the show may portray the lifestyle of the wealthy, I didn’t feel the same emotional connection to it that I felt with Revenge. The main character doesn’t have the same emotion and connection to the plot that Emily Thorne has in Revenge and Emily has her love story with Jack that makes her a redeemable character. Emily is inside the story, but the main character in Deception is an outsider who isn’t directly involved in the story investigating it. The one thing i have to say about the killer is: is it better not be the father because he is the most obvious suspect in the pilot. He should have absolutely nothing to do with the murder and be shocked and heartbroken when the truth comes out. :) If you like detective shows you might like this one, but based on the pilot, if you like the more complex emotional shows, this isn’t the story for you.
Jan 10 - 1600 Penn - comedy/drama on NBC- This show is about the life of the president and his family, but it seems to focus on his klutzy son, Skip. Based on the pilot, it looks to be a goofy comedy with much of a long-term plot.
Jan 11 – Banshee - drama on Cinemax. An ex-convict and thief assumes the identity of the sherif of a city named Banshee, where (based on the previews) lives a woman with emotional connections to him. She appears to be hiding from his former employers who are out to get him now that he’s out of jail.
Jan 14 – The Carrie Diaries - romance / teen drama on The CW. This show is the prequel to the ever-famous Sex in the City tv show. It follows the life of Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager. I haven’t seen it yet, but the previews look like it will live up to the high expectations I have of it. This is one I’m really looking forward to, and I’m sure a lot fo women are too!
Jan 14 – Continuum - scifi/fantasy on SyFy. This show aired in Canda last year and now it’s coming to the US on SyFy. In 2077 a group of terrorists sheduled to die go back in time to 2012 to avoid their execution. One officer travels back in time with them and must stop them to save her future.
Jan 17 – Legit - comedy on FX. This show is about a comedian and his attempts to become legitimate in life.
Jan 21 – The Following - thriller/mystery on Fox. A killer gathers a following of people to murder for him, and one detective must unravel the case.
Jan 30 – The Americans - drama/spy mystery on FX. This show follows Americans spies in the KGB during the Cold War. The woman was the undercover wife of a man before she had experienced life on her own. The previews make this show sound intriguing. There seem to be a lot of interwoven plot lines.
Jan 31 – Do No Harm - supernatural drama/fantasy/scifi on NBC. A man with two personalities lives two different lives. During the day he’s the reserved doctor. At night his alternate ego is the life of the party. This is a classic Dr. Jekyl Mr Hyde story told with a modern twist. It sounds interesting, mostly because I like the scifi/fantasy/supernatural elements.
Feb 4 – Monday Mornings – medical drama on TNT. The focal point for this show seems to be the Monday mornign staff meetings where staff are held accountable for the bad (and good) things that have happened all week at the hospital.
Feb 14 – Zero Hour - adventure/mystery/conspiracy theory – on ABC. This show is about a skeptic who gets wrapped up in a conspiracy theory when his wife is kidnapped because of a mysterious clock. Supposedly the clock is one of 12 and it contains a treasure map that could lead to something dangerous enough to cause the end of the world.
Feb 14 – Cult - drama/mystery – on The CW. This isn’t normally a show that would have caught my attention. But a former Vampire Diaries actor (Matt Davis) plays the main character. It is about a tv show about a cult, but the fans of the show start take the show to the extreme in real life. The main character’s brother disappears and that’s just the beginning.
Feb 26 – Golden Boy – police drama on CBS. This show is about a young man who goes from cop to police chief commissioner in 7 years – the youngest commissioner ever.
Mar 3 – Red Widow – drama/thriller on ABC. A widow hunts for her late husband’s murder in organized crime scene, while she tries to pay off her husband’s debts to the crime lords if she wants to keep her family safe.
Mar 31 – Ready for Love – reality tv on NBC. This is the newest love matchmaking tv show.
Apr 3 – How to live with your parents for the rest of your life – GENRE on ABC
Apr 15 – Defiance - scifi/fantasy on SyFy. This is the tv show that has been in the news for a couple of years now because it is both a tv show and a computer game. Events on the show will effect the game and vice versa. Aliens invade the Earth and fight for 9 years. With Earth mostly destroyed the refuges try to pick up the pieces, living alongside various alien races, but more trouble is on the way.
May 1 – Family Tools – comedy on ABC. Jack is a loser at everything he tries, so when his father has a heart-attack and it’s up to Jack to take over the family business, he has to get it right, but chances are he will not. The previews for this show look really funny. I think it might be the funniest new comedy on this list.
TBA 2013 – Crossbones - adventure on NBC. In 1715 an assasin is sent to the pirate haven to kill Blackbeard, the leader of the pirates. He infiltrates their base only to learn he’s got some competition for Blackbeard’s life.
TBA 2013 – Dracula - fantasy/romance/drama on NBC. With the star from The Tudors and the producers of Downton Abby, this show already has a lot going for it. Dracula poses as an American wanting to bring electricity to Victorian England. He’s really there for revenge, but his plans are shaken when he meets a woman who might be the reincarnation of his dead wife. Sounds yummy! Too bad NBC hasn’t set a release date yet.
TBA 2013 – The Goodwin Games - comedy on Fox. When their father dies, their siblings must complete a series of challenges if they want to inherit the 20 million dollars he left behind.
TBA 2013 – Hannibal - thriller on NBC. The story of criminal profiler, Will Graham, and his new partner: foresnic psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter.
TBA 2013 – Mistresses - drama/romance on ABC. This is the American version of a popular British show. ABC hopes to use this to replace Desperate Housewives from what I’ve heard. It will be a similair show about the scandals of forbidden romances.
TBA 2013 – Primeval: New World - scifi on SyFy. This is the spin-off of the UK tv show Primeval. It’s about a group of animal handlers who take care of animals from the past and future when they appear in the present. SyFy hasn’t announced a release date yet.
TBA 2013 – Save Me – spiritual comedy/drama on NBC. A un-godly woman chokes on a sandwich, but God saves her and now she is his self-proclaimed prophet.

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Book Review of The Essence (The Pledge Book 2) by Kimberly Derting

If you like fantasy, dystopian literature, or sweet teen romance stories, you should check out The Pledge Series by Kimberly Derting.

I read book one, The Pledge, and loved it, so when I heard about a GoodReads contest for book two, The Essence, I entered it even though I never win anything. Well, I was one of the 75 people who won advanced reader copies of the book! However that in no way affected my opinion of the book. Here is my review of it:

I wasn’t immediately hooked by the fantasy/magic elements in The Essence like I was in The Pledge, mostly because it takes longer to get to them in the second book. The first couple of chapters are Charlie adjusting to life as Queen. I found myself having trouble remembering who the side characters were and spent a lot of time in the first two chapters pondering that as Charlie goes to riding lessons and fighting lessons, etc.

I was completely hooked with the re-emergence of the Sabara plot at the end of chapter 2.

The story really takes off from there with mysteries, assassins, spies, kidnapping, betrayal, dancing, soul mates, new powers, and murder.

Early on in the story, a character from book 1 was killed off. I wasn’t emotionally attached to the character, thankfully, because I read most books for the emotional journey.

In The Essence there is a spy among Charlie’s inner circle who reports back to one of the other queens. I narrowed down the identity of the spy to two people, but I really thought it was the other person (who perhaps had reasons and a background we were not aware of that could have made him the spy). After the surprising plot twist involving Brook in book 1, I thought the spy could have been either person (not mentioning names because I don’t want to give away spoilers). The spy’s identity wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but I was guessing most of the book.

One of the things I was concerned about before reading this book was the romantic arc. The main character had solidified her relationship with her romantic interest in book 1, so I was concerned about the possible lack of a romantic arc or a forced breakup for the sake of a new romantic arc. We all know what can happen to a good romance in a second book.

But I had nothing to worry about. A sweet, heart-wrenching soulmate story is interwoven into this book. I am a sucker for a soulmate story, and I desperately hope the soulmate arc from this book will eventually have a happy ending. It’s one of the things not completely resolved in this book. I know I probably shouldn’t want them to get their happy ending, but I do. Maybe a redemption story. I would gladly sacrifice the queen who hired the assassin so the soulmates could be happy. (Also, I’m really curious the reasoning behind what happened to their baby(ies) in the soulmate arc. There has to be a major reason behind that. Obviously something bad would happen. Perhaps Charlie is a relative? Not sure. But I hope it all is explained in the next book.)

Brook, Charlie’s best friend and commander of her army, had a number of segments from her point-of-view in this book. They were necessary to the plot, but I didn’t really feel the same passion and connection to her part of the story as Charlie’s and the soulmate side plot. Brook also has a love interest plot in this book, but I didn’t connect to it like I did the other two. That may have been because she was not the main point-of-view. Or perhaps part of it was because I suspected one of her love interests was the spy and didn’t want to feel too close to the spy who would cause trouble.

Many second/middle books suffer from bad endings – the book being chopped into half for book 2 and 3. That’s not the case for The Essence. The main plot for the book ends and a lot of the side plots reach some form of resolution. The ending doesn’t have the same celebratory feel from the ending of book 1, but it wraps up well. Then the epilogue provided me with the emotional fulfillment I needed as a reader to feel like it was a happy ending, even though the bigger plot line still looms ahead for book 3 and the main plot had a darker wrap-up.

And Angelina. Poor sweet Angelina. I love her so much. It’s so sad to see the interactions between her and Charlie near the end of this book. She is either destined for greatness or a dark – dark fate. I think I would be moved either way.

Anyway, I think the book was very well-done. I loved it, especially the soulmate side-plot, and I can’t wait for book 3. The Essence was officially released on January 1, 2013, so it should be available for purchase from any major retailer.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Where did 2012 go? I think part of it vanished in a Mayan conspiracy, because there’s now way it’s 2013 already.

But it is…

So here’s to a new year. New chances. New goals. New hope for success.

I normally don’t make New Year’s resolutions because what’s the point of deciding to do something just because it’s a new year. If you don’t really want to do it, then it will never happen.

But this year I am setting some…let’s not call them resolutions, but goals.

Life is so busy. I always feel too busy but never accomplish most of the things I WANT to do. This year, I want to be busy doing more of the things I want to do instead of being busy with other things (like a clean house and a food-ed husband..okay well maybe we’ve got to eat somehow…)

This year I want to write more than I did in 2012. I completed a full revision of my manuscript in 2012, but then I realized I had major issue with the plot so the whole revision was pointless…which was really depressing. My muses went and hid for a while…and I didn’t know how to fix it. I think I know how to fix it now, so I pray for the strength to undertake such an overwhelming task. I want to make progress on it at least. I want to be further along than I am.

I also want to write more poetry. My poetry fell to the side in 2012, and I’d like to write more of it in 2013. That shouldn’t be hard to accomplish since I didn’t write much poetry in 2012.

I also want to do more with picture books. I have a manuscript that is so close to done, but I don’t know my chances of getting it published with a traditional publisher because I have an artist I want to work with on it (and I want to work with a publisher that actually prints hardcover versions of picture books). But I also have a new picture book manuscript in the early stages, and I’m hoping maybe I can pitch it to a regional publisher before the end of 2013 (It’s about a regional topic).

BUT- you say – none of these are SMART goals (measurable, etc). Actually they are. I have specific amounts I want to accomplish (X # of hours on my fantasy manuscript, etc). I didn’t want to bore you with all of the details.

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely, wonderful, blessed 2013. May we all succeed in our dreams this year!

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The 12 Gifts of Christmas You Shouldn’t Get the Writer in Your Life

With Christmas less than a week away, have you completed your shopping? If not, here are 12 gifts of Christmas that you shouldn’t get the writer in your life this year.

Journals. You know the ones: hardback, look like books but they are full of blank pages. Don’t buy it unless you want to add to the collection of similar journals most writers have in their closets. Yes, this gift says “I am trying to be thoughtful,” which is appreciated, I’m sure. But really, these journals are only good for 2 things: writing your deepest inner-most thoughts that you hope no one will ever come across and perhaps writing something short like poetry. There is not really enough room for them to be a convenient way for your favorite writer to write their next novel. Sure there are pages of empty manuscript waiting to be filled, but you can’t remove the pages to reorganize if you find a scene fits better earlier in the story and there is usually not much room on the edges of the pages to make editing notes. Plus, it can be difficult to write near the center of the book because the inner gutter is usually so small, there’s hardly room for a pen near the inside of the spine. Also, may writers prefer to write on computers or tablets these days because it saves them the step of having to type up everything later.
Pens. Ink-pens, not the lapel pins, but they could very well be on a list like this too. Afterall, a write with a block and a sharp object can be a scary thing. (J/K). But seriously, most writers are very particular about the kind of pen they use – whether it be gel or ball-point or padded or shiny. I once got a pen with my name engraved on it from a coworker. I was so excited because she had actually listened to me when I mentioned I was a writer. Come to find out she hadn’t been listening, was surprised when I mentioned I was a writer, and had gotten the pens for everyone in the office. And of course with all of the shiny exterior of the pen, the ink didn’t flow well. Had it worked properly, it would have been a nice pen, but it’s not easy to tell if a fancy pen writes well or not. Plus, a lot of writers write on a computer these days, so they might not use a pen to draft their next masterpiece.
Mock Inspirational Posters. Yes, I know they are funny and your writer may like them. But they hang on the wall and taunt you, filling your writing sanctuary with negative energy. The muse is a very flighty creature, so any negative energy might scare her away. It’s better to be safe and avoid the mock inspirational posters.
Chocolates. Sure your writer might tell you they want chocolate for Christmas, but they don’t really NEED chocolate for Christmas. Why? Because all of that sweet, yummy goodness might just kill them. You see, writers sit around a lot to write. It comes with the territory. Add chocolates to a sedentary lifestyle and other unhealthy holiday food and you have a recipe for disaster. So avoid chocolates. Unless, of course, you are buying them for me. I prefer turtles. The caramel wrapped around pecans and dipped in chocolate is absolutely divine.
Furry Animals. Sure your writer might want a cute, fluffy animal, but cute fluffy animals grow up into shedding, attention-needing furry creatures. And if your writer can’t feed themselves, how are they possibly going to find time to feed the fur-babies too? If you do get the writer in your life something furry, start off small and work your way up to the mad-cat-lady-starter-kit. :)
Socks. Sure, he might say he needs socks. Sure it might be true. But he doesn’t want them as a gift. There are plenty of other things he might actually want. Plus his wife might turn all of those abandoned journals into a book-bomb for insulting her ability to take care of him. Actually that goes for most types of clothing; except for perhaps a humorous tshirt (that actually fits) or the nice clothes that only come out to be worn a few times a year.
Writing Software. So your writer writes on a computer. Are you sure? They don’t use a tablet? Ipad? Pen and paper? Windows or Mac? Even if you do have the right platform, your writer probably already has a software program they use and prefer. If you get a writer software, make sure it is something they want and works with their setup.
Writing Guides. If you are the giftee’s writing mentor, you can give them this as a gift, and it would be appreciated. If you are the average non-writer giving the writer in your life the latest copy of “Writing for Dummies” or the equivalent, you might want to rethink your strategy. Sure, you were just trying to be helpful. But that’s not how the stressed-out sleep-deprived writer will take it. Everyone who puts a pen to paper has written about how to write. Not all guides are good. And how would a non-writer know which guide you could read to magically become the perfect writer.
Clippings. So your writer is published, and every newspaper in town has an opinion of their work. While it might be thoughtful to collect a scrapbook of clippings of reviews of your writer’s book (and maybe a bit stalker-ish), it may not help their prospects for another novel. (See #3 above.) Writers are very sensitive creatures. A review they you think is positive or even meaningless might send your writer into a case of next-book-anxiety block. It’s best to avoid discussions on the merits and flaws of their work, especially during the holidays.
A Plant. See #5. While a plant might not be as distracting as an animal, it still requires food and water. Don’t expect it to survive long if your writer has a high level of concentration on the task at hand.
Alarm Clocks. Or really anything that makes loud, distracting noise. You get in the zone. Words are flowing. Then your spouse’s alarm goes off and the words vanish. The same thing can happen throughout the day with other noise-makers. And please don’t ever-ever get the child of a stay-at-home-mother-writer a toy that makes noise. You might not see another novel from the writer until the kid leaves for college.
Books. Okay, what? I thought writers need to read lots of books to become better writers. Sure that’s true, but do you really want to distract your writer from working on their novel with new shiny books? With so many books to read, it might be another 10 years before your author releases that 7th and final book in their series. (But if you are buying for me, I love good book and gift cards to book stores are great because I can buy the books I don;t already own and/or haven’t already read.)

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You Completed NaNoWriMo / PiBoWriMo / Poetic Asides November Challenge – Now What?

November was a month for writing challenges. Now that November is over and you’ve had some time to recuperate, what do you do with the new masterpieces?

REVISE!

Unless you’re a born-genius, the first draft of your writing is probably terrible. Here are some tips for revising your novel, picture book or poetry:

Novels: I like to start with an outline. Isn’t that something you do before you write? Yes, but the story doesn’t always follow your initial outline when it goes down on paper. Outlining your first draft is a good way to see where problems may exist in your story. Focus more on plot, pacing, and themes in this first revision than focusing on line-editing. You can polish the writing in the next draft, but you want to revise the plot first because not all of your scenes will make it into your final draft.

Picture Books: If you completed PiBoIdMo, you should have 30 new ideas for picture books. Pick your favorite ideas that are the most commercial (most likely to sell to large audiences) and work on those. Try arranging your text on a storyboard – leaving room for front-matter at the beginning. A standard picture book is 32 pages, so you will have 26 to 28 pages of actual story. Arrange the text on each page. You want to have a new scene or action on each page or page-spread can can be illustrated. If your characters just stand in the same room and talk, there will not be much to illustrate, so make sure there are plenty of opportunities for illustrations in the story. Shorten the text to the fewest possible words. Illustrations can include many descriptions that we write out in adult books. Lastly, try to give the reader a reason to keep turning the page. (This is a lot harder to do in picture books where you have very little text to work with.)

Poetry: If you participated in the Poetic Asides November Chapbook Challenge, you should have 30 new poems that you can revise and submit to the contest. The deadline for submitting your chapbook is January 7. So how do you edit poetry? Take your drafts and focus on the senses. Make sure you include all 5 senses in each poem if possible. Layer the poem with multiple meaning. People love it when they read a poem and there could be more than one interpretation. Intrigue the reader – say something at the beginning to make the reader want to continue reading for an explanation or to resolve a mystery. Give your title multiple meanings. Your title can also be your poem’s hook. When you read a table of contents, which titles catch your attention – the strange ones!

Enjoy the holidays and happy writing and revising!

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Book Ideas for the Reader on Your Gift List

Do you have a reader on your gift list? Here are some gift ideas for the reader in your life:

GoodReads : The GoodReads Choice Awards are the best books of 2012 divided into 20 categories. They are voted on by actual readers; not critics. If you click on the picture of the winning book in a category, you can view all of the nominees for the category – all worthy gifts for a reader of that particular genre.

Unfettered : Over a dozen scifi and fantasy authors provided short stories for this anthology, and all proceeds go towards writer, Shawn Speakman’s medical bills. Give a great book and help out an author. It’s win-win. The book isn’t shipping until 2013, but it is a limited edition and fans of the authors included in the book would appreciate the gift even though it doesn’t arrive in time for Christmas.

Of Hearts and Souls : For the poetry-lovers in your life, consider purchasing a copy of my poetry book, Of Hearts and Souls.

Happy Holidays!

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