Darrell Pitt's Blog, page 2

The Steampunk Detective is a top #100 book on Amazon!!!

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I am so excited!!!The Steampunk Detective is now in the top 100 Bestseller lists on Amazon. It is:

#11 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
#59 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Science Fiction > Adventure
#79 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Adventure

James Patterson has books at positions 2, 6, 7, 10 and 13.

I'm actually ahead of one of his books!!!


And the best news is, The SteampunkDetective is only .99 cents!!!
Just click on the image to buy the book!

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Glee, Suicide and Bullying

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Right now, somewhere, there's a teenager thinking about taking their own life. It's hard to know what's going through their mind. They're probably depressed. They probably think they can't share their thoughts with other people. Almost certainly they think they're alone.

Why are they thinking of doing such a terrible thing? Bullying is one reason. When I was at school I was bullied and when I told my parents their response was, "Well, that happens to everyone."

Since then I've had a lot of time to think about their words and I've come to one simple, undeniable conclusion. They were wrong. No, everyone doesn't get bullied and even if that were the case, it still wouldn't make it right.

An episode of Glee entitled – On My Way – deals with this very important issue. Dave Karofsky, one of the characters, is so relentlessly bullied that he is driven to take his own life. This is a fictional show, but it's a real issue.

Here are a few quick facts about teenage suicide:

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-24.

• The chances of teenage suicide increase enormously when there is a firearm in the house.

• Boys die through suicide attempts more often than girls, although girls think about it more often.

• A stressful life event such as a relationship breakup can increase the chances of a teen taking their own life.

Let me ask you this. Doesn't everyone deserve the right to go to school in peace and without fear of intimidation? Doesn't everyone deserve a fair chance at life? Doesn't everyone deserve to look back on their childhood as a golden time in their lives?

No-one has the right to build their ego while crushing that of another human being. I know I had suicidal thoughts when I was a kid. Fortunately I had a few ways to escape into my own world (I loved reading and writing so I always had an escape hatch from the harsh reality of life).

These days, the books I write tend to be about underdog characters who do eventually triumph over adversity.

Are they autobiographical?

Probably.

The world has changed its attitude over the years. It has changed for the better. We still have a long way to go, but what I am saying is that now we live in a world where we recognise bullying to be unacceptable.

Let me repeat that word. 

Unacceptable.

If you are being bullied, it is unacceptable. You have rights. You deserve to be treated with respect just as every person deserves to be treated with respect. Certainly no-one should feel they need to take their own life to escape bullying at school.

 If you're unhappy because you're a victim of bullying then you need to speak to your parents about it. If they don't listen, then you need to speak to teachers or friends. If they don't listen then you need to keep on speaking until you are heard.

You have a voice. You are an important person.

And you are not alone.

Thanks again to Glee for bringing another important issue into the spotlight. Because of Glee, maybe someone's life just got saved.

Here's a link to a site about Teen Suicide:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/suicide.html Tweet

Why The World Needs Glee

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I'm a Gleek.There. I've said it. I'm a forty-six year old man. I have a beard. I hold down a job. I even drink beer on Friday nights. And I like Glee. In fact, I've never missed an episode. I've laughed at Rachel Berry's antics. I've snarled at Sue Sylvester. I've sniggered at Puck. I've marvelled at the dance abilities of Mike Change. I've sung to the songs (anything written pre 1990 – anything after I don't understand, so I just sway to them). I'm a Gleek through and through and I've never told anyone – till now.
So why am I now showing you my inner Gleek? In the episode of Glee entitled "Yes/No", Becky Jackson (played by Lauren Potter) makes up her mind that she wants one of the boys at school – Artie – for her boyfriend. Lauren Potter is a real life sufferer of Down Syndrome. Here's a few quick facts about the condition: it crops up at a rate of about 1 in every 733 births. It usually impairs both physical and mental functions. The IQ of people with Downs is usually lower than average, but many of them successfully finish school and go on to have productive lives in our communities. But it's a bum deal. It's unfair. It's like handing someone a weight to carry every single day of their lives. Never is anything going to be easy for them – or as easy as it would be for a fully able bodied person. The simple, everyday tasks of life are always going to be a little more difficult and the road a little more rocky. So why am I telling you all this?You see, I like heroes. I write young adult adventure novels where my characters are busy saving the day (and the world) through extraordinary acts of bravery. The goals are never small. They're large. Enormous, even. By the last page, all is well that end's well.But sometimes the really heroic acts in life are not always so easy to see. In the recent Glee episode, Becky's inner voice is played by actress Helen Mirren. When Artie tells her that he only wants to be friends (and who has never heard these words?), Becky turns and walks off thinking to herself, "I didn't ask him if the reason he didn't want to be my boyfriend is because I have Downs. I didn't ask him because I know the answer is yes." Wandering through the corridors of the school, she holds her head up high as she struggles to hold back the tears. "Focus Becky," she tells herself. "Don't let them see you cry."For me, I was reminded of a life that might have been. When I was twelve years old my mother was only a few days away from giving birth to my baby sister when she was rushed to hospital with complications. I'll never forget the scene in the waiting room as my father explained to me that my sister had died. If she had lived, he explained, she probably would have been physically and/or mentally handicapped. This was a lot to take in at twelve years of age. I know the loss affected my parents. It affects them still to this day. My sister's death left me an only child, leaving me to ponder the life that could have been. My sister's name was Kathleen and I hope I would have been a good brother to her no matter what her physical or mental condition.I thought of her when I watched the Glee episode "Yes/No". People like Lauren Potter help to bring a little humility to our lives. A little – realness.There's an opportunity for us when we see people like Lauren. If we're smart, we can understand what we're seeing. It lies below the surface and we're often so wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of life that we fail to recognise it. It's a little thing called bravery. People with Downs show it every day. Their families show it as they do their best to ease the burdens of their loved ones who suffer from the condition.Bravery is obvious on a battlefield, but not so obvious on a playing field when a kid with Downs bends over to pick up a bat and ball. If you're sitting in the stands, you have to be smart enough to understand what you're seeing. There aren't many moments in television that speak such simple truths. It makes me glad to be a Gleek. I'm so glad Lauren Potter's on Glee so I can learn as well as be entertained. Thanks Lauren. You're one of the many reasons the world needs Glee. Gleek on!
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The Ebook is finally released!

The free ebook - Secrets of Successful Writers - has now been released.

It contains interviews with fifty authors as they discuss the tips and techniques of becoming a successful author. The book is available for download at Smashwords. 


Here's the eye catching cover:
And here's the link to the book: 


Download the Free Ebook Secrets of Successful Writers

Bill Gourgey – One Million Readers and Counting

There are new avenues appearing every day for writers in this explosive era of self publishing. One of the most interesting is Wattpad, a Canadian based company that promotes itself as 'YouTube for ebooks'.
Here's the link:
http://www.wattpad.com/

Writers first make their stories available through Wattpad. Readers can then download the Wattpad application and enjoy the ebooks on their mobile phones or other portable reading devices. It's just another sign of this brave new publishing world that we're living in.
One of the most successful of these writers is Bill Gourgey who has received around one million reads of his book "Glide" as well as rave reviews on multiple websites. Described as 'green sci-fi' by Bill, it fills a unique gap in this new age of publishing.
Today we speak to Bill about how he became a writer, what he thinks the best methods are that a writer can use to promote themselves and how he thinks we can best save the planet from its worst enemy – us!

Darrell - How did you become a writer?
Bill - At the risk of invoking cliché, it all started with being a reader.  When I was a kid I read everything and anything I could.  Luckily, my parents had a large collection of books and encouraged reading.  By the time I was twelve, I had read all of the Tolkien books, all of the Oz books, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Dune, and many more.  In high school, when most of my peers were dreading Dickens and Dostoevsky and Woolf, I looked forward to A Tale of Two Cities, Crime and Punishment, and Mrs. Dalloway to name but a few. 
Despite my early love of fiction, since math and science had always come naturally, nothing propelled me in the direction of writing.  In college, engineering was an obvious choice for me, but I stuck with literature for my electives since reading and analyzing fictional worlds had always been my great escape.  Faced with the drudgery of engineering labs, Maxwell's Equation, and Laplace Transforms, I needed that fictional escape more than ever! 
On a whim, I took two courses my Junior year that put me on Frost's proverbial road less traveled.  First, a Creative Writing course taught by the renowned poet, Archie Ammons.  I'm still not sure what he saw in my poetry, but whatever it was he encouraged me to pursue a career in writing.  At the time, I thought he was nuts, but he seemed sincere enough to give me an A+.  Second, the Art of the Essay with Lydia Fakundiny, who remains, perhaps, the most articulate person I ever met.  Her command of language was truly brilliant and inspiring.  She opened up the writer's toolbox in a way I had never before imagined possible. Like Ammons, she surprised me by encouraging me to stick with writing, as if it was something I was good at! 
By the time I had taken these two seminal writing classes, however, it was too late to change majors (financially and practically).  Writing, it seemed, would have to remain a dream.  When I left college, I pursued what came naturally--technology--but never let the writing dream wither.  For many years, I would wake up early or stay up late into the night, filling the nooks and crannies of my busy days with writing, some structured, most un-.  


I have reams of lousy stories, essays, and poems to prove it, but those small daily efforts brought me closer to where I am today.  A few years ago, I decided it was now or never, so I set my technology career aside and have been writing full time since.  My publications include a volume of poetry, Outside the Box, and my first novel, Glide.  I plan to publish a collection of short stories this spring and, hopefully, a sequel to Glide later this year.  For me, becoming a writer is a dream come true.

Darrell - Can you describe a typical writing day?
Bill –
1) Wake up2) Grab coffee 3) Kiss my son on the cheek and my wife, too, as she takes him off to school 4) Plant my butt in my office chair for a minimum of 4 hours, often more 5) Repeat, Monday through Friday, weekends if my loving family permits
lol! Sounds simple, but it's not.  After all these years, I've discovered that I write better in the morning, when I'm sufficiently caffeinated and energetic enough to grab my muse by the heels and pin her to a page.  That's on good days.  On bad days, my muse eludes me as easily as Pan's shadow and no matter which keys I press, "blah, blah, blah" appears on the screen.  But as awful as the day's work might seem, when I stick to the routine, I feel productive.  Afternoons I save for marketing activities, catching up on emails, and hunting down answers to those persnickety research questions that come up during the morning. 
Oh, and much to my family's and friends' chagrin, I carry a voice recorder everywhere I go.  Since I'm not a genius who can pull unique and interesting thoughts out of thin air at will, I have to be ready when one hits me with bruising impact.  My solution:  Have Voice Recorder, Will Travel.  In this day and age of smartphones, Facebook, and YouTube, I find it amusing that people get intimidated whenever I whip out my voice recorder--as if the ancient device holds some numinous power that might do them harm.

Darrell - Your book Glide deals with a category of fiction you call Green Sci-Fi. What does this involve?
Bill - I have always wondered at the plethora of dystopian novels and worlds anchoring our literature.  It's as if the facts on the ground are always so grim that it's impossible for even our most brilliant writers and artists to imagine a road that leads anywhere but Armageddon.  Bright, hopeful futures are relegated to Disneyesque animations, if they're told at all.  Of course, the facts on the ground ARE grim when it comes to matters of ecological stewardship, peace, and prosperity across our world.  And, as the Prophet in Glide says about our politicians, "oil flows through their veins and gunpowder salts their meals." 

But it occurs to me that we can hardly ask corrupt politicians to set us on a more hopeful road if our artists and writers can't even imagine one.  Being an optimist by nature, I truly believe in humanity's capacity to innovate ourselves out of the dark places our biology and self-interest often lead us.  Green Sci Fi, then, is my attempt to bring to life (bring back to life?) a genre that focuses on a hopeful future.  The backdrop of Star Trek, for example, is an Earth that has achieved a harmonious, healthy global society--one that enables and encourages space exploration.  But just because the future is not dystopian does not mean it has to be utopian.  After all, we migrate to horror, suspense, and tragedy because they trigger in us a kind of biochemical rush, which makes utopias boring and dystopias thrilling.  Thus, Star Trek has its villains even if they are based in space. 
Likewise, it's my belief that we can set thrillers in a future world where science and good will have overcome TODAY's challenges even as human nature threatens to undermine that future with its usual shortcomings.  Green Sci Fi, then, is that future world where we have defied the odds and solved many of the worst problems of today even as tomorrow threatens us with its own new challenges.
Darrell - What do you think are the best ways a writer can promote themselves? i.e. Facebook, Twitter, advertising etc.
Bill - I'm still figuring this one out!  Conventional wisdom says to a) have a unique platform; and b) get out and meet people and market your product.  As for meeting people, a great way to get started is to sign up for readings at book stores, schools, wherever and whenever anyone will listen.  I'm a believer in this tried and true form of promotion.  Although I haven't done as many readings as I should, whenever I leave a book reading and signing, I know I have that many more fans. 
Face to face interaction really works, but it is time consuming and can be costly depending upon travel requirements.  As far as promotion on online venues, my own experience has been that genre specific blogs--even if they are niche in nature and therefore cater to a small audience--are the online equivalent of pressing the flesh.  You're more likely to strike a chord with readers and garner new fans. 
For me, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been necessary, but have such a high bounce rate, I don't rely on them for direct promotion.  I suppose they come in handy if your work truly "goes viral."  My own website seems to attract a small but steady flow of unique visitors, and tends to offer one of the stronger clickthru rates to online sales, but the jury is still out.
On the matter of platform, for fiction writers it can be tough to develop one unless you're a long-time career person who's turned to writing (Grisham-Legal Thrillers, le Carre-Spy Novels, etcetera).  Still, it's not impossible to develop a platform that's unique to you and your work.  In the end, I find that a platform helps to hone your message and does seem to make a difference.  For my novel Glide, I've been promoting the idea of Green Sci Fi based on the novel's themes, my interests, and some of my background.  Again, the jury's still out, but along the way I've garnered the interest of the Huffington Post and the NRDC who posted articles on Glide because of its Green Sci Fi angle.
Darrell - Glide has been featured on Wattpad. In what ways has this been successful for you?
Bill - From its management team and staff to its readers and subscribers, Wattpad has provided me with a rich, engaged community of people who clearly care about writing and reading.  I can't say that my experience with Wattpad has translated into gobs of sales, but it has translated into invaluable feedback for my work, thoughtful fans, and nearly a million reads of my novel Glide (and counting). 
When discussing Wattpad, however, I have to call out one person in particular--Nina Lassam, Wattpad's tireless, creative, and thoughtful Marketing Exec, who has helped me to navigate Wattpad and offered me the opportunity to promote myself outside of the Wattpad environment.  Thanks Nina!
Darrell - What do you think is the single, best thing a person can do to help the environment?
Bill - Love it.  When you love something or someone, you want to spend time with them, appreciate them, enjoy their beauty, help them to thrive.  If we impart the same kind of love and respect to the environment that we would to anyone who nurtured us, provided for us, and supported our own pursuit of happiness, in the long run the environment would love us back. 
Sadly, from the Sahara to the Amazon, Arctic to Antarctic, examples abound of what happens when we abuse the environment and it begins to fail.  There's only a finite amount of Earth, and, as the Prophet tells the Captain in Glide when it comes to humanity and civilization:  "If we believed in our own ingenuity and wisdom, truly believed in our ability to survive without consuming everything in our path, then we would be able to reject our primordial programming for what it is, evolutionary scrap.  We would live in a more tolerant world...and that means we would take responsibility for our condition."
And an enormous thanks to Bill! He is working on a sequel to Glide, due out later this year. The book is available at all the usual online venues. Here's the link to Amazon:
Glide

That's all for today.
Keep writing!
Darrell.

The Steampunk Detective Book Trailer

Hi wonderful readers,

The Steampunk Detective Book trailer is now available for viewing: 




The book is for sale at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other online retailers:

Thanks for reading!

Darrell Pitt

Matthew Reilly – Write What You Like to Read

Matthew Reilly is one of Australia's most successful authors. After self publishing his first book at age nineteen, he has since been published in over twenty countries and sold over 3.5 million books. Today he talks about his writing career and his advice for those trying to succeed as a writer.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?

Matthew - I usually work from about 9am to 1pm. I find I think best and work best in the morning. I used to write all day, but as with anything, the more you do, the better you get, and so now it doesn't take as long. That said, I am still just as exhausted mentally after half a day's writing as I used to be after a full day's work. 

Darrell - I know that when it comes to writing, action is your middle name (and possibly even your first and last name). Do you normally plot out your novels in advance or do you allow the characters to lead the way?

Matthew - I plot out each novel in full before I even start page 1 — I use big sheets of cardboard to map out the whole story. Plot, pace and action are very important to me, and I can only see that when I have the whole story in front of me. I have done this since CONTEST and continue to do it: I still have the cardboard sheet for SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES beside my desk!
That said, action without good characters is meaningless, so once I have laid out my plot, I then "people it" with characters that I believe readers will cheer for or find interesting. Of course, villains play a big role, too, and in the new Scarecrow book, the choice of villain was pivotal.  

Darrell - You've had some of your books optioned for movies and you've even had some interest in small film making yourself. Do you think we'll get to see a Matthew Reilly book turned into a feature length movie?

Matthew - I've had a few false starts with Hollywood — I optioned ICE STATION to Paramount, but that never got made; and I sold a TV script called LITERARY SUPERSTARS to Sony and ABC that had Darren Star producing and Jenna Elfman starring, and that fell through because of the '07-'08 Writer's Strike. But I sold HOVER CAR RACER to Disney a few years back and they're still keen on it, and SCARECROW is currently under option with a big production company, so there is still hope.

The key thing about Hollywood and my books is this: money. My books are very big in scale and that means it'll take 100 million bucks to even think about turning one of my novels into a decent movie. Which means getting a top director and big movie star. So in the end, that means waiting and being patient. I hope that one day, a movie of one of my books will be made, but I don't sit by the phone waiting for it to happen. I just get on with writing the next novel and entertaining my fans. 

That said, I still write screenplays in between the books, and that keeps me in touch with people in Hollywood, which can only help.

Darrell - What do you think is the best way a writer can promote themselves and their books?

Matthew - When you're starting out, do every interview you can, even for the local newspaper — because you never know who reads the local newspaper. A while back, I did an interview with a local paper, and it was read by a national current affairs TV show, who asked for an interview. In Australia, radio is also very powerful. 

In the end, do everything. You can't just leave your book on the shelf to be found by browsers — no matter how shy your are (and many authors are shy) you have to get out there and tell people that your book is in bookstores, waiting to be read and enjoyed! 

Darrell - What do you think the future holds for hard copy books now that ebooks are here?
 
Matthew - I can see a future where hard copy books coexist with ebooks, with each occupying about 50% of the market. The "hard copy book" is an awesome piece of technology: it's sturdy, it requires no batteries, and you can hurl it around or stuff it in a bag; plus, many people just like 'em (I myself find that I retain more information reading a hard copy than an ebook). Ebooks are the future, for sure, and younger readers who grow up with them will happily read them, but I don't see them obliterating hard copies entirely.

For authors, I don't think this matters too much. My skill as a fiction writer is entertaining a reader with words — whether they are on a page or a screen, I don't think it matters. That said, printers and bookstores will have to adapt to this brave new world. 

Darrell - What advice would you have for someone trying to make it as a writer?

Matthew - Write what you would read yourself. Believe me, you can't fake enthusiasm, and I firmly believe that my readers see my enthusiasm in every page of my work. I love action thrillers. Really love them. This is why you won't see a "Matthew Reilly Book of Poetry" anytime soon — fans of poetry would spot my inexperience in an instant. But when it comes to action and thrills, I know (and love) every movie and book in the genre. I thrive in it and because of that, I can thus stretch the conventions of the thriller genre and take readers to new limits. 

On the practical side, if that first novel doesn't find a publisher, start writing another one. My first book, CONTEST, was rejected by everyone, so I famously self-published it. In the middle of self-publishing CONTEST, I sat down and started ICE STATION. Now, at that stage, I had nothing. No book deal. Just lots of rejection letters and boxes of self-published books. But I started that second book anyway. And while CONTEST was ultimately discovered, it was ICE STATION that catapulted me around the world as an author of note. Write that second book — you'll also have learned stuff while writing the first one and it may well be better! I think that happened with me and ICE STATION.  And an enormous thanks to Matthew! His books are available in bookstores everywhere. 
That's all for today!
Keep writing!
Darrellhttp://www.facebook.com/darrell.pitt

Taking Flight with Bestselling Author Dale Brown

Dale Brown has thirteen New York Times bestsellers to his name.
His books are easily identifiable. They are those aviation techno-thriller novels you see at the bookshop. His books have been published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. In all over 10 million copies of his books, audiobooks and computer games have been produced.
In recent years he has expanded his writing and works with another author, Jim DeFelice, to continue his bestselling crusade. Today Dale speaks to us today about, not just writing that novel you've always wanted to write, but the importance of always planning and thinking about the next book. And the next.
Darrell - You have been writing from a young age. Can you describe how you went from a 'part time' writer to creating your first successful novel?
Dale - I have wanted to write since I was in middle school. I'm not sure where the urge to write fiction came from, because I always wanted to write non-fiction. (computer reviews, military base articles, etc.) I had a column in the college newspaper at Penn State and wrote computer software and hardware reviews for several magazines. I started writing columns at Penn State when I wrote a critical opinion to another columnist and the editor asked me "Do you think you can do better?" I said "Yes" and I wrote for two years at PSU at the Daily Collegian.
 I started writing "Flight of the Old Dog" in 1983 when I was flying B-52Gs in the Air Force and I really enjoyed the freedom and creative range with fiction. My focus always was writing real-world events in a fictional setting.
I was always amazed when I wrote articles about military flying exercises we'd do and folks on the military bases had no idea what we'd do. Dozens of aircraft would leave the base in the middle of the night and no one had any idea what they were doing until I described it. I knew that's what I wanted to write about.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Dale - A typical day of writing is sitting down at the desk and reading, re-writing, and writing. I try to make myself available for my son when he's out of school but otherwise I'm at the desk working. Being a writer is a rather boring job: your job is to sit at the desk and create. Your life exists in the universe between your ears. That's what your fans want to experience. Your job is to translate the world you create into words that others can experience.
Darrell - Airplanes are obviously your first love and many of your earlier books feature your hero Patrick McLanahan. Some of your more recent books seem to be more 'land based' than 'air based'. Is there any particular reason for this?
Dale - Patrick has been around for a number of years and even die-hard fans might be getting a little tired of him. My job is to create a new evolving universe with new characters and new plots that expand and enhance the universe I've already created. I'll always be air-power-centric but I'll explore and enhance new technology to stay on the cutting edge. Patrick is the centre of my universe but others are stepping up to take centre stage, like Patrick's son Bradley.
Darrell - You've teamed up with Jim DeFelice to co-author a number of books. What's it like working with another author and how does this work in practical terms?
Dale - Jim DeFelice is an incredible writing and idea machine.  He's taken my ideas and plots and taken them to extraordinary dimensions. I'm fortunate to be linking up with an incredible talent like Jim DeFelice and I hope to continue working with him for years to come.
Darrell - What do you think are the best ways a writer can market themselves?
Dale - Always operate outside your comfort zone. You have a novel ready for publication?--you should be in the bookstores EVERY DAY pushing your work. You should be on a lecture circuit, volunteering your time to speak in front of groups. Writing the book is one important phase, but MARKETING your book is the next important phase, and it's just as important as the writing part. Get out in front of the booksellers, social groups, organizations, etc. Are you shy? BREAK OUT. Learn about Twitter and Facebook and BE ACTIVE. Be proactive.
Darrell - What advice would you have for someone trying to get their first book published?
Dale - Be persistent. Be active. Writing your book is the most important ingredient, but GETTING IT SOLD is the second most important part, and it takes as much effort as writing. DON'T QUIT. Be positive. If you get negative feedback on you work, evaluate and act on it. SELL YOURSELF. Publishers buy IDEAS and PLOTS, so if you have a story to tell, SELL IT. NEVER GIVE UP. I have a scrapbook with over a HUNDRED rejection letters for "Flight of the Old Dog," and that's just the ones that answered back. DON'T QUIT. If you get a rejection, analyse it and apply it to your story, but DON'T STOP PITCHING. NEVER QUIT.
Beyond that: start working on the NEXT book. Publishers like authors that have lots of books in them. You want to be a writer--you better have lots of books in your belly ready to be released. Get busy. You want to be a writer--WRITE!
And an enormous thank-you to Dale! There is some fantastic advice there for authors, especially his recommendations about always working towards your next novel. 
That's all for today!
Keep writing!
Darrell
http://www.facebook.com/darrell.pitt

Patricia Gragg – Facebook and Twitter Relationships Led to Bestseller Status

Patricia Gragg is one of those writers who has achieved the enviable status of having a book on the Amazon bestseller list. Today she talks about how she achieved this wonderful success as well as how the process works to self publish your own ebooks. 
Darrell - How did you become a writer?

Patricia - Like most writers, I started early. In the 2nd or 3rd grade, I wrote plays and made my brother and the neighbourhood kids perform them in our garage. I wrote short stories and even began novels in grade school. After school, I worked at a variety of jobs in public relations and submitted poems and stories to The Atlantic and The New Yorker. I even received some encouraging replies (which I've saved). I decided to go back to school and enrolled at Wichita State University which has a creative writing department, and that became my home. I finished my BA and two years of graduate school. I worked with Hilma Wolitzer and Doris Betts, among others, and James Lee Burke was my adviser. Those were wonderful years.

Afterward, I worked as a technical writer and wrote several novels which I submitted to the top publishers without any results. I was always in a writing group. Then came ebooks!
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?

Patricia - I think about what I need to do on my story while I have coffee and breakfast. When I'm finally at my computer, I go back and read the last three or four chapters I've written. This leads to editing and making little fixes. I just gradually slip into continuing the story. Eventually I take a break and take care of my email plus go to Facebook and Twitter to see what's going on.

In the evening, after I've taken care of other responsibilities, I may go back and start the whole process over. I also run the story through my mind at night, before I go to sleep. Or when I'm driving, or waiting in the doctor's office, or watching a TV show.

Darrell - Many people who are about to self publish their own ebook are curious about the process you go through to do this. Can you describe how this works with Smashwords and Kindle and the other online retailers?
Patricia - Basically, I logged on to the Smashwords site and followed the link to their directions for self publishing. I had to reformat my manuscript and then upload it to their  'Meatgrinder,' a program which formats the manuscript for several different outlets. Then I previewed it, went back and made a few changes in the formatting, and uploaded it again.
Amazon is much the same except a little more complicated. The formatting in the finished product looks pretty good. Like Smashwords, you can preview and make changes until you're satisfied. And there you are, a published author with your words available to the world! 
I haven't uploaded to other online retailers although I wish I had. The royalties would be higher.

Darrell - Your book, The Rose Killer, is one of the bestselling Kindle ebooks. How did you achieve this amazing feat?

Patricia - I've been asked this question by several of my author friends. I wish I had the answer. Basically, I developed a lot of friendships on Facebook and Twitter, which included readers and other authors. I did some self promotion and tried to help other writers. I was active on Goodreads and uploaded my book there. I also met some interesting people.
 I created a website, which didn't see many visitors until recently. I did not create a blog. In short, I did what most aspiring writers do. I'd really love to say that my book made the top 100 because it's so great. Of course, I think it's good, but I'm pretty sure that something (appearance on a list, perhaps) made the book visible to the public.
I'm still amazed. 
And an enormous thanks to Patricia. Her books are available at Amazon and Goodreads. 
That's all for today.
Keep writing!
Darrell
http://www.facebook.com/darrell.pitt

Create Interesting Characters with these 25 Character Traits

How do you create real characters? Sometimes we look at people we know and simply insert them into our literature. What's what old saying? Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent…
At other times it's helpful to think in terms of a person being a mixture of many different things and this is closer to home. This is closer to reality. No-one is simply one thing or another. We are all an enormous mixture of many different traits and situations will bring out both the best – and the worst – in us. Here's a list of twenty-five character traits. 


observant timid pessimistic moody confident logical argumentative lazy disrespectful greedy talkative charismatic meticulous calm arrogant bossy charming clumsy pompous vulgar friendly harsh petulant mysterious energetic

The trick is to create a character with more than one trait. Sounds obvious, really, doesn't it? But how many books do you read where characters are one dimensional? Or two dimensional? Next time you create a character, mix four or five of these traits together and see what you end up with. 
It might remind you of someone you know.
That's all for today.
Keep writing!
Darrell
http://www.facebook.com/darrell.pitt