Penelope Crowe's Blog, page 14

I Want It Yesterday

I have pondered being a published author since I was 7 years old, when I wrote my first book, The Littlest Grape.  It was written on the paper from a 3 x 5 pad, and the cover was the cardboard from the back of the pad.  The illustration were done in colored pencil, and after I stapled the cover to the pages, I brought it everywhere and showed it to everyone I knew.  I thought it was the best book in existence, and could not even begin to fathom the leap from cardboard and staples to the seemingly magical and unattainable place on the bookstore shelves. 



The Littlest Grape was followed by endless writing. I loved the hit-and-run quality of poems, and one very popular (in my mind) poem I wrote was Waterbed, warning of a baby/waterbed combination.  I also wrote songs. Young Dr. Kildare, a soon-to-be chart topper, was as good as any Partridge Family tune.  I thought the flip side of that particular 45 would be another big hit, Veins in My Thumbs.  And I continued writing books. The Haunted House came with a warning on every page cautioning the reader of the terror he would soon experience.



I kept a diary/account of everything that happened in school and what I thought of everyone in my class in my desk in a maroon pad with a smiley face on the cover. It was discovered and passed around one day when I was absent, and some of the kids were not too pleased about what I had written. Though some of the attention was negative, I loved that people noticed and talked about the diary.



Life takes us many places.  We experience many things.  Some fall away, and some things stick with us.  Writing stuck.



I finally decided I would write as a vocation, and the process suddenly could not happen fast enough.  It was thrilling to publish my first book--but I compared myself to others I knew.  They had several books, and many reviews, and more titles in the works. They had 75 million Twitter followers and just as many reading their blog. I felt I was behind!  I had to catch up!  I had to write more and friend more people and Tweet everyone about everything and...



...then I realized something.  I can't catch up to everyone who has been doing this for a while.  It will take a long time to get followers and friends in this business and I will have to earn them. But the urgency came from a good place...I am finally doing the thing I should have been doing all along.  So--I took a deep breath, calmed down a bit, and let myself feel happy about everything that was going on.  I'll listen to the words of a great writer, Stephen King: 



"You have to read a lot, and you have to write a lot.  There are no shortcuts."



I'm still thrilled about my books and writing, but I'm not going to rush or compare myself to anyone.  I will take my competitive nature and use it to improve my writing.  I still can't wait to finish my next book...





Also want to mention two books I am reading and enjoying.  Cloud Nice is by Melissa Smith.  It is about a self-sufficient teen-aged girl who gets a very special guardian angel, and Underneath, by Heather Adkins, which is about an empathic woman whose new job takes her to deep, dark, terrible places.  I will be reviewing these books as soon as I am done reading them.  So far so great.



http://www.amazon.com/Underneath-ebook/dp/B0055COI9M



http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Nine-Paranormal-Guardians-ebook/dp/B004D9FF54         

Review

Five-star customer review on Amazon for Absorbed.



"Absorbed" is a Poe-esque tale that will get under your skin... Short in length, but not in content, this tale will make your skin crawl, as well as have you rooting for a character you're not so sure you should support. Crowe has crafted another fantastic piece of psychological thrill.

Absorbed

Today is the release of my short story, Absorbed.  Although it is not a Halloween story, it is creepy, dark and shivery.  You can find it on Amazon and Nook.  Have fun!



http://www.amazon.com/Absorbed-ebook/dp/B005SUBYYI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1317926781&sr=8-3

Welcome David Cleinman!

It is my pleasure to introduce David Cleinman, author of Toys in the Attic.

 



Q.  When did you start writing?I began writing as a young teenager, but didn't really get serious until a few years ago.  It was one of those things… get a job, work a job, put dreams on hold.  I decided enough is enough and got into a groove.  Q.  I read the description of Toys in the Attic, and was struck by the fact that the lead character is a woman.  How did you find a voice for her?As with all my characters, kind of like any artist, they speak to me.  Their voice follows who they are.  I'm not sure I can do the process justice by trying to explain it.  A character must be who they are.  In TITA our character is a severely abused teenager who wants to live a normal life, and makes every possible effort to do so, in spite of the horrible odds against her.  I will also add here that some of her trials and triumphs are largely based on girls I have known and worked with as a counselor and teacher.  Q.  What inspired you to write this book?A need to get lingering and horrible emotions out and make some peace with myself and my world.  Knowing teenagers who were raped, and watching them struggle, is tragic and deeply troubling.  I wanted to bring hope and inspiration into a dark and painful topic, while also showing that personal redemption is possible, no matter what the odds to the contrary might be.Q.  Did the book evolve from your original story idea, and if so, how?Yes and no.  The idea of the setting and the community were mine.  The events, however, were ALL based on true events, pieced together from different girls and young women I have known.  Some I observed personally.  Some came from reference, some via police reports and personal witnesses. Q.  Can you tell us a bit about the book?The book chronicles the life a teenage girl whose mother dies when she is just fourteen, leaving her alone with an alcoholic and severely emotionally (and sometimes physically) abusive father.  Shortly after her seventeenth birthday her beats and rapes her, and she is forced to kill him in self-defense.  She ends up giving birth to his child, an immediate and ever present reminder of intense evil.  Her life, from that point on, is a daily exercise in duality.  The desire to be a top-notch business woman, and the inability to be a parent to a completely innocent child.  As the novel progresses, her personal growth requires her to confront her demons, of which there are so many.  Q.  How long did the book take to write?About a year to write, and quite a bit longer to frame in my mind.  Wrapping my head around the emotions and getting out of my own way slowed some of the process, and the end product is better for it.Q.  Were you inspired by any authors?  Who?For this novel, no.  Although there are some Stephen King-like concepts, that is fairly situational.  In some ways the must-bes of a given situation.Q.  Are any of the characters based on real people?Indeed.  But not so much the characters themselves, moreso the things they have endured and overcome.  The son, Conner, is largely based on a schoolmate of mine in grade school, who also demonstrated uncanny athletic prowess at a young age.Q.  Was this book easy to write, or a struggle?Difficult.  Both from an emotional standpoint, and also because I needed to get very delicate and disturbing situations just right.  Because the novel is filled with horrors and triumphs, melding the two together became an ongoing exercise in balance and control.Q.  Tell me how you picked the title.The title is a dual reference.  In one way it deals with actual lives built in real attics.  It also refers to the mental struggles we all face, big and small.Q.  What is your favorite genre of book to read?I'm pretty open in that regard.  At one time I loved fantasy above all else, followed by science fiction.  As I have matured, while I still enjoy fantasy and sci fi, I am enjoying historical fiction more, and religious irony (I would call it satire if satire did not imply funny).  Q.  Are you working on any projects right now?Always.  I am rebuilding my published novel, Principle Destiny.  Pulling it from print and going Indie with it with a new cover and title.  I am rewriting my original fantasy series, begun when I was thirteen, and rewriting another that I began in the early 1990s.  I have recently published an article marketing guide called. Wait for it, The Article Marketer's Guide, and I am doing a vampire short series that changes the concept from blood to something more scary and less directly edible.Q.  Do you have any writing goals for the future?My main goal is to explore myself and create something unique and cutting edge.  I know myself well enough to state that it will be based on emotions and interpersonal struggle, regardless of the final form.Q.  There are many steps in publishing an ebook, do you like any parts more than others?  What are they?Really all I would say is that an ebook is just a print book formatted for an eReader.  The writing process is identical.  As always I prefer the story development and the characterization the most.  The formatting part is easier, but a lot less fun.Q.  From your website it looks like you are very busy, you run a company and a foundation, what made you decide to write and how do you have the time?I find that I am most productive when I am busy.  If I have too little to do I get bored and lackadaisical.  I need a full plate to keep me going.  In addition, having multiple projects going is more fun than being underworked!

website:  http://www.davidcleinman.com/writings Toys in the Attic:    http://davidcleinman.com/writings/my-books/about-toys-in-the-attic/



  

Haunted

September is a funny month.  We are mourning summer and fearing winter.  Then October comes.  Something clicks and we embrace a new season.  We are now allowed to be evil and tricky. We can reveal a side of ourselves out that we hide all year.



The moon seems different, bigger somehow, and more willing to highlight the things that go bump in the night. 



There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.  ~Joseph Conrad



We come to love the shivery nip in the air and relish in any haunted tales we happen to hear.  We decorate our houses with glowing pumpkins, bats and skeletons, and look for ways to frighten each other.  Transforming into tricky hobgoblins, we jump out from behind doors in the dark with flashlights under our chins.  As the last harvest withers, we quicken before the final leaf drops.



October is delightful and scary, our final spooky hurrah before winter crashes in.



 http://hauntedhappenings.org/



The above link is the official Haunted Happenings site for Salem Massachusetts.

Here We Go!

My first book, 100 Unfortunate Days, is being released tomorrow, and it is already live on one of the popular ebook sites.  I am thrilled.  This is a bucket lister for me.  And even though I removed the version that contains six typos, it's still listed on the site.  In fact, it could take up to five days for it to be removed.



It's late and I am tired, but I had a flash of insight.  There are no perfect moments.  So take the great moments you get and make the best of them.  Life is WAY too short to do it any other way.  :)[image error]

A Break in the Clouds

No one's life is perfect.  There are occasions we go through we would prefer to forget.  Sometimes it gets to us, and we don't know if the sun will ever shine again...or ever did in the first place.  We feel the cards are stacked against us, we are dealt a bad hand, got a raw deal, a tough break or maybe our choices are inauspicious. 



Once you start to feel this way, it is easy to slip into a bad luck rut.  We begin to use phrases like "just my luck."  So to snap ourselves out of it, we read books on happiness and getting in touch with ourselves.  We do affermations and visualizations, we take yoga and meditation classes, and start to ponder if this gloom and bad luck is just part of the package now.



And sometimes all it takes is a kind word or act to clear the clouds.



The month of September has brought many changes to me.  I decided to publish a book, and needed SO much help.  This was a frustrating and enlightening experience.  And I could not have done it alone.  I asked for help MANY times, and was not only assisted, but encouraged, taught and sometimes just chatted to.  Some of the people in an indie authors group of which I am a member were so kind, I did not know how to respond.  They offered words of encouragement and gave helpful answers.  One new friend seemed like a guardian angel, and I could not have published my book without her. 



I know the popular saying is that we are responsible for our own happiness, and this is at least partially true.  But I have to say, life is much better when you find people who support you, understand you and like you.  So do the part that is your responsibility and start to do something you love, because you never know if you really want to do it unless you START to do it. 



Then make sure you keep those special people that you are lucky enough to find along the way.  They help keep a little bit of sun in even the cloudiest days.



 

Sequel Alert! Stephen King Writing Sequel to the Shining

I don't know about you, but I get excited every time I hear Stephen King is putting out another book.  After reading his short story, Mile 81, a Tales from the Crypt-like visit to an abandonded rest stop, I was ready for more.



I was thrilled to read a sequel to The Shining, called Dr. Sleep, will be about a grown -up Danny Torrence, of REDRUM fame, and a pack of traveling  psychic vampires called The Tribe.



What this book will develop into is to be seen, but whatever it is, I'm ready and waiting.



The link below shows Stephen King at an appearance at George Mason University last week, reading a chapter from his new book.



http://dailydead.com/stephen-king-announces-the-shining-sequel-dr-sleep/

Chiaroscuro

Life steps along at a regular pace most of the time, with some curve balls thrown in for good measure.  Nine times out of ten we field the curve balls with a smile, and come out relatively the same on the other side.  We dust ourselves off and find we are more fit for the next pitch.



Then some of us have children.  This is a fast ball of unparalled speed.



Now your life becomes a never-ending series of light and dark moments.  Happening at the same time. 



For instance, you are so desperate for some alone time in the first years of your child's life that you are beside yourself.  Then it is almost time for your little one to start school, and you are thrilled.  The first day of school comes and your usually independent little bugger is not only screaming at a glass-breaking pitch, you have to peel them off of your leg and leave them crying "MOMMY!" repeatedly as you leave the building.  You have your alone time, but now you are not so thrilled.  You feel guilty and all you can think about is your child's well-being.  And how sad they must feel.  And how miserable you feel. 



The school day finally ends and you can't wait to pick them up.  You envision their tear-streaked faces and bloodshot eyes.  But when you show up they happily run over and show you the craft they made.  Yay!  Happiness!  All is well--the angels are singing and the weight of the world is off your shoulders.  Only now you are a little mad because you spent your whole day worrying.  And you still feel like you need time to yourself because all you did was think of them all day.  And this repeats every day for the next million years, but the screaming tones down to grumbling as they get a bit older.  Then it is finally time for them to graduate and you are thrilled, and so sad at the same time.  They are no longer small, and you miss that.  They were so sweet!  And we are so proud now!  How they have grown.  But remember how adorable they used to be?  It seems that no emotion arrives on its own once kids involved.  It's all light and dark.



You love them more than anything in the world, you would throw yourself in front of a train to save them, and all you want is to not think about them so much. 



If you are enjoying yourself, they are probably miserable, and vica versa.  You don't want to watch Power Rangers and they do not want to go see the Cezanne exhitbit at MoMA.



The magaines and books get us ready for the diapers, baths, and the how-to of being the perfect working parent.  What we should really be gearing up for are the contant ups-and-downs of life with a kid.  Forget black and white...it's now a thousand shades of grey, and every color in the rainbow.



So get ready for the fast ball.