Rebecca Graf's Blog, page 4
November 3, 2019
Dear Past Me
Hindsight is 20/20. We've all heard that saying. We have experienced life enough to know it is true. Looking back, we can see clearly situations. While we are in the midst of things, it seems a bit murky to us. So, when it was suggested I write to the past me, it got me to thinking. Thinking very hard.
What would I tell myself ten, twenty, thirty years ago? This question cannot be answered easily. Time is needed to create the perfect answer.
I decided that the letter would have to be divided up into periods. The teenage me. The young married me. The young mother me. And the me five years ago. Let's see what they would say.
Dear Teenage Me: Child, you have go to learn to stand your ground and have some fun in life. You're too uptight and shy. You let too many people run over you. Instead of being one made fun of in school, you could be so popular just by not letting others hold you back.
Dear Newly Married Me: If you can get this right at this stage, you might save yourself a load of trouble. Take off those rose colored glasses. You are marrying a man more like your fathar than you think. Remember that. Yes, you'll have a great life, but it will not what you have dreamed of.
Dear New Parent Me: Like marriage, parenting will not be what you think it should be. Yes, you will have learned a lot in your own childhood, but it will not help you with your own children. They will have so much different personalities than you have ever encountered. They will also teach you so much. Learn from them. Have more patience than you have ever had before or dreamed of.
Dear Middle-Aged Me: Oops. That's right now. Not sure what to write here.
I guess the real letters would be much longer. There are many things life has taught me. Maybe there 's a book in this.
What about you?
What would I tell myself ten, twenty, thirty years ago? This question cannot be answered easily. Time is needed to create the perfect answer.
I decided that the letter would have to be divided up into periods. The teenage me. The young married me. The young mother me. And the me five years ago. Let's see what they would say.
Dear Teenage Me: Child, you have go to learn to stand your ground and have some fun in life. You're too uptight and shy. You let too many people run over you. Instead of being one made fun of in school, you could be so popular just by not letting others hold you back.
Dear Newly Married Me: If you can get this right at this stage, you might save yourself a load of trouble. Take off those rose colored glasses. You are marrying a man more like your fathar than you think. Remember that. Yes, you'll have a great life, but it will not what you have dreamed of.
Dear New Parent Me: Like marriage, parenting will not be what you think it should be. Yes, you will have learned a lot in your own childhood, but it will not help you with your own children. They will have so much different personalities than you have ever encountered. They will also teach you so much. Learn from them. Have more patience than you have ever had before or dreamed of.
Dear Middle-Aged Me: Oops. That's right now. Not sure what to write here.
I guess the real letters would be much longer. There are many things life has taught me. Maybe there 's a book in this.
What about you?
October 1, 2019
Reading In the Bathroom
If you are an avid reader, you will read anywhere you are. This is not an exaggeration. It doesn't matter where you are, you will read if you can.
You are waiting in line at the coffee shop. How can I tell you are a reader? You have a book or your electronic reading device out and are glued to it. You'll read no matter where you are. That includes the bathroom.
I'll readily admit that I read in the bathroom no matter where that facility might be. Even at work, my phone goes with me where I can read my ebooks. While using the facilities, I can get at least one more page read.
Before you know it, you've finished the book.
Others are shocked when I admit to reading in the bathroom at work. Why? What's wrong with that? Nothing, I say!
What do you do in the bathroom? There is the obvious we won't go into detail about. I believe in being frank, but that goes too far. I'm talking about what else you do.
You sit and stare at the back of the stall door. You might start to fold toilet paper to use. You might even chat up the person in the next stall who rushes out to escape the weirdo who wants to chat while they.... you know.
Pull out your smartphone and open up your ereading app. Go about your other business and knock off a few pages. Seriously, you can read so many more books if you read in the bathroom every chance you get.
What are you reading in the bathroom?
You are waiting in line at the coffee shop. How can I tell you are a reader? You have a book or your electronic reading device out and are glued to it. You'll read no matter where you are. That includes the bathroom.
I'll readily admit that I read in the bathroom no matter where that facility might be. Even at work, my phone goes with me where I can read my ebooks. While using the facilities, I can get at least one more page read.
Before you know it, you've finished the book.
Others are shocked when I admit to reading in the bathroom at work. Why? What's wrong with that? Nothing, I say!
What do you do in the bathroom? There is the obvious we won't go into detail about. I believe in being frank, but that goes too far. I'm talking about what else you do.
You sit and stare at the back of the stall door. You might start to fold toilet paper to use. You might even chat up the person in the next stall who rushes out to escape the weirdo who wants to chat while they.... you know.
Pull out your smartphone and open up your ereading app. Go about your other business and knock off a few pages. Seriously, you can read so many more books if you read in the bathroom every chance you get.
What are you reading in the bathroom?
September 6, 2019
Need Feedback on WIP
Sometimes a writer needs a little feedback. She might think the story is going long pretty well. What she might not see is a major plot error. Three hundred pages later, it comes out. Now the author is discouraged, depressed, and wanting it to throw it all away. She has a really good story and shouldn't toss it. If she had someone reading alone as she wrote, maybe she would have caught the issue early.
Many writers struggle with that need. Too many people don't want to read a story as it progresses or take the time to help an author out. They want to just read a completed book. Oh, the plight of an author.
Help an author out. If one needs feedback on a WIP, volunteer. Be a part of something creative. Check out Wattpad where writers are posting WIPs and asking for feedback. Check out my work here - https://www.wattpad.com/user/RLGraf. Explore other authors by genre. Have fun helping an author while indulging in your passion of reading.
Many writers struggle with that need. Too many people don't want to read a story as it progresses or take the time to help an author out. They want to just read a completed book. Oh, the plight of an author.
Help an author out. If one needs feedback on a WIP, volunteer. Be a part of something creative. Check out Wattpad where writers are posting WIPs and asking for feedback. Check out my work here - https://www.wattpad.com/user/RLGraf. Explore other authors by genre. Have fun helping an author while indulging in your passion of reading.
August 31, 2019
Disappointment in the Big Publishers
I'm an avid reader. Have been since I was a very small child. When it came to those big publishers, I put all my faith. I don't expect perfection, but from them I nearly wanted it. They have the resources. They have the money to pay for those resources. Back then, they lived up to it. Now....
I have picked up books published by the big publishing houses only to find the same number of mistakes one would find in an independently published book. Indie books will have more mistakes because they don't have the money to support a deep edit and proofread. Yes, as a reader I want them edited and proofed. But as an author, I understand that not everyone has a few thousand to spend for every book they publish.
Books from the big publishers should not be full of mistakes. I find grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and even plot mistakes. What's up with that? Again, I don't expect perfection. There will be a missing comma every now and then. Yet if you want to be above those indie authors who are stealing some of the book sales, you need to produce a better product or help those authors out as well.
Why am I writing about this? Only because I expect more from the big houses. They push to win over the indie's, but in doing so they publish inferior work. I am disappointed. I see them bigger than life. Maybe they aren't.
For more on this topic: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Poor...
I have picked up books published by the big publishing houses only to find the same number of mistakes one would find in an independently published book. Indie books will have more mistakes because they don't have the money to support a deep edit and proofread. Yes, as a reader I want them edited and proofed. But as an author, I understand that not everyone has a few thousand to spend for every book they publish.
Books from the big publishers should not be full of mistakes. I find grammar mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and even plot mistakes. What's up with that? Again, I don't expect perfection. There will be a missing comma every now and then. Yet if you want to be above those indie authors who are stealing some of the book sales, you need to produce a better product or help those authors out as well.
Why am I writing about this? Only because I expect more from the big houses. They push to win over the indie's, but in doing so they publish inferior work. I am disappointed. I see them bigger than life. Maybe they aren't.
For more on this topic: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Poor...
August 27, 2019
Back on the Bike
Been away from the writing scene for quite a while. I needed the time away. We had some family emergencies that needed my undivided attention. Then I had some bad experiences with others in the book industry. Ihad to completely step away.
During that time, I had quite a bit of time to think between panics. I needed to revamp everything about my writing life. So I decided to pull all my books and start over. This time, I would publish under pen names for every genre. That way readers had a better idea of what they are getting.
I'm on that journey now. I started a new website. I wrote more as myself instead of what others say I should be. This will be a journey that will be more fun than work.
Here we go. :)
During that time, I had quite a bit of time to think between panics. I needed to revamp everything about my writing life. So I decided to pull all my books and start over. This time, I would publish under pen names for every genre. That way readers had a better idea of what they are getting.
I'm on that journey now. I started a new website. I wrote more as myself instead of what others say I should be. This will be a journey that will be more fun than work.
Here we go. :)
March 4, 2014
Massive Giveaway
MASSIVE giveaway and blog hop - Come join the fun and win books and more - http://www.thenewsinbooks.com/leap-in...
February 1, 2014
Trouble With the Character Jolon
If you have read Deep Connections and Dark Connections, you know that my character Jolon is trouble. In the first book, he was known simply as Creeper as there was no other name for him or anything else that would fit so well to his character. Well, now as I am working on Deadly Connections, I find myself dealing with Jolon in a whole different manner. He has set up his own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JolonCreeper) to cause trouble. Oh, my! A few friends are watching him and reporting back to me what is going on. Trouble is in the air.
April 20, 2013
New Book Trailer
Check out the book trailer for The Tegen Cave. It is being released this weekend and will be on Goodreads within the week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB7eg...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB7eg...
November 1, 2012
Interviewing Authors
I'm in the process of interviewing authors for my site, A Book Lover's Library. I'm not attaching these to any book tours or such. These are stand alone interviews that I want to use to help authors.
Why?
Because authors always need help. It is through the promotion of other people that they can become more well known. I want to help them find success.
Are you an author? Do you know an author? I'm not looking for bestselling authors, though I will take them, too. I'm looking for all authors.
Let us get to know you better.
Why?
Because authors always need help. It is through the promotion of other people that they can become more well known. I want to help them find success.
Are you an author? Do you know an author? I'm not looking for bestselling authors, though I will take them, too. I'm looking for all authors.
Let us get to know you better.
October 25, 2012
Time to Celebrate
You don't have to have won the Noble Prize to celebrate. You have to learn to celebrate the little things because they are building blogs for the monumental things.
For example, I just finished one semester of school. That means I have a week and a half with no classes whatsoever. That also means more writing, reading, and editing. To many that might sound like torture, but to me that is heaven.
I also have to celebrate finishing the first draft of Deadly Connections as well as starting a new writing projects (I know!) with my friend, Beth. We are already over 15k in words and we started less than a week ago, I think. Wow! This is so much fun.
I have to celebrate having the chance at achieving a dream. I have to celebrate a husband who loves me. I just have to celebrate.
What are you celebrating today?
For example, I just finished one semester of school. That means I have a week and a half with no classes whatsoever. That also means more writing, reading, and editing. To many that might sound like torture, but to me that is heaven.
I also have to celebrate finishing the first draft of Deadly Connections as well as starting a new writing projects (I know!) with my friend, Beth. We are already over 15k in words and we started less than a week ago, I think. Wow! This is so much fun.
I have to celebrate having the chance at achieving a dream. I have to celebrate a husband who loves me. I just have to celebrate.
What are you celebrating today?
