Barbara Silkstone's Blog, page 11
April 22, 2012
Indie Chick - Melissa Smith
A touching, heartbreaking story from our last Indie Chick. Why writers write....
Writing Out the Grief
Melissa A. Smith
A common question people ask a writer is what made them decide to sit down and start writing in the first place. For me, it was grief.
While in high school, I wrote. I had taken journalism and the teacher loved my writings. Two pieces of my work had been published in two different school publications. I was also asked to join the staff for the school paper, but declined. I just didn’t like writing the things wanted for a paper. I liked creating stories to take you places. Inventing new worlds and people to live in them. I stopped writing after getting out of school and didn’t start again for several long years.
December 2008 had started like any other December before it. I was out shopping for those perfect gifts for each member of my family,We had almost done everything she’d wanted to have done, done. But there were still a few things to gather, like stocking stuffers and things of that nature. She went in for her surgery and everything went great! The last time she’d been in the hospital, for the first knee 6 months prior, she’d contracted hospital-acquired pneumonia. Her doctor, wanting her to be healthy for the rigorous knee therapy that follows two days after surgery, released her the following day. The 20th.
Wanting to forgo giving you all the details, I received a phone call early on the 21st. A phone call no one wants to get. My father, who’d awoken to find his partner for the past 34 years gone, couldn’t make that call. The responding police officer had to do it for him. Pneumonia had taken her from us.
So started my decent into grief.
We were supposed to do some shopping before I took her to physical therapy that day. We were supposed to do a lot of things during my break, because she too had it off for recovery.
Instead, I had to help my dad organize a funeral.
During the year and a half that followed, I read over 230 books. All while working full time and tending to a family.
It was the start of summer vacation in 2010 when I’d run out of books to read. I dove into spending time with my boys and vegging at the pool daily. I thought it had been long enough, and maybe the grief wouldn’t be so sharp. I was wrong. Without having someplace for my mind to wander, to live in, I was a mess of tears.
It was then I’d woke up in the middle of the night, leaving a dream that made my brain buzz. I tried to shake it off, leave it where I found it. In my dreams. But it wanted to be let out. So I sat down in secret and started writing.
At first when my family noticed my switch from books to the computer and all my constant typing, they asked what I was doing. I lied. I told them I was writing to my sister who lives in Texas. At first they bought it, but as the typing went on, they were puzzled as to why I didn’t just call her and talk to her. Again, I lied. But this time I said she’d asked me to write down some things about our mom.
While they still were puzzled by all the clicking going on at the keyboard, they left me alone.
Three months later, I’d written and finished my first novel. Cloud Nine. During that time I also started on another story which I finished and released four months later.
While writing started out as therapy for a grieving soul, it is now something I must do to keep all the exciting characters quiet. I love it! I only wish it could have developed without such dark beginnings, but nonetheless, my mother would be proud.
******
This is one story from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazonand Barnes & Noble
for the wonderfully low price of Free! To read all of the stories, grab your copy today!
Also included are sneak peeks into 25 great novels!
My young adult paranormal romance, Cloud Nine is one of the novels featured.
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Want to find out more about Melissa and her books?
My Blog Come by for a visit!
Facebook Authors Page I love new visitors!
Writing Out the Grief
Melissa A. Smith
A common question people ask a writer is what made them decide to sit down and start writing in the first place. For me, it was grief.
While in high school, I wrote. I had taken journalism and the teacher loved my writings. Two pieces of my work had been published in two different school publications. I was also asked to join the staff for the school paper, but declined. I just didn’t like writing the things wanted for a paper. I liked creating stories to take you places. Inventing new worlds and people to live in them. I stopped writing after getting out of school and didn’t start again for several long years.
December 2008 had started like any other December before it. I was out shopping for those perfect gifts for each member of my family,We had almost done everything she’d wanted to have done, done. But there were still a few things to gather, like stocking stuffers and things of that nature. She went in for her surgery and everything went great! The last time she’d been in the hospital, for the first knee 6 months prior, she’d contracted hospital-acquired pneumonia. Her doctor, wanting her to be healthy for the rigorous knee therapy that follows two days after surgery, released her the following day. The 20th.
Wanting to forgo giving you all the details, I received a phone call early on the 21st. A phone call no one wants to get. My father, who’d awoken to find his partner for the past 34 years gone, couldn’t make that call. The responding police officer had to do it for him. Pneumonia had taken her from us.
So started my decent into grief.
We were supposed to do some shopping before I took her to physical therapy that day. We were supposed to do a lot of things during my break, because she too had it off for recovery.
Instead, I had to help my dad organize a funeral.
During the year and a half that followed, I read over 230 books. All while working full time and tending to a family.
It was the start of summer vacation in 2010 when I’d run out of books to read. I dove into spending time with my boys and vegging at the pool daily. I thought it had been long enough, and maybe the grief wouldn’t be so sharp. I was wrong. Without having someplace for my mind to wander, to live in, I was a mess of tears.
It was then I’d woke up in the middle of the night, leaving a dream that made my brain buzz. I tried to shake it off, leave it where I found it. In my dreams. But it wanted to be let out. So I sat down in secret and started writing.
At first when my family noticed my switch from books to the computer and all my constant typing, they asked what I was doing. I lied. I told them I was writing to my sister who lives in Texas. At first they bought it, but as the typing went on, they were puzzled as to why I didn’t just call her and talk to her. Again, I lied. But this time I said she’d asked me to write down some things about our mom.
While they still were puzzled by all the clicking going on at the keyboard, they left me alone.
Three months later, I’d written and finished my first novel. Cloud Nine. During that time I also started on another story which I finished and released four months later.
While writing started out as therapy for a grieving soul, it is now something I must do to keep all the exciting characters quiet. I love it! I only wish it could have developed without such dark beginnings, but nonetheless, my mother would be proud.
******
This is one story from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazonand Barnes & Noble
for the wonderfully low price of Free! To read all of the stories, grab your copy today!
Also included are sneak peeks into 25 great novels!
My young adult paranormal romance, Cloud Nine is one of the novels featured.
Amazon
Apple iBooks
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Want to find out more about Melissa and her books?
My Blog Come by for a visit!
Facebook Authors Page I love new visitors!
April 17, 2012
Indie Chick ~ Michelle Muto
Another Great Indie Chick!
That's what I've been calling The Book of Lost Souls, the book that started my path to publication. I’ve always loved to write. I’ve always loved the way imagination and words blend on a page, the way they transport a reader to faraway worlds, or right next door, where witches live. From the time I was very young, books were an amazing world to me. There was no greater joy than going to the library with my mother whose love of books knew no measure. When I was very young, my mother read to me every night. As I grew older, we’d talk about the books we were reading.
Even as a young child, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. But, writing wasn’t what paid the bills. I got a regular job and life went on, although I still dreamed of writing. My father always told me to believe in myself and to never give up on what I firmly believed in. A few years after his death, I took up writing again. My mother, who was now ill and who had moved in with my husband and me, was happy to read what I wrote, or to set the table in order to give me a few more minutes of writing time.
And so I wrote and edited and revised. Just before the book was ready to send to agents, my mother died. I set the book aside. Writing was too painful, too full of memories.
But, the stories in my head wouldn’t let up, and so after a few years I started writing again. This time, I wrote about a teen witch named Ivy and her life in a small town, and I quickly fell in love with the story and the eclectic group of characters. I think of it as Buffy meets Harry Potter. When I typed the last line, I actually felt a pang of sorrow—I didn't want to say goodbye. Ivy and her story became The Book of Lost Souls, and after polishing it up, I sent it off to agents. Plenty were interested and requested the full manuscript. Unfortunately, most of them thought the book was too light. Too cute. Too Disney. They offered to read whatever else I had, as long as it was darker. Darker sells! Or so they said.
So, after two revisions for two separate agents that eventually didn't pan out (they said the book still had a lighthearted feel to it that wouldn't appeal to publishing houses), I set The Book of Lost Souls aside and started working on an outline for a much darker book.
It was around this time that the economy began to collapse—hard—and I was given the pink slip on Friday the 13th, right after I had completed a project that saved the company $400,000 annually. Say goodbye to eighteen years of loyal service! Suddenly, writing a darker, more dystopian book about the afterlife on top of losing my job seemed too much to take. Still, I recalled my father’s wisdom of believing in myself even when no one else did. I wrote and finished the next book, Don’t Fear the Reaper, in about seven months.
Still unemployed despite literally hundreds of applications, I began to worry we would lose our home or deplete our savings before I found a job. My career in IT was gone—off shored as they call it. I also wondered if I’d ever see any of my books published. I was so close to getting an agent so many times. Agents wrote back: You’re a strong writer. Or, The Book of Lost Souls is a great story and is well-written, but it’s not for me.
Nearly every morning, my inbox was filled with rejection letters from jobs and agents, yet I tried to stay positive. I kept repeating my father’s words to believe, to never give up. For every rejection, I sent out twice as many applications, twice as many query letters. I just tried harder.
I had been querying Reaper for about three months when I got an editorial letter from one of New York’s biggest literary agencies who'd had The Book of Lost Souls for nearly a year. A year! But, the letter was so enthusiastic about the story and my writing that I sat down and made every last revision they suggested. I turned it in and waited. Months went by. In the end, they rejected the story—not because they didn't love it, but because in the year and change they’d had the manuscript, another client had submitted a proposal for a story about a teen witch. Conflict of interest, they called it.
And that was that. My novel, the book that was finished, was dumped for someone else’s book that hadn't yet been written. Somewhat angry and depressed, I set The Book of Lost Souls aside. Again. By now, I was at the end of my rope. I was still unemployed and out of unemployment benefits. The only work I could find was the occasional short-term computer job, some tech writing gigs, or dog-sitting. Nothing full-time, and certainly nothing we could count on.
If the near-miss with Super Agency wasn’t enough, I found myself running into similar situations with Don't Fear the Reaper. Now, agents were saying, Too dark! But, you're a talented writer and we'd love to see other work. Or, You’re capable of incredibly incisive scenes—the opener is still one of the best things I read all year. And, my personal favorite, In this economy...
It was then that I learned about self-published authors such as Karen McQuestion and Amanda Hocking. I decided to go indie as well, starting with The Book of Lost Souls. What did I have to lose? A lot if I didn’t figure out a way for our household to stop hemorrhaging money. The only problem? I had no idea where to start. I sent an email to Ms. McQuestion, in the hopes she could point me in the right direction. She was so incredibly kind! Not only did she reply, she sent me a wealth of information on self-publishing. Today, she shares all that information on her blog. I’m incredibly grateful to her.
I got a cover I could afford with the help of another indie, Sam Torode. Two editor friends went over my work. Finally, I formatted the book and the rest is history. I uploaded The Book of Lost Souls in early March, and it’s been getting consistently great reviews ever since. As for being too lighthearted? I receive emails all the time from people who love that the book is funny, upbeat, and clean.
Within my first five weeks of self-publishing, I hit three best seller lists on Amazon. Me. An indie author without a publicist or a big agency or publisher behind them. Just me, my computer, my loving husband, and the devotion of two dogs at my feet.
I’ve been asked if there will be a sequel to The Book of Lost Souls. The answer is yes. Two more books, maybe a third. I just haven't thought that far out yet.
And the other, darker book? After some revisions, Don't Fear the Reaperdebuted in late September 2011. On its first day, the book reached lucky #13 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases, Children’s Fiction, Spine-Tingling Horror.
I’m only sorry that my parents aren’t here to see this. I took my father’s advice and my mother’s faith and reinvented myself. I still dog-sit and take on small computer jobs and tech writing gigs to help keep us afloat financially. But one day, I hope that my hard work will pay even more of the bills. Until then, I’m at peace with the way things are.
Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Great advice. And so, The Book of Lost Souls, the book that nearly wasn’t, became the little book that could.
I’d like to dedicate my section of this anthology to readers everywhere—words alone cannot express how much I appreciate you believing in me. You’re every bit as much a part of the magic as Ivy herself.
So, thank you, Dear Reader. Sincerely. Because, every author with a story to tell writes with you in mind.
Come connect with me. I’d love to hear from you:
Blog
Where to find my books:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Smashwords
Createspace: The Book of Lost Souls Don't Fear the Reaper
Michelle, Thank you. I love the Henry Ford quote. A very inspiring story. Magic is as magic does. Barbara
April 8, 2012
Indie Chick - Talia Jager
Paper, Pen, andChocolate
"Mom!" a voice yelled from the other room. "Make her stop!"
"I didn't do anything!" another voice yelled before I couldeven get up to see what was going on.
I sighed and struggled to get off the couch where I had juststarted writing a scene. Four months pregnant with our sixth child and thevaricose veins were already causing problems for me. I wondered where myhusband was hiding that he couldn't handle this.
Fortunately, the yelling quieted down. Instead of checkingon them, I made an Executive Decision. I snuck into my closet, grabbed someHershey's chocolate from my stash, and slipped into the bathroom where I ate itwith the lights turned off. Nobody would find me there.
Flicking on my flashlight, I took out the notepad and pen Ihad stashed in the magazine rack and wrote down some thoughts on the scene I hadbeen writing.
The quiet lasted 3.5 minutes. Then my time in the bathroomwas up. I crept back out to the living room where I settled a new argument,secretly wishing I could go back to the bathroom.
Now, you may ask…Married with how many kids? And you writebooks? WHY? HOW? Let me tell you.
From the time I was a little girl, I have had two dreams.One: To have a large family. Two: To be an author. There was a time not longago when it seemed neither would come true.
Maybe it was being an only child that allowed my imaginationto run wild and my mind to create stories; it definitely made me wish for a bigfamily of my own. It's lonely to grow up without a sibling.
In school, writing was my passion. I wrote constantly. I'dslip my story under a notebook in class and when I was supposed to be takingnotes, I'd really be writing my story. At night when I was supposed to beasleep, I'd hide under the covers in bed with a flashlight, pen, and paper.
Time went on, and although I had many stories written, I wastoo chicken to do anything with them. So, they sat. When I fell in love andstarted a family, writing got pushed to the side. Sure, I still loved it, but Inever had time. Deep down, I was mad at myself for not at least trying to dosomething with them. But, at the time, I felt I couldn't. Family came first.
My dream of having a large family wasn't as easy as Ithought it would be, but it had begun to come true. We had two beautiful littlegirls and wanted more. Unfortunately, I suffered through many miscarriages overthe years. After having a number of tests done, I was diagnosed with a blooddisorder so complicated that I have no idea what it actually is except that itcan cause miscarriages. Getting pregnant had never been an issue; stayingpregnant was. When I didn't get and stay pregnant for over a year, thedepression got worse.
Losing a baby is a devastating thing to go through; losingsix is downright depressing. There's no amount of crying, begging, negotiating,or praying that brings them back. Believe me, I tried it all. It didn't matterhow many people told me it wasn't my fault–I blamed myself anyway. Finding outthat it was due to a blood disorder made my guilt that much worse. It was myfault. My body's fault anyway. Then I started asking myself: Why do some of mybabies live and others don't? What did I do different? I had children before Istarted medication for the disorder, and I've had miscarriages since getting onthe medication. None of it makes sense and it's still something I struggle tounderstand. I was in such a deep depression; it was like my creative button hadbeen turned off. I had no desire to write.
When we finally "gave up" and decided that we'd be a familyof six, we found out I was pregnant again with our fifth daughter.
This pregnancy was much harder on my body than the others. Ifound myself on the couch most of the day with my legs up. It was around thistime that some online friends found out that I loved to write and encouraged meto share my stories. I did so nervously and they loved them! I reached deepdown and found the courage to start submitting queries to agents. Each time myhopes were smashed to pieces.
My husband started talking about eBooks and self-publishing.I wasn't too sure about going that route. I wanted to see my books in print, soI could hold them in front of my face. I wanted to smell my book. But, as timewent on, eReaders became more popular and I figured…why not?
So, here I am, with five children, trying to find the timeto write, while juggling mom-duty, wife-duty, household chores, errands, andmore. During the earlier part of this year, you could find me up until the weehours of the morning writing. You see, that is the only time it's quiet enoughto get anything done. Three a.m. is the time when all little girls aresleeping, the husband is snoring away, and my mind is clear. I can throw myselfinto a character's psyche and let my imagination flow. Everything was goingperfectly. I was getting a lot of writing done and then we got a surprise. Baby#6 was on the way.
As happy as we were, this put a serious damper on staying upuntil three a.m. I just couldn't do it. My one-year-old is at the age where sheneeds to be followed around and supervised constantly. If I don't, I find mycomputer monitor has become a coloring book.
My four-year-old is in between the "play with me" stage andthe "playing alone" stage. The older three are in school, which provides abreak for me, but since my four year old adores her older sisters, it makes ithard. She's constantly whining for them to come home.
It's hard enough juggling the four younger ones, but throwin a hormonal teenager and chaos ensues. Dealing with her has made me positivethat my mother cursed me for acting out as a teenager. Not a week goes by thatI don't find myself in tears over something she does or says. Like the timerecently when I told her I was pregnant again, she made nasty comments accusingme of ruining her life. Or the time I had to punish her for kicking her sister,and she informed us that she could run away and be adopted by her friend'sparents.
I'm sure you find yourself wanting to ask how I get a minuteto myself. Or how do I deal with no time alone? Or what if I get an idea duringthe day?
Remember that stash of chocolate in the closet? I simply getsome, slip into the bathroom, and take a few minutes. Sometimes I just think.Sometimes I jot down a few ideas on that hidden notepad.
As crazy and chaotic my life is, I wouldn't change a thing.And it sure gives me plenty of things to write about.
So, when life hands you lemons…toss them out, grab yourstash of chocolate, your writing materials, and head for the bathroom. You mayjust end up writing a book.
This is one storyfrom Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available on Amazonand Barnes& Noble. To read all of the stories, buy your copy today.
Also included aresneak peeks into 25 novels!
My young adult drama,Damaged: Natalie's Story,
is one of the novelsfeatured.
Amazon
AppleiBooks
Barnes& Noble
Smashwords
Findout more about Talia and her books:
http://taliajager.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/taliajager
http://www.twitter.com/taliajager
http://amazon.com/author/taliajager
Note to my readers... Talia has now become one of my all time heroes. Amazing?The sound of a bird chirping disturbs my writing.... How??? This is some lady! Some Indie Chick!
March 28, 2012
Indie Chick - Carol Davis Luce
Yet another great Indie Chick tale... Tony Hillerman says Carol Davis Luce is "Not to be Missed."
SELF-TAUGHT LATEBLOOMER
CarolDavis Luce
My motto is, "IfI can do it, anyone can do it." I wasn't born to write. I didn't aspire to be awriter from the time I could hold a Crayon. I could, however, draw, and makethings take shape through form and color on paper and canvas, and that's thepath I traveled well into midlife. The artist's life opened up my eyes and mindto expression and sometimes stories through composition on that blank eighteenby twenty-four inch stretched canvas. Then one day it changed.
As a voracious reader, I was contentto read what others wrote. I admired those writers who had mastered the craft.I was happy to dwell in their world for 300 pages, to laugh, cry, and beenlightened and surprised. Until one day when I closed a book by my favoriteauthor and felt something was missing. The novel was a mystery/suspense withelements of romance. The suspense was killer. The romance, however, waslacking, missing those subtleties that resonated with me. I wanted more. Thepromise of romance was there, but fizzled somewhere along the way. For me, itwasn't about graphic sex. It was about sexual tension, passion, love. Aftersearching unsuccessfully for novels to satisfy my romantic suspense fixation,looking for just the right balance, I realized I had to write the book myself.
Only I knew nothing about writing anovel, let alone a genre book with a sub-genre. So I went to the library andchecked out a reference book titled, HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL. Easy enough, right?If dedication is easy, then it was easy because I was driven. My artist'spassion shifted to focus on the writer's canvas. That canvas was structure,words, emotion, and truth. And the rest is history.
Well,almost.
Iburned up two electric typewriters before investing in a computer. I checkedout every book on the "book writing" reference shelf, and many grammar andstylebooks, and two years later, my 800-page opus, NIGHT STALKER, was finished—
Almost.
Ilearned about the important shaping process, without which most stories wouldbe unreadable. Editing. The passion and pain of cutting and revising. Findingthe jewels that lie buried in too many, or misguided, words. Three years and adozen revisions later, 400 pages lighter, it found a home with a traditionalpublisher. Within the first few months of release, it went into three printingsand became the flagship for the sub-genre "Woman in Jeopardy/RomanticSuspense" at Kensington Publishing.
Where it started. . .
Ileft school at sixteen to marry my high school sweetheart. Six years later, asa housewife and mother, I channeled my artistic talent into sketching andpainting, selling my work at a local art gallery. A quarter century later, Itraded in my paints and brushes to hit the keyboard. Our three sons, not muchfor novel reading, are waiting for my books to be made into movies. Thatchildhood sweetheart I married a lifetime ago is now my soul mate of 50 plusyears. His encouragement fueled me, and his support allowed me to pursue mygoals.
Going back to my motto of, "if I cando it, anyone can." There has never been a more opportunistic time to try yourhand at writing a book. Or taking the plunge and self-publishing. My decisionto self-publish my upcoming suspense novels came about when I hit theproverbial brick wall after five published books. With a stalled career, I hada choice. Teach, or see my stories in print again. I chose the latter. My firstself-published book is the short story trilogy, BROKEN JUSTICE, followed by mysuspense novel, NIGHT WIDOW.
Agentsand editors think they know what readers want. They don't always know. Readers know what readers want, andthey're expressing their wants by buying books written by indie authors. Giveyourself a hardy pat on the back if you've completed a manuscript, but the bigapplause goes to our devoted fans and readers. Without them, we would benothing.
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You can find Carol on her Amazon Author's page:
http://www.amazon.com/Carol-Davis-Luce/e/B000APHQU2
Carol,
Thank you for sharing your story. I look forward to reading your Night series. Very intriguing.
March 18, 2012
Never Give Up On Your Dreams - Christine Kersey
Another great Indie Chick shares her personal story from The Indie Chick Anthology. All proceeds from the sale of this anthology will be donated to support breast cancer research.
Never Give Up On YourDreams
by Christine Kersey
I love to read and lose myself in a good story – forget allthat is going on around me and be inthe story with the characters. One day in 1997 I finished reading a novel byJoy Fielding and realized she hadn't needed to be an expert in a particularfield, like medicine or law, to write a good suspense story. This fact inspiredme to try my hand at writing. It also didn't hurt that we'd just gotten ourfirst computer and I can type much faster than I can write longhand.
At this time in my life I was thirty-two and my youngestchild was three. I also had three other children who were in elementary school.A stay-at-home mom, I was able to carve out some time to work on this project.At first I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. What if I couldn't complete it?What if I failed? After a short time I told my husband, mother, and sister andthey were supportive.
I kept working at it, day by day, until after about fourweeks I'd finished a complete novel. At that point it was nowhere near ready tobe published, but I'd proven to myself that I could write a novel with abeginning, middle, and end. I continued working on the story, then put it asideand began working on another.
I gathered the courage to have a few friends read it andthey all said they loved it. Encouraged, I decided to attend a conference calledBouchercon , which is for fans of mysteries. At the conference I mingled withpublished writers and talked to an agent or two. Afterwards I sent queries toseveral agents, but none of them were interested in my completed novel.
Shortly afterwards I started working part-time and didn'tspend as much time writing as I had before. When my youngest child startedfirst grade I decided to go back to college full-time and earn my degree. Overthe next four years I did very little fiction writing and focused on getting myeducation.
As I approached my final semester my schedule wasn't quiteas heavy and I decided to do some revisions on one of my two completed novels.When I felt the story was ready, I submitted it to a small, regional publisher.In April, 2004 I graduated with a B.S. in Information Technology. That sameweek the publisher got back to me and said they were interested in publishingmy book, but first they wanted me to do revisions. Though they hadn't offered acontract yet, I did the revisions and resubmitted the manuscript. They werepleased, but wanted yet more revisions. In 2004 the job market was down and Iwas spending a lot of time job-hunting, but I did the revisions as requested.
In October of that year I finally found a full-time positionand within two weeks of starting my new job, the publisher got back to me andoffered a contract. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Seven and a half yearsafter I'd written my first book and I was finally getting published!
I was assigned an editor and worked closely with her. Thebook hit bookstores in July, 2005. I thought I was on my way. I had one bookpublished with a real publisher, so now I was set, right?
The book sold reasonably well, but when I submitted anothermanuscript, my publisher decided not to publish it. Discouraged, I focused onmy family and my job and didn't spend very much time writing. However, I stillread as much as ever. In fact, when the nook eReader became available I boughtone and started loading dozens of books onto it. I was in reader heaven.
I'd had my nook for nearly a year before I caught on to thepossibilities indie publishing presented. The book I'd published with atraditional publisher had gone out of print and I was able to get the rightsback. That book, No Way Out, was thefirst book I made available as an indie publisher. The first month it wasavailable I sold exactly one copy. But that one sale was very exciting. Sincethen I've published three more novels and have sold thousands of copies. I lovethat I have complete control over what I publish. I also love to read the workof other indie authors. There are so many talented people that are now able topublish their work.
I'm glad I didn't give up on my dream to be published and amso excited at the endless opportunities that are now available. One thing I'velearned is that if you persist in following your dreams, eventually you will beable to accomplish what you've set out to do, whatever it may be.
That three-year-old child that sat near me as I began mywriting career is now a senior in high school. Whether or not I had chosen tocontinue writing, time inexorably moved forward. It's never too late to followyour dreams, but why wait?
Visit my blog
No Way Out, abouta woman whose husband disappears, is available at Amazonand Barnes& Noble
He Loves Me Not iscurrently only available at Amazon,although if you have a nook, email me and I'll send you a free epub copy.
Don't Look Back isthe sequel to He Loves Me Not and isavailable at Amazonas well as Barnes& Noble.
Thank you Christine for sharing your inspiring story with us.
Never Give Up On YourDreams
by Christine Kersey
I love to read and lose myself in a good story – forget allthat is going on around me and be inthe story with the characters. One day in 1997 I finished reading a novel byJoy Fielding and realized she hadn't needed to be an expert in a particularfield, like medicine or law, to write a good suspense story. This fact inspiredme to try my hand at writing. It also didn't hurt that we'd just gotten ourfirst computer and I can type much faster than I can write longhand.
At this time in my life I was thirty-two and my youngestchild was three. I also had three other children who were in elementary school.A stay-at-home mom, I was able to carve out some time to work on this project.At first I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. What if I couldn't complete it?What if I failed? After a short time I told my husband, mother, and sister andthey were supportive.
I kept working at it, day by day, until after about fourweeks I'd finished a complete novel. At that point it was nowhere near ready tobe published, but I'd proven to myself that I could write a novel with abeginning, middle, and end. I continued working on the story, then put it asideand began working on another.
I gathered the courage to have a few friends read it andthey all said they loved it. Encouraged, I decided to attend a conference calledBouchercon , which is for fans of mysteries. At the conference I mingled withpublished writers and talked to an agent or two. Afterwards I sent queries toseveral agents, but none of them were interested in my completed novel.
Shortly afterwards I started working part-time and didn'tspend as much time writing as I had before. When my youngest child startedfirst grade I decided to go back to college full-time and earn my degree. Overthe next four years I did very little fiction writing and focused on getting myeducation.
As I approached my final semester my schedule wasn't quiteas heavy and I decided to do some revisions on one of my two completed novels.When I felt the story was ready, I submitted it to a small, regional publisher.In April, 2004 I graduated with a B.S. in Information Technology. That sameweek the publisher got back to me and said they were interested in publishingmy book, but first they wanted me to do revisions. Though they hadn't offered acontract yet, I did the revisions and resubmitted the manuscript. They werepleased, but wanted yet more revisions. In 2004 the job market was down and Iwas spending a lot of time job-hunting, but I did the revisions as requested.
In October of that year I finally found a full-time positionand within two weeks of starting my new job, the publisher got back to me andoffered a contract. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Seven and a half yearsafter I'd written my first book and I was finally getting published!
I was assigned an editor and worked closely with her. Thebook hit bookstores in July, 2005. I thought I was on my way. I had one bookpublished with a real publisher, so now I was set, right?
The book sold reasonably well, but when I submitted anothermanuscript, my publisher decided not to publish it. Discouraged, I focused onmy family and my job and didn't spend very much time writing. However, I stillread as much as ever. In fact, when the nook eReader became available I boughtone and started loading dozens of books onto it. I was in reader heaven.
I'd had my nook for nearly a year before I caught on to thepossibilities indie publishing presented. The book I'd published with atraditional publisher had gone out of print and I was able to get the rightsback. That book, No Way Out, was thefirst book I made available as an indie publisher. The first month it wasavailable I sold exactly one copy. But that one sale was very exciting. Sincethen I've published three more novels and have sold thousands of copies. I lovethat I have complete control over what I publish. I also love to read the workof other indie authors. There are so many talented people that are now able topublish their work.
I'm glad I didn't give up on my dream to be published and amso excited at the endless opportunities that are now available. One thing I'velearned is that if you persist in following your dreams, eventually you will beable to accomplish what you've set out to do, whatever it may be.
That three-year-old child that sat near me as I began mywriting career is now a senior in high school. Whether or not I had chosen tocontinue writing, time inexorably moved forward. It's never too late to followyour dreams, but why wait?
Visit my blog
No Way Out, abouta woman whose husband disappears, is available at Amazonand Barnes& Noble
He Loves Me Not iscurrently only available at Amazon,although if you have a nook, email me and I'll send you a free epub copy.
Don't Look Back isthe sequel to He Loves Me Not and isavailable at Amazonas well as Barnes& Noble.
Thank you Christine for sharing your inspiring story with us.
March 11, 2012
Mel Comley - You must read this!
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Mel Comley's story is a must-read. I thought I knew her. What a surprise!
In the Summer 2011, I was approached by anotherwriter Cheryl Shireman who wanted to pull a group of women writers together tocreate a unique book. The object of the book would be to inform readers aboutour personal struggles to become established authors. Every story is aninspiration, some sad, some happy and some tell of great obstacles these 25women have had to overcome to get where they are today. The proceeds of thebook are being donated to a Breast Cancer Charity. We called it The IndieChicks.
French fancies!
In 1993 I walked out on my sad and abusivemarriage, one that I had stuck with for seven years. At the time I jointlyowned a shop with my ex-husband and my Mother, so we had to sell the businesswhen the marriage broke down.
If I thought that was hard it was nothing to what Ihad to endure the following six years. To make ends meet, I had to work twojobs for 70-80 hours a week over 6½ days. Take my word when I say it wasn'tfun.
But onwards and upwards, when Mum retired we made aspur of the moment decision to leave England and move to France. We'd never setfoot in the country before we came out here to house hunt, I know, we're eitherbrave or stupid. I like to think we're the former, but I sometimes wonder ifthat's the case!
We bought a farmhouse and barns that needed totalrenovation. In 6 months I decorated 22 rooms while a local builder created agîte (a holiday home) out of a couple of the barns. After the renovations werecompleted I grew bored with my 'early retirement' and enrolled in a creativewriting course. I threw myself into it and over the next 4-5 years I sat downand wrote three romances and two thrillers.
In October 2009, I discovered the writing site runby Harper Collins called Authonomy where I uploaded the first 10,000 words ofmy thriller Impeding Justice. It took me 8 months to reach the editor's deskwhere I received a favourable review from a Harper Collins editor. The troublewas they weren't taking on any thriller writers at that time, they wereonly interested in printing Celebrity Autobiographies!
Therefore, in October 2010 I decided to uploadImpeding Justice as an ebook. It took a while to take off but in January 2011sales really started gathering momentum, but it wasn't until I released thesecond book in the series, Final Justice that sales really took off.
After selling over 30,000 books in April, I was inthe fortunate position of having several agents knocking on my virtual door. Ifinally agreed terms and signed a contract with top New York agent, RichardCurtis. I sent him Cruel Justice the third book in the thriller series and hetried for 4 months to get me a traditional publishing contract, but at themoment he admits he's finding it difficult to place any books with publishersbecause of the Indie revolution, which I'm extremely proud to be part of.
During last Summer, I edited the romances I wroteat the beginning of my journey. I uploaded A Time To Heal towards the end ofAugust and immediately received a couple of 5 star reviews (no they weren'tfrom my family, they don't know I write!) some of them were from my thrillerfans who were equally impressed by my romance endeavours.
At the beginning of September I uploaded A Time ForChange, another romance which is actually a TRUE story of how my dear friendsmet and fell in love. Obviously they're names have been changed, the story hasa mystery element to it too.
In October 2011, I uploaded the third book in mythriller series, Cruel Justice, which is actually the prequel to my best-sellerImpeding Justice. It's been very well received and has even reached #2 in thePolice Procedural chart on Amazon.
I'm very fortunate to be able to write full-time(it's addictive, don't you know!) and have several more projects outlined thatI intend tackling over the coming winter months.
This is how my day pans out, first thing, providingit isn't raining, I take my two dogs for a walk, actually they tend to drag meround our small village. Then I sit down to answer any emails and facebookmessages I've received overnight from fans (yes I do have them) I then set outto write a minimum of 2-3000 words per day, before I dip into hours ofnecessary promoting. That's the hardest part of being an Indie writer, thefact that we have to promote ourselves long and hard. I used to be quite a shyperson, but I've had to overcome that quickly. I think deep down, every writerwould love to be a recluse and be able to focus full-time on their creations,unfortunately that's unrealistic in an Indie world.
Do I ever think about my life back in England? No,never, but my ex features heavily in my books. When I need to think up a baddiecharacter it's his image I picture in my mind. As for my murder scenes, I findthem VERY easy to write. LOL
You can find out about me and my books at thefollowing blogs.
http://melcomley.blogspot.com/
http://melcomleyromances.blogspot.com/
You can purchase my books in ebook format orpaperback from my website. http://www.melcomleybooks.com/
Or follow me on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mel-Comley/264745836884860
My twitter id is @melcom1
You canfind out about me and my books at the following blogs. http://melcomley.blogspot.com/ http://melcomleyromances.blogspot.com/
March 3, 2012
Have You Ever Lost A Hat?
Continuing with the Indie Chicks stories...
HAVE YOU EVER LOST A HAT?By Barbara Silkstone
I lost everything including my home, my car, and even myretirement accounts. I was physically attacked inside and outside a courtbuilding. My daughter and baby granddaughter were threatened. I came at the badguys like a mother tiger.
A few years earlier I had agreed to testify against a realestate developer in a civil racketeering case. He was obscenely rich and couldafford a hanger full of Lear jets, four sneering lawyers, and a greedy judge.In an effort to discredit my testimony in hisupcoming trial and to frighten me out of appearing against him, his team oflegal manipulators pasted together a bogus suit against me designed to keep metied up in court and unable to function. They underestimated my sense ofjustice.
I'd been sitting on the witness stand for the better part ofa day… one of many in my five-year "trial."The judge, forgetting her microphone was on, had just proclaimed me "a prettytough cookie." I'd given up expecting justice. It was much too late forfairness. I was in an out-of-body state observing my own funeral and laughingabout it.
When the four-hundred pound lawyer asked me if I'd ever losta hat, I thought one of us had lost our minds. I was pretty sure it wasn't me. Heblinked as if he realized the absurdity of what he asked and dropped the lineof inquiry. The question struck my funny bone and sent me into giggle-fits. Andthat was the moment when The Secret Diaryof Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters was born.
Within a few months the lawyers I hired to help me sucked upevery penny I could muster. When I was broke, they walked off the case. Unlikein criminal cases, defendants in civil litigation must pay for their ownattorneys. No money – no lawyers. I was on my own. I needed to defend myself.But how when the case was nonsense? How do you fight silly? The lost hat question was a perfect exampleof the charges brought against me. But the more ridiculous their charges, thestronger and feistier I grew. For each thing they threw at me, I came back thatmuch harder, roaring and taking notes for my someday book.
Since I was a child my driving passion has been to write. InCatholic grade school I started an underground newspaper. When our nun forbademe to continue, I carried the paper further underground. While I continued towrite as an adult, life eventually got in the way of living and my writing tooka backseat. But now as I sat in the courtroom I was inspired and chomping atthe bit to get this real-life fairytale on paper.
Anger boiled in me as I saw the precious time I had carvedout for writing being eaten up as I defended myself in bizarre proceedings. Iwas spending all my time in the law library studying the Rules of CivilProcedure in order to write Motions and Pleadings and filing them against thecourt in such rapid fire I would have made Rambo back off.
Earning a living on commission sales is impossible when youare spending 14 hours a day fighting a pack of legal sharks. I had to take thecreepiest part-time jobs… things that still give me nightmares. Things likeworking for a gold broker who brought us the teeth from dead people. We wereexpected to separate the gold from the molars – not unlike the lawyers I wasdealing with. I needed the money but not that badly. I ran to the nearest exit.
Locked in a deadly struggle with the notorious real estatedeveloper, I chose that time to become romantically involved with a Brit who,it turned out was not what he seemed to be. I stepped into the perfect storm.The Brit's upper-class accent and polished manners hid a not-too-clever conman,but clever enough to fool my starry eyes. The developer and the conman clashedin a rage of wicked deeds. I was sandwiched between them.
Is The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters true? Would Lewis Carrollsay Alice in Wonderland was true? Theemotions are real and still raw, but the journey was worth the results. Would Ido it again? You bet your tushie. My sense of justice would not permitotherwise. But I would not be quite so naïve. I would expect slimy tricks anddirty pool. Merely because someone wears a robe and speaks of the law does notmean they abide by the law.
"The Hail Mary Pass" refers to any very long forward passmade in desperation with only a small chance of success. It's used in footballand occasionally courtrooms.
My Hail Mary Pass knocked the bad guys on their butts. Ifiled a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, which is a request to the UnitedStates Supreme Court asking that Court to review the decision of a lower court.I cast a spotlight on their dark shenanigans.
And as my Petition worked its way along the queue in theUnited States Supreme Court, making it almost to the finish line, the judge onmy case went strangely silent, the notorious developer disappeared, and theBrit wandered off. I had become a writerbut not in the way I had envisioned. I was a self-taught legal guerrilla whohad managed to land her petition to be heard by the highest court in the UnitedStates… right through the goal post. Unfortunately, in the end corruption wonand I barely escaped with a toothbrush and a change of clothes.
Were those five years tough? Yes. But I fought because I knewI couldn't live with myself if I rolled into a ball. I fought with the wit andsarcasm of Alice in the original Alice inWonderland. Standing on the outside watching the Jabberwocky operate on the inside. I knew that someday my story, fictionalizedwith absolutely no resemblance to anyone living or dead and the names changedto protect the corrupt, would make a darn good yarn. And each step of the way,like Lewis Carroll and my out-of-body ordeal, I would allow the action to theskate on the edge of logic.
In The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters, a few murders have beenthrown in for comic relief, and the characters have been shaken and stirred, then presented in a Pythonesquelight. Any similarities to the jerks I dealt with are purely coincidental.
Have I ever lost a hat?Probably.
But did I retain mypassion for writing, and even kick it up a notch? Absolutely.
Every adventure containsa novel.
Sometime you have to paydearly for it.
~
Quoting the Cheshire Cat:"Wouldyou tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" (Alice)
"Thatdepends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"Idon't much care where---" said Alice.
"Thenit doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"---Solong as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Ohyou're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk longenough."
Thisis one story from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available onAmazon and Barnes & Noble. To read all the stories buy your copy today. Allproceeds go to fund breast cancer research.
About the Author BarbaraSilkstone is the best-selling author of The Fractured Fairy Tales series thatcurrently includes: The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters; Wendy and the Lost Boys;and London Broil.
Silkstone's writing hasbeen described as "perfectly paced and pitched – shades of Janet Evanovich andCarl Hiaasen – without seeming remotely derivative. Fast moving action thatshoots from the hip with bullet-proof characterization."
Wendy and the Lost Boystopped the charts in comedy, climbing over Tina Fey, Sophie Kinsella, and EllenDeGeneres. The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quartershas been a consistent best seller in comedy. Both Wendy and Alice have been inthe top 20 Amazon comedies at the same time. Silkstone has been fortunateenough to take part in writing workshops with Stephen King, Robert B. Parker,and James Michener. She lives in South Florida but has no time to visit thebeach.
Barbara Silkstone lovesto hear from her readers. You can write to her at: barbara_silkstone@yahoo.com
Or visit her at: Barb's Wire eBooks & More http://barbswire-ebooksandmore.blogsp...
Twitter @barbsilkstone http://twitter.com/#!/barbsilkstone
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/people/Barbara-Silkstone/100000778601230
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barbsilkstone/
Fractured Fairy Tales by Silkstone
Criminally Funny Fables
The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters
This author has a uniquenarrative voice, and reading the story is like taking a smooth slide intoAlice's surreal world. The premise is outstanding – a classic we all love, witha contemporary, intelligent twist. ~ ElizabethLindberg, author Upper West Side Stories
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnes & Noble
Wendy and the Lost Boys
Be aware, this is notthe Peter Pan story you want your kids reading. It is clearly intended foradult readers. Yet it appeals to the childlike part of us that loved theclassic original stories. Combine that childlike love with modern politics andtechnology, and you get this smart, snarky, hilarious mystery. The story isrichly developed and leaves you guessing until the very end. I am liking thisgrown-up version of Peter Pan even more than the original. ~ Tiffany Harkleroad for Tiffany's Bookshelf
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnes& Noble
London Broil — thesequel to Wendy and the Lost Boys
The snarky Python sequelto Wendy and the Lost Boys. A murderous rollercoaster ride through Londonduring a killer heat wave. ~ Ravan Reviews
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnesand Noble
Zo White – coming Summer 2012
HAVE YOU EVER LOST A HAT?By Barbara Silkstone
I lost everything including my home, my car, and even myretirement accounts. I was physically attacked inside and outside a courtbuilding. My daughter and baby granddaughter were threatened. I came at the badguys like a mother tiger.
A few years earlier I had agreed to testify against a realestate developer in a civil racketeering case. He was obscenely rich and couldafford a hanger full of Lear jets, four sneering lawyers, and a greedy judge.In an effort to discredit my testimony in hisupcoming trial and to frighten me out of appearing against him, his team oflegal manipulators pasted together a bogus suit against me designed to keep metied up in court and unable to function. They underestimated my sense ofjustice.
I'd been sitting on the witness stand for the better part ofa day… one of many in my five-year "trial."The judge, forgetting her microphone was on, had just proclaimed me "a prettytough cookie." I'd given up expecting justice. It was much too late forfairness. I was in an out-of-body state observing my own funeral and laughingabout it.
When the four-hundred pound lawyer asked me if I'd ever losta hat, I thought one of us had lost our minds. I was pretty sure it wasn't me. Heblinked as if he realized the absurdity of what he asked and dropped the lineof inquiry. The question struck my funny bone and sent me into giggle-fits. Andthat was the moment when The Secret Diaryof Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters was born.
Within a few months the lawyers I hired to help me sucked upevery penny I could muster. When I was broke, they walked off the case. Unlikein criminal cases, defendants in civil litigation must pay for their ownattorneys. No money – no lawyers. I was on my own. I needed to defend myself.But how when the case was nonsense? How do you fight silly? The lost hat question was a perfect exampleof the charges brought against me. But the more ridiculous their charges, thestronger and feistier I grew. For each thing they threw at me, I came back thatmuch harder, roaring and taking notes for my someday book.
Since I was a child my driving passion has been to write. InCatholic grade school I started an underground newspaper. When our nun forbademe to continue, I carried the paper further underground. While I continued towrite as an adult, life eventually got in the way of living and my writing tooka backseat. But now as I sat in the courtroom I was inspired and chomping atthe bit to get this real-life fairytale on paper.
Anger boiled in me as I saw the precious time I had carvedout for writing being eaten up as I defended myself in bizarre proceedings. Iwas spending all my time in the law library studying the Rules of CivilProcedure in order to write Motions and Pleadings and filing them against thecourt in such rapid fire I would have made Rambo back off.
Earning a living on commission sales is impossible when youare spending 14 hours a day fighting a pack of legal sharks. I had to take thecreepiest part-time jobs… things that still give me nightmares. Things likeworking for a gold broker who brought us the teeth from dead people. We wereexpected to separate the gold from the molars – not unlike the lawyers I wasdealing with. I needed the money but not that badly. I ran to the nearest exit.
Locked in a deadly struggle with the notorious real estatedeveloper, I chose that time to become romantically involved with a Brit who,it turned out was not what he seemed to be. I stepped into the perfect storm.The Brit's upper-class accent and polished manners hid a not-too-clever conman,but clever enough to fool my starry eyes. The developer and the conman clashedin a rage of wicked deeds. I was sandwiched between them.
Is The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters true? Would Lewis Carrollsay Alice in Wonderland was true? Theemotions are real and still raw, but the journey was worth the results. Would Ido it again? You bet your tushie. My sense of justice would not permitotherwise. But I would not be quite so naïve. I would expect slimy tricks anddirty pool. Merely because someone wears a robe and speaks of the law does notmean they abide by the law.
"The Hail Mary Pass" refers to any very long forward passmade in desperation with only a small chance of success. It's used in footballand occasionally courtrooms.
My Hail Mary Pass knocked the bad guys on their butts. Ifiled a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, which is a request to the UnitedStates Supreme Court asking that Court to review the decision of a lower court.I cast a spotlight on their dark shenanigans.
And as my Petition worked its way along the queue in theUnited States Supreme Court, making it almost to the finish line, the judge onmy case went strangely silent, the notorious developer disappeared, and theBrit wandered off. I had become a writerbut not in the way I had envisioned. I was a self-taught legal guerrilla whohad managed to land her petition to be heard by the highest court in the UnitedStates… right through the goal post. Unfortunately, in the end corruption wonand I barely escaped with a toothbrush and a change of clothes.
Were those five years tough? Yes. But I fought because I knewI couldn't live with myself if I rolled into a ball. I fought with the wit andsarcasm of Alice in the original Alice inWonderland. Standing on the outside watching the Jabberwocky operate on the inside. I knew that someday my story, fictionalizedwith absolutely no resemblance to anyone living or dead and the names changedto protect the corrupt, would make a darn good yarn. And each step of the way,like Lewis Carroll and my out-of-body ordeal, I would allow the action to theskate on the edge of logic.
In The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters, a few murders have beenthrown in for comic relief, and the characters have been shaken and stirred, then presented in a Pythonesquelight. Any similarities to the jerks I dealt with are purely coincidental.
Have I ever lost a hat?Probably.
But did I retain mypassion for writing, and even kick it up a notch? Absolutely.
Every adventure containsa novel.
Sometime you have to paydearly for it.
~
Quoting the Cheshire Cat:"Wouldyou tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" (Alice)
"Thatdepends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"Idon't much care where---" said Alice.
"Thenit doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"---Solong as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Ohyou're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk longenough."
Thisis one story from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories available onAmazon and Barnes & Noble. To read all the stories buy your copy today. Allproceeds go to fund breast cancer research.
About the Author BarbaraSilkstone is the best-selling author of The Fractured Fairy Tales series thatcurrently includes: The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters; Wendy and the Lost Boys;and London Broil.
Silkstone's writing hasbeen described as "perfectly paced and pitched – shades of Janet Evanovich andCarl Hiaasen – without seeming remotely derivative. Fast moving action thatshoots from the hip with bullet-proof characterization."
Wendy and the Lost Boystopped the charts in comedy, climbing over Tina Fey, Sophie Kinsella, and EllenDeGeneres. The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quartershas been a consistent best seller in comedy. Both Wendy and Alice have been inthe top 20 Amazon comedies at the same time. Silkstone has been fortunateenough to take part in writing workshops with Stephen King, Robert B. Parker,and James Michener. She lives in South Florida but has no time to visit thebeach.
Barbara Silkstone lovesto hear from her readers. You can write to her at: barbara_silkstone@yahoo.com
Or visit her at: Barb's Wire eBooks & More http://barbswire-ebooksandmore.blogsp...
Twitter @barbsilkstone http://twitter.com/#!/barbsilkstone
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/people/Barbara-Silkstone/100000778601230
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barbsilkstone/
Fractured Fairy Tales by Silkstone
Criminally Funny Fables
The Secret Diary ofAlice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters
This author has a uniquenarrative voice, and reading the story is like taking a smooth slide intoAlice's surreal world. The premise is outstanding – a classic we all love, witha contemporary, intelligent twist. ~ ElizabethLindberg, author Upper West Side Stories
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnes & Noble
Wendy and the Lost Boys
Be aware, this is notthe Peter Pan story you want your kids reading. It is clearly intended foradult readers. Yet it appeals to the childlike part of us that loved theclassic original stories. Combine that childlike love with modern politics andtechnology, and you get this smart, snarky, hilarious mystery. The story isrichly developed and leaves you guessing until the very end. I am liking thisgrown-up version of Peter Pan even more than the original. ~ Tiffany Harkleroad for Tiffany's Bookshelf
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnes& Noble
London Broil — thesequel to Wendy and the Lost Boys
The snarky Python sequelto Wendy and the Lost Boys. A murderous rollercoaster ride through Londonduring a killer heat wave. ~ Ravan Reviews
Purchase for your Kindleat: Amazon
Purchase for your Nookat: Barnesand Noble
Zo White – coming Summer 2012
February 26, 2012
Sibel Hodge - Indie Super Chick
A super visitor this week....
THE Sibel Hodge!
Welcome!
From 200 rejections to Amazon top200!
Sibel Hodge
Eversince I was old enough to scrawl my first word, which was Halibaaaaa, I knew I wanted to write books. OK, so the word didn'tactually make sense, and it might take a little longer for me to actually stringa whole sentence together, but that didn't put me off. I was going to writebooks and no one would stop me…
Fromwhen I was really young, my mum encouraged me to read. "If you can read books,you'll never be bored," I remember her telling me. I secretly think it was aploy to keep me out of her hair and quiet for a while. I was always a loud kidwith lots of energy, and always getting into some sort of trouble with the boysdown our street. (Yep, even then I was a sucker for boys!). After discoveringthe wonderful world of books, I thought I'd have a go myself, and rememberscribbling down stories whenever I had a spare moment. Shame I was only six,and there was no way anyone would publish a book with I Want Big Girls' Knickers in the title.
WhenI was in secondary school my favourite subject was English language. I'd losemyself for hours. And even though I hadn't thought about my forthcoming career beforeI left (apart from being Wonder Woman or an astronaut), I knew, even then, Ihad a love of creating. I also loved to make people laugh from an early age. Inthe beginning, it wasn't intentional. I was always saying ridiculous thingsthat I thought were quite serious. Like the time I went to the butchers shopwith my nan, and the lady behind the counter asked where I was from. "South America," I said. (I know, where the hell did thatcome from? I must've had an overactive imagination from the start.) So whenpeople started laughing at me, I thought, hey, this is pretty fun! We live insuch a hectic world and laughter is a perfect way to de-stress. Because mypersonality is quirky, fun-loving, and slightly nuts, it was probably a giventhat I would eventually write chick lit, although I have recently delved intothe dark side of my brain (which is a pretty scary place to be sometimes!) andwritten a psychological thriller.
Butwhen I left school no one mentioned writing as a career. It was all boringthings like secretarial jobs, travel agents, office work. I didn't even knowabout creative writing courses until about ten years ago! I think theyconsidered that writing wasn't a "proper career." No one suggested journalismor further education in writing. So what was a girl to do? Although my mumwanted me to go to University and study to be something like a doctor or lawyer(eeek!), I didn't have a cluewhat I wanted to do for a career, so I flitted from one job to the next, tryingto find something that interested me, and eventually ended up working for thepolice for ten years. So there I was, too busy paying the mortgage, workingshifts, and living in the rat race of life to have the proper time oropportunity to write a novel. It didn't stop me trying, though.
Itwas drastic things like splitting up with a boyfriend that made me start myfirst novel when I was about seventeen. I never got further than the firstthree chapters, though, because I didn't have a clue what I was doing, otherthan using a typewriter! Then I started another one (I got dumped again – canyou see a pattern here?) when I was about twenty-three, and ditto (I'd hate forthose to ever see the light of day). I just knew that I loved writing and therefore it stood toreason that one day I'd do it, didn't it? And although I look back now andthink I wish I'd started writing earlier, actually, I have to say, that itwould've been bad timing. Back then I wouldn't have had anything to reallywrite about. A lot of the things that go into my books now are based on my experienceof life. People I've met, places I've been, books I've read, things I've done,struggles I've achieved. At twenty-three, what did I really know about any ofthat?
And then fiveyears ago, hubby and I had had enough of the UK. We got fed up with the constantgrey weather, bills that seemed to increase as you looked at them, workingconstantly to pay them, and never having quality time for ourselves or ourfamily. Right, it was time to make my childhood dream come true and movesomewhere exotic, where the cost of living was lower, and we would actuallyhave time to enjoy each other and life again. Then I would finally have thetime and opportunity to dedicate to writing. Yes, we'd have to sacrifice a lotof things to achieve it, but it would be worth it in the end. So we moved to North Cyprus, and it was like my brain suddenly said,Hallellujah! Now we divide our time between Cyprusand the UK.
I didn't activelythink about what I was going to write, but a year after we'd moved there I hadan exciting idea for a story, using my unique Turkish Cypriot/British cultural heritage,and my debut romantic comedy Fourteen Days Later was born. Then I actually became theguinea pig for the sequel, My Perfect Wedding! But it was all very wellcompleting my dream of writing a book, but until it was published, no one wouldget to read it.
So I started querying hundreds ofagents and publishers. I got too many rejections to even count! OK, small whitelie, a while ago I did count them out of morbid curiosity, and it was a whoppingtwo hundred!
I did come close a couple of timesto being traditionally published, but it never quite worked out. It was either,"one group of editors liked it but another didn't", or "the chick lit market issaturated", or "we love it but…"
When I first looked intopublishing independently, platforms like Amazon Kindle didn't supportinternational authors. So the way I saw it, I had two choices. Either I couldwrite another book, hone my writing skills and learn all I could about mycraft, and wait for an opportunity to come up, or I could let all the rejectionletters get me down, think my writing career was over before it had begun, andstick my head in the oven! Since heat tends to turn my curls into a ball offrizz, it was no contest, really. I wrote my next novel, a chick lit mysterycalled The Fashion Police, and waited. Because I knew,I just knew, that I COULD do this. I could write novels that people wanted toread. If only I could get the chance.
In the meantime, I also enteredseveral writing competitions. And while I was still getting the dreadedrejections, Fourteen Days Later was shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize2008 and received a Highly Commended by The Yeovil Literary Prize 2009. And TheFashion Police was a runner up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition2010 (and later nominated for the Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by TheRomance Reviews). Surely I was doing something right, wasn't I? But I STILLcouldn't get a publisher!
Then last year, when Amazon openedup their doors to non-US authors, I uploaded Fourteen Days Later and TheFashion Police onto their Kindle store. I couldn't believe it when I finallysaw my books on sale. It was scary, rewarding, exciting, amazing – so manyexperiences rolled into one.
But what if no one liked mynovels? What if I had all bad reviews? What if all the two hundred rejectionswere right? What if, what if…?
Time for a deep breath, Sibel. Ifyou want to be an author, you have to repeat this mantra everyday… "I can dothis. I can do this. I CAN do this."
So I did.
And boy am I glad I did! The firstmonth with Fourteen Days Later and The Fashion Police, I sold 44 books (anothereeek!). Then I released my third novel, a romantic comedy called My Perfect Wedding, and later released my secondchick lit mystery Be Careful What You Wish For. In the last 6months alone I've sold over 40,000 ebooks, and all my novels are consistentlyin the Amazon top 100 genre categories for humor, contemporary romance, comedy,and romantic suspense. My highest overall sales ranking to date is 136, justmissing out on the Amazon top 100 bestseller charts. Considering there are over900,000 Kindle books on Amazon, that's not bad!
And this is one lesson I'velearned in the last couple of years…You can do anything you want to inlife. It may mean you have to go a different route than you originally planned,but if you're determined enough and believe in yourself, you can overcome anyobstacles.
So I'm toasting all you women outthere with my glass of wine. Cheers to dreams and making them come true! Lookslike I got my big girls' knickers after all!
You can find Sibel's books inpaperback and all ebook formats. For more info, please check out her website
This is onestory from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories availableon Amazon and Barnes & Noble . To read all of the stories, buy yourcopy today.
For reviews and purchases of my latestnovels: http://www.sibelhodge.com/
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sibelhodge
THE Sibel Hodge!
Welcome!
From 200 rejections to Amazon top200! Sibel Hodge
Eversince I was old enough to scrawl my first word, which was Halibaaaaa, I knew I wanted to write books. OK, so the word didn'tactually make sense, and it might take a little longer for me to actually stringa whole sentence together, but that didn't put me off. I was going to writebooks and no one would stop me…
Fromwhen I was really young, my mum encouraged me to read. "If you can read books,you'll never be bored," I remember her telling me. I secretly think it was aploy to keep me out of her hair and quiet for a while. I was always a loud kidwith lots of energy, and always getting into some sort of trouble with the boysdown our street. (Yep, even then I was a sucker for boys!). After discoveringthe wonderful world of books, I thought I'd have a go myself, and rememberscribbling down stories whenever I had a spare moment. Shame I was only six,and there was no way anyone would publish a book with I Want Big Girls' Knickers in the title.
WhenI was in secondary school my favourite subject was English language. I'd losemyself for hours. And even though I hadn't thought about my forthcoming career beforeI left (apart from being Wonder Woman or an astronaut), I knew, even then, Ihad a love of creating. I also loved to make people laugh from an early age. Inthe beginning, it wasn't intentional. I was always saying ridiculous thingsthat I thought were quite serious. Like the time I went to the butchers shopwith my nan, and the lady behind the counter asked where I was from. "South America," I said. (I know, where the hell did thatcome from? I must've had an overactive imagination from the start.) So whenpeople started laughing at me, I thought, hey, this is pretty fun! We live insuch a hectic world and laughter is a perfect way to de-stress. Because mypersonality is quirky, fun-loving, and slightly nuts, it was probably a giventhat I would eventually write chick lit, although I have recently delved intothe dark side of my brain (which is a pretty scary place to be sometimes!) andwritten a psychological thriller.
Butwhen I left school no one mentioned writing as a career. It was all boringthings like secretarial jobs, travel agents, office work. I didn't even knowabout creative writing courses until about ten years ago! I think theyconsidered that writing wasn't a "proper career." No one suggested journalismor further education in writing. So what was a girl to do? Although my mumwanted me to go to University and study to be something like a doctor or lawyer(eeek!), I didn't have a cluewhat I wanted to do for a career, so I flitted from one job to the next, tryingto find something that interested me, and eventually ended up working for thepolice for ten years. So there I was, too busy paying the mortgage, workingshifts, and living in the rat race of life to have the proper time oropportunity to write a novel. It didn't stop me trying, though.
Itwas drastic things like splitting up with a boyfriend that made me start myfirst novel when I was about seventeen. I never got further than the firstthree chapters, though, because I didn't have a clue what I was doing, otherthan using a typewriter! Then I started another one (I got dumped again – canyou see a pattern here?) when I was about twenty-three, and ditto (I'd hate forthose to ever see the light of day). I just knew that I loved writing and therefore it stood toreason that one day I'd do it, didn't it? And although I look back now andthink I wish I'd started writing earlier, actually, I have to say, that itwould've been bad timing. Back then I wouldn't have had anything to reallywrite about. A lot of the things that go into my books now are based on my experienceof life. People I've met, places I've been, books I've read, things I've done,struggles I've achieved. At twenty-three, what did I really know about any ofthat?
And then fiveyears ago, hubby and I had had enough of the UK. We got fed up with the constantgrey weather, bills that seemed to increase as you looked at them, workingconstantly to pay them, and never having quality time for ourselves or ourfamily. Right, it was time to make my childhood dream come true and movesomewhere exotic, where the cost of living was lower, and we would actuallyhave time to enjoy each other and life again. Then I would finally have thetime and opportunity to dedicate to writing. Yes, we'd have to sacrifice a lotof things to achieve it, but it would be worth it in the end. So we moved to North Cyprus, and it was like my brain suddenly said,Hallellujah! Now we divide our time between Cyprusand the UK.
I didn't activelythink about what I was going to write, but a year after we'd moved there I hadan exciting idea for a story, using my unique Turkish Cypriot/British cultural heritage,and my debut romantic comedy Fourteen Days Later was born. Then I actually became theguinea pig for the sequel, My Perfect Wedding! But it was all very wellcompleting my dream of writing a book, but until it was published, no one wouldget to read it.
So I started querying hundreds ofagents and publishers. I got too many rejections to even count! OK, small whitelie, a while ago I did count them out of morbid curiosity, and it was a whoppingtwo hundred!
I did come close a couple of timesto being traditionally published, but it never quite worked out. It was either,"one group of editors liked it but another didn't", or "the chick lit market issaturated", or "we love it but…"
When I first looked intopublishing independently, platforms like Amazon Kindle didn't supportinternational authors. So the way I saw it, I had two choices. Either I couldwrite another book, hone my writing skills and learn all I could about mycraft, and wait for an opportunity to come up, or I could let all the rejectionletters get me down, think my writing career was over before it had begun, andstick my head in the oven! Since heat tends to turn my curls into a ball offrizz, it was no contest, really. I wrote my next novel, a chick lit mysterycalled The Fashion Police, and waited. Because I knew,I just knew, that I COULD do this. I could write novels that people wanted toread. If only I could get the chance.
In the meantime, I also enteredseveral writing competitions. And while I was still getting the dreadedrejections, Fourteen Days Later was shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize2008 and received a Highly Commended by The Yeovil Literary Prize 2009. And TheFashion Police was a runner up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition2010 (and later nominated for the Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by TheRomance Reviews). Surely I was doing something right, wasn't I? But I STILLcouldn't get a publisher!
Then last year, when Amazon openedup their doors to non-US authors, I uploaded Fourteen Days Later and TheFashion Police onto their Kindle store. I couldn't believe it when I finallysaw my books on sale. It was scary, rewarding, exciting, amazing – so manyexperiences rolled into one.
But what if no one liked mynovels? What if I had all bad reviews? What if all the two hundred rejectionswere right? What if, what if…?
Time for a deep breath, Sibel. Ifyou want to be an author, you have to repeat this mantra everyday… "I can dothis. I can do this. I CAN do this."
So I did.
And boy am I glad I did! The firstmonth with Fourteen Days Later and The Fashion Police, I sold 44 books (anothereeek!). Then I released my third novel, a romantic comedy called My Perfect Wedding, and later released my secondchick lit mystery Be Careful What You Wish For. In the last 6months alone I've sold over 40,000 ebooks, and all my novels are consistentlyin the Amazon top 100 genre categories for humor, contemporary romance, comedy,and romantic suspense. My highest overall sales ranking to date is 136, justmissing out on the Amazon top 100 bestseller charts. Considering there are over900,000 Kindle books on Amazon, that's not bad!
And this is one lesson I'velearned in the last couple of years…You can do anything you want to inlife. It may mean you have to go a different route than you originally planned,but if you're determined enough and believe in yourself, you can overcome anyobstacles.
So I'm toasting all you women outthere with my glass of wine. Cheers to dreams and making them come true! Lookslike I got my big girls' knickers after all!
You can find Sibel's books inpaperback and all ebook formats. For more info, please check out her website
This is onestory from Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories availableon Amazon and Barnes & Noble . To read all of the stories, buy yourcopy today.
For reviews and purchases of my latestnovels: http://www.sibelhodge.com/
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sibelhodge
February 20, 2012
Indie Chick - Christine DeMaio-Rice
HOW A BIG YELLOWTRUCK CHANGED MY LIFE
(for the better)
An orange peel grapple is a big machine. Excavator on thebottom. Long arm in the middle. And a metal grapple on the end that looks likea horror movie claw. The base spins. The arm moves up and down. The grapplegrabs stuff like SUVs and big piles of metal.
You may come across one while driving, and if you have alittle boy in the car, you may have to pull over to watch the thing move carsinto a tractor trailer. Otherwise, nothing about this machine will rock yourworld.
But an orange peel grapple changed my life.
My life was a complete disaster at the time. Though I had abeautiful baby boy and a good husband, I had a job in an industry I swore Iwould never return to, at a company that wanted nothing more than to suck theblood directly from my heart with a curly straw. This, after I had already soldall the blood in my heart to the film industry, which after a few meetings andscreenwriting awards, looked like it might want to take a sip from that straw.
A sip, because as good as things were looking, I saw a longroad in front of me. My work was not "commercial enough," and my manager hadmade it clear that years would pass before I would be able to convince anyonethat this lack of commerciality was a quality that was, well, commercial.
But no. My husband lost his job, and I found work in thefashion industry soon after. What I rapidly discovered was that, thoughout-of-towners could schedule meetings back-to-back all over town, Angelenoswere expected to take a meeting at the last minute, or blithely accept arescheduling. My boss, on the other hand, had no interest in moving around mypersonal days, and my sick days dwindled in my first three months on the job. Ittook only a few months for the meetings to dry up and for me to start writing aSanta Claus script out of desperation.
So, the blood-sucking fashion job with the inflexible hours wasright next to a scrap yard, which apparently opened at the crack of dawn becausewhen I got there at seven thirty every morning, the orange peel grapple wasalready grabbing away. If I had a minute, I watched it go up and down as Iclutched my coffee, and I thought, one day I should get a video camera and filmthis because my son would love it. Really love it.
My son was about eighteen months old and just learning totalk. I missed him while I was at work, adored him when he was awake and withme, and the rest of the time, I found room to resent him for taking me awayfrom writing. He was then, and has remained, a fireball of energy. His teacheralternated between calling him a Jack Russell terrier and a buzz saw. He isalso obsessive. Right now, he has a room full of Legos. Before that, it wasThomas the Tank Engine, and before that, it was trucks. Big yellow trucks. Hewouldn't fall asleep unless he gripped a toy truck in each fist. When he receiveda Tonka loader for Christmas, it was love at first sight. He called it "lolo."
One morning, with the vision of that big 'lolo' that I wouldlater know as an orange peel grapple dancing in my head, I dialed a friend'snumber. I'd known this man from Brooklyn, and he'd come to Los Angeles a fewyears earlier to attend the American Film Institute. Most importantly, he had acamera. When I got his answering machine, instead of asking him for the camera,I said something else entirely, something like, "Hey, wanna produce a kid'svideo together? Here's the pitch. Trucks. Okay, bye."
That moment may not seem pivotal, but most turning pointsdon't when they happen. That moment, I took control of my creative life. Myfriend called me back the minute he got up, and we began the journey towardbecoming business owners. We did not pitch the idea around town, and we did notask permission to bring the work to the public. We put the DVDs on Createspace,and eventually had to hold inventory to meet the demand.
Lolo Productions and the TotallyTrucks series have had ups and downs, but the process taught me two things.One, my concepts need to be simple. If I can't pitch it in five words, it's nota concept I should develop. My second lesson is that I can be in control of myproduct and my creative life. If I think something is worthwhile, I can bringit to my customers. Becoming the producer and publisher of my work means I understandnow what agents and studio executives meant when they said "commercial."
Without my son, I never would have taken the life-suckingjob. And without that job, there would have been no orange peel grapple. Andwithout that scrapyard, there would have been no Totally Trucks. No eye for the commercial and no control ofself-publishing. Who knows what I would have made without all the things thatpissed me off for interrupting my work.
website:http://fashionismurder.com
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Fashion-Avenue-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B005MEG38C/
Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-is-the-new-black-christine-demaio-rice/1105858865
Thanks for sharing with us Christine!I enjoyed Dead is the New Black. As a survivor of the Garment District I can say you captured the flavor of a killer-industry.
February 14, 2012
Kindle Romance Novels: Wendy and the Lost Boys by Barbara Silkstone
Kindle Romance Novels: Wendy and the Lost Boys by Barbara Silkstone: Look what we found! A Kindle Romance for under $1! Find it in the Kindle Store. Be aware, this is not the Peter Pan story you want yo...
