Susan Abel Sullivan's Blog, page 14

Ideas are a Dime a Dozen

[photo: Goofy Golf --Panama City Beach, Florida]


Everyone's got an idea.  Especially if you're a writer.  Friends, family, and acquaintances will all have ideas for novels you should write.  As if we writers didn't already have more ideas than we have time to develop.  I've even had wanna-be writers approach me with the dreaded words, "I have this great idea for a novel that I want you to write for me."  No, thanks.  If it's such a great idea why don't they write it?

The problem with ideas is they're a dime a dozen.  Anyone can come up with 'em.  But few actually make their idea a reality.  Ideas are only as good as the action you take to manifest them. 

Several years ago I had this idea for a book that involved a weredog and a tacky tourist trap, the kind I remember so fondly from summer vacations spent in Panama City Beach, Florida as a kid.  And that was pretty much all I had.  I ordered several books from Amazon on roadside tourist attractions in Florida and drove over to Panama City Beach while down in Pensacola visiting the folks.  Sadly, most of the tacky tourist places had been leveled to make way for condos, convenience stores, and generic souvenir shops.  But the Goofy Golf I remembered from childhood was still intact and I made several photographs lest the next time I returned the place was only a memory in my mind.  

 Over a period of several years, from 2009-2013, I wrote a book based on these two ideas that wound up becoming The Weredog Whisperer, the sequel to Haunted Housewives.  It all started with an idea, but I had to take action to turn the idea into an actual book.  

Right now I have several ideas for more books in my Cleo Tidwell series, as well as a way to turn my trunk novel into a contemporary YA paranormal.  And I have an idea about a school for the supernaturally challenged that I started writing several years ago, but had to set aside when reality asserted itself and forced me to give up writing for more than a year.  But I'm crunched for time these days running a couple of businesses and teaching classes, so they'll have to remain ideas for a little while longer until I can turn my attention to them. 

So if you're a fledgling writer, know that ideas are grand, but you've actually got to sit down and write your idea into existence.  It won't happen by talking about it.  I make it a point to only discuss my ideas with a few trusted friends that I can brainstorm with and usually only when I'm ready to sit down and get to work.  Talking about an idea sucks all the energy that should be going into taking that idea and creating something from it.  

And for goodness sake, don't worry about anyone stealing your ideas.  Your idea of what a novel involving a weredog and a tacky Florida tourist trap is going to be very different from my idea of the same.  If you read enough in one sub-genre, you'll find the same ideas getting rehashed by different authors.  According to (Aristotle?), there are only seven different plots, anyway.  As Stephen King says, "It's not the story, but he who tells it."

So, ideas . . . write 'em down, think about 'em, and then take action on them.  That's the only way they'll be worth anything.









 

Heir to the Lamp

A family secret
A mysterious lamp
A dangerous Order with the mad desire
to possess both


I'd like to welcome my writer friend, and most recently, published novelist, Michelle Lowery Combs, to my blog today.  Michelle and I met last year when she contacted me for an interview about my first published book-- Cursed: Wickedly Fun Stories .  We met for Cokes and coffee at a quaint café on Jacksonville, Alabama's historic town square and hit it off immediately.  I am so excited that her first book-- Heir to the Lamp --is available in trade paperback and eBook.  If you like YA Paranormal, genies, Southern fiction, well-drawn characters, and/or delicious writing, Heir to the Lamp is a must read.

I've enjoyed getting to know Michelle over the past year or so, but realized there were still many things I didn't know about her.  

1. Name three items on your bucket list.
Visit a castle in Scotland; Rank on Amazon’s 100 Best-Sellers List; See my checking account rebound from two sets of braces and three teenage drivers before all my kids start owing college tuition.

 2. Secret (or not so secret) celebrity crush?
 Jude Law.  The man is gorgeous and I love his voice!  His films are some of my favorite:  Cold
Mountain, Alfie, Enemy at the Gates, A Series of Unfortunate
  Events.

 3. What song or musical piece represents the soundtrack of your life at the moment?
 Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov.  I’m busy, busy, busy and loving every minute of it.

 4. Do you have any secret or quirky talents?
I am a craft queen!  My kids, niece and nephew always hand in the best projects at school.  I can do wonders with cardboard, glitter, and hot glue gun.

 5. What’s lurking in your basement or crawl space?
 All the “skinny clothes” I refuse to get rid of, Christmas ornaments I collect like a scary hoarder, the empty hamster cage that serves as a silent reminder of why I’ll never let my
children have another pet.

 6. Favorite Southern novel?
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman is about a young girl abandoned by her father after her mother's devastating mental illness and death. CeeCee is rescued by her aunt, Tootie, and taken to Savannah, Georgia. Aunt Tootie and her old friend Oletta know all about pain and unresolved grief.
Little by little they help CeeCee come to terms with her past and begin life anew in a place where she can bloom.

 7. If a genie could grant you three wishes, what would you wish for and why?
 I’d wish for the body of Jennifer Lopez, the literary success of JK Rowling, and the metabolism of Michael Phelps.  I sacrifice much for my family—they’re my #1 priority when it comes to my time and energy.  Should I ever happen upon a real genie, all bets are off:  I’m making those wishes for myself.   I can guarantee you that I'll be a better mom at soccer practice looking like J-Lo with Rowling’s pocket money.

 8. Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character(s), and if so, who and from what novel/show/movie?
 I’m a sucker for Charles Frazier’s Inman from the novel Cold Mountain.   The movie version, played by none other than Jude Law, isn’t bad either.

Inman fears that he can never be healed from the violence of war, that he has been too changed for Ada to ever love him
again.  He encounters illness, obstacles, and evil on his journey back to Ada, but memories of her and of home
keep him going.  Inman possesses a natural goodness and a deep sense of what is good and right.  I love him more every time I reread Cold Mountain.

 9. And since you’re from the South, I’ve gotta ask: 
Coke or Pepsi?  Auburn or Alabama?  Rhett or Ashley?
Coke.  Auburn.  Ashley.  Warrrrrrrrr Eagle!

Bio: Michelle Lowery Combs is an award-winning writer and book blogger living in rural Alabama with her husband, one cat and too many children to count.  She is a member of the Alabama Writers' Conclave, Jacksonville State University's Writers' Club and her local Aspiring Authors group.  When not in the presence of throngs of toddlers, tweens and teens, Michelle can be found neglecting her roots and dreaming up the next best seller.  Visit her online at: www.MichelleLoweryCombs.com.

Heir to the Lamp--Genie Chronicles Book One is published by World Weaver Press and is available in trade paperback and eBook from numerous online retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Disturbing Stories

What disturbing short stories have gotten under your skin and stayed in your psyche since child or young adulthood?

For me, it's "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  First published in either 1892 or 1899 (depending on which source you go with), the story is either a haunted house story or a story of insanity.  For a synopsis, visit this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Wallpaper

When I first read this story as a tween in the 1970s, I envisioned the setting and characters in the 70s and viewed it as a haunted house story. But when I went back and re-read this story a few years ago, my own experience with living in a Victorian house and my research on Victorian times gave me a whole new take on the story.  It certainly makes me appreciate the freedoms I've enjoyed as a female during this era of Women's Liberation . 

Like the narrator's obsession with the yellow wallpaper, I am captivated by the bizarre details of the attic room with the bars on the windows, the bolted-down furniture, and the "iron rings and things" on the walls. In the Deep South, crazy relatives were often "kept" at home and locked away in attic rooms back in the day.  I think the idea of chaining someone to a wall or tethering them to a wall disturbs me the most about the description of the room. 

After reading the Wikipedia link on how Victorian women were treated for depression and anxiety disorders, I am even more thankful for modern medicine.  We might think we rely too much on better living through chemistry, but I have to say that as someone who suffers from these disorders with a long family history and genetic propensity for them, the idea of being confined without mental or intellectual stimulation makes me a bit hinky.  I'm sure I'd go bat-shit crazy if I had to live like that...if you can call that living.  "The Yellow Wallpaper" is semi-autobiographical as Gilman had to suffer through a similar "treatment" for her nervous condition as it was called back in the late 19th century. 

Now an anecdote: when the hubs and I bought our Victorian house, the wallpaper in the room that is now our master bedroom had been partially peeled away in long jagged tears along one wall.  I immediately thought of "The Yellow Wallpaper."  The room had belonged to the previous owners' little girl.  That in itself was creepy.  Why was she peeling the wallpaper at night next to her bed?  eep! 

The photo above is where my crazy cats have destroyed the wallpaper on the upstairs landing.  There's no point in replacing or patching it since they'll just claw it off again.  Ah, the joy of living with cats. 

So, if you've never read "The Yellow Wallpaper," I highly recommend it.  Let me know if you found it disturbing.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

July 25th, 2013

What disturbing short stories have gotten under your skin and stayed in your psyche since child or young adulthood?

For me, it's "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  First published in either 1892 or 1899 (depending on which source you go with), the story is either a haunted house story or a story of insanity.  For a synopsis, visit this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Wallpaper

When I first read this story as a tween in the 1970s, I envisioned the setting and characters in the 70s and viewed it as a haunted house story. But when I went back and re-read this story a few years ago, my own experience with living in a Victorian house and my research on Victorian times gave me a whole new take on the story.  It certainly makes me appreciate the freedoms I've enjoyed as a female during this era of Women's Liberation . 

Like the narrator's obsession with the yellow wallpaper, I am captivated by the bizarre details of the attic room with the bars on the windows, the bolted-down furniture, and the "iron rings and things" on the walls. In the Deep South, crazy relatives were often "kept" at home and locked away in attic rooms back in the day.  I think the idea of chaining someone to a wall or tethering them to a wall disturbs me the most about the description of the room. 

After reading the Wikipedia link on how Victorian women were treated for depression and anxiety disorders, I am even more thankful for modern medicine.  We might think we rely too much on better living through chemistry, but I have to say that as someone who suffers from these disorders with a long family history and genetic propensity for them, the idea of being confined without mental or intellectual stimulation makes me a bit hinky.  I'm sure I'd go bat-shit crazy if I had to live like that...if you can call that living.  "The Yellow Wallpaper" is semi-autobiographical as Gilman had to suffer through a similar "treatment" for her nervous condition as it was called back in the late 19th century. 

Now an anecdote: when the hubs and I bought our Victorian house, the wallpaper in the room that is now our master bedroom had been partially peeled away in long jagged tears along one wall.  I immediately thought of "The Yellow Wallpaper."  The room had belonged to the previous owners' little girl.  That in itself was creepy.  Why was she peeling the wallpaper at night next to her bed?  eep! 

The photo above is where my crazy cats have destroyed the wallpaper on the upstairs landing.  There's no point in replacing or patching it since they'll just claw it off again.  Ah, the joy of living with cats. 

So, if you've never read "The Yellow Wallpaper," I highly recommend it.  Let me know if you found it disturbing.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Older Main Characters: Where are You?

This week I guest blogged for my publisher, World Weaver Press, lamenting the dearth of older main characters in Paranormal Fiction. 

http://worldweaverpress.com/2013/07/22/paranormal-fiction-where-are-the-older-protags/

Check it out!

Happenings in Susanland

So what's been goin' on lately? 

My usual juggling act, only this time with deadlines thrown in.

I've been working on editorial revisions for THE WEREDOG WHISPERER this month for my publisher, World Weaver Press.  I'm about 88% of the way: deadline the end of June. 

I'm also launching my first Aquatic Fitness Workshop for the Montgomery YMCA, "That's Entertainment," this weekend.  This particular workshop is about applying musical theater techniques to water fitness classes.  The photo above is from one of my theme classes where we workout to the theme music from Jaws and Indiana Jones.

I also run an online store on eBay: Bama Sue's Online Zoo. (As if I didn't have enough on my plate already.)  I got turned on to antique Steiff stuffed animals back in February through a rather serendipitous happening (which would be an entire blog in itself) and I have gone crazy for Steiff.  I tell myself that my current obsession is necessary to the running of my store, after all, I also sell Steiff, but that's just me rationalizing my mania. 

And then there are the local fitness classes I teach.  I'm currently teaching a Tabata workout in the pool, plus Aqua Zumba.  And I also teach Zumba and Zumba Toning, so all the new choreography I learn or develop every week keeps me pretty busy. 

We finally replaced the liner in our pool and now our old arthritic dog, Moxie, can swim everyday.  She likes us to throw her tennis ball into the water so that she can swim out and retrieve it. 

And that's what's been going on here in Susanland and why I have no social life outside of my classes.  There just literally isn't enough time in the day.  But hey, on the plus side, I'm never, ever bored.

Working from Home is Distraction Free...Right?

Many people who work traditional go-off-to-work jobs dream of being able to work from home.  I have to confess, I've been one of them.  But unless you live alone with no pets and a very small dwelling space to take care of way out in the woods where the nearest neighbor is miles away, working from home can be just as distracting and time consuming as working in an office. 

I started working this morning at 8:45 AM.  Ten minutes into it, I realized I'd better call the pool company who is replacing our pool liner about their air pump which had shut off during the night.  I stop working and start searching for their phone number.  Can't find it.  Okay, where's the phone book?  I hunt for that.  Finally spot it.  Look them up.  Give them a call.  Pool guy will be out soon.  Super.

I get back to work.  Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rings and the two dogs pictured above raise a ruckus that is deafening.  I trot downstairs thinking it's the pool guy.  It's not.  It's some guy on a bicycle with an order form in his hand.  Uh oh, a solicitor.  I don't answer the door because we get odd people ringing our doorbells all the time in the historic neighborhood where I live.  The dogs are still going nuts.  Once they quiet down, I know bike guy is gone.

I trot upstairs, get back to work.  Just as I'm getting on a roll, the pool guy shows up.  And it really is the pool guy this time.  And there's a problem.  The air pump is off because the circuit blew.  We hunt for the right breaker switch in the right breaker box.  There are three of 'em: one of each side of the house and one in the creepy basement.  Pool guy tries all of them.  None fix the problem.  I go back inside, climb the stairs, find my phone and call my husband.  Which breaker services the outside outlets?  He tells me.  I trot downstairs.  Pool guy has already figured it out and has air pump running.  Good.

I go in and climb the stairs.  All this stair climbing keeps me slim.  I get back to work.  

Fifteen minutes later, my dog, Bo, pictured above on the left, nudges me at my desk.  That's his signal that he has to pee.  

So guess what?  The dogs and I trot back downstairs and I go out with them because there are now four pool guys in the backyard.  Bo is enamored with these men.  Instead of peeing, he has to sniff everyone's butt.  Then he wants to play.  After ten minutes of goofing around with the pool guys, he finally tears off running around the yard like a crazy dog and I'm assuming he pees somewhere out in the jungle that is the back of our backyard.  I get our older Moxie up on the deck to come in.  Bo is back to sniffing butts.  I get Bo to come in and now Moxie is checking out the pool guys.  This goes on for another ten minutes, neither dog listening to a word I'm saying.  I finally corral them to me and we head in.  

I climb the stairs yet again and get to work.  I'm able to go about an hour with no interruptions.  

Then my stomach growls...ferociously.  Feed me, Seymour!  Since I feel like my stomach lining has been turned inside out, I trudge downstairs to scrounge up some food.  Meanwhile, what should have taken me two hours to do has now stretched out to three hours.  Amazing.  

But this is how it goes when you work from home.  Also know that if you work from home, your friends, family, and neighbors will assume that you don't really work and have all the free time in the world ( unless they, too, work from home).   So I've learned to set boundaries and I say no a lot.  It cuts down on the distractions.  

But interruptions aside, I still prefer working from home.  The uniform is pretty lax (PJs, anyone?).  No worries about eating and drinking while on the job.  No co-workers to deal with.  No generic office with bad lighting to be confined to.  And the commute is super short...like from my bedroom to my office in about twenty steps.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.








 

Cover Art Reveal for Jason Jack Miller's Newest Novel

THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK BY JASON JACK MILLER

 Coming June 2013 from Raw Dog Screaming Press

 Cover Art by Brad Vetter

Preston and Katy face a new darkness....
 Sometimes a battle between good and evil
doesn't look much like the ones they show in movies. The good guys don't always wear white, and they don’t always walk away with the win.

And sometimes you're better off with the devil you know.

 The last time Preston went down to the crossroads, his best friend died and he nearly lost his brother. But Old Scratch
doesn't take kindly to fools, especially not those who come knocking at his front door. And before all is said and done, he's going to teach Preston a thing or two about what it really means to sacrifice.

 LINKS:

 Read the first 100 pages of The Revelations of Preston
Black - http://jasonjackmiller.blogspot.com/p/the-revelations-of-preston-black.html

 Pre-order The Revelations of Preston Black at Raw Dog
Screaming Press - http://www.rawdogscreaming.com/books/the-revelations-of-preston-black.html

 Brad Vetter - http://bradvetterdesign.com

 Jason Jack Miller - http://jasonjackmiller.blogspot.com

 Raw Dog Screaming Press – http://www.rawdogscreaming.com


 

It's Official!

World Weaver Press will be releasing The Weredog Whisperer--the next book in my Cleo Tidwell Paranormal Mystery Series soon.  My dog Moxie pictured above served as the inspiration for the character of Luna.  I won't say anymore and spoil the fun.  You'll have to read about Cleo and her family's Florida Gulf Coast spring break adventure for yourself.

http://worldweaverpress.com/2013/05/31/announcing-the-next-cleo-tidwell-paranormal-mystery-is-coming-soon/

IAFC: International Water Fitness Convention

Piggybacking on my last blog post--The Ole Back Burner--this week I'm still not writing, but I "am" attending the International Water Fitness Convention in Palm Harbor, Florida.  Every year, hundreds of water fitness instructors get together for five days of workshops, lectures, master classes, and fellowship in sunny Florida. 

In case you didn't know, I'm not only a fiction writer, but I'm also a Fitness Specialist, and water fitness is not only one of the modalities I teach, but one of my favorite ways to workout.  I've also written for AKWA Magazine and am a new Continuing Education Provider for AEA--the Aquatic Exercise Association. 

The photo above was made right before my very first AcquaPole class, a new, highly innovative gymnastic water fitness class utilizing a stainless steel pole as a piece of equipment.  I haven't had so much fun since I first discovered Zumba back in 2008.

So, writer, fitness instructor/CEC provider, and online retailer . . . I'm a jack of all trades (or in my case, a Jackie of all trades).  And you never know where or when my real life adventures will show up in my writing.