Clarissa Draper's Blog, page 9

ISWG (JAN): Motivation & Procrastination

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, hosted by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.



I have learned a lot last year about writing:




I've been improving my grammar.
I've been researching parts of my novels more.
I started using Scrivener--which for me is the most amazing writing program in the world!



But, I have also learned a few things about myself:




Although I'm a hard worker, I will place other things--cleaning, cooking, walking my dog, pretty much anything--in front of my writing. And when I leave my writing to the end of the day, I just don't get it done. I NEED to write in the mornings. That means NO PROCRASTINATION. So, that's one thing I'm going to be working on this year, getting up earlier and writing.
Also, for me, motivation to write comes from inspiration and that takes meditation on my writing. So, I hope to spend some time before I write, getting excited about what I'm going to write about. MOTIVATION TAKES MEDITATION.





What are your writing goals?

From Pigtails to Chinhairs to 2013!

Wow, another year has passed already!



I feel as if I did nothing last year but I guess I did a lot:




I promoted my first released book and wrote another one (hopefully to come out this year). 
I travelled across the US and Canada and all the way back into Mexico.
I moved houses.
I made my first turkey.
I even read 75 books. 


What will I do this year? 




In November and December, I didn't blog as much as I would have liked to but I plan to knuckle down and start again. I even have posts planned out in advanced. So, we'll see. 






For my first post of the year, a fellow blogger asked me for help. She has a new book she wants to write and wants our help. It's entitled From Pigtails to Chinhairs and she needs help with the editing and publishing costs. So, if you can help, please check out this site.

Free Books (US Residents Only)

I have been converting all my hard-copy books to e-book format for my Kindle to de-clutter and so, I have a lot of writing/forensic/novels to give away.



The books are listed below. If you would like any, copy/paste and fill out this form in the comment section. I will get your addresses when I email you. I think I will do, first-come-first-serve.



Name:

Email:

What book you desire most:

What book you would accept if the first book is given to someone else: 






Book #1 (GONE)






Book #2 (GONE)






Book #3 (click book to learn more about it)






Book #4 (click book to learn more about it)






Book #5 (GONE)






Book #6 (click book to learn more about it)






Book #7 (GONE)






Book #8 (click book to learn more about it)






Book #9 (click book to learn more about it)









Note: The covers may not be exactly as shown but I assure you, they are the same book. Also, although I have no qualms about writing in books, I did search these nine, and as far as I can tell, I DID NOT write in them.

ISWG: Be a Panster, Be a Plotter but don't forget to be a Jotter!

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, hosted by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.



I'm currently editing my second Sophia/Theo novel and have come to realise how much time I could have saved if I only took better notes on my chapters. I use Scrivener to write and there are lots of features that I could have used. Whether you plot or just make it up as you write, it's important--after your writing session--to jot down notes for future edits.



Some things to record as you write:




A timeline - it's horrible during your first read-through to find inconsistencies in your character's timeline. I have actually had to go back and make major revision because I had characters doing two things at once, in two different locations.
Characters in the scene or chapter - I hate when I forget a minor character's name, rename them, remember the first name in a future chapter, and realise that the same character has five names. Do yourself a favour, write it down somewhere.
Weather/Time
Outline or Point of the scene - this is good to write down so that when you edit, you know where to find a point in the novel more quickly.


What do you put in your notes during the writing process that helps you in the editing process?

Three Awesome Books Out Today!

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk






amazon.com

amazon.co.uk






amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

The Next Big Thing

Karen Jones Gowen, author of the awesome book Lighting Candles in the Snow, has asked me to take the Next Big Thing questionnaire, where authors talk about what they’re publishing next. 

 
What is the title of your next book?

"Why Run Backwards You'll Vomit"


Where did the idea for the book come from?

All my mysteries are based on various codes (some created by me, other codes are based on existing) and so I start there, with the code. When I found the code I wanted to use for this book, I then developed my story and antagonists around it.



Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be published by WiDo Publishing. 


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It usually takes me about 3 months to finish the first draft and FOREVER to edit it. Well, it seems like forever. 


Who or What inspired you to write the book?

When I come up with a new code, I get excited. I want to write a mystery around it. I'm not sure my readers feel the same excitement for my codes so I also have to come up with exciting plots and characters as well. 


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Each of my books come with a ten-dollar amazon gift card. Just joking. Well, if my codes don't interest you, perhaps you find the relationship between my two main characters--a spy and a cop-- to be up your alley.

 
And that's it! I hope you enjoyed reading about My Next Big Thing. I will now pass the task of answering these same questions to another writer. Next week in the spotlight will be author Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines... If she wants it.

Free Kindle Book & Other Stuff

Before I get to the Kindle book, I want to thank Alex Cavanaugh for his wonderful words last week on his I Miss You Blogfest and all the other kind comments. I do plan to get back to blogging but have been going through a lot of issues lately--including a lot of house guests, which all introverts know can be draining-- and I'm just trying to sort it all out.



Although December will be a slow blogging month for me, I plan to come back in full force in January. In the meantime, I will spend more time reading and commenting on blogs.



Side note: Did you know Hitler was a painter? I was reading old issues of Life magazine (page 42) and came across that little tidbit. I'm not sure whether I'm intrigued or disturbed. The article came out before Hitler took power and caused chaos.











FALLOUT (Book one in the Nick Sullivan series) by Karla Forbes



The British Government is being blackmailed by criminals who have got their hands on a quantity of plutonium left over from the cold war. Only one man knows their identity and can prevent a catastrophe but he is on the run for a murder he didn’t commit and has no intention of being found. 

As the authorities attempt to hunt him down, the clock is ticking and they are running out of time. They pin their hopes on the fact that a bunch of amateurs won’t have nuclear technology and the worst they’ll come up with is a dirty bomb. With luck, the carnage can be limited. A few people might die in the explosion but the majority will run away at the first sign of danger and the radiation will drift harmlessly into the atmosphere. 

But what if the terrorists have found a way of keeping the radiation near to the ground, encouraging people to hang around breathing in death and when they invite them to their own slaughter they come willingly?

They would be dangerous then...wouldn’t they?



About The Author 

Karla Forbes first began writing books when she was twelve years old. Heavily influenced by Ian Fleming, she wrote about guns, fast cars and spies. Naturally, she knew nothing of her chosen subject and was forced to use her imagination to make it up as she went along. These books, half a dozen in total, ended up being thrown out with the rubbish. Several years later, she dabbled in a futuristic sitcom and a full length horror story. Although both of these efforts were also consigned to literary oblivion, at least no one could have accused her of being in a genre rut.

She began writing properly more than nine years ago and her first book, The Preacher was published on Amazon in July 2011. Six books in total are available to download from the Amazon kindle bookstore and a seventh is due to be published in winter 2012. Other books will follow at regular intervals. She writes about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations and she aims for unusual but scarily believable plots with a surprising twist.

She lives in Sussex with her husband and bullmastiff and has discovered that the secret of keeping them both happy is regular meals, praise and affection. They split their time between the UK and Germany where their favourite haunts are the Harz mountains and Bavaria.



Book Links

UK Kindle Books

US Amazon Kindle Books 

Dying Art by Shirley Wells

Anyone who reads this blog knows I love this crime fiction writer--Shirley Wells. I have read all the Dylan Scott mysteries--this is #5 in the series--and I wasn't disappointed with this one either.



Dylan Scott--who has a new office to work from--is contacted by an ex-girlfriend Maddie and asked to investigate the suicide of her sister, Prue. What he digs up when investigating not only puts himself in danger but other.



There was so much about the story I liked, so many twist and turns.



Prue seems to have a simple life but the more Dylan digs, the more he realizes how little people knew about her and her life in France.



Dylan is married but when he sees Maddie, has conflicting thoughts. Especially because she wishes to restart a relationship with him. What will he do? Will he risk the relationship with his wife?



Also, we are introduced to many interesting characters including a young man who may have been witness to the murder, does he come forward? What does it mean for him?



I became attached to many of the characters and the ending of the book--how they bring a killer to justice--is suspenseful and unique.



The book is out today!



Buy it here:

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Shirley Well's Website



Also, check out my post on the Rabble-Writers blog.

ISWG: Managing Many Worlds... and Paracosm

I haven't been around lately. And really, I blame everyone else...in my other worlds. Hard to stay in one reality when the demands of the others are constantly thrown in your face.



Anyone else have that problem?



As writers, we exhaust ourselves, not only because we have to live our lives in an extremely taxing world but because we often have two or three other lives to live...sometimes hundreds. And, if you're like me, you don't make the lives of the other characters easy.



What can be done?



(1) The last few months, I've been juggling both editing and writing. I think that has got to end. Keeping one story straight is hard enough. So, I'm cutting back. Kudos to those who can write 3-4 novels at once.



(2) I've also cut down my daily word count a bit. That has eased the pressure some, especially because I leave for a month holiday next week.



(3) Have children? Did you know you can actually ask them to do chores? Apparently they haven't had time to start a teenage union because they've been busy reading novels on how to kill each other for competition or... sleeping.



How do you manage many worlds?





Just one more thing.





I wrote a post at the beginning of 2012 about the subject: Paracosm . It's still getting comments... and really meaningful comments. There are people out there who really face this. So, I want to do another series of blog posts in November about it.



In the meantime, if you haven't had a chance to give your thoughts, please do. These are the questions I've asked. Please feel free to give your thoughts in that blog post comment section.



So, now I ask you (and feel free to leave your comment as anonymous if you don't want to disclose your identity):




Have you ever 'lived in' or created a fantasy world? (If you answer no to this question, disregard the rest.)
How long have you had this imaginary world--since childhood or has the new world developed in adulthood?
Do you just watch the characters or are you in fact one of the characters?
Do you believe the world is real or are you aware that it's only in your mind?
Is the world completely made up--with its own language, laws, names--or is it based on the real world?
Do you escape into this imaginary world when faced with emotional trauma?
How often do you spend in that imaginary world? Do you talk to your
characters while washing dishes or taking a shower or does it interfere
with your life (This may fall into another category called Maladaptive
Daydreaming)?

Justine Dell Shares Writing Tips & Mormon Diaries Review

I don't know how I managed to plan two events in one day but so I did. 



To start off, I would like to welcome to my blog today--Justine Dell! Her book Recaptured Dreams has come out in paperback and she's kindly taken the time to answer a few of my questions.



Buy the book for Kindle

Buy a paperback copy



(1) In your book, your main character suffers from memory loss, why did you chose that ailment? What sort of research was involved?



The story was completely written around the hero, Xavier. I needed to have him work for something over a ten year period...until the day he saw the heroine, Sophia, again. And I realized that if she recognized him, the story would be over. Not only that, tons of other questions would arise (why didn't she contact him?). And because of a twist later on in the story, Sophia need to not have a memory of before she was 17. Memory loss was the answer. Enter car crash. ;-) At first, no research was really involved. My crit partner had questioned the ailment, so then I researched it a bit and added some important details. It wasn't until the book editor got a hold of me that changes in that department where really made. I did some specific amnesia research to make sure the ailment was a true to life as it could be.




(2) What’s your typical day as a writer like? Do you have any writing related rituals or quirks?




Oh, sigh. I have a full time job and a teenager, so I don't get to write on a regular basis. I tend to fit in an hour or so here and there. The weekends (Saturday morning mostly) is when the real work is done. When the offspring is still sleeping. LoL. I have only one quirk...it must be totally silent for me to write. No distractions. No noise. Silence. Maybe I should invest in earplugs?




(3) What's the hardest thing about writing that you didn't realize would be an issue before you took it up?



The writing part isn't a problem. For me, writing is my escape. I went into "writing" never having the dream of being published. It was just something I LOVED to do. The issues came after I realized there is more the writing than writing. There's editing. *shudders*



(4) Any writing tips or techniques or words of wisdom you want to share with us? How about a favorite writing quote?



Oh, I've learned so much in the three years I've been writing. My wonderful critique partner has taught me SO much. There's no way I could tell you everything ;-). I guess the most important thing would be: to read what you write. You HAVE to know you genre inside and out. And you have to practice your craft. You must write. And write some more.



(5) What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?



I wouldn't dare compare my book to anything in my genre, only because I'm still so new and don't believe I should be compared to some very great authors. With that being said, I think anyone who loves contemporary romance (by any author) would enjoy this book. And I think women's fiction readers would as well.



(6) What the book is about:



Ten years, the Atlantic Ocean, and several rungs in society have kept Xavier Cain from having Sophia
Montel. Now twenty-seven, he’s spent his entire adult life building a fashion empire that could finally
prove his worth to her family. When fate reunites him with Sophia at London’s premiere fashion show,
one problem lodges in Xavier’s path: Sophia doesn’t remember him.



The only obstacle that has kept Sophia from Xavier is a horrific car crash that erased her memory at
seventeen. She’s spent the last ten years fighting to reclaim a sliver of her past that her mother refuses to
help her remember. When Sophia meets Xavier at the London show, however, all her fantasies come to
life. Discovering he is the missing link, she is determined to find all the pieces to
their love story and her memory.



Xavier wants forever. Sophia wants her memory. If they take this chance, they’ll have to start over. How
far are they willing to go get what they want? And when the past catches up to them, can they handle the
truths it has hidden?






You can find links below for Justine and her book:

Author Bio:



Justine lives in the Midwest, happily catering to her family, which consists of a horse-obsessed teenage
daughter and four crazy dogs. She’s never moved from her hometown, but hopes to grow old in a much
warmer climate.



During the day she works a normal job with college students who try their best to keep her young.
They’ve done a good job thus far. At night, said teenage daughter and her horse require mounds of love
and attention. The weekends belong solely to her and her writing. That’s when she morphs into a sticky
bug, unable to leave the confines of her computer chair.



She started writing three years ago after seeing a movie that set off a chain reaction she couldn’t have
stopped if she’d wanted. It’s not a hobby for her; it’s an obsession. One she loves and one she loves to
share.



Buy the book for Kindle

Buy a paperback copy



Contact Justine by email: dell.justine@gmail.com



Recaptured Dreams on Goodreads.

Recaptured Dreams on Facebook.

Friend me on Facebook

Check out her Blog.

Find her on Twitter.

Find Recaptured Dreams on Goodreads Profile



And don't forget to check out Omnific
Publishing.





Now, to my review of a fantastic book!



 Mormon Diaries by Sophia L. Stone





My thoughts: I read the book a year ago when Sophia had posted the twenty-six essays on her blog. What attracted me to her story was her honesty, even though she knew she could lose her friends, family and her husband.



It's not a religious book. Although she does discuss some reasons why she left the church, it's more about her struggle to go against what everyone around her wanted and demanded of her.



From the moment Sophia got baptized in the Mormon religion, she had doubts and although she tried to justify what she believed, she came to realize she couldn't.



I'm sure this book will cause an uproar. However, it's a beautiful read.




What the book is about: Brought up in a
religious home, Sophia believes the only way to have a forever family is
by following church leaders and obediently choosing the right. She goes
to the right school, marries the right man in the right place, and does
the right thing by staying home to raise her children. But when she
starts asking questions about grace, love, and the nature of God, she
realizes her spiritual struggles could rip her family apart.



Here's where you can get it: 






Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble