Cate Russell-Cole's Blog, page 9

When you think you’ve done the best you can… think again.

Were you bought up with the saying, “can’t” isn’t in the dictionary? I heard it a few times and today I said it to a friend, “I can’t, I’m sorry.” Then I went to their Twitter feed to do what I could and changed my mind about can’t. This is what I saw and there were many like them.

Cherrie is an incredible lady. She challenges people’s views on body image, and I am in no doubt that you will agree, we all need that challenge! Her book is 99c until September 10th and she asked me to promote it on my blog. I said, “I can’t. I am a business blog, it doesn’t fit.” Well, I have been an admirer of Cherrie for ages and as this blog is designed to empower and encourage people, I will make this post fit.

Those of you who struggle with weight, nose size, breast size, large butts or any kind of demoralising disposition – go hang around Cherrie. She will help keep you sane.

Life is pathetic if we can’t help our friends.

Click on the image to order.

Review: This is a very insightful book about ridding oneself of false beliefs she might harbor in relation to body image. The reader learns how one can become adept at self deception and how instead one should love herself as God would love her. This book uses Scripture as a guiding force in order to negate obsessions our culture has on body image.

Filed under: What's On Tagged: body image

Your First Novel Will Stink! True or False?

Months ago I wrote a post talking about why I deliberately stayed away from how-to-write advice, until I got the first draft of my novel written. It was an advantageous decision, as I was able to write without doubts, shoulds and too much technique being stuck in my head. Since then, I have been reading the advice which is available and it’s been a buzzkill.

It’s incredibly hard to finish the last edits on The Dragon Tree, with people yelling “first novels always stink, shelve them and forget it.” Isn’t it funny how you never notice advice like that, until you are in the position where it may apply to you? Then the words appear to be attacking you from all directions.

As much as I love these coaches, I am surprised that I am being told that I’ll be useless at mastering the craft of fiction, until I’ve written a million words, or a few more books. Of course our writing improves over time. Authors should not presume that they will be perfect on their first trip around the sun. However, there is no written rule that first time novelists are inevitably destined to be utter failures, or mediocre shelf-fillers. Leave us with some sense of hope!

I’ve conceived ten books, seven courses, many appalling pieces of poetry, a number of short stories and many articles. I’ve been published and plagiarised all over the globe. Does that count? Apparently not. They are non-fiction. This will be my first novel. The words are jammed in my head. #1 novel = garbage!

Being me, I decided to rebel and look at the other side of the argument. There are many successful first novels which are best sellers, Pulitzer Prize winners and have been made into movies. Here’s a short list:

Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason’s The Rule of Four.
Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
Janet Fitch’s White Oleander
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise
Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain

To bother or not to bother? That is my question.

David Guterson’s Snow Fall on Cedars
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Melinda Hayes’s Mother of Pearl
Marjorie Kellogg’s Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees
Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
Jay McInernay’s Bright Lights, Big City
Brad Meltzer’s The Tenth Justice
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind
Laurie Notaro’s Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club
Boris Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar
Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones
Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty
Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep
Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook
John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces
Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada
Rebecca Well’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
To Kill A Mockingbird
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Gone with the Wind
Sense and Sensibility
Doctor Zhivago
Wuthering Heights
The Help
The Devil Wears Prada

So what’s your stand on the issue? What success did you have with your first novel? I’d like to hear your answers.

The book lists in this post come from several sources, including Book Market.com and Stylist Magazine.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2014. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes images and text usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. 

Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

Filed under: Author First Aid Tagged: author, creativity, encouragement, fiction, goals, Indie publishing, novel, problem solving, support, writer, writing

Social Media Angst: Do You Know the Core of Yours?

Every second writer I know hates the necessity of social media. Many writers feel that their introverted nature comprises the core of their social media angst. We utterly loathe pushing ourselves to corral new followers, when we don’t want to wear a marketing hat.

Couple that with the  trolls, the spammers, the critics and the mountain of scams, dissenting opinions over simple issues and yes, the idiots and we have a classic love-hate relationship… or one that is barely tolerable. It can be false, cheap and meaningless. All the elements that make us want to break up with it and find something new. However, we can’t.

Like all of us who are playing this game, I want to be a success. I want to reach people and sell my books. So I work with social media as much as I can, then I have these ‘fits’ where I want to dump the whole danged thing. I’ve never really understood why that happens.

Last night, I started to watch a Youtube video by Scott Geller, on the Psychology of Self-Motivation. I was looking for blog post ideas on writing about character motivation. I didn’t think I’d wind up talking about myself! I realised that the reason why I hate Twitter so much, is because I am motivated by a fear of failure as an author which is a negative… and I fervently believe that anything negative is always to be resisted.

I am a ‘failure avoider,’ rather than a ‘success seeker.’ I want to achieve certain goals, I can see the gain to be made by pulling the puppet strings that need to be pulled and I pull them… but only because I have been repeatedly told that I MUST and therein lies the problem. I am not working with social media because it is a positively fuelled choice. I am not naturally attracted to social media. My motivator is wrong, so I go through periods of rebellion.

Add to that the creative temperament and you can see the problem. Creative people don’t like to be told what to do, they don’t like to comply with social norms. They want to cut their own way through the jungle and leave their signature on it. However, they also have to follow certain rules and this is where free spirit collides with good advice.

I need to ask myself how committed I am to what I want to achieve, or as Scott put it, “is it worth it?” I have seen many blogs and social media accounts lapse into the abyss. Today I removed quite a few dead blogs from my Triberr tribes and had trouble finding enthusiastic new members who were active. Obviously for many people, the prize wasn’t worthy of commitment or the necessary investment.

Please watch the video (below) to hear the full explanation of Scott’s ideas. He is an engaging speaker and it’s worth the few minutes it takes. Also, please comment. I’d like to know, what fuels your love-hate relationship with social media? Is it introversion or fear of failure? How far are you willing to invest effort to succeed? I will be asking myself the same questions. I have a lot of attitude-improvement work to do!

 

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2014. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. 

Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

Filed under: Book Marketing Tagged: author, challenge, conflict, problem solving, promotion, psychology, Scott Geller, Self-Motivation, social media, success, writer

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Aug 17-23, 2014

Cate Russell-Cole:

There is so much pure gold in here, I went to share each link. If I had done so, I would have overloaded Twitter! :-) Thanks to Writerly Goodness for a great roundup of interesting and practical articles. Follow that blog!

Originally posted on Writerly Goodness:

I really tried to get used to the new WordPress editor, but I finally had to give in and activate Classic Mode (Dum-ta-de-dah!). It’s so much easier to apply tags in the classic editor.

Let’s start with some publishing news. From Publishers Weekly, no less. What copyright changes mean for Canadian publishers.

Here’s K.M. Weiland’s weekly podcast/post: Can a character’s arc be a subplot?

Here’s her guest post on the Writer’s Alley on what weather can do for your story.

Then Katie wandered over to the Wordserve Water Cooler to discuss how to make a walk-on character memorable (but not too memorable).

Here’s Katie’s workshops & webinars page if you want to get moar of the good stuff.

And her weekly vlog on how to tighten your tale by streamlining your symbolism.

Anne R. Allen rounds up the usual suspects for her post on five protagonists…

View original 279 more words

Filed under: Awesome Posts by Other Writers, Writing Resources Tagged: author, challenge, characterisation, fantasy, Game of Thrones, Indie publishing, novel, plot, problem solving, resource, writer, writing

Become a Story Weaver, NOT a Story Mechanic!

I think we’ll all wholeheartedly agree with the truths presented here and be inspired by this video. It’s overflowing with practical advice. If you have a Youtube log in, this is a great channel to follow.

Filed under: Character and Plot Construction Tagged: books, characterisation, description, fiction, goals, ideas, Indie publishing, inspiration, mechanical planning, novel, problem solving, resource, story telling, Structure, viewpoint, World Building, writer, writing

Compliments and a Creative, Community Promotion Idea

The whole purpose of this blog and most of my work, is to encourage people. Look above you. It says so in my header. So when I am recognised and thanked for doing that, it deeply touches my heart and makes the many hours of work worthwhile. I am proudly wearing this badge on the blog and it will also go onto my web site.

You know something? This is a double blessing, as when I looked at the badge, I realised what a great idea it is for building support. Vicki’s act of recognition is also practical inspiration.

Vicki has been a friend and a follower for a year or two now. I love the work she does and her positive, uplifting Facebook posts. Vicki is challenged with bipolar disorder and does an incredibly good job of coping with it and achieving her goals, regardless of the hurdles the condition flings onto her path. She wrote me a guest post on her journey back in January. You can read it here.

Please stop as you go through the motions of blogging and social media today, and see what you can do to support and encourage someone else. It does take more time and a modest investment of effort, but it’s worth it!

Thank you Vicki.

What is Writecovery?… Words Heal

We work with those recovering from or living with a range of tough personal challenges who struggle with distress, poor quality of life, dissatisfaction, and discouraging health issues, and would like to have a better attitude, enjoy a better quality of life, and be more positive. What makes WRITECOVERY, INC., different is that we are self-guided, private, safe, and secure and because of this, our clients receive an advantage of a safe environment for renewal and transformation to a more joyful life. Read more here.

Filed under: What's On Tagged: award, Bipolar Disorder, community, encouragement, inspiration, promotion, support, Vicki M Taylor, writer, writing

Seeking Equality for Independent Authors – A Call to Action

The two minutes of your time that this will take, will benefit you! Orna Ross, from the Alliance of Independent Authors, has created this petition highlighting the need for Independent Authors to be treated with the same equality as traditionally published authors. This is one petition which we all need to sign. The letter is below.

Please Sign Here

To:

Libraries

Booksellers Associations of Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Europe, India, UK & USA

Book Reviewers & Review Outlets

Literary Organisations

Literary & Publishing Events Organisers

Library Associations Associations of Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Europe, India, UK & USA,

I, and the Alliance of Independent Authors, urge you to find ways to include self-publishing writers as a matter of priority.

As you know, more and more writers are turning to self-publishing and many such authors are producing work of proven value to readers.

While recognising that there are challenges in incorporating such writers, it has become a necessity, if book stores, libraries, literary events and reviewers are to be inclusive, and fully serve readers and writers.

I trust you will give this matter the attention it deserves.

Great Reasons for Signing

Filed under: What's On Tagged: Independent Authors, Petitition

That One Rogue Sentence… Lessons from Best Selling Authors

There is never a good enough reason to be inactive as a writer. The last few months have been chaos here, but time well spent. While I have been dealing with chronic pain problems and haven’t spent time on my blog, or social media, I have been sitting at the feet of many literary masters and learning from their handiwork. I have been delving into the depths of J R R Tolkien, George R R Martin, Stephen Lawhead, Mary Stewart, Raymond E Feist, Melanie Rawn, J K Rowling, Traci Harding and have read more Terry Pratchett than is probably decent.

It’s superfluous to say that I have learnt a lot. Here are the lessons which have stood out to me the most.

A book can be completely perfect in structure, punctuation, grammar, spelling and plot: however, I am noticing that most of these authors have that one rogue sentence which gives away information in an inappropriate place, is completely confusing or messes up the flow of what they are writing. It’s normally in the first three chapters.


If you are writing in a manner which describes an accent, or is old world language (such as Shakespearian speech,) you are making your life incredibly hard if you only use it for certain characters. It is too easy to slip out of that voice and it stands out like a sore thumb to the reader.


The legends break all the rules. Tolkien writes sentences which are so long, they become confusing. If I wrote like that, my writing mentors would slap me. But, it does add to the flow, so who is right and who is wrong?


Ebook formatting seems to have no standards, rules or quality control. Some formats are easier to read than others, thanks to the use of white space. (I have a post coming out on that in September. The blog officially restarts on September 1st.)


Using foreign speech alongside a lot of unfamiliar names which have crazy spelling (for example, Welsh) breaks your brain. If you cannot get your head around a character’s name, reading can become hard work and easy to abandon.


I know all the arguments about prologues, but they are worth reading! Books make more sense if you don’t skip them.


I’ve read two books where I have come to hate the main character. Everything works too easily for them and they became so cut-throat ambitious, I turned against them and will never read any more books in that series.


I know it can be wise to kill your darlings, but if you start a series with ‘the good guys,’ then you slowly kill them all off over several books, the reader is left alone and wondering who to cheer on. All that is left is the bad guys. You can overdo it.


Never write a massive series that you may not be able to finish. It may be wiser to leave all books as complete, with a teaser to get the reader to pick up the next one. That way, if chaos intervenes, you won’t get stoned for not writing that last tome.

As I said above, the blog will be back in action, posting two days a week from September first. I am still very unwell and have become a lab rat, as the pain management doctors try a variety of potions to see if they can make me more comfortable… however, I have no choice but to go back to work.

Posts scheduled look at the writing process, resources for character writing, writing sites which are godsends, plot building, publishing and more. Comments are off in some posts and on in others, so I don’t overwork. I am going to be on social media far less than in the past as well. Balance has to be maintained.

Thank you to all of you for your good wishes and understanding. I hope my health does improve over the next few months and that I can get back to visiting your blogs and being more supportive.

Filed under: "Writing Lessons from the Writing Life" Tagged: Ebook formatting, George R R Martin, grammar, J K Rowling, J R R Tolkien, literary masters, Mary Stewart, Melanie Rawn, old world language, one rogue sentence, plot, prologues, punctuation, Raymond E Feist, sentences, spelling, Stephen Lawhead, Structure, Traci Harding, white space

Indefinitely offline. Seriously ill.

I’ve just been discharged from hospital. I am very sick and can barely read, let alone work. Please be patient with me while I recover. With my breathing this bad, they may have to readmit me. :-( We’re going through living hell.

I promise I won’t forget the competition. Just give me time. Thank you everyone for all the love, I desperately need it.

Filed under: What's On

Hiding Behind the Teacup: Authors and Personal Security Online

Every piece of advice I read about using social media, insists that you include a photo of yourself as your avatar. It personalises the experience, because social media is just that: social. I agree. Nastiness can hide behind logos and I would much rather see what my friends look like. However, the world is not always a safe place and it’s easy to forget that.

Everywhere I go online, you will find my pink teacup and book stack logo. People tell me they like it, because it’s different and stands out, but there is a reason behind it. I have been cyber-stalked twice and I also have a psychotic family member who is violent, bitter (thanks to their delusions) and untreated. Currently they don’t know where I am. Because of that, my number doesn’t appear in any phone books and I am a silent voter on the electoral roll, here in Australia. So why would I be nuts enough to put my face online? With services such as Tin Eye, the beloved family member can upload an old family photo of me and on the basis of image similarity, I can be identified.

No freaking way!

In the sea of faces online, photos of individuals often don’t stand out anyway. Simple logos do. One element which always draws my attention is the colour red. Have a look at this image and see how fast you find my friend Lauren. (Who has a downright awesome blog for writers, by the way.)

There is a reason why the Where’s Wally publishers use red.

Not everyone needs my degree of personal protection and please don’t take your lovely face away out of paranoia. It’s good to see you! However, it pays to be aware of the criminal activity which is out there. Can your image be printed and used in identity theft? How many same old, same old, photo images lifted from accounts, are used by spammers on Twitter? It bears consideration.

I have no desire to make the world impersonal, but… think first and I am sorry, I don’t care how carefully you hide exactly where you live or your child’s name, when I see pictures of people’s children on blogs which have no privacy control, or Facebook where they haven’t used the privacy control, I am genuinely scared for them. You are an adult acting on their behalf. For a start, later in life they may resent you parading them online. Right now, protect them. (My husband would be furious if I placed a photo of him on my Facebook page.)

Just below is the photo that resulted in me being tracked and harassed (cyber-stalked) by two men. I have been online since 1997, so they are far from the only weirdos I have met, but they are the worst. It is an iStockphoto and no, I do not use it anymore. This is how little it takes to set off a sick imagination. See why it freaks me out when I see people’s kids online?

Here is a basic introduction to cyber-stalking and how you can take care of yourself. Please DO take very good care of yourself and your family.

My teacup avatar, is a purchased iStockphoto.com image which has been photoshopped. If you like the image, you are legally obliged to buy it from the same source, or iStockphoto.com has the right to take legal action against you for theft. The same applies for the bottom eye and hair avatar. Just saying…

This blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt it.

Filed under: Blog Building and Promotion, Book Marketing Tagged: avatar, awareness., blogs, children, cyberstalk, Facebook, Google Plus, identity theft, online security, prevention, protection, self protection, Twitter, web site