Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 90

Of #HastingsPirateDay, And Last Sunday

It was Hastings Pirate Day 2018 on July 15th.

We didn't bother to dress up for it, but we did get Lilie a pirate bandana, and she loved the attention wearing it got her. Here are a couple of photos of her wearing it:

(We had to take them with me holding her on the bench, because it was the only way to keep her still long enough... All the people had her super excited, especially when they were commenting on how cute she was in her bandana).

Anyway, we decided to go to some of the events that were supposed to be happening on the peer for Pirate Day this year. Though it turned out hardly anything was happening on the peer. Most of the stuff was happening in the old town, but we'd decided not to go to those because we're still working on Lilie's drum issue, and they spacifically mentioned having drums involved in parades and things that would be going on. That was why we headed for the stuff on the peer instead. Like I said though, there wasn't much to see.

We did spot - and grab photos of - several pirates on the peer and seafront though:


We had walked all the way to the peer, so were disappointed not to find much more to see than that. So we decided to stop for ice-cream and lunch on the way home to make up for it.

We ended up eating lunch on the seafront - we had lunch from Oscars, if you're interested - while enjoying some free music.

I have a short video clip of the music for you. I'm not a fan of this kind of music, but we thought we'd grab a short clip for you anyway, so you could hear them. Like I said, it's not my kind of music. I have to admit though, although it's not my thing, they were really good, and you could feel the pure joy coming off them while they were performing. Plus, it was cheerful music to be listening to while we ate. Here's the clip:









There were kayaks out at sea that day, and other boats too.

The people on the kayaks were singing. I'm not sure if they were singing just for the pleasure of doing so, singing along with the music from the beach, singing to help keep the rhythm right for rowing, or what, since they were too far out for me to catch what they were singing properly, especially with the other music. But I enjoyed listening to them having a great time out there anyhow, since they sounded cheerful too. Kelly grabbed a couple of photos of them, so here they are:


It was one of those days that didn't turn out as planned, but was a wonderful day anyhow.

It was also one of those really hot days we've been having lately. Yeah, I know many of you have been having hotter weather, but I'm not great with heat (we're talking temperatures of 24 degrees C and higher, so temperatures of 80 degrees F and higher). Bearing in mind, we were out and about walking, and even if we'd been at home wouldn't have had air conditioning, since all we have here is fans. So... Yeah... I'm just glad we were along the seafront so we could benifit from the ocean breeze, and that we're smart enough to take drinks with us - especially for Lilie.

#FurkidFriday: Lilie The #Westie's Warthog Toy

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

A couple of weeks back, I got a new toy from the petstore place. I always get something when we go there. Sometimes a treat, sometimes a toy, sometimes both. Great, isn't it? An outing, and something to enjoy when I get home!

This particular time it was a toy, and the toy was a thing the humans say is a warthog, which is cuddly and squeaky. Although, Mummy says real warthogs aren't cuddly or squeaky. Whatever!

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see it, so here are a couple of photos taken when Mummy was giving it to me:


Lots of licks,
Lilie

#WriterWednesday - July 18th 2018

Don't forget that the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale is still on, and all the Smashwords eBook versions of my books are half price throughout it. The sale ends on July 31st, and you can find out a little more about it in my post from the start of July.

Speaking of Smashwords: they just added the option to put a link to where your book is available in audio on your Smashwords book page. So I put the Audible links on mine. Well, on the ones where the audio books are available anyhow. They already had the Amazon links for the paperbacks, which I'd changed from the CreateSpace links after CreateSpace stopped selling directly from their site. Now you can find an option for both paperback and audio book links on my Smashwords pages. I could have also added links to the paperbacks and audio books on other retailers - such as Barnes & Noble and iTunes - but haven't done so, since making it plain there are paperback and audio versions available should be enough. Plus, it took me long enough to do that much. Anyway, I'll add the Audible links for the others as the audio versions become available too.

It seems a lot of places are fiddling with their sites lately. Even ACX has a refreshed website.

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I still haven't managed to get any actual writing done on my pirate adventure story. I wanted to, but it's just not happening at the moment. However, there is some progress with it, since I did get a lot of the research I needed to do for it done over the past couple of weeks. I also had a bit of a brainstorming session over the phone with Dakota (13) and Axl (12) - the children of a family friend - to name my pirate ship, so now the ship has a name. That counts, right?

By the way, if you need help naming things in your own story, check out this post for some ideas on how to go about it.

Anyway, despite not doing any actual writing on my pirate adventure story, I did do some writing recently.

I wrote a couple of short poems, as well as a story that was inspired by something that happened with our Westie girl, Lilie, a few weeks back. It's not as much as I'd have liked, and isn't progress on the story I wanted to be working on, but considering everything, and considering how little writing I've managed to do throughout most of this year, I'm pleased to have even gotten that much writing done, especially when you pair it with the time I spent doing research.

"Where's Noodles?" - the story about Lilie - is now going through the revising and editing phases. Yes, I got that far with it. It was one of those stories that demanded attention, and had to be written immediately. Anyway, I'm not sure when it will be ready to be published, but I'll let you know when I have a date set. It should be in the near future though.

That's one good thing about my doing all those blog posts ahead of time: I was able to use some of the time I'd have otherwise spent on writing blog posts to work on some writing, as well as do some research. It's a shame I didn't actually get any writing done on the story I planned to be working with, but at least I got some writing time in, which was nice after how little I've been able to do that in the past few months. Besides, the research needed to be done, and was interesting, so I did enjoy doing that too.

Just to warn you: since I've been posting other things on Wednesdays for the past few weeks, I have a lot of links I want to share, which I've gathered over the past several weeks. Because of this, I've ended up with quite a long post for you.

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In case you missed my recent posts about it:

"Waves Of Broken Dreams And Other Poems" is now available in audio from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes, read for you by narrator, and fellow author, Carol Weakland. Clicking on the book's title will take you to my post, where you can see more details about the book, along with a selection of purchase links for all available formats.

Also, "Lonely Little Princess" is now available in audio from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. This one is narrated by Jenny Bacon. As mentioned above, clicking on the book's title will take you to my post, where you can see more details about the book, along with a selection of purchase links for all available formats.

The first book in my "Zeena Dragon Fae" series is also now available as an audio book, narrated by Ella Lynch. But I'm waiting to post about it until I can post about all four books in the series. Ella is currently working on the rest of them.

Speaking of book availability: I recently learned that you can find my books on Indie Bound. Just thought I'd mention that, in case you're interested. I'm not going to grab links to them... There are over 50, after all... But if you search for me by name, or search for any of my book titles, you should find them easily enough.

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Are you going to any of the writing conferences being held all over the place - or, it seems like all over the place - during the next several weeks? If not, don't worry... You're not alone. I'm not going to any either. So, if you're in the same boat as me, here are four ways to benifit from a conference you're not attending. Hope that helps you to not feel so left out.

Conference or not, do you want to support a writer you love, but think you can't afford to? Then check out these ways to support a writer without spending a dime.

Oh, and... Fellow authors, here's a post about what book bloggers want authors to know. These can apply to reviewers in general, and you should bear them in mind before approaching people to ask for reviews for your book.

Mind you, before you try to get reviews, you should decide how you'll be publishing, and figure out some sort of marketing strategy. So, here's a post that discusses how to become a professional author, which may help you get started with that. Also, here's a fantastic post about how to stay sane while you publish, based on the way the Chinese ying-yang symbol reminds us of the balance of energies that exist in the world.

Speaking of book marketing: here's a post that gives you some tips on where you should start.

If you decide to self-publish, and want to increase your chances of your books being picked up by libraries, you should probably take a look at this librarian's top five tips for indie authors.

Regardless of how you publish though, take a look at this post on building your platform and preparing to publish, which is especially useful for those intending to self-publish, but worth checking out if you plan to take the traditional publishing route too.

What are the odds of marketing your book? Well, if nobody knows about it, how can they buy it? I mean, though nothing's guaranteed, some publicity before you publish - and immediately after - can potentially help with book sales, and is more likely to result in sales than doing nothing, that's for sure. With that in mind, here's a post about what to look for in a book publicist, which also includes tips for going it alone.

Does part of your publicity campaign - or marketing strategy, if you prefer to call it that - involve writing guest posts? Then check out these ways to knock your next guest post out of the park.

Additionally, if you're doing a public reading of your book, you might want to read this post on how to perform (not just read) your book in front of audiences.

Also, here are some tips for breaking bread with journalists, or anyone else you might be meeting for the first time in hopes of some extra publicity for yourself and your book(s).

Author or not, don't forget these basic tips for social media etiquette. We should all be following those tips, but they're especially important if you're someone with a business or product to promote, such as an author.

Of course, before you try to publish and market your book, you get to actually write it, which is the best part! First comes the plate of peas part of writing. That's just the first draft though, and often you will rewrite, and it will be painful but worth it.

Next, this post gives a simple example of the story ark, and why stories captivate, so you may want to check that out.

Another thing that might be helpful while writing your story is this post full of tips on how to get the balance right when trying to make your sentences more descriptive.

By the way, here's a post on how to write an effective chase scene - just in case you could use some help with that.

No matter what kind of scene you're writing though, your story will be full of them, and they should have certain elements involved in them. So, here are the five elements of a scene. You can also check out the rest of Rachel's posts on scene writing if you like.

Do you write fantasy, science-fiction, or some other genre where you need to invent your own language? Then check out this post on how to create your own fantasy language.

Regardless of genre, if you're thinking of writing a spin-off, take a moment to read these potentially useful tips for spin-offs.

Also, take a look at this post about the basic plot of a quest, especially if you plan on writing one. WARNING: the post I just linked to contains spoilers for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

No matter what you're writing though, if you write for either middle grade or young adult readers, you should bear in mind the key differences between middle grade vs young adult.

Regardless of the age group you write for, here are ten helpful writing tips you might want to take a look at - especially if you're just getting started on your writing journey. You might also want to take a look at this post about why writing advice from 'experts' isn't always trustworthy.

Another thing you should bear in mind regardless of what you write, or the age group you write it for, is the need to avoid too many cooks in the kitchen situations. So don't overload your story with too many characters; only add characters you need to. Here's some advice to help you decide if you need your characters or not. If characters who don't need to be involved in your book want their stories told too, tell them to get in line, and write their stories in another book or something.

Regardless of the number of characters in your story, here are some awesome plot structures for building bestsellers.

Next, take a look at this interesting post, which asks the question, "Have you found your voice?"

Whether you've found your voice or not, perhaps you should take a look at these ideas for what to do when you hit a brick wall with your writing. If you're struggling with writers' block that's bad enough that those things don't help though, try not to let it discourage you, and maybe do this the next time you feel like leaving the writing life behind.

If you feel you really do need a break from writing though, take one. Afterwards, when you start writing again, you can always take this advice for when you begin writing after a long break.

If it's inspiration you're seeking, check out this series of posts on finding inspiration in various places, and these tips for developing story ideas.

What is this thing called writers' block anyhow?

Oh, and here's what's really happening when you think you're 'running out of ideas'. So try not to stress about it if you're just not feeling it at the moment.

Remember though: having lots of story ideas is a good thing. But sometimes a good idea isn't good enough. Not without the time and effort that goes in to turning it from idea to finished story.

Speaking of time: if your problem is finding time to write between all the other things you want/need to get done in a day, here's how to use a "time block" to get more writing done.

Anyway, let's assume you're writing regularly, and have something you need to make sure you're using commonly accepted grammar rules to write. With that in mind, here's a post that discusses the use of an ellipsis, just in case you aren't sure how to use one. Also, here's one that talks about comma abuse, and another that discusses the paragraph, in case you don't remember the rules for those from your school days.

Once you're done, it will be time to worry about editing. First though, you should rewrite and not edit. Once you've dealt with rewrites, that's when you need to start worrying about arranging editing, and proof reading too. Only then will your book finally be finished.

If you're still not sure where to start, check out this post on going from blank page to published book.

At some point during the process, you should have someone else take a look at your book, so they can help you see the forest and the trees. How you arrange this is up to you, but it really is a good idea to get someone else to take a look at your story before you call it finished.

Bear in mind though that finishing your book isn't the end of things. In fact, yer WURK is just beginning….

Speaking of which, here's a post about how to use Goodreads to promote your book. Yes, it is that simple. Although, I would like to point out that reviews pouring in isn't guaranteed. I'm active on Goodreads, and - while I do have several reviews there - can tell you from personal experience that reviews aren't guaranteed anywhere. Still, it's worth a try. Plus, Goodreads is a fun place to hang out if you're a book lover anyhow, author or not.

By the way, if you're one of those writers who has to fit in writing - and all those other tasks that go along with it - around other commitments, like another job of some kind - be it full time or part time - please remember that it doesn't make you any less of a writer than those who don't, and you don't have to love your day job.

Every writer is different, and what works for one may not work for another. Because of this, you should be careful about comparing yourself to others. There are some positive points about doing so, but it's not always a good thing to do it. With that in mind, here are the pros and cons of comparing yourself to other writers.

So, is writing a need - or a desire for you? Either way, go forth and write like the Dickens!

Oh, and you have my permission to imagine, and should give yours to others, whether you - or they - are a writer or not. Creativity and imagination should be encouraged, and you don't always need to be more productive.

Last, but certainly not least, always look for an excuse to keep writing!

#ChildrensBook - Lonely Little Princess Now In #Audio! #Animals #Mice #KidLit

All the mice of the castle were very happy, until Princess Hazel became sad. Nobody can figure out why she’s so sad; she has everything a mouse princess could ask for. But nothing seems to make her happy. That is, until an orphaned little field mouse named Ffern arrives. Now it looks like there may be a way to make everyone happy once again.

Previously only available as an eBook or paperback, "Lonely Little Princess" is now also available as an audiobook, read for you by Jenny Bacon.

Regardless of the format you'd prefer, here are the main places where you can buy the book:

Audible, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Chapters-Indigo, iBooks, iTunes, Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, and The Book Depository.

The book also has a page on Goodreads.

#Music Monday: Celine Dion - Titanic Theme Song • My Heart Will Go On

C is for Celine Dion, who you probably know is French-Canadian. I decided to share this version of "My heart will go on" - the version from the movie "Titanic" - because it's the first thing I think of when I think of her, which is probably true for a lot of people. So... Enjoy!

Of Medical Mutterings, Some Cuddly Animals, And The 2018 #StLeonards Festival

I had my first shot this past Friday (July 13th).

It's too soon to know if it's going to do anything, but I thought those who have been following my medical news would want to know I've had it. The next shot is scheduled for August 10th at 2:30pm.

While I was there, I had them weigh me.

I lost half a kilo (a little over a pound).

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

On the one hand, I'm pleased, because any weight loss is a good thing, and losing weight slowly is the best way. After all, they say losing weight slowly means it's easier to keep it off. So, if it was after my surgery, and I was just doing this to slowly get myself in to better shape, I'd be happy with even that small weight loss. I know I'm trying, and that it will get easier in time, but that the reason it wasn't much is because pushing myself to my limits still doesn't mean I'm getting anywhere near as much exercise as I should be. I know things will improve for me in time, and - as I said - if this was after my surgery, so it was only myself I had to answer to, I'd be happy that things are moving in the right direction, all be it slowly.

On the other hand, since I have to convince the gynecologists I'm trying, I'm a bit upset that I only lost that much. I need to lose more than I have been if I'm going to have enough of a decrease in weight to satisfy them. That half a kilo was in four weeks. If I only lose that much every four weeks, I'll only manage to lose two or three kilos before the surgery date rolls around - depending when that date does roll around - and I don't think they'd be too pleased if that's all I've lost. Losing that little could be enough to give them an excuse to postpone things longer. I don't want to give them that excuse. They never said exactly how much I had to lose, but I'm pretty sure they meant more than a couple of kilos. So, I'm disappointed in how little I've lost.

I've decided to deal with it by thinking of it like this: that weight loss was great, and I'm happy for me. But it would be fantastic if I could see a larger decrease in my weight when I go back for my second shot.

Now I just have to figure out how to make that happen.

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The photo above is of some cuddly animals I got recently, which I kept meaning to post about, but didn't get around to even having Kelly sort photos of until now. They're Peter Rabbit - yes, he's an actual small Peter Rabbit cuddly toy - Marie the kitten, and another rabbit named Aurora.

Peter Rabbit came in an Easter egg. OK, OK, I admit it! I brought the egg myself so I could get the toy. The chocolate egg was nice too, but I brought it because I wanted the toy. I'm pretty sure the reason it was available was because of the new Peter Rabbit movie, but I haven't actually seen that, and it was my love for Beatrix Potter's books - which I've been enjoying since my Nan used to read them to us when we were little - that made me want him. There was a Flopsy Bunny one too, but I didn't get a chance to go back for it due to ending up in hospital, and they weren't doing them any more by the time I was home. I should have grabbed both in the first place. Oh well, never mind. At least I got the Peter Rabbit one.

Marie is an actual teddy of Marie from The Aristocats movie. It's one of the movies my brother, Carl, and I have loved since we were young. It was actually Carl who brought me Marie. She was a get well present from him after my Easter weekend hospital stay.

Aurora was sent to me by my Mam, and got her name because it was how she was listed on Amazon, and we thought it was a pretty name. She's to come to hospital with me when I finally have my surgery, because Mam won't be able to visit due to her own health issues. Mam sent her to me around the start of June, just to make sure I had her before my surgery date rolls around. It was only afterwards we learned of the need to wait three to six months. But Aurora is here now, and sat on my desk waiting to be packed along with the other stuff I'll be taking in to hospital when the time comes. Oh, well, better for her to be waiting a while than not make it in time.

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The St Leonards festival happens in late June or early July - most often June - every year. This year it happened on June 30th. We didn't go, because of a combination of my being exhausted from having gone out the day before, and the fact we only remembered exactly which day it was this year when I heard drums in the distance. Well, more the second thing... Erm... Oops!

Anyway, we grabbed a couple of shots of the marching band when they were passing near where we live, so here are the couple of photos we got:

#FurkidFriday: A Photo And Video Of Joshua The #Degu From June 2018

Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu.

The human caretakers took this photo of me a month ago, right after sorting out some fresh hay for my nesting box, and changing the sawdust in the tray thing under my cage. I thought you'd like to see it, so here it is:



They did a video too, which explains why they stood there pointing the flashy thing at me without it doing the flashing... I wondered at the time what that was about. Anyway, here's the video:







Hope you enjoyed seeing my photo and video.

Oh, and don't mind the barking in the background of my video... That's just the Lilie dog.

Squeak soon,
Joshua

#WriterWednesday - Tools Of The Telling Trade In Reality And Fiction - #FortuneTelling #Runes #Tarot

Charles - yes, the same Charles with a recent fantasy book release that's on sale throughout July, which I posted about here - did a series of posts on his blog recently about some of the tools of the fortune telling trade.

The purpose of these posts was to briefly look at some of the tools of the trade in real life, as well as how they can - and do - get used in fiction. It's not an in-depth look, but I found the posts - along with some of the comments left on them - interesting, so thought I'd give them a mention.

If you'd like to check them out, you can do so on his blog. Here are the links:

RunesZodiac SignsTarot

In case you're interested: I'm a Scorpio, born on a day when the moon was in Cancer, in the year of the rat. So my Sun sign is Scorpio, my Moon sign is Cancer, and my Chinese Zodiac sign is the rat. Thought I'd mention all three versions of my zodiac signs that I know exist, just to be thorough. If you know of any others, I'd be interested to hear about them.

Sally's Cafe And Bookstore Summer #Sale Now On!

Sally is posting about books that are on sale.

!My books get a mention in one of the posts, but I'm just one of several authors mentioned, and there are plenty more posts planned to tell you about others with books on sale.

So, check out the posts in Sally's Cafe And Bookstore Summer Sale, and grab some bargain books.

Hurry! The sales won't last forever!

#Music Monday: Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

B is for Bryan Adams, who - if you don't know - has duel Canadian and British citizenship, like Kelly does (though I think his is based on residency duration, so not for the same reason Kelly has it). Anyway, it had to be "Everything I do" that I shared, because it's my favourite of his, and the first one that comes to mind when I think of him. So, here it is... Enjoy!