Sarah R. Weldon's Blog
September 8, 2012
Writing a bestseller - Your opinions count!
Today I'd like to ask all Goodreads members a big favour, especially those of you who live to read. Intrigued? It's quite simple, I want to know what book will be the next number one best seller worldwide!
Not much to ask is it? Well okay maybe it is a bit of a tall order. Okay then, how about this would you be prepared to tell me what it is you would 'like' to be reading this time next year? Or in other words what do you expect from an author?
Do you want to be terrified or petrified or would you prefer to be romanced gently. Would another book like 50 Shades of Grey float your boat? Some like it spicy and hot,so hot the pages sizzle as you turn them? Still not sure? Okay well just tell us what you want, what you really, really want?
Answer this short questionaire today please and help us to write the books the public want to read. Tell us everything, your likes, your dislikes, help us to understand what makes a book the book everyone must have in their collection.
a. Are you male or female.
b. What Genres do you like?
c. How do you feel about sex and violence?
d. What is your view on the use of bad language in a book?
e. Which age group are you?
1. Early teens.
2. Late teens.
3. Twenties.
4. Thirties
5. Forty and over.
6. Don't wish to say.
f. Who is your favourite author and why?
g. What do you as a reader expect from a book?
h. What makes you reject a book?
i. Would the cover influence you either way into buying or not buying a book.
j. If a book was written by someone you had never heard of was recommended to you would you buy it?
k. How important is the beginning/ending to you?
Your honest opinions are what we need, not the thoughts and ideas of others, help us to give you the next best seller!
Thank you for your time it is much appreciated.
Sarah R Weldon feel free to contact me on sarahrweldon.author@gmail.com
Not much to ask is it? Well okay maybe it is a bit of a tall order. Okay then, how about this would you be prepared to tell me what it is you would 'like' to be reading this time next year? Or in other words what do you expect from an author?
Do you want to be terrified or petrified or would you prefer to be romanced gently. Would another book like 50 Shades of Grey float your boat? Some like it spicy and hot,so hot the pages sizzle as you turn them? Still not sure? Okay well just tell us what you want, what you really, really want?
Answer this short questionaire today please and help us to write the books the public want to read. Tell us everything, your likes, your dislikes, help us to understand what makes a book the book everyone must have in their collection.
a. Are you male or female.
b. What Genres do you like?
c. How do you feel about sex and violence?
d. What is your view on the use of bad language in a book?
e. Which age group are you?
1. Early teens.
2. Late teens.
3. Twenties.
4. Thirties
5. Forty and over.
6. Don't wish to say.
f. Who is your favourite author and why?
g. What do you as a reader expect from a book?
h. What makes you reject a book?
i. Would the cover influence you either way into buying or not buying a book.
j. If a book was written by someone you had never heard of was recommended to you would you buy it?
k. How important is the beginning/ending to you?
Your honest opinions are what we need, not the thoughts and ideas of others, help us to give you the next best seller!
Thank you for your time it is much appreciated.
Sarah R Weldon feel free to contact me on sarahrweldon.author@gmail.com
August 30, 2012
Inspiration
I once read a quote that writing was 70% inspiration and 30% perspiration!
Where they get that from I have no idea, I don’t remember ever breaking into a sweat in creativity mode!
So where do we writers find our inspiration?
I for one get a great many of my ideas in my sleep! Do I dream in colour, it would appear so, and sometimes these dreams are so vivid I wake up screaming! Some of them are outrageously ridiculous going from the sublime to the extreme.
I remember one dream where I was with an ex-boyfriend from my teenage years on an exercise bike, please don’t ask what we were up to, you’ll just have to use your imagination on that one.
Okay wipe the smile of your face, lets just say it’s a good job the bike was stationary or we could have done ourselves an injury. The funniest thing was I was never intimate with this guy; I was only 13 when we were dating and he was 18! My 'older man' phase, he was a hunk though!
He laughed when I told him about the dream which took place some 15 years after we dated. He said maybe if I had been older it would have been me he married, a shotgun wedding as it happened. I shook my head and told him I would never have been that stupid, with me he would have waited. No is no. He said 'he wished he had stayed with me because he was now stuck in a loveless marriage' and he asked if there was any chance we could maybe get together and test drive the bike! My answer after an awful lot of soul searching was still no.
So far I haven’t used this episode in a book but one day I might bring out the notes I made at the time. Notes you say, how, why? The how is easy, I always have a pen and paper with me, even on my night table, together with the usual girlie stuff of lotions and potions, my bottle of sparkling mineral water and so on.
Why, easy because people do and say the strangest things, and I have an amazing memory for detail but I don’t want to miss a single quote hence the paper and pen.
My second novel, Light the Seventh Candle, was the product of a contest between myself and a writer/illustrator friend. We both started with the same phrase: ‘Who was it that said old biker’s never die, they just smell that way?’ And my friend I hear you ask, she struggled for a few days and then shoved it in the draw and got on with designing the cover for my book!
Books and ideas are forming an orderly queue inside my head as I type and as each idea pops in I write down a brief synopsis before it pops out again and I return to mundane things, like washing and cooking.
Newspapers are another source, and I have an idea forming from a story that surfaced here in France in April last year. An entire family in Nantes disappeared without a trace, until they dug up the patio that is and found five bodies buried in hessian sacks filled with quick lime. Plus an obscure leg not belonging to any of the family members and the family’s two dogs. They had been assassinated the mother and her four children and the dogs, the husband had disappeared last seen in the Var where he stupidly used his bank card in a cash dispenser. Today they have released details of a letter received by his sister in early April stating that they had moved to the USA in emergency conditions and were no longer French citizens, but are unsure of it’s authenticity!
He left behind a legacy of lies; they now have Interpol and probably the FBI looking for the husband and father of four, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, who assassinated his entire family in their sleep.
A chilling story, maybe it isn’t the first time he has killed, and to look at him you wouldn’t suspect him of hurting a fly!
They still have no idea who the leg belongs too! Or if they do they aren’t saying. This story became the subject matter of my third novel, House of Death a paranormal romance.
People watching is one of the funniest ways of collecting ideas, because people do and say the strangest things, from the bizarre to the extreme. I once watched a very large lady hitting her poor husband who was about half her size. She was giving him hell and all because he had forgotten the shopping list!
I felt so sorry for him, but I didn’t intervene, she was bigger than me and like the hippies of the sixties I prefer peace and love.
I hope you enjoyed looking inside my world and remember writing should be fun not a chore, and inspiration can, and invariably does, hit you when you are least expecting it.
So be like the motto of the scouts ‘Be prepared'. And the next time you see a woman at your Gym on an exercise bike perspiring somewhat, with a silly grin on her face you’ll know she has read my Blog too!
Where they get that from I have no idea, I don’t remember ever breaking into a sweat in creativity mode!
So where do we writers find our inspiration?
I for one get a great many of my ideas in my sleep! Do I dream in colour, it would appear so, and sometimes these dreams are so vivid I wake up screaming! Some of them are outrageously ridiculous going from the sublime to the extreme.
I remember one dream where I was with an ex-boyfriend from my teenage years on an exercise bike, please don’t ask what we were up to, you’ll just have to use your imagination on that one.
Okay wipe the smile of your face, lets just say it’s a good job the bike was stationary or we could have done ourselves an injury. The funniest thing was I was never intimate with this guy; I was only 13 when we were dating and he was 18! My 'older man' phase, he was a hunk though!
He laughed when I told him about the dream which took place some 15 years after we dated. He said maybe if I had been older it would have been me he married, a shotgun wedding as it happened. I shook my head and told him I would never have been that stupid, with me he would have waited. No is no. He said 'he wished he had stayed with me because he was now stuck in a loveless marriage' and he asked if there was any chance we could maybe get together and test drive the bike! My answer after an awful lot of soul searching was still no.
So far I haven’t used this episode in a book but one day I might bring out the notes I made at the time. Notes you say, how, why? The how is easy, I always have a pen and paper with me, even on my night table, together with the usual girlie stuff of lotions and potions, my bottle of sparkling mineral water and so on.
Why, easy because people do and say the strangest things, and I have an amazing memory for detail but I don’t want to miss a single quote hence the paper and pen.
My second novel, Light the Seventh Candle, was the product of a contest between myself and a writer/illustrator friend. We both started with the same phrase: ‘Who was it that said old biker’s never die, they just smell that way?’ And my friend I hear you ask, she struggled for a few days and then shoved it in the draw and got on with designing the cover for my book!
Books and ideas are forming an orderly queue inside my head as I type and as each idea pops in I write down a brief synopsis before it pops out again and I return to mundane things, like washing and cooking.
Newspapers are another source, and I have an idea forming from a story that surfaced here in France in April last year. An entire family in Nantes disappeared without a trace, until they dug up the patio that is and found five bodies buried in hessian sacks filled with quick lime. Plus an obscure leg not belonging to any of the family members and the family’s two dogs. They had been assassinated the mother and her four children and the dogs, the husband had disappeared last seen in the Var where he stupidly used his bank card in a cash dispenser. Today they have released details of a letter received by his sister in early April stating that they had moved to the USA in emergency conditions and were no longer French citizens, but are unsure of it’s authenticity!
He left behind a legacy of lies; they now have Interpol and probably the FBI looking for the husband and father of four, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, who assassinated his entire family in their sleep.
A chilling story, maybe it isn’t the first time he has killed, and to look at him you wouldn’t suspect him of hurting a fly!
They still have no idea who the leg belongs too! Or if they do they aren’t saying. This story became the subject matter of my third novel, House of Death a paranormal romance.
People watching is one of the funniest ways of collecting ideas, because people do and say the strangest things, from the bizarre to the extreme. I once watched a very large lady hitting her poor husband who was about half her size. She was giving him hell and all because he had forgotten the shopping list!
I felt so sorry for him, but I didn’t intervene, she was bigger than me and like the hippies of the sixties I prefer peace and love.
I hope you enjoyed looking inside my world and remember writing should be fun not a chore, and inspiration can, and invariably does, hit you when you are least expecting it.
So be like the motto of the scouts ‘Be prepared'. And the next time you see a woman at your Gym on an exercise bike perspiring somewhat, with a silly grin on her face you’ll know she has read my Blog too!
August 22, 2012
Are we being bogged down with Blogs?
Do you realise that if every person that writes a book also writes a blog by the year end we will be buried under a mountain of words!
Perhaps that's what the Mayan's foretold, the world buried under a mound of trivia and useless information, all of it clogging up the airways.
Where do all these blogs end up? Are they stored for years in Cyber Space or are they recycled somewhere?
I have just the one blog, I could, should I so desire, add a blog to my website, but I have to ask is it really necessary? Will my writing yet another blog help me sell more books? Would life as we know it come to an end if we all stopped blogging?
I am a widow and mother of three, and other than my writing what do I know that will interest people? Will the fact that I know how to make peach chutney matter to anyone other than my family? Will anyone give two hoots if I can't get my Elderberry, bramble and apple jelly to set? Or whoop with delight as I turn out yet another Loads a Money cake?
The answer my friends may as well be blowing in the wind along with all the other irrelevant information one picks up during one's life.
I for one love life, and the nearer we get to the 21st December according to the Mayan's the nearer we are to extinction. How can we be sure they haven't miscalculated, because let's face it, they are already extinct and have been for years!
I for one, could have gone happily through my life without their phrophecy. Now with each day that passes I wonder, will my children live to see another birthday? Will I live long enough to marry for the fourth time, my man has it set in his mind that we marry on the 19th August 2014, but will we still be around by then?
The fact that I am considering marrying for the fourth time will probably have some of you wondering if I need certifying! My eldest daughter tells everyone it's because I like wedding cake and honeymoons!
Not true, I hate wedding cake and honeymoons are overated and expensive. I would rather spend my money on a swimming pool or a conservatory for the house, they are useful items that will be enjoyed again, and again.
After the honeymoon's over all you have left are the photographs, if of course you don't have your camera stolen that is!
Sorry if I sound a little cynical, and sorry for those of you that were expecting me to spout on about something to do with writing!
Are you ready for this next piece of information I wonder? Well tough because I'm going to tell you anyway to the day there are precisely 121 days left until the 21st December, and not only that I just found out that we now have a precise time too!
11.11 - 21.12.12 is the Age of Aquarius!
Now according to the song, and I quote 'When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will rule the planet and love will steer the stars!' And so on and so forth!
Doesn't sound much like a prophecy of doom to me!
What sayest thou? Please feel free to comment!
Perhaps that's what the Mayan's foretold, the world buried under a mound of trivia and useless information, all of it clogging up the airways.
Where do all these blogs end up? Are they stored for years in Cyber Space or are they recycled somewhere?
I have just the one blog, I could, should I so desire, add a blog to my website, but I have to ask is it really necessary? Will my writing yet another blog help me sell more books? Would life as we know it come to an end if we all stopped blogging?
I am a widow and mother of three, and other than my writing what do I know that will interest people? Will the fact that I know how to make peach chutney matter to anyone other than my family? Will anyone give two hoots if I can't get my Elderberry, bramble and apple jelly to set? Or whoop with delight as I turn out yet another Loads a Money cake?
The answer my friends may as well be blowing in the wind along with all the other irrelevant information one picks up during one's life.
I for one love life, and the nearer we get to the 21st December according to the Mayan's the nearer we are to extinction. How can we be sure they haven't miscalculated, because let's face it, they are already extinct and have been for years!
I for one, could have gone happily through my life without their phrophecy. Now with each day that passes I wonder, will my children live to see another birthday? Will I live long enough to marry for the fourth time, my man has it set in his mind that we marry on the 19th August 2014, but will we still be around by then?
The fact that I am considering marrying for the fourth time will probably have some of you wondering if I need certifying! My eldest daughter tells everyone it's because I like wedding cake and honeymoons!
Not true, I hate wedding cake and honeymoons are overated and expensive. I would rather spend my money on a swimming pool or a conservatory for the house, they are useful items that will be enjoyed again, and again.
After the honeymoon's over all you have left are the photographs, if of course you don't have your camera stolen that is!
Sorry if I sound a little cynical, and sorry for those of you that were expecting me to spout on about something to do with writing!
Are you ready for this next piece of information I wonder? Well tough because I'm going to tell you anyway to the day there are precisely 121 days left until the 21st December, and not only that I just found out that we now have a precise time too!
11.11 - 21.12.12 is the Age of Aquarius!
Now according to the song, and I quote 'When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will rule the planet and love will steer the stars!' And so on and so forth!
Doesn't sound much like a prophecy of doom to me!
What sayest thou? Please feel free to comment!
August 14, 2012
How do you name your characters?
Hi, I'm Sarah Weldon, welcome to my blog on which this week I try to shed a little light on how I choose my characters names.
It's a question I am often asked. Sometimes they come to me in dreams and some seemingly from nowhere.
Choosing a name is an important part of building a mental image of your character. I use a special Numerology app to generate a profile of my character by typing in a name and a date of birth.
What's in a name? More than you think! For example take my character Charlene Hamilton-Davis. Currently married to Troy Hamilton-Davis, who, having moved from Atlanta to Brittany embarks on an affair with the solicitor who dealt with the purchase of her house, Antoine Monroe.
She has a life path of 8, here is an extract from her life path:-
Charlene you thrive best in a job that has a less predictable routine and a tall social ladder to climb. You take great pride in your physical appearance and often appear very attractive to the opposite sex, which is only a hazard if the romance happens on the job. You have excellent taste in clothes and know how to gain the focus of an entire room of strangers.
You tend to be connected more to material wealth than spiritual wealth and lust after more than just sex. Many of you marry for social reasons or because the individual seems right for the position of spouse. Your family unit often conceals a lot of secrets as when these relationships do not work out you cannot bear the humiliation of seperation or divorce.
For those like Darkangel and Moderator Irene who proof read for me and those of you that have read the 5 chapters in my writing you will notice that this describes the character of Charlene to a 'T'!
How does numerology work?
Simple mathematics-For instance your life path is calculated in four steps.
1. Add up the digits in your month of birth (if more than one digit)
2. Add up the digits in your day of birth. (if more than one digit)
3. Add up the digits in your year of birth.
4. Add up the answers from 1,2 and 3.
In Charlene's case I gave her the birthdate of 1st June 1972 - which would be 1 + 6 being day and month giving a total of 7 followed by 1 + 9 + 7 + 2 = giving us a total of 19 and by adding the 1 + 9 = giving 10 and adding 1 + 0 gives us 1 + 1 + 6 = 8 - 8 being the life path number!
You can of course do it the easy way and let the experts do your reading for you, which is what I did being hopeless at mathematics!
I have a life path of 9 and us nines are destined to be in the limelight as actors,writers or artists!
A reading spans a period of 9 years and is not expensive and when you consider all the bonus items they throw in like the generator the $45 it cost is an absolute bargain.
If you want to know more about Numerology visit numerology.com and get your very own mini reading for free!
Do you connect with your characters? Do they come to life in your imagination and develop their own personalities? Mine do!
If your characters are wooden it will show in your writing. Open your mind and become the character you are writing.
Act out the scene in your head, especially the hard to write scenes, you know the ones. The close encounters of the sexual kind! But a word of warning, just make sure you're alone!
Ciaou. Until next week this is Sarah R Weldon signing off.
Next week, Inspiration, where do you find yours?
It's a question I am often asked. Sometimes they come to me in dreams and some seemingly from nowhere.
Choosing a name is an important part of building a mental image of your character. I use a special Numerology app to generate a profile of my character by typing in a name and a date of birth.
What's in a name? More than you think! For example take my character Charlene Hamilton-Davis. Currently married to Troy Hamilton-Davis, who, having moved from Atlanta to Brittany embarks on an affair with the solicitor who dealt with the purchase of her house, Antoine Monroe.
She has a life path of 8, here is an extract from her life path:-
Charlene you thrive best in a job that has a less predictable routine and a tall social ladder to climb. You take great pride in your physical appearance and often appear very attractive to the opposite sex, which is only a hazard if the romance happens on the job. You have excellent taste in clothes and know how to gain the focus of an entire room of strangers.
You tend to be connected more to material wealth than spiritual wealth and lust after more than just sex. Many of you marry for social reasons or because the individual seems right for the position of spouse. Your family unit often conceals a lot of secrets as when these relationships do not work out you cannot bear the humiliation of seperation or divorce.
For those like Darkangel and Moderator Irene who proof read for me and those of you that have read the 5 chapters in my writing you will notice that this describes the character of Charlene to a 'T'!
How does numerology work?
Simple mathematics-For instance your life path is calculated in four steps.
1. Add up the digits in your month of birth (if more than one digit)
2. Add up the digits in your day of birth. (if more than one digit)
3. Add up the digits in your year of birth.
4. Add up the answers from 1,2 and 3.
In Charlene's case I gave her the birthdate of 1st June 1972 - which would be 1 + 6 being day and month giving a total of 7 followed by 1 + 9 + 7 + 2 = giving us a total of 19 and by adding the 1 + 9 = giving 10 and adding 1 + 0 gives us 1 + 1 + 6 = 8 - 8 being the life path number!
You can of course do it the easy way and let the experts do your reading for you, which is what I did being hopeless at mathematics!
I have a life path of 9 and us nines are destined to be in the limelight as actors,writers or artists!
A reading spans a period of 9 years and is not expensive and when you consider all the bonus items they throw in like the generator the $45 it cost is an absolute bargain.
If you want to know more about Numerology visit numerology.com and get your very own mini reading for free!
Do you connect with your characters? Do they come to life in your imagination and develop their own personalities? Mine do!
If your characters are wooden it will show in your writing. Open your mind and become the character you are writing.
Act out the scene in your head, especially the hard to write scenes, you know the ones. The close encounters of the sexual kind! But a word of warning, just make sure you're alone!
Ciaou. Until next week this is Sarah R Weldon signing off.
Next week, Inspiration, where do you find yours?
August 9, 2012
The Thin Blue Line - Released July 9th 2012
Hi there, yesterday was a landmark day for me. Apart from being the 35th birthday of my son Chris it was the day I discovered my debut novel had escaped the publishers under cover of darkness one month previous!
Nice one Raider, you could have given me a clue! Last night saw me running round like a headless chicken trying to complete all the tasks I'd been putting off, like finishing my website and changing my profile here on Goodreads. The Facebook author page too!
Next weekend sees the birthday of my man, Alain, and my launch party for family and friends here in France, and according to my eldest daughter Jo that is going to be one hell of a party! (Makes mental note to go to pharmacy and buy lots of Paracetamol!)
There was some mention of Champagne and that always gives me a headache, sparkling wine is more or less the same. I know there are people in Epernay, France, Dom Perignon in particular, turning in their graves at my lack of finesse! But hey you guys, I've been to the caves of Dom Perignon in Epernay and I have also toured the caves of Ackerman's in Saumur. Naturally I have sampled their wares and I for one prefer Ackermans!
All frivolity aside a moment so I can say a big thank you to all my Goodreads friends, especially Darkangel Sharon Atkinson, and our Moderator Irene. Sharon has proof read for me from the beginning, taking time out of her busy schedule to read through my manuscript of The Thin Blue Line in the hunt for typos.
Irene is helping me out with my third novel House of Death a paranormal romance. A part of which is set in Atlanta, Georgia and which I was eager for an American to proof read too, it's a work in progress 60,000 words and counting.
There is a second completed manuscript currently doing the rounds of Publishers entitled Light the Seventh Candle, a murder/mystery/thriller set in Derbyshire, Devon and Israel! Currently with Sapphire Star Publishers for appraisal. Fingers crossed that they request the full manuscript.
I can never thank the people who read for me enough, because without them spotting my errors would take twice as long.
Errors, you say, horrified! Yep because I'm human, and because no one's perfect! Unlike the time I told a fellow goodread (a typo I assure you) friend 'one of us is perfect'! When I realised what I'd written I was horrified and apologised immediately. Then fell about laughing whilst chatting to Darkangel. I am so blonde at times, so much so I dyed my hair to match my blondness! From this silly mistake and laughter an idea for a novel was born. Take Three Blondes yet another romantic comedy. Excerpts of all four novels can be seen on my writing. Warning they are drafts, and not extracts from the finished work.
Phew, that was scary, my very first blog! Next weeks blog will I promise be work related.
How do you choose your characters names? Until next week Au revoir, Adios, Ciao and goodbye!
Sarah R Weldon
Nice one Raider, you could have given me a clue! Last night saw me running round like a headless chicken trying to complete all the tasks I'd been putting off, like finishing my website and changing my profile here on Goodreads. The Facebook author page too!
Next weekend sees the birthday of my man, Alain, and my launch party for family and friends here in France, and according to my eldest daughter Jo that is going to be one hell of a party! (Makes mental note to go to pharmacy and buy lots of Paracetamol!)
There was some mention of Champagne and that always gives me a headache, sparkling wine is more or less the same. I know there are people in Epernay, France, Dom Perignon in particular, turning in their graves at my lack of finesse! But hey you guys, I've been to the caves of Dom Perignon in Epernay and I have also toured the caves of Ackerman's in Saumur. Naturally I have sampled their wares and I for one prefer Ackermans!
All frivolity aside a moment so I can say a big thank you to all my Goodreads friends, especially Darkangel Sharon Atkinson, and our Moderator Irene. Sharon has proof read for me from the beginning, taking time out of her busy schedule to read through my manuscript of The Thin Blue Line in the hunt for typos.
Irene is helping me out with my third novel House of Death a paranormal romance. A part of which is set in Atlanta, Georgia and which I was eager for an American to proof read too, it's a work in progress 60,000 words and counting.
There is a second completed manuscript currently doing the rounds of Publishers entitled Light the Seventh Candle, a murder/mystery/thriller set in Derbyshire, Devon and Israel! Currently with Sapphire Star Publishers for appraisal. Fingers crossed that they request the full manuscript.
I can never thank the people who read for me enough, because without them spotting my errors would take twice as long.
Errors, you say, horrified! Yep because I'm human, and because no one's perfect! Unlike the time I told a fellow goodread (a typo I assure you) friend 'one of us is perfect'! When I realised what I'd written I was horrified and apologised immediately. Then fell about laughing whilst chatting to Darkangel. I am so blonde at times, so much so I dyed my hair to match my blondness! From this silly mistake and laughter an idea for a novel was born. Take Three Blondes yet another romantic comedy. Excerpts of all four novels can be seen on my writing. Warning they are drafts, and not extracts from the finished work.
Phew, that was scary, my very first blog! Next weeks blog will I promise be work related.
How do you choose your characters names? Until next week Au revoir, Adios, Ciao and goodbye!
Sarah R Weldon
