R.M. Ridley's Blog, page 19

It’s Lonely Here at the Top

It’s just me now

-for the whole week

-all alone

-in this house

-in the middle of nowhere

-with a hell of a lot of animals!

I managed to get up somewhere between my usual waking hour and my wife usual waking hour. So the animals were eager to get out of the Barn and Coop, but not frustrated and irate – a delicate balance.

I hope that there is no excitement, no noteworthy moments, and no struggles this week. A nice, boring, repetitive, one day pretty much just like the ‘nothing to write home about’ one before.

I have enough on my plate – I don’t need more. I don’t like surprises, keep your exploding cake, or stripper coming out of a candle to yourself.

I want to relax at my desk, get work done, and let the days slip, slide by.

 

Filed under: Homesteading, MIscellaneous

Another Intelligent Voice Speaking Out about Vaping

Here is a link to a blog that is debunking the newest Vaping ‘Health Hazard’ that Health Canada is spewing out as reasons to stop people from using this product to quit smoking. Please read, inform yourself of the facts, and then share this. I’m not even against smokers – many of my friends smoke and I never give them any grief – I am against these lies and scare tactics. I am against the public being told what are half truths, at best, to swing those not associated with issue into crying ‘Danger Danger’ for no real, honest reason.

Please just read so you can know all sides to the issue

Click here 

Filed under: Vaping

The New Anthology

Just got my short story ‘Charon’s Obol’ back from Xchyler Publishing to give it the final look over before they start to assemble the actual ARC of ‘ Legends and Lore‘  this fall’s paranormal anthology. I hate this stage because it means reading it as cold as you can to detect any hiccup in the works. I find this to be a very difficult thing to do with m own work, as I have already read it over countless times. It is hard to divorce yourself from your own words far enough to spot the niggling little things.

Luckily, once they have compiled the work together we will be able to read each others stories and not only get a sense for the thing on a whole, but help spot errors in each others work.

This part really causes my heart rate to go up. Seeing the other stories that will share space with your, getting the feeling of the antho as a whole, and sensing the magic the editor’s have woven to take separate stories and making them into one book.

I have no doubt that, on October 18th, a fantastic anthology will be available for you all to read. How am I so certain? Because last years collection was simple amazing, and I was proud to be in it.

If you haven’t picked it up yet, put ‘Shades and Shadows: A Paranormal Anthology’ on your to buy list and grab it the same time you get ‘ Legends and Lore’  – Don’t worry, I’ll give you the link to that collection too, just as soon as it exists.

If you liked ‘Tomorrow Wendell’ both these anthologies have White Dragon Black short stories in them so you can get your Jonathan Alvey fix.

 

Filed under: Book Release, Publishing, Writing Tagged: anthology, current work in progress, edits, Jonathan Alvey, Lore and Legends, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, publish, short story, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, writing, Xchyler Publishing

Two New Novels to Look Out For!

About HALF-LIFE: Probably not a good idea to take advice from your dead twin sister.

High school sophomore Trisha Traynor and friends have played the Halloween mirror game for years, the one that’s supposed to show a glimpse of the guy they’ll marry. But no one’s ever seen anything.

Until tonight—when Trisha is gob smacked by the candlelit arrival of her long-deceased twin sister, instead of her crush, Kirk Maxwell.

In a voice and vision that only Trisha can hear and see, Chessie claims to be back on a compassionate journey. Trisha fears she’s gone nuthouse crazy. But she nonetheless follows the instructions Chessie outlines in their nightly conversations, until she finds herself stepping across some ethical lines, and probably ending all chances with Kirk.

When a sisterly showdown ensues, resulting in the shattering of the mirror, Chessie’s gone again, and a heartsick Trisha sets about righting her recent wrongs. That is, until she stumbles upon the real reason Chessie had come back and the most important glimpse yet that the mirror could never predict.

 

About Tina Ferraro: 

Tina Ferraro been writing since she learned to hold a pencil, and sold upwards of a hundred short stories to national magazines before turning to novels. She is the author of three Random House novels, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, which have received distinctions such as the ABA Book Sense Award and two RITA nominations.

Tina Ferraro been writing since she learned to hold a pencil, and sold upwards of a hundred short stories to national magazines before turning to novels. She is the author of three Random House novels, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, which have received distinctions such as the ABA Book Sense Award and two RITA nominations.

Her fourth YA, The Starter Boyfriend, has spent time on Amazon’s Top 100 Lists. She lives in Los Angeles with her rocket scientist husband, two cats and whichever of their three young adult children is in town. When not writing, she enjoys playing Facebook Scrabble, swimming, and chasing coyotes out of her neighborhood.

Watch for Tina’s title with Shine….HALF-LIFE which follows Trisha in the days before her 15th birthday, as her long deceased identical twin makes appearances in mirrors to help prevent her similarly early demise. (ETA, Fall 2015)

Social Media Links, Tina Ferraro:

Web: www.tinaferraro.com

Facebook: tina.ferraro1 (and) Tina Ferraro’s Books

Twitter: @PromMom3

 

 

 

About RACING HEARTS: He wants to honor his father’s legacy; she wants to prove her father wrong.

18-year-old Jesse is still grieving from the loss of his father to cancer when he learns his mother has lost her job. All too soon, Jesse, his little sister, and his mother might be put out on the streets.

Jesse hears of a local car race sponsored by his father’s nemesis, Shep Bradley, and the prize money might be enough to keep Jesse’s family from losing their home – if he can win it.

When Shep’s own daughter Brooke asks Jesse to build her a racecar against her father’s wishes, Jesse accepts. After all, he needs the money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Laura Lascarso: 

Laura Lascarso strives to craft stories that are honest and real with characters who must overcome great odds. Her debut novel Counting Backwards (Atheneum 2012) won the Florida Book Award gold medal for YA literature. RACING HEARTS is Laura’s first e-series with Leap Books. She lives in North Florida with her darling husband, two children and a menagerie of animals.

Watch for Laura’s series with Shine which follows a pair of star-crossed lovers. He wants to honor his father’s legacy; she wants to prove her father wrong in this modern-day Romeo & Juliet set in the world of competitive car racing. (ETA. Fall 2015)

Visit Laura on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Social Media Links, Laura Lascarso:

Web: www.lauralascarso.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.lascarso

Twitter: @lauralascarso

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/lauralascarso

 

Filed under: Writing

Words Forming A Pearl

Pearls are made by many layers after layer of nacre being added to one grain of irritating sand. Good stories are not so different with the rough original tale being coated in layers of edits. Yes, I know. Usually the reference is to a polished gem. Cutting away tiny amounts and buffing it just so, until it shines. I see it as layers, for although edits often do involve cutting bits, I feel a story reaches a smooth beauty only by layer after layer of strong edits are added to it.

I’ve finished the ‘new’ short story I was working on, and even gave it a fitting, if not entirely original, title – ‘The Ties That Bind’. Of coarse by finished I mean, I wrote all the words I think belong to it, gave a it a once over, then did a round of edits. Which means it is far from actually being finished. I have sent it on to my editor, so another round of edits it guaranteed to be needed. Then my beta-reader will get her hands on it and will point out all the errors I made while working through the comments my editor made. Once I’ve corrected them, there are further steps because this one already has an outlet to go to. So, another round, or two, of edits will happen as it passes through the skilled hands of the editing team at Xchyler Publishing.

So if anyone tells you writing isn’t hard work….. It just happens to be hard work that I love! There should be no other reason to write, if you aren’t writing because you love it, and can’t think straight without putting those words down, your not a writer. I ‘m not sure what you are, but it isn’t a writer.

Having ‘done’ the short story, I was able to get some fresh words into the fifth novel this morning, and let me tell you, that felt good. I have realized that this novel is going to take a bit of a different twist/direction than I first thought. That’s fine, and I think it will work well. Another plus, is that it will change up the style/format of the novel from the couple before it just enough to be distinct.

I have a number of chapters from ‘Bindings & Spines’ back from my beta-reader and can’t wait to work through them. Partly, I confess, because I’ve got to another bit of a rather rough spot in the other edits of that novel and are not entirely certain of just how to proceed. I can still work on B&S, if I go through the post beta-reader chapters, and feel I’m making process, while I dodge the tough stuff for another day or two. After that, I’ll have no choice but to buckle on my armour, draw my sword, and wade into battle, screaming ‘Damn you, ME! What were you thinking!’

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Bindings & Spines, current work in progress, editor, edits, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, pearl, short story, The Ties That Bind, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, writer, writing, Xchyler Publishing

Slowly, Bit by Bit, Progress is Made

Every aspect of writing is a continual striving forward. From the moment we learn to make letters, to the moment we send off manuscripts, and through on to the next project, writers are constantly upgrading.

We work to perfect our voice, our style, while we hone the craft, the grammar, and the language. We write the best we can, then go back and edit to make it better. We read and study to improve our own understanding of what we do. We never say – ‘I’ve got it now’ but ‘Now what can I do to be better’.

Even in my daily routine, I’m striving to write a better short story, while working hard to get it done so I can move on to the next project. I’m editing to make the second story live up to the first, while reediting to make it a strong work in it’s own right.

I’m constantly moving forward, writing the new as I work the old, working my world from three different angle at once, so that all aspects, from the newest short to the oldest unpublished, benefit from the practice, the very working of the craft.

The only published authors are the ones who didn’t stop writing but writers themselves are the ones who never stopped striving for the unattainable … perfection. You want to be a writer – that’s easy… just keep working it. Publishing doesn’t make you a writer, progress does.

Filed under: Writing Tagged: authors, edits, work, writing

Interview Link

Just like the header said – a link to an interview I gave.

And a reminder that you can get really cool swag featuring the White Dragon Black logo

 

Filed under: Book Release, MIscellaneous, Writing Tagged: White Dragon Black Series

Shadow of the Last Men – Dystopian Novel

Follow Salyards on the web at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Amazon | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed under: Book Release Tagged: Dystopian, J.M. Salyards, novel, publish, Shadow of the Last Men, survivors, world building, writer, Xchyler Publishing

Reviews for Tomorrow Wendell

I got a new review today for my debut novel. In fact, it seems I got a new fan as she has asked to review all future works. That makes all the hard work I’m doing on edits seem worth while.

“Tomorrow Wendell is an excellent read with a well-developed plot and strong characterization.”  Click the quote to go to the blog. Hop on over read the whole thing yourself and that way you can help support a blog that is supporting indie authors. This is a big circle of support, most of us doing what we can to help each other out. She gave an honest review, and even if it had been bad I would still tell you to go give the blog a look. It’s how the system works — at least it’s how I believe he system should work.

I haven’t been posting a lot of reviews here – I figure you don’t need to see them each as they come in. You can go to Goodreads to get a feeling of how people are responding to the novel.

Here is a link to the second latest blog review – ‘This concept is really interesting. Not only does it meld the mystery genre with the paranormal and fantasy genre, but it also has an entirely new idea about the use of magic.’

Filed under: Book Release, Publishing, Writing Tagged: Bindings & Spines, current work in progress, edits, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal private investigator, readers, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, writing, Xchyler Publishing

Back to the Grind Stone

Had our annual Labour day long weekend party this weekend past. It was one of the stranger experiences for me in a long while because, for the first time in years, I knew come today- I would have to get back to work.

In fact, I felt bad because while I was sitting around drink a G&T in the afternoon, I knew I had things that needed to be done. I had work waiting on me, I felt guilty actually that I wasn’t at my computer.

I didn’t actually breakdown – give in – and work but it was a near thing. I have three projects on the go – three official projects – plus writing the fifth novel, so three days off is actually a lot.

Today, I’m trying to getting back in the swing but I am a bit run down still from the weekend, and I couldn’t sleep last night. Being social, ‘up’, and interactive takes a toll on me (and most people with mental health issues) even when I’m enjoying myself, there is still a price being paid. ‘Relaxing’ with people is a whole different game than ‘relaxing’ with people. Plus, with my hearing loss, social interaction that isn’t text based can be quite exhausting. Straining to hear, sorting out all the noise, focusing on the conversation, watching lips – this piles up fast and wears you down fast too.

So I don’t know just how much real work I will get done today. . .  Excuses – I hate them when their actually legit.

Filed under: Mental Health, MIscellaneous, Writing Tagged: bipolar, Brain, current work in progress, cycle, edits, hearing loss, lip reading, Mental Health, novel, party, short story, writing