Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 28
April 6, 2016
Finding a Car
All right. I know I intended to set the road rally, still without a title, draft aside until next fall. But it has a pull to it and i was just at the local road rally learning more about this sport.
I am buried in a rewrite of the original draft. It lacked so much. Character development. Better timing. More dialog.
Ridge will soon go to buy his car.
I still don't know what it looks like.
This is a problem. I find myself examining every car I see on the road. Is this the right shape? The right color? What car is that?
This fantastic little car came up behind me. I kept watching wondering where it was going. And followed it. And took its picture.
Next I get to browse my way through Ford's website looking for this little number to see if it will fit what I need for the story.
This may become a short term obsession. A complication is that I am searching for a new vehicle.
However, I am not car shopping. Cars do not haul hay. Their goat capacity is severely limited. I need a truck.
The only cure is to decide on the car Ridge will buy in the next chapter. Which brings me back to where I started: What car will Ridge pick out?
I am buried in a rewrite of the original draft. It lacked so much. Character development. Better timing. More dialog.
Ridge will soon go to buy his car.
I still don't know what it looks like.
This is a problem. I find myself examining every car I see on the road. Is this the right shape? The right color? What car is that?
This fantastic little car came up behind me. I kept watching wondering where it was going. And followed it. And took its picture.
Next I get to browse my way through Ford's website looking for this little number to see if it will fit what I need for the story.
This may become a short term obsession. A complication is that I am searching for a new vehicle.
However, I am not car shopping. Cars do not haul hay. Their goat capacity is severely limited. I need a truck.
The only cure is to decide on the car Ridge will buy in the next chapter. Which brings me back to where I started: What car will Ridge pick out?
March 30, 2016
Learning New Languages
People think learning a new language is speaking a foreign language like Spanish or French. That new language can be in English.
Lately every new book idea I tackle is requiring me to learn a new language.
The road rally book introduced me to the road rally language of stages and car terms.
The botany monster is really making me work at a new language. A plant is hirsute or glabrous. It has tuberous roots or corms or taproots. The flowers have perianths, corollas, sepals, superior ovaries, some or none of these.
Why bother to learn a new language to write a book? Most of the readers won't know the language and it will only confuse them.
But that is exactly how you are spotted as a fraud by those readers who do know or have a dictionary at hand. It makes your book sound better.
What about all those readers who don't know? This is where your writing skills are important. You use the terms correctly working in a definition so deftly the reader never notices the new addition to their vocabulary.
If you get really good at this, you even stop sounding too professorial as these terms roll onto your book pages and off to the readers.
Lately every new book idea I tackle is requiring me to learn a new language.
The road rally book introduced me to the road rally language of stages and car terms.
The botany monster is really making me work at a new language. A plant is hirsute or glabrous. It has tuberous roots or corms or taproots. The flowers have perianths, corollas, sepals, superior ovaries, some or none of these.
Why bother to learn a new language to write a book? Most of the readers won't know the language and it will only confuse them.
But that is exactly how you are spotted as a fraud by those readers who do know or have a dictionary at hand. It makes your book sound better.
What about all those readers who don't know? This is where your writing skills are important. You use the terms correctly working in a definition so deftly the reader never notices the new addition to their vocabulary.
If you get really good at this, you even stop sounding too professorial as these terms roll onto your book pages and off to the readers.
March 16, 2016
Aspirations
In school, especially elementary school, the question was what you wanted to be when you grew up. Girls were supposed to become housewives and mothers back then. How does a child learn to dare to be different?
It is so easy to follow the crowd. You don't have to think, just listen. Someone else will tell you what to think and what to believe and what to do.
Being different is hard. You can be lonely. You can make mistakes. Is it worth it?
Being a writer is being different. You have to look at things differently, see them differently. You have to take disparate pieces of information and put them together in new ways.
I was lucky. I had teachers who encouraged their students to imagine, to think, to read. Somewhere along the way it came together.
One student complained to me that the students didn't think like I did. That was why they had problems in my classes. I've seen some of these students since. They still let someone else do their thinking for them.
I pity them. They may never suffer from the mistakes resulting from their decisions. They will also never know the incredible high of seeing a dream come true, a dream born of imagination and thinking.
That is what makes aspirations worth all the problems.
It is so easy to follow the crowd. You don't have to think, just listen. Someone else will tell you what to think and what to believe and what to do.
Being different is hard. You can be lonely. You can make mistakes. Is it worth it?
Being a writer is being different. You have to look at things differently, see them differently. You have to take disparate pieces of information and put them together in new ways.
I was lucky. I had teachers who encouraged their students to imagine, to think, to read. Somewhere along the way it came together.
One student complained to me that the students didn't think like I did. That was why they had problems in my classes. I've seen some of these students since. They still let someone else do their thinking for them.
I pity them. They may never suffer from the mistakes resulting from their decisions. They will also never know the incredible high of seeing a dream come true, a dream born of imagination and thinking.
That is what makes aspirations worth all the problems.
March 9, 2016
Giveaway and a New Project
Finally I made it through all the directions, red tape and my own confusion. Capri Capers will have a giveaway beginning March 12 and ending April 12.
The thing about finishing up one project is that it leaves a void behind. That book occupied so much time, was the focus of so much attention. Now it's gone.
Yes, there are all the marketing ideas to follow up on. But the writing is done.
Nature hates a vacuum. So does a writer's brain.
It isn't that I have no projects sitting on the computer. I have lots. They are ones I want to work on and will work on.
But a new project has that special luster and appeal. Besides, I've been storing away another year's worth of wildflower pictures and wondering what to do with 3000 pictures and counting.
The bottom line is that I really enjoy taking plant pictures. A digital camera lets me indulge this activity. It makes the results so much better than I ever dreamed of.
Finding new wildflowers is so exciting. Spring is starting. The first flowers are opening.
I need a wildflower picture project.
Or rather I needed one.
The challenge: Get pictures of every kind of plant growing in my county.
The objective: Do a two page spread on each one. One page with the botanical info. The other with information about the plant. Both with pictures.
The result: A county flora book (books) and a website
The reality: My list is now about 1500 plants long and counting.
At least I now have lots of excuses for going for walks on the hills, the roads, the conservation areas and the local state park. As if I needed any.
The thing about finishing up one project is that it leaves a void behind. That book occupied so much time, was the focus of so much attention. Now it's gone.
Yes, there are all the marketing ideas to follow up on. But the writing is done.
Nature hates a vacuum. So does a writer's brain.
It isn't that I have no projects sitting on the computer. I have lots. They are ones I want to work on and will work on.
But a new project has that special luster and appeal. Besides, I've been storing away another year's worth of wildflower pictures and wondering what to do with 3000 pictures and counting.
The bottom line is that I really enjoy taking plant pictures. A digital camera lets me indulge this activity. It makes the results so much better than I ever dreamed of.
Finding new wildflowers is so exciting. Spring is starting. The first flowers are opening.
I need a wildflower picture project.
Or rather I needed one.
The challenge: Get pictures of every kind of plant growing in my county.
The objective: Do a two page spread on each one. One page with the botanical info. The other with information about the plant. Both with pictures.
The result: A county flora book (books) and a website
The reality: My list is now about 1500 plants long and counting.
At least I now have lots of excuses for going for walks on the hills, the roads, the conservation areas and the local state park. As if I needed any.
March 2, 2016
Loss of a Friend
I met Farris Land when he and his wife Teresa bought eggs from me about twenty years ago. He was an interesting person, rather contradictory in ways.
Over the summer Farris worked putting up decks, lawn work and other such jobs. Over the winter he wrote books.
Wrote is the wrong word. Farris had difficulty reading and writing. He got a program for his computer so they could talk to each other.
Farris told his stories to his computer. It read them back to him. The partnership worked well.
Farris' stories were old time horror type stories before blood and guts trumped story lines with a healthy dose of humor in many of them. He set up a website and went to a few book signings but didn't do much other marketing.
There was a series of books under "Nightmares from the Mind of Farris Land" with subtitles. Each was a series of short stories.
Only a couple of weeks ago Farris was telling me about the books he had finished waiting to be published. He was changing publishers. He was working on what sounded like a great idea for another book.
Teresa plans to publish his books in his memory. Perhaps they will make their way onto GoodReads. Farris would've liked that.
Over the summer Farris worked putting up decks, lawn work and other such jobs. Over the winter he wrote books.
Wrote is the wrong word. Farris had difficulty reading and writing. He got a program for his computer so they could talk to each other.
Farris told his stories to his computer. It read them back to him. The partnership worked well.
Farris' stories were old time horror type stories before blood and guts trumped story lines with a healthy dose of humor in many of them. He set up a website and went to a few book signings but didn't do much other marketing.
There was a series of books under "Nightmares from the Mind of Farris Land" with subtitles. Each was a series of short stories.
Only a couple of weeks ago Farris was telling me about the books he had finished waiting to be published. He was changing publishers. He was working on what sounded like a great idea for another book.
Teresa plans to publish his books in his memory. Perhaps they will make their way onto GoodReads. Farris would've liked that.
February 25, 2016
Ins and Outs of Giveaways
This year I am trying very hard to get better at marketing my books. I feel very lost most of the time.
Last year I tried a giveaway here on Goodreads for Dora's Story. It was a great promotion. I do hope the people who received the book enjoyed it.
Capri Capers is due out March 17. I planned a giveaway ahead of time, part of a pre-release campaign.
I busily formatted the novel and uploaded the ebook formats. They are up and in pre-release.
The print book is finally successfully uploaded. It has an ISBN number. I have ordered a proof copy.
Optimistically I tried to set up a giveaway for five copies. The ISBN didn't work. Why?
The comment said the book didn't exist. Well, it doesn't really yet. Except it does. It just isn't totally approved yet.
I have looked through other giveaways and some are for books due out shortly. Why does theirs list and mine not?
I don't know. I may eventually figure it out. In the meantime my giveaway is delayed. It will happen. Just not on my timeline.
Last year I tried a giveaway here on Goodreads for Dora's Story. It was a great promotion. I do hope the people who received the book enjoyed it.
Capri Capers is due out March 17. I planned a giveaway ahead of time, part of a pre-release campaign.
I busily formatted the novel and uploaded the ebook formats. They are up and in pre-release.
The print book is finally successfully uploaded. It has an ISBN number. I have ordered a proof copy.
Optimistically I tried to set up a giveaway for five copies. The ISBN didn't work. Why?
The comment said the book didn't exist. Well, it doesn't really yet. Except it does. It just isn't totally approved yet.
I have looked through other giveaways and some are for books due out shortly. Why does theirs list and mine not?
I don't know. I may eventually figure it out. In the meantime my giveaway is delayed. It will happen. Just not on my timeline.
February 17, 2016
More on Trademarks
Writers should be readers. I do a lot of light reading at night. A recent book was "The Big Cat Nap" by Rita Mae Brown. It was a fun book and I enjoyed it. Except she used a similar model car in the book as one I wanted to use but thought I couldn't.
A recent Writer's Digest had a short article about jealousy in writing. That was a first reaction or maybe one of annoyance. But that did no good for me or for answering my question of why Rita Mae Brown could use the company car and I couldn't.
Thinking over what the company had written me, I kept thinking licensing agreement. What is a licensing agreement? I didn't know.
I looked it up and found it had very little bearing on writing at all.
The next question was about using trademarks in fiction. That led me to an interesting blog I hope to browse through more thoroughly called the better novel project put up by Christine Frazier who deconstructs novels to see what elements best selling novels have in common.
A guest post from 2014 by Kathryn Goldman, a lawyer for writers, about using trademarks in fiction answered my questions.
A writer can use a trademark product as long as the book does not infringe on the company as in trying to sell products, put the product or company in a bad light so as to tarnish or defame their trademark or dilute the product. It is a very interesting article plainly written. Additional references are given for further details on the topic.
I now know why Rita Mae Brown could use the car in her book. I also realize I can too. Now, if only I could write as well as Rita Mae Brown.
A recent Writer's Digest had a short article about jealousy in writing. That was a first reaction or maybe one of annoyance. But that did no good for me or for answering my question of why Rita Mae Brown could use the company car and I couldn't.
Thinking over what the company had written me, I kept thinking licensing agreement. What is a licensing agreement? I didn't know.
I looked it up and found it had very little bearing on writing at all.
The next question was about using trademarks in fiction. That led me to an interesting blog I hope to browse through more thoroughly called the better novel project put up by Christine Frazier who deconstructs novels to see what elements best selling novels have in common.
A guest post from 2014 by Kathryn Goldman, a lawyer for writers, about using trademarks in fiction answered my questions.
A writer can use a trademark product as long as the book does not infringe on the company as in trying to sell products, put the product or company in a bad light so as to tarnish or defame their trademark or dilute the product. It is a very interesting article plainly written. Additional references are given for further details on the topic.
I now know why Rita Mae Brown could use the car in her book. I also realize I can too. Now, if only I could write as well as Rita Mae Brown.
February 10, 2016
I Don"t Understand Why
Capri Capers is done, as done as I will probably ever get it. That left me adding those extra pages such as author's notes and acknowledgements.
There were a number of things I didn't know enough about as I wrote Capri Capers. So I asked various people. Many were kind enough to answer my questions.
These are the people I would like to thank in the acknowledgements. Simple? No.
I do not buy lottery tickets so I went to a local convenience store to find out about them. The personnel were very nice. Yet I am forbidden to mention the name of the store as the company will not allow such mentions.
My road rally draft has a road rally car in it. I talked with rally enthusiasts, looked online and found the car for Ridge to drive. Except the company forbids me from naming their car in my story.
These companies are not insulted in my stories. These companies are not held accountable for anything in my stories.
This doesn't matter. The company names can not be used or I violate their trademark and can be sued.
All you authors out there, take note. Those big box stores may not want you to use their names in your novel. Naming products may get you into trouble.
How these mentions hurt these companies, I do not know or understand. All I know for sure is that I must now check with other places to be sure and then rewrite my acknowledgements.
There were a number of things I didn't know enough about as I wrote Capri Capers. So I asked various people. Many were kind enough to answer my questions.
These are the people I would like to thank in the acknowledgements. Simple? No.
I do not buy lottery tickets so I went to a local convenience store to find out about them. The personnel were very nice. Yet I am forbidden to mention the name of the store as the company will not allow such mentions.
My road rally draft has a road rally car in it. I talked with rally enthusiasts, looked online and found the car for Ridge to drive. Except the company forbids me from naming their car in my story.
These companies are not insulted in my stories. These companies are not held accountable for anything in my stories.
This doesn't matter. The company names can not be used or I violate their trademark and can be sued.
All you authors out there, take note. Those big box stores may not want you to use their names in your novel. Naming products may get you into trouble.
How these mentions hurt these companies, I do not know or understand. All I know for sure is that I must now check with other places to be sure and then rewrite my acknowledgements.
February 3, 2016
Book Covers
Professional book covers are a luxury I can not afford. They are lovely. They are eye-catching. There are times I truly wish I could afford one.
Capri Capers is nearing completion. I have one more read through mostly looking for those pesky typos. You know the ones: wad for was, whe for she, men for mean. The little annoying mistakes so hard to spot and often ignored by spellcheck.
I am working on setting up the preorders. The book will be done in a week or so.
It needed a cover. I am the artist and must look at my own limitations. People are not good subjects for me. Goats are.
Capri is a goat. She does play an important part in the book. So, what can I do with Capri and have a nice cover image?
This is one place where I have an advantage over a professional. Goats are not popular subjects. I have lots of goat pictures to work with. Goats especially kids are cute and do cute things.
I got out my paper and drawing pencil. The sketch was fairly easy working from four different pictures.
The watercolor paints, brushes and paper were next. David Plank, a watercolor artist who paints birds, once explained how to transfer a drawing to watercolor paper. It works well.
Sharon Jeffus, a local art teacher, had given me advice on using and mixing paints. I managed to mix my desired colors.
The image came out very well. Watercolor is different to work with as there is no white except the paper.
The computer supplied the font for the title and author names.
My cover is ready for a final check. I hope it meets with interest and approval next week.
Capri Capers is nearing completion. I have one more read through mostly looking for those pesky typos. You know the ones: wad for was, whe for she, men for mean. The little annoying mistakes so hard to spot and often ignored by spellcheck.
I am working on setting up the preorders. The book will be done in a week or so.
It needed a cover. I am the artist and must look at my own limitations. People are not good subjects for me. Goats are.
Capri is a goat. She does play an important part in the book. So, what can I do with Capri and have a nice cover image?
This is one place where I have an advantage over a professional. Goats are not popular subjects. I have lots of goat pictures to work with. Goats especially kids are cute and do cute things.
I got out my paper and drawing pencil. The sketch was fairly easy working from four different pictures.
The watercolor paints, brushes and paper were next. David Plank, a watercolor artist who paints birds, once explained how to transfer a drawing to watercolor paper. It works well.
Sharon Jeffus, a local art teacher, had given me advice on using and mixing paints. I managed to mix my desired colors.
The image came out very well. Watercolor is different to work with as there is no white except the paper.
The computer supplied the font for the title and author names.
My cover is ready for a final check. I hope it meets with interest and approval next week.
January 27, 2016
Writing Book Descriptions
There are two things a writer must have before trying to set up a preorder. One is a novel nearing completion. The other is a book description.
When a reader goes looking for a book, the title or the cover may catch an eye. The reader will pick up the book and flip it over to read the book description.
This 150 words or less description of the book is what the reader will use to either take the book home or put it back on the shelf.
Capri Capers needed a book description. The way I thought about the book would not make a good description. I remembered how I started the novel as a cross between a 1930's movie serial and melodrama. The novel has morphed several times since then.
As the advice recommends, I went browsing down the book shelves reading book descriptions. Then I sat down and tried to write one for Capri Capers. No dice. They stunk.
A good book description is written like a publisher trying to sell a book. This is a different mindset from an author immersed in writing the book, sifting through subplots, correcting mistakes, bringing characters to life. None of this fits in 150 words.
I would like to say sitting at my computer all the elements came together and a great book description appeared. No, I tried and tried and got nowhere. Instead I slept on it and flew to my computer in the morning.
Book Description for Capri Capers:
Harriet Zeigenhirt should be living her dream life. After all, she won millions in the lottery, bought her perfect property and her long desired goats.
Instead Harriet's life lurches from crisis to crisis. Even her favorite kid Capri ends up in the thick of thins.
Leroy Rogue and Roscoe Rascal want their share of those millions and will do almost anything to get it.
Dan Janus loves fine restaurants and clothes. This takes money. Harriet needs a husband and he wants it to be him by fair means or foul.
Harriet's friend Deputy Arthur Carlson tries to lead Harriet through this maze of perils in this wild race reminiscent of an old time movie serial.
When a reader goes looking for a book, the title or the cover may catch an eye. The reader will pick up the book and flip it over to read the book description.
This 150 words or less description of the book is what the reader will use to either take the book home or put it back on the shelf.
Capri Capers needed a book description. The way I thought about the book would not make a good description. I remembered how I started the novel as a cross between a 1930's movie serial and melodrama. The novel has morphed several times since then.
As the advice recommends, I went browsing down the book shelves reading book descriptions. Then I sat down and tried to write one for Capri Capers. No dice. They stunk.
A good book description is written like a publisher trying to sell a book. This is a different mindset from an author immersed in writing the book, sifting through subplots, correcting mistakes, bringing characters to life. None of this fits in 150 words.
I would like to say sitting at my computer all the elements came together and a great book description appeared. No, I tried and tried and got nowhere. Instead I slept on it and flew to my computer in the morning.
Book Description for Capri Capers:
Harriet Zeigenhirt should be living her dream life. After all, she won millions in the lottery, bought her perfect property and her long desired goats.
Instead Harriet's life lurches from crisis to crisis. Even her favorite kid Capri ends up in the thick of thins.
Leroy Rogue and Roscoe Rascal want their share of those millions and will do almost anything to get it.
Dan Janus loves fine restaurants and clothes. This takes money. Harriet needs a husband and he wants it to be him by fair means or foul.
Harriet's friend Deputy Arthur Carlson tries to lead Harriet through this maze of perils in this wild race reminiscent of an old time movie serial.
