D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 167

The Do’s and Don’ts of #Writing a Book #Blurb – Nicholas Rossis

Writing the Blurb for our books, as small as the task may seem, involves a lot of components. I have shared a link here to an article posted by Nicholas Rossis, who shares some terrific information on what it takes to write a good blurb.

 

Writing a Book Blurb

“By far, the weakest part of many self-published books is the synopsis*. Writing a decent blurb is an art form totally separate from writing a book.” Read more below:

 

http://nicholasrossis.me/2015/05/02/dos-and-donts-on-writing-a-book-blurb/#comment-17019

Conflicted Hearts: Daughter’s Quest for Solace from Emotional Guilt

I was pleasantly surprised to find a review of my book Conflicted Hearts on memoir writer’s Sherrey Meyer’s page.

 

Memoir writing is a very personal style of writing. We write from our souls and from our own vantage point about how we dealt with our surroundings, and what we felt resulted from the situations.

 

It’s a very gratifying feeling for a memoir writer to see her works shared by others, especially a fellow memoir writer. Thank you Sherrey for sharing your reading my book and sharing your thoughts.

 

I eagerly await Sherrey’s publication of her memoir, which she is currently in the process of titling. Her story also deals with the volatile relationship between her and her mother.

 

Read Sherrey’s review below:

Imagine feeling frustrated and powerless in a situation you’re desperate to resolve. When you’re a child, that angst multiplies immensely because you are only that–a child. You have no power to speak out about what you’re feeling, and neither are you permitted to ask questions that might soothe your inner turmoil, because the cause of your dilemmas are adult matters that apparently shouldn’t concern you. ~ D.G. Kaye ,  Conflicted Hearts

At the beginning of Chapter 8 of Conflicted Hearts , the same chapter from which the above quote is taken, D.G. Kaye writes the following:

We are the products of our parents. How can they teach us what they didn’t know?

Likely, these words resonate with more than one reader with parents from the same generation as Kaye’s.

The author’s fluid writing style and storyteller’s voice gives the reader a sense of sitting down over a steaming cup of coffee or tea with a friend. The friend begins to tell you what life was like for her as a child. You sit in disbelief, wondering how this positive, strong, loving woman lived through the parenting received at the mind and hands of her mother.

Yet, our author and friend lives with a guilt burdening her for far too long. This is the skin she wants to shed–the skin of her guilt feelings. It appears to this reader nothing has been D.G. Kaye’s fault with respect to her mother and her mother’s behavior. The guild is just another layer applied like frosting on a cake. Only this isn’t frosting. It isn’t sweet, and it leaves an acid taste in your mouth.

D.G. Kaye is not ashamed nor abashed about telling her story and sharing it with those willing to read. Her truthful memories will unfasten for others the doors to walk through to the other side of life. Life filled with love, happiness, and respect.

Thank you to the author for the gift of her words.

My Recommendation:

I highly recommend this book for anyone who lived through an emotionally and verbally abusive childhood, one like D.G. Kaye’s. Remember, you are not the one at fault, and reading Kaye’s memoir will help you understand that.

 

Source: Conflicted Hearts: Daughter’s Quest for Solace from Emotional Guilt

Taking a Break — Heading West

I am excited to announce that I’m taking a break and heading out to my most favourite place in the world, the desert.

I have been looking forward to taking a pause from the hectic first half of this year, and no better place for me to be than in the desert where I long to be. It will be a short respite in Las Vegas, not Arizona this time, but that will be my home for most of this coming winter. Happily though, our Arizona friends will be meeting up with us in Las Vegas and then we will hatch our plans for the many things we plan to do together next winter. And of course I’m going at the same time as the World Series of Poker is running there at the Rio. Needless to say, between playing some poker tournaments (if I haven’t got too rusty), shopping and socializing, I’ll be a very busy lady. I can’t wait!

In the meantime, I will post once while I’m away, and I’m not quite sure if I will be spending much time visiting social media or my blog throughout the week, so feel free to comment or visit some of my other posts, and know I will respond back to all of you upon my return.

Thanks again to all my blogging friends who offered me their wise thoughts on leaving the laptop at home. I’ve decided to do just that. The only device I’ll be taking with me is my smartphone for pictures and the occasional checkins on social media and maybeeeeee my blog. But it won’t be much because I don’t plan on going over my data limit. So I wish you all a fabulous week while I’m off to fabulous Las Vegas.

Currently Air Canada has cancelled many flights this weekend due to the Wildcat strike with fuelers. I’m praying my flight leaves tomorrow (Sunday). So as long as you don’t see me floating around the blogosphere, it means I made it there!

 

D.G. Kaye

#WordPress #Mobile

Hi all, I just thought I’d share a tidbit of information here about a little digital snag I ran into.

I mentioned in a post a few days ago in #Scrivener #Audits #Revisions of my dilemma about going on vacation and leaving my laptop at home. I wanted to thank so many of my blogger friends here for offering up your opinions on taking a digital break.

I am almost certain that I am taking this wise advice, although I will be taking my #smartphone with me for pictures, to maybe glimpse at my social media, and yes, to have at least one techno gadget with me so I don’t go into complete withdrawl. This will also enable me to post a blog or two (time and too much fun permitting), if I feel the need.

In coming to this near decision, I went into my phone to make sure all of my apps are running smoothly with passwords plugged to avoid frustration after I leave. I then went into my browser to pull up my website and wasted about an hour trying to figure out why it kept rejecting my password. I had never tried to open my website on my phone previously.

After several futile attempts, I went back to my desktop to begin searching google and WordPress forums to try and figure out the problem. I had found many people’s comments there, complaining about the same issue I was having.

After wasting another hour of searching, I finally came across a comment where someone had stated that they downloaded the WordPress app and didn’t know what to put in for the user info. A light bulb clicked in my brain. Duh me! I wasn’t aware that I couldn’t just type in my URL in my browser and sign in from there, even though the sign in page came up asking me to do so, continuously rejecting my correct password.

I then went back to my phone apps and downloaded the WordPress app. I typed in my URL and password and VOILA – I was in! I checked my access to everything: comments, posts, etc., and felt huge relief.

Now, if I hadn’t got all that organized before leaving, I would have wasted precious vacation time, and not to mention, huge data usage for my two hour investigation. So I wanted to share this little tale for those of you who may not be so well-versed in WordPress for smartphones. You never know when the need can arise where we need to get into our blogs when we’re away from home or our computers.

As many of you may know, I like to share my digital woes so I can not only vent my frustrations, but I can also hopefully save someone else the agro. With that said, I’m armed and ready and leaving the laptop at home!

P.S. There was a time I’d never turn my data on when crossing the border. I’ve had a few unpleasant phone bills upon my returns. But if any of you are Canadian and are connected by Rogers, they have a pretty decent roaming plan now. For $5 a day you can use your home cell phone in the U.S. with unlimited calling and texting within Canada and the U.S. and by using your existing data plan from home there is no extra charge unless you go over your data limit. This plan is capped at a 10 day max charge equivalent to ($50) max for a month, if you happen to be away that long. And providing you don’t go over your home plan’s data limit. Hey, for $30 I’ll call it an accessory! I can also leave my little not-so-smart U.S. cell phone at home.

 

P.S. My book Words We Carry is on #Free promotion now until July 6th. How I found my self esteem www.smarturl.it/bookwordswecarry

Note: I’ve had numerous problems with this site for a few days. Comments were mysteriously disabled, and my recent thank you post on blogger awards I was nominated has vanished. If anyone finds they cannot comment again (Thank you Cat) please let me know, it would be appreciated.

Book #Review – Stroke of Fear by Deborah Bowman

Stroke of Fear is a short novella, the first of The Denny Ryder series. The genre of this book is paranormal, psychic, combined with a crime mystery. This combination of mystery keeps this book fast paced with engaging writing from the author Deborah Bowman. Below is my review on Amazon.

 

 Five Stars

“Denny Ryder has the gift of clairvoyance, but is it really a gift or a curse? Her vivid dreams come to her as ominous visions about a missing little boy. Tormented by her visions, she remains questioning herself whether they are just dreams or real premonitions. Later her dreams are validated when she hooks up with Detective Collins to offer her visions in search for the missing boy.

The author takes us into a distorted world of Denny’s visions with this fast-paced, page turning novella. As we hope to solve the mystery of the crime along with Denny, the end still leaves us wondering about her dreams about the serial killer – imagined or another premonition. This series is definitely one to keep our imaginations curious and wanting to read more.”

Here is the blurb for this book:

THIS BOOK IS AGE APPROPIATE FOR “TWEENS”, TEENS, YOUNG ADULTS AND ADULTS INTERESTED IN THE PARANORMAL.

STROKE OF FEAR! ( Denny Ryder Paranormal Crime Series) starts off with a bang! Denise Ryder is in the midst of a gruesome car accident. She’s thrown against the door, pitched to the floor, twisted upside-down, falling, as she claws her way out of a shattered window. She hears loud crashes, hysterical screams, screeching metal, and the voices of two dear friends. Her stomach heaves, and she’s choking, gagging, can’t breathe! Blood is everywhere.

10 YEARS LATER: Pleasant memories of her childhood. She grins at the antics of the two sisters, different as night and day. Denny is just waking up from a soothing, happy dream. She’s had “dreams come true” since she was a child. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Wrong! It’s her nightmares from that come to life! Yet, she does everything in her power to deny the images.

Denny becomes embroiled in a missing child investigation. When a dream shows her where the boy is, she won’t let herself believe it. A twist of fate reveals that the dream “could” be true. She’s scared, but relieved that she can take action based on fact. She meets Detective Ted Collins, an investigator who doesn’t scoff at the paranormal. The two of them use facts, clues, and intuitive visions to piece the case together. Will they be able to save Jeremy?

A new piece of evidence pulls Denny into another horrific dream. She fears she’s had an out-of-body experience where she meets the psychopathic serial killer who feeds on the blood of innocent children. Denny isn’t even sure whether she believes in astral projection or not, but somehow she becomes caught between the dreamscape and reality. She knows she can’t be both places at the same time. Where does she go from here, and what about Jeremy?

D.G. Kaye ©2015

 

Annoying things Only #Writers will Understand – Blindoggbooks

 

I came across this fabulous post that all writers can certainly identify with from Blindoggbooks. It’s a great post so don’t forget to read all the way through.

“It is said that writers are a different breed. Hopefully the word different isn’t used in place of a less ambiguous word…like warped.

I don’t know if writers can claim exclusive rights to such a label, but they definitely don’t fit neatly within most accepted classifications.

With that being said, I’d like to talk about some annoyances and problems only writers will understand,. . .” Read more below:

https://blindoggbooks.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/annoying-things-only-writers-will-understand/

I am Series — Noise

Writing prompt today, inspired by Natalie Goldberg’s Old Friend from Far Away, is the word “noise”.

 

I am thinking about turning off the noise; the constant thought process that never wants to shut down inside my head.

Life’s dilemmas, demands, and indecisions crowd my inner space. Grocery lists, deadlines, although self-imposed, stay current in my thoughts.

At night I try to turn it off by tuning into some mindless TV or a good book; my long awaited personal time. Reading takes me out of myself and allows me to be somewhere else. The great escape is pleasure, solitude from real life’s daily demands. When letting my mind free, it often wanders too far to a place of comfort and weightlessness, a place I sometimes would like to remain.

When I get up in the wee hours of the night for a drink or a visit to the loo, the beast has been awakened. The active mind begins, and the chances of going back to sleep are narrowed unless I turn on the radio to concentrate on the music or start all over again, reading, to still my active mind, so that I may once again drift into silence.

D.G. Kaye ©June 2015

#Scrivener, #Audits, #Revisions and #Publishing

I can hardly believe it’s the first real day of summer today. I ask myself where March, April and May disappeared. It seems the days pass so quickly when so many things are going on, and when we come up for air, we try to account for all the days that have gone by.

This past week in particular has been absolutely hectic. I have been working on my latest book off and on due to unforeseen circumstances that seem to have been circling me since I returned from my winter vacation. Throughout these busy months I was caught up in the worry of my dear aunt who passed a few weeks ago while trying to get back to my latest book and working on revisions intermittently.

When I finally put my head to the grindstone and got into third round revisions, I discovered that I was not happy with this book and sent it to an editor friend with a great pair of eyes for a beta read. Sometimes, it’s very hard for writers to find what they feel isn’t right when they’re constantly going over their own work. My friend gave me a lot of positive feedback, helping me figure out what needs to be moved and changed etc., but then it dawned on me. Bingo! My book wasn’t one book, but two. I thought I could meld past and present ideas together but it wasn’t sitting right with me. So, I’ve decided to separate it into two short novellas, which of course entails more writing and revising, thus this book will not be ready for edits until later in the summer.

This realization sent me scurrying through my Word files trying to pick out what should be moved, deleted, etc. But it became a daunting procedure. This is when I reminded myself of how badly I NEED TO LEARN SCRIVENER.

I promised myself after my last book that I would master the beast. But after watching a few tutorials, reading many publications, and reading ‘Scrivener for Dummies’, I couldn’t wrap my ahead around it fast enough, and found that I need to dedicate a few solid days to learning it. The program sits inside my computer, I have tried to fiddle with it, but I felt it was eating my precious time while so much was piling up, that I’d just continue to use my prehistoric method of sorting chapters until I could dedicate the time.

So after much frustration, I printed out the manuscript draft and begin separating the chapters, sprawled out on my floor. And that is where they are currently residing, for the past four days. Why you may ask? Because once again, life has interrupted my flow of thought by Revenue Canada coming down on me for an audit. As if I needed something else to do!

As many of you know I moved at the beginning of the year, which left my income tax files buried in boxes at the back of a storage locker. I had to find the boxes and files and start digging for all receipts and files for not only 2014, but 2013 also. Fun wow! Not!

I lamented to my accountant, “Why on earth do these people pick on me, a tiny author, working her butt off trying to make a living with her costs to publish and advertise, far outweighing the income. And he answered, ‘Precisely, because they go after the small guys claiming write-offs and they want proof that they are not being scammed.”

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q7...

So I once again dropped the book writing and revisions and spent the better part of this week searching, sorting, and photocopying receipts for the accountant to help me get this situation rectified and out of my hair. My dining floor is carpeted with income tax files, and my living room floor is blanketed with book chapters. Thank goodness my place is ‘L’ shaped so we can walk through the kitchen to get to the bedroom. I ain’t moving that stuff until I can deal with it all. So needless to say my social interaction and blog reading has suffered once again. It seems when I finally catch up, something else lands on my lap. Oh, and I will add that for the fourth time in one year, MY LAPTOP DIED AGAIN. Surely I am being tested!

Here are a few tips you can all take from this:

1. If you’re writing a book, make it a point to learn scrivener (something I will be doing before this year ends!)

2. Make sure you keep all your receipts and files pertaining to income tax intact and accessible because you never know when Rev Canada or the IRS will call your name.

3. And never put off for tomorrow, what you can do today because you never know what else is coming.

I’ve recently been reading from a few author friends that they have been taking technological vacations, ie: time-out, or vacations sans laptops. I envy the way they can just ‘say no’ and take a breather without worrying about how much more they will have to catch up on when they return. I am going on a MUCH NEEDED vacation in two weeks and have been threatening myself that I will also go away without my laptop. The thought terrifies me, yet sounds so inviting. In fact my friend Sue Dreamwalker has dared me to do it, and I’m thinking I just might!

If any of you have discovered an orderly way to play catch up after taking a techno break, I’d me more than happy to hear your suggestions.

 

 

#Blogging – Best Tricks to get more Eyeballs on Old Posts – Janice Wald

In these past few months, I have discovered, followed and befriended writer Janice Wald from www.mycurrentnewsblog.com
Janice has a wonderful blog which is most helpful to writers; author and bloggers alike. Her posts are very insightful to various methods of promoting our blogs, to sharing tips on how to make the most out of our writing and social media.

 

Below is a snippet of Janice’s latest post on how we can get more people to read our posts:

 

“Repurpose means you are going to find other purposes for your posts.  You are going to take a piece of content and change it so that it can get new audiences.

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is an expression that normally relates to the environment.  You are going to reduce the time you spent blogging by getting extra value to those hours. You are going to reuse your old posts by recycling them.

In blogging lingo we talk about Return on Time Invested (ROI).  This post will show you how to maximize the amount of time you invested in a post by using it again for a different purpose.”  Read more by clicking the link below . . .

 

http://mycurrentnewsblog.com/2015/06/16/12-best-tricks-to-get-more-eyeballs-on-your-old-posts/

I am Series – #Writer’s World

I enjoy these writing prompts by Natalie Goldberg, not only because they get the mind exercised, but for the material they bring forth. Goldberg’s book is mainly directed toward memoir writers, although can be very useful for all writers. She explains that if we do short little writing exercises using her prompts, by starting our story with a memory or an object, it will take us into a deeper subconscious level where we find the topic we’re writing about  taking us to something we remember from the past or leads to things we feel strongly about.

 

Today I am thinking about famous writers from the past. Isn’t it ironic that back in earlier decades, many writers such as Dickens self published? Many of our esteemed fellow writers we look up to struggled for recognition, and for many of them, it wasn’t until they had long passed that they achieved their fame and recognition for their brilliance.

I don’t believe any writers are left unscathed from self-doubt. We are our own first critics. Later, when the editors and publishers get their eyes on our works, it is once again criticized and picked apart. As writers, we have to grow some thick skin. Is it any wonder many writers turn to isolation and alcohol?

We are constantly striving to perfect our work. The clock ticks time away for so long before we notice how long we’ve been living in our solitudes, in the confines of our own little bubbles in our special world, sometimes forgetting the world around us exists.

I sometimes feel this way and I’m grateful in those times for my writing friends; for only they are the ones who can identify with the angst a writer experiences.

The results of our work are simple words on pages. Simple? Certainly not a simple journey for our search for those perfect words we strive so hard to fine tune so they appear eloquent and effortless. The numerous strike-outs, rewrites, days, months and years, and then revisions again, all this before our work goes forth to the editor for our work to take on a new form yet again, weigh heavy in our hopes of achieving perfection.

To simply say, I am a writer is much too understated. Our minds are fascinating, filled with stories from almost everything we see and do. Our words fill people’s minds and feed their souls. We share our knowledge and experiences whether from our own lives, or from the stories we create, invented from our own knowledge.

Writing is so much more than simple.

D.G. Kaye ©June 2015