Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 72

52 Weeks in Review #MFRWAuthor

Last week I gave some statistics about the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-week blog challenge. This week I summarize the heart of the challenge--the topics. When I first thought about participating, I wasn't sure about being about to do 52 posts, let alone the topics.

Some of the posts were easy, simple lists of things. Others were more challenging, especially with the consideration of writing something meaningful. Some of the posts were fun to share, others not so much. They were depressing as dreams that would never be fulfilled.

Then there were the subjects that were more personal than I care to reveal. I admit to being old school enough that I don't post my entire life on whatever is the social media site du jour. Experience with stalkers and identity theft also adds discretion to my reveals.

So how did I do as far as numbers?

Altogether 52 out of the 52 were posted. Yay! Pats self on the back. A glutton for punishment I'm back (at least part way) for 2018's challenge. But I've already decided I won't be doing every topic. Still be sure to follow my blog to be notified when I do jump in or follow the main hop list to the new posts.

Links to the 2017 posts by alphabetic topic are below. Again, congratulations to the other authors who participated. And to our readers I hope you enjoyed our revelations whether they be personal or about the writing life.

~till next time, Helen


Ancestry Inspires
Batteries Dead, Recharge Needed
Beauty in the Beholder's Eye
Bingeing on The Tube (TV Shows I Binge)
Biggest Accomplishment
Characters Have Favorite Things Too
Choosing Just One
Changing Seasons
Close the Door. It's Private
Format? What's Your Choice. Hear, Read, or Hold
Filling the Bucket
Friends For Now or Forever (Meet My Best Friend)
Guilty Pleasures - Food, Drink, Luxury
Hope and Kindness
A Heritage Recipe- Lokse
I Need A Hero
I'm Not Counting 
Inspiration Floats on the Wind
Laughing... Or Not
Last Meal? What Takes Forever to Cook
Love, Life, and Vengeance
Me Bad - My common writing mistake
Manage Time? Not Happening
Musing on Music
Memories of Firsts
My World
Narration or Imagination
Never Forget
No Detail Too Small
Out and Away. Dream Journeys
Page to the Lens
Pet Peeve? Wrong Ending 
Picture Perfect - Hobbies When Not Writing
Plotter, Pantser, Explorer
Quote Unquote
Reading...read...read again
Resolution - Fall In Love With Writing
Rick, Stick, Kick, Ich (Words That Make Me Go Ich)
Stars, Stars, and More Stars
Surviving Writing Life When You're Not The Author
Ten Years, A Lifetime
To Catch A Dream
To The Next Generation
Weakness Makes Us Strong
Where Do You Hangout? Social Media Hangouts
Whoa Too Fast. A Childhood Memory
Writing is Magic
Want to Win My Heart? Chocolate
What's Bad for One is Good for Another
What is a Pet?
Space Beyond The Room (My Writing Space)

They're Not Me #mfrwauthor

Week 3 of the challenge asks a question every writer will have to field sooner or later. "How much of you are in your writing?"

In some ways, every author leaves a little of themselves on the page. It might be an unconscious leakage of a childhood memory appearing in the hero's past or places we've been that became settings in our books. 

Another interpretation of the prompt relates to me as my characters. Am I my characters? Nope! I haven't traveled in outer space or hunted treasures like Indiana Jones. Only in my imagination did I ride the desert with the Rat Patrol, fly missions with the bombers of the 918th on 12 O'Clock High or join the black sheep of VMF-214 in their Corsairs in the Pacific Theater (Baa Baa Black Sheep.)

Then there was the me that helped James bond and Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo save the world. I won't admit which of the hunky Men From U.N.C.L.E. was my favorite. Now you can see why adventure and action must be in my stories. 

There are areas where I admit to writing myself into my books--and that is an attitude. All my heroes and heroines have a strong belief in duty and honor. To quote Detective Vincent Hardy in Striking Distance, "Loyalty above all else... except honor."

Conflicts between loyalties appears in Windmaster Legacy when Lord Dal must decide between saving his mother, his wife, or to honor his role as archmage and save magic for all future generations. 

Some authors create characters that are mirror images of themselves. Either as they are in real life or who they want to be. Except for Lady Ellspeth, captain of Sea Falcon, and myself both having silver hair, my characters and I don't share any physical characteristics. While Ellspeth loves the crustaceans found in her native seas of Nerelan, and I love Gulf shrimp, I firmly state -- I'm not my characters.

For more on the Windmaster Novels, click on the covers. This is a hop so be sure to visit the other authors in the challenge. ~till next time, Helen



A dust bunny blipped a couple of the links. Hopefully, these will get you through.

Dee S. Knight

A Challenge Reviewed #mfrwauthor

A year ago to the day I signed up to do a challenge. I wasn't sure about the commitment to write a post every week. But I tried and hung in there, and in the end completed all 52 weeks. A summary of the posts will be up shortly.

I wasn't the only one to take up the challenge. The first week eleven authors joined the hop. The number jumped to 24 and stayed near that for the first twelve weeks. The largest number of posts in the challenge was 27 and the lowest 11. At the end of the year, the average number of participants was 16.

Congratulations to all the other authors who participated. And to our readers I hope you enjoyed our revelations whether they be personal or about the writing life.

To learn more about Marketing For Romance Authors, click on the banner at the bottom of the page on the sidebar. There will be a new challenge for 2018. Maybe you'll find topics of interest and challenge.

~till next time, Helen

It's a Blank Cloud #mfrwauthor

Welcome to week 2 of the 2018 challenge. It's topic is My Earliest Memory. You would think this would be an easy topic. Just cast your mind back in time to your childhood, jot down a few lines and you're done. Nope. Then there is the complication of a similar topic in the 2017 challenge.

Whether it is because of a focus on getting through each day, my age (I admit to rolling past a double nickle, but nothing else), or bad events knocking back good ones, when I tried to search for a memory, there was a blank cloud. That is not to say there is no self-awareness. Just that the images no longer roll by on command as if watching a movie.

So, I won't mention falling off a pony or extended summer stays in the mountains with grandparents, nor my first crush.

This is a blog hop so be sure to check out the other authors' earliest memories. ~till next time, Helen



Then dust collectors snagged a litter or two so here's corrected URLs

Buster the Labrador
Time for Remembering
Back in the Day

 

Tuesday's Title, Rescuing Prince Charming #SciFiRomance

She’s no heroine. He’s no Prince Charming

Title:  Rescuing Prince Charming
Author:  Edward Hoornaert

Date of Release:  December 4, 2017
Genre:  Science Fiction Romance

Buy Links:  Amazon    Apple iTunes

 
Blurb:

Dusty Johnson, a self-styled ordinary, everyday woman, responds with extraordinary heroism when saboteurs try to bomb the prototype of Earth’s first starship. She wants to return to anonymity, but that burst of courage propels her ever deeper into dangers that tear the scabs off her dark past — and thrust her into the arms of the unattainable man of her dreams.

Reese Eaglesbrood, an alien prince, yearns to restore his tattered reputation by guiding the starship project to completion, but his fascination with the unassuming heroine threatens to undermine his fragile authority. Shunning Dusty is necessary, yet unthinkable — and when the saboteurs strike again, she may be his only ally against Earth’s most elusive enemies. 

Behind the Scenes:

Although Rescuing Prince Charming can be read alone, it's set in the Alien Contact for Idiots universe. In the near future, Native Americans with unimaginably advanced technology from an alternate Earth 'hop' their entire island kingdom to our Earth -- and it's not always an easy transition. Each book describes how one man and one woman make the adjustment to the aliens amongst us. For example, Marianne and Quinn, who are important secondary characters in this book, had their own love story in Alien Contact for Kid Sisters.


Author Bio:

What kind of guy writes romance? A guy who married his high school sweetheart a week after graduation and still lives the HEA decades later. A guy who’s a certifiable Harlequin hero—he inspired Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Rita Award finalist Mr. Valentine, which is dedicated to him.

Ed started out writing contemporary romances for Silhouette Books, but these days he concentrates on science fiction romance. He’s been a teacher, principal, technical writer, salesman, janitor, and symphonic oboist. He and wife Judi live in Tucson , Arizona . They have three sons, a daughter, a mutt, and the galaxy’s most adorable grandsons. Visit him at http://eahoornaert.com. Follow him at Twitter.

I Can't Choose.. Don't Make Me #MFRWauthor

Welcome to week 1 of the 2018 challenge. The official topic is the favorite thing I've written. To an author that is like asking them to choose between their children.

It could be the first feature I wrote on Amercan art tiles. It was special to me because it was not just my first feature story (and got my started on a writing path that has lasted more than three decades,) but also because I became a tile historian.

Or, it could be one of the three local history books I authored. Two still hold a special place in my heart. The third, not so much. However I refuse to visit the troll that ruined that book's release.

But the group is marketing for romance authors so the book showcased should be my fiction. Windmaster was my first book so it will always be special.

Then there is Dragon Destiny. It was used as encouragement during a relative's rehab after surgery. And the main character was based on a family member who has since grown up into a beautiful young woman.



Both those books were followed by others including Hatchling's Vengeance and Imprisoned in Stone. Each presented a challenge to write and the resultant increase in skills makes them a favorite.

But to answer the question?


~till next time, be sure to visit the other authors in the challenge. You might find a new favorite book and author.

Last Sale of the Year, 50% off at Smashwords

Last sale of the year. Head over to Smashwords for a great Christmas sale. Both the Windmaster Novels will be available at FIFTY PERCENT OFF! That’s right, HALF off. But hurry it ends January 1.
Windmaster -  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/697506 Revenge set Ellspeth and the archmage, Dal, on the path to her destiny, but prophecy controlled the journey.Trapped within the Oracle's Temple, Ellspeth must choose between her own survival, saving the future of magic... or love.
Windmaster Legacy  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/706664Dal must make an impossible decision whether to rescue his wife, cure his mother, or thwart a rogue mage's plans. More than who lives or dies is at stake. Dal might be able to live with causing the death of a loved one, but could he survive killing the future of magic.

Find excerpts by clicking on the covers above.

Resolution - Fall in love with writing...Again #MFRWauthor

Welcome to the final week of the 2017 challenge. And it has been a challenge. We've revealed something about ourselves, both personal and professional. Some posts were easy (and had a number of us thinking on the same lines) others... let's just say they required quite a bit of introspection before putting fingers to keyboard.

Recently I saw award-winning Jacqueline Seewald's blog post on New Year's Resolution. The title was perfect, "Let's Start the New Year Right."

But how to do that. The older I get the worst each year becomes. Whether due to money, lack of opportunities, family responsibilities, or just life, the plan to go to a party on New Year's Eve and dance until dawn never happens. The optimism with which we are supposed to greet the new year vanishes before the stroke of midnight.

To close out the challenge, instead of rehashing the year (a summary of the challenge itself will appear in the new year), or coming up with a depressing list that I know will not last past January, I'm going to recycle a thought that for me as a writer is the best New Year's resolution and one I hope to adopt for the upcoming year.

So with acknowledgement to Linda S. Clare who voiced the original and whose post is worth revisiting: 

 Resolved, to fall in love with writing again.



And to all my writer friends, that is my wish for you. To all the lovers of books in whatever their format, my wish is for you to find a new favorite author and to enjoy your old ones."

~till next time, Happy New Year. In the upcoming days,


May your troubles be less,And your blessings be more.And nothing but happiness come through your door.
And be sure to visit the resolutions of the other authors in the challenge and congratulate those who made it though all 52 weeks.


 

To the next generation #mfrwauthor

It's week 51. Only one more week to go in this year's challenge. Thanks for hanging in there with us. This week's topic is "What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?"
First off, while I practice "pass it along" and try to help the next generation of writers as I was helped, I don't like to give "advice" as such. Writing is just too individual an activity and our readers are just as varied.

There are books filled with advice of how to write the best seller. Sometimes the information is valuable, other times its just common sense. It could make you rich or fill the coffers of the one who wrote the book. However, after filtering through all the advice I've given, or received, over the years, I'll just give one. For other "words of wisdom" see the other posts in the challenge.

When you start putting thoughts to paper or sit down at a keyboard, eventually there is a question you have to answer for yourself, because no one else can. Do you write for fun, to make a living, or because you “can’t not write.” The answer can help guide you to the publication method that works best for you. Today’s writers have a wide variety of paths to publications.

Listen to your muse to see where she (or he) will take your imagination. And if they talk to you, don't forget to listen to your characters.

Writing may be hard and solitary but don’t give up.  
  ~till next time, keep writing and may the muse visit you fruitfully and often. Helen

Update:
Mary McCoy-Dressel
Robin Michaela 

Big.. Bigger...Biggest? #mfrwauthor

Welcome to Week 50 of the challenge, two more to go. This has been my first writing challenge and finishing it will be a major accomplishment. But what to claim as my biggest accomplishment.



Maybe I should claim my career as a correspondent and feature story writer, or my three local history books. But no, the official topic is "Biggest Accomplishment." The number of fiction novels published is larger than the number of non-fiction so the history books get knocked out.

By biggest accomplishment could be a recap of favorable reviews or those left with four or five stars. Nope, that goes under week 46. This is getting harder and harder.

Time is running out and I need to answer the question. So, of all the things I've ever done, my biggest accomplishment is my marriage. Forty plus years and counting, it's survived deaths and upheavals, empty nest and full. Of course, you could say it's not my accomplishment but my husband's for putting up with me. But I'm claiming our time together as my biggest accomplishment. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.



~till next time. Visit the other authors to see what their consider their biggest accomplishment.