M.J. Compton's Blog, page 62

Supermarket Workout

For several years, I’ve come home from grocery shopping in pain. My body aches all over. A few weeks ago, I finally figured out why: Grocery shopping has become a workout. I even work up a sweat in the store.

It started when my supermarket replaced its shallow shopping carts with deeper ones. They are now so deep that short people–like me–have to stand on tip toe and stretch to empty the contents onto the conveyor.

Then the store raised the height of its shelves. Either that, or they looked at my weekly list and moved all the products I buy either to the bottom shelf or the top. More stretching.

Then they rearranged all the aisles–twice in the past five years. This means I wander around looking for things. And they changed their groupings, too. Very bizarre.

The latest thing they’ve done is tier some of the more “exotic” fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle. I can longer reach the mangoes. At all. There is a barrel of something else in front of the barrel of mangoes. I am simply not tall enough to grocery shop anymore.

Hmmm. Maybe it’s my 6’1″ hubby’s turn to do buy the groceries.

Motifs

When I was first learning how to build a website, I read a book on graphic design that said repeating certain motifs would make the site look sharper. The same advice also applies to business cards, newsletters, tri-folds, bookmarks, and other promotional material using graphics.

I started noticing I also used repetitive motifs when getting dressed in the morning–crystal earrings, crystals on my shirt, crystals on my sandals, or mimicking the pattern in my sweater with the shape of my earrings and brooches. This makes me look more pulled together.

While it’s easy for me see motifs in a visual design or a wardrobe, inserting a motif into my writing is a little more difficult. I find myself wanting to explain the symbolism instead of letting it flow into the reader’s subconscious.

In the book I just sold, daybreak plays an important role. I use the colors of sunrise as well as the “starting over” or “new beginning” aspect to further the romance. So now you know what to look for!

 

 

 

Lemonade Chronicles, Chapter 3

The Saga of my attempt to get home from Las Vegas

Gate B10

I found a row of seats without arms next to the windows and claimed my territory. This was about 1:30am. Remember, my flight out didn’t depart until about 3:45pm. There were outlets for me to charge my electronics. There was a place for me to stretch out and sleep. Not that I got much sleep. I tried editing, but I was so tired the words danced on my computer screen.

Other people were sleeping there, too, including one man who had an air mattress and a sleeping bag.

About an hour or so into my vigil, I was joined by two sisters who were on their way to Florida to see a daughter/niece play in a volleyball tournament. Both women were in HR–one for the Phoenix police department and the other for a vitamin company based in Las Vegas. I lent one of them my Kindle Fire charger–her Android charger was in the suitcase she, too, had been forced to check in Las Vegas. We chatted for a while, dozed for a while. I never did get their names, but they helped pass the time. Their flight was at 7am. When I came back from a trip to the rest room they were gone.

(to be continued)

 

 

Omega Moon Rising

The third book in my Toke Lobo & the Pack werewolf series has been picked up by Soul Mate Publishing.

For those of you who are familiar with the series, the hero of this book is Luke Omega–the band’s young drummer, resident computer geek, and errand boy who has a penchant for Internet porn.

Details to follow as they become available!

 

Lemonade Chronicles, Chapter 2

Continued from August 30 . . .

I met many wonderful people on my trip home from Las Vegas. My cranky seat mate was in a much better mood once he figured out his connections. He helped me reach the overhead air vent that I couldn’t reach, even while standing. When I suggested to him the cabin would applaud when the plane left the ground, he didn’t say anything, but he did laugh and said, “you called it!” when the other passengers did exactly that.

When we landed in Charlotte at 1:00am, I called my husband to tell him. TV Stevie asked, “And how is Charlotte?” To which I replied, “She has a big web and there’s a pig named Wilbur.” My seat mate completely cracked up.

The airline agents waiting to help us were a bit on the testy side, but they’d been dealing with irate passengers all evening. I was told my flights had been rebooked and if I wanted a hotel, they would reimburse me up to $75. But no list of hotels. No voucher. No food voucher. They did tell us the Starbucks was open. I trudged to the restaurant, grateful I ‘d been forced to check my bag in Las Vegas. I ran into other passengers. Some of them had hotel vouchers. Most of them had smart phones–and data–so they could look for hotels.

There were none with vacancies.

I purchased a sandwich and trudged back to the gate where my flight would depart at 3:45pm that afternoon. And that’s were I began my temporary career as the hostess of Gate B-10 at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

to be continued.

 

After the Book

Now that the book is in the hands of my publisher (who says she’ll read my submission next week), I am on a writing hiatus.

I did my grocery shopping, picking up loads of fresh produce. Soup season is around the corner, so I started buying pantry staples.

I had my hair cut off. I wear it long in the summer so I can put it in a ponytail or pile it on top of my head.

Next weekend, the county is holding its semi-annual shred-o-rama, so I went through two printer paper boxes of stuff. Most of it goes to the shredder–income tax returns from 1982 forward. Bank statements from the 1990s.  I also found photos of my daughter’s life in Kindergarten, some TV-career related papers, and a folder of humor. I hope to go through other stashes of stuff to see what I can get rid of.

And I’m reading. Oh, how I have missed reading without guilt. Last spring, someone gave me a pile of Susan Krinard werewolf books. I’m delving into those.

September is my month off from writing. I’m off to a great start.

“I Finished The Book” Give-Away

I finished the next book in my Toke Lobo & the Pack werewolf series this week, and in celebration, I’m giving away 5 free downloads of my friend Emma Cane‘s book, Sleigh Bells in Valentine Valley.

You may be wondering why I’m giving away someone else’s book. The Toke Lobo & the Pack band makes a cameo appearance in this book. You can read the story of how that came about here. (Just the story of how it came about. The “Book That Band” contest is long over.)

All the details for the new giveway are on my Facebook Author page, but I’ll repeat them here for you:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS: I’m giving away 5 free downloads of Emma Cane’s SLEIGH BELLS IN VALENTINE VALLEY. My werewolf country music band, Toke Lobo & Pack, make a cameo appearance in the book. I will snail-mail the winners a postcard that has the directions for the download on it. This is *not* limited to USA readers! The free download offer is good through Oct 31, 2015. Facebook is not responsible in any way for this giveaway. Answer the question to qualify for a random drawing. I will post the winner’s names, who must send me their snail mail information via private message (or email).

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: Answer this question to qualify to win a free download of Emma Cane’s SLEIGH BELLS IN VALENTINE VALLEY.

Which ONE of the following items would you find in a werewolf mating starter kit?

A) CONDOM

B) VIAGRA

C) BLUEBERRY TEA BAGS

D) CHOCOLATE CANDY KISSES

All you need to do is go to my Facebook Author page and answer the question to be entered in the drawing. Five chances to win a free ebook!

DISCLAIMERS: Neither Facebook nor WordPress are involved in this giveaway in any way, shape, form, or manner.

Organic vs. Organized

I have several manuscript in progress. I’ve been using Scrivener to plot the stories. I love the program. I find it easy to use. I adore the ability to color code my files. Everything about the program is designed to facilitate the writing experience.

If you’re an “organized” author.

I have yet to finish a project started in Scrivener. Not the program’s fault.

I started writing another book on June first. I even started writing it in Scrivener, but couldn’t be bothered with all the steps and plotting. The words didn’t just flow. They gushed. I didn’t have time to set up files or chapters or character profiles. I wrote on my Alphasmart and uploaded to Scrivener, thinking I would organize later. But since I wasn’t indulging in chapter breaks, only scene breaks, I decided to compile the files into a word document. I went back to my “old-fashioned” way of writing: Alphasmart to Word doc, then clean it up later.

First draft completed the last week of July. 56 days, start to finish. (This is while holding down a full-time Day Job.)

I finished the rewrite and revisions on September 7. Sent the manuscript off to my publisher.

There’s no help for it. I am clearly an organic author.

 

 

 

Are FitBits the Next Step Toward Dystopia?

I first read (and re-read multiple times) This Perfect Day by Ira Levin in the mid 1970s.

A few weeks ago, while listening to my co-workers go on and on about their Fit Bits, something pinged in my brain. I came home and dug out my battered paperback copy of the book. Read the opening scene. And was chilled.

“Losing is the same as winning.”
“What’s important is having fun and getting exercise, right?”
“But you can’t take off your bracelet.”

Something in my brain exploded.

The deeper into the story I read, the more the book felt like prophesy instead of fiction.

Every moment of our lives planned for us, with one free hour a day.
Children not expected to use their imaginations and entertain themselves, but having too many activities and being bored when they’re not scheduled for something.
Being medicated into happiness
Wearing a bracelet to ID ourselves and so Uni-Comp can track the wearer’s movements 24/7

Are Fit-Bits a step in that direction?

WIP Wednesday: Georgia Beers

Today I’m delighted have award-winning author Georgia Beers join me for Work-In-Progress Wednesday.

Georgia, September is National Better Breakfast Month. Personally, I hate breakfast. If I have to eat it, I like the fast food drive thru. Do you eat breakfast? What’s your favorite breakfast? What’s your dream breakfast? Does eating breakfast help you write? Any other observations on breakfast you’d like to share?
GB:
I happen to love breakfast. It’s my favorite meal in the world. In fact, breakfast for dinner is my favorite thing to eat, ever. I love eggs. I love pancakes. I love waffles. I am a big fan of the PopTart. And I could live on cereal. Unfortunately, I have gotten into the habit recently of not eating breakfast and that is something I need to fix. I do find I work better if I’ve eaten in the morning.
MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?
GB:
You know, I have a lot of creativity in me. Lots of outlets. But I have terrible follow-through. Truly horrendous. I have everything I need to crochet and I also have a basic knowledge (though there’s much more for me to learn). Yet my supplies are collecting dust. I love to garden and I have a bunch of houseplants. But I work on them in spurts. I planted a garden in May and have weeded it exactly once so far this summer. See? No follow-through. That’s something I need to work on. One thing I love and do on a somewhat regular basis is color. I have a stack of coloring books and a huge container of crayons. And for my birthday, a friend bought me colored pencils and an *adult* coloring book. So that’s been awesome to help me feel creative when I’m not writing. It’s relaxing and it lowers my stress level. I highly recommend it.
MJ: I love coloring, too! Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?
GB:
I would love to be a film director. I think I’d be very good at it. I am a huge movie buff. In addition, when I write, I always see my books as movies. I’m very visual. So I think I’d be good at getting a vision from my head onto the big screen.
MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.
GB:
Hmm. The one I have or the one I wish I had? LOL. I would love to have a separate building on my property that I could remodel into a big, open, sunny office space and then head there every morning like I’m going to work. But since I live in an average-size house in the city, that’s not going to happen. I’ve got an office. It’s bright and sunny (windows and natural light are important to me when I work). Lots of windows. I have my desk set up so I can gaze out the window if I need to or look at shelves of books to inspire me. My dogs are usually on the floor nearby and I have a bulletin board and a white board for jotting down or pinning up ideas. I have also been known to use a change of venue on occasion. I will take my laptop to Barnes & Noble once in a while because there is something inspiring about being surrounded by books. I also have a local coffee shop that I have worked in successfully. It really depends on my mood.
MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?
GB:
Well, I’ve got two heroines, so I’m going to answer it that way. What I love most about Ashley is her sunny outlook on life. She is always smiling, always looking on the bright side, always positive. Those are traits that I, as a person, have never been able to master. Ashley doesn’t let anything get her down. She is the epitome of “if life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” I can’t do that.
MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?
GB:
Lisa lets herself get stuck. She knows it, but she can’t seem to do anything about it. If she’s angry about something, she stays angry. She holds a grudge like nobody’s business. If something bothers her, it bothers her for days and days. She has a hard time letting go of negative emotions. (*Her*, I can relate to. LOL.)
MJ: What genre is your current WIP?
GB:
It’s a lesbian romance. All my books are.
MJ: How did you come up with your characters’ names?
GB:
I do two things. First, I have a list of names I like that I’d like to use for a character. Whenever I hear a cool name, I jot it down for possible use in the future. That being said, I also have to pay attention to character ages and whether the names I like make sense for when they were kids. So I also Google the most popular names for the year they were born and I go from there.
MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?
GB:
I wanted to write a series. My audience tends to be mostly lesbian, so I tried to think of a setting that would draw in lesbians, but not exclude the rest of the world. I also had to keep in mind that I needed someplace large enough to have a lot of gay women associated with it without it seeming too contrived or unrealistic. I landed on an animal shelter. There are enough people involved with a large animal shelter (employees, volunteers, donors) that I can hook up several pairs of them and not have people roll their eyes or shake their heads in disbelief. And lesbians are all about their pets!
 MJ: Can you share the first five to ten sentences of your current work in progress?

GB:

The title is “Rescued Heart.”

“Crap.”

Ashley Stiles was running late. Again. It was the story of her life, really. The bakery had been a madhouse with the rapidly approaching Easter holiday, and she’d ended up stuck there for almost two hours longer than she’d expected. Thank God she’d learned to pack a bag when she left in the morning so she didn’t have to show up at Junebug Farms in her bakery whites, covered with cookie batter and cake frosting. It was colorful, true, but it was also really distracting to try and walk dogs that wanted only to lick your clothes.

MJ: This sounds wonderful! What about your current release?
GB: My current release is “A Little Bit of Spice,” which is available at Amazon.


MJ: And how can readers follow you?


GB: I have a website and blog. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Instagram (GeorgiaBeers).


MJ: Thanks again for stopping by, and good luck!