Heather Weidner's Blog, page 118

Hanover Book Festival - Saturday, August 9, 2014

It's going to rain tomorrow in Central Virginia. Come out and see the Virginia is for Mystery Authors at the Hanover Book Festival at Liberty Christian School (8094 Liberty Circle in Mechanicsville, VA) from 10 AM - 2 PM.

We are hosting a workshop on "The Anatomy of a Mystery," and we'll be there to sign books. Stop in and see Fionna Quinn, Vivian Lawry, Teresa Inge, Maggie King, Rosemary Shomaker, and me.

 

Squeezing in Time to Write

I work full-time, and I have several volunteer projects. Sometimes, it's hard to find time to write. Here are some ways that I've been able to squeeze in some time.

1. Make an Appointment - When you have time off, reserve some of it for writing. If you're serious about writing/editing, you need to make the time. I've had to jettison a few things too.

2. I use my lunch hour for writing time. That gives me an extra five hours a week.

3. Join a Critique Group - Your group will keep you motivated. You need to have new samples to submit, so it gives you a schedule and a deadline.

4. Keep Score - Keep a count of your writing progress. You will quickly be able to see the peaks and valleys. It is also another good motivator. I keep a work count in  a spreadsheet. I started last June when I did an online challenge with my group. At the end of the month, I was amazed at the progress I had made. A little competition helps too.

5. Get up Early - Get up an hour or two earlier and devote the time to writing. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, write.

Best wishes with your work in progress!

It's Paperback Book Day!

It's Paperback Book Day! Happy reading!

If you're looking for a fun, summer read, check out Virginia is for Mysteries.

FACEOFF - Edited by David Baldacci

I downloaded the International Thrill Writers' anthology, Faceoff, edited by David Baldacci. Most anthologies have some sort of theme. This one is interesting because it pairs multiple writers and their protagonists in each story. It also introduced me to several new-to-me authors, and I look forward to reading their novels.

My favorites included Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly's "Red Eye," set in Boston. Both characters are looking for the same kidnapper. One is because of a recent abduction, and the other is chasing a lead from a cold case in California. Steve Martini and Linda Fairstein's characters meet at a lawyers' conference in "Surfing the Panther." I also liked the twist in Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson's "Infernal Night," set in New Orleans. "Pit Stop" by Raymond Khoury and Linwood Barclay encapsulates an action-packed car-jacking in the limited space of a short story. I also liked "Good and Valuable Consideration" by Lee Child and Joseph Finder. Jack Reacher stories are always a great read.

And the beauty of a short story anthology is that if you don't like a particular story, you can always move on to the next one. There is something in Faceoff for all tastes.

The Value of a Critique Group

A critique group can help you refine your writing and get your manuscript ready for publication. The support and ideas are invaluable. But it does take some courage to put your writing out there for comments and criticism. You also need to be in the mindset to take the criticism and improve your manuscript.

Find a group that fits your work style and genre. Some are virtual (online), and others are in person. Mine meets monthly at a local library. We have six to nine authors who attend regularly. It may help if you can ask to visit before you join or submit your work to get an understanding of the rules, conventions, and group dynamics.

Make sure you know the rules. In our group, there has to be at least two submissions in order to have the monthly meeting. We also don't require members to submit something each month.

We make notes about grammatical and formatting issues and give them to the owner. We don't spend the group's discussion time talking about commas. Also, if someone mentions an issue that others noted, they jump in when it is first discussed, so we don't have to repeat items that have already been mentioned.

I like that my group has a good mix of published and pre-published writers. There is also a good balance between readers and writers. Our group started out with all female members, but we're now more gender and age diverse. That's helpful because we get a variety of opinions and ideas.

Don't take the criticism personally. The goal is to offer help to improve your writing. You're there to listen and learn, not to defend your work against every comment. And in the end, they are all opinions. If you really don't agree with something, don't use it.

I am very fortunate that my group focuses on mysteries and crime stories. The critiques are more valuable when the group members know the conventions of the genre. They also offer connections and advice that help writers at all stages of their careers.

You need to make sure that you're contributing to the group. Make the time to do serious critiques/reviews of their submissions. It takes some effort, but the advice has been invaluable for me.

My group is supportive. We help each other with marketing, social media, book launches, and technology. And we celebrate each other's successes!

Advice from a Certified Homeland Protection Professional

Allen Norton, Certified Homeland Protection Professional, from GDSI Intelligence and Training spoke to our SinC-Central Virginia group about international and home-grown terrorism and the characteristics of each. He provided a lot of good details and samples of training materials/documents for our mystery and thriller writers.

His presentation focused on foreign and domestic terrorists and characteristics of each. He had quite the collection of propaganda and recruiting tools. It was interesting to see the variety of materials. The common theme, despite the dogma, throughout all of them was hatred.

Who knew some groups even had membership applications to become a terrorist? He explained the left/right continuum of the major terrorist organizations. The extremes on the left side tend to be more politically motivated, and the goal is to create a new or their own political structure. The extreme right tends to be religiously motivated and wants to return to some previous state from the past.

It was interesting to see how technology and social media have changed the recruiting and communication tactics and practices of these groups.

The Hamster Wheel

This week, guest blogger, Cortney Cain is writing about her work and writing experiences for Crazy for Words. Cortney is a recovering writer/editor who now teaches English for speakers of other languages. She and her husband, along with their tween and teen daughters, moved to the Shenandoah Valley recently after living near the coast for years.

A look at my Pinterest page is, admittedly, disappointing by most people’s standards. I’ve followed some pretty prolific posters, though, and *their* prowess might give you the impression that I’m upbeat and in touch. I’ve been neither of these for some time, but my family’s recent move from one corner of Virginia to the other has made me realize that it is not an area’s employment and entertainment offerings (or lack thereof) that are to blame for my current state of mind. It’s me.

I’ve cycled through boredom, self-doubt/depression, and then bootstrap-pull-uppance like a clumsy hamster for a while now. I picture myself as a little furry thing that runs really hard for a bit, trips comically and rides the momentum for a number of loop-de-loos, titters in annoyance as she stumbles off into the shavings, and then shakes the shavings off after she realizes how ridiculous it all is, only to look over and discover this shiny silver thing that could be a nice diversion.

Yep, that’d be me.

That cycle is something I noticed only recently when I found myself complaining about my job. (I should note that I’m between paid jobs at the moment.) It’s not that stay-at-home parenting is unfulfilling or tedious, though let’s admit it—we love that back-to-school commercial with “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” playing in the background because WE CAN RELATE. It’s the feeling that other women have this work/home thing worked out, and I’m the only one struggling with split personality disorder.

I had a job offer recently in something that I love: writing and editing. I went so far as to accept it and even get fingerprinted and background checked. If they’d asked, I would’ve peed in a cup. But then I got a call from the most persuasive HR person I’ve ever encountered anywhere—much less for a school system, which is notoriously “take it or leave it” in my experience—and voila! Yes, I found myself saying, I know teaching is the better fit for me right now because I owe it to my kids to be on their schedules. I called the writing/editing job offerer back and apologized for the late news, but I’d been given an offer I couldn’t refuse. How could I refuse being home with the kids on their breaks?

So now I’m in that resentment stage, where I’m dusting my shavings off, but I can already feel the allure of the silver wheel. Maybe, even with only a few weeks until new teacher orientation, there’s another job in writing and editing that will save me from the classroom. (If you have to ask why you need saving from the classroom, that’s a whole other series of blog entries. I don’t even really have horror stories, either, but all you have to do is turn on the TV to get some good ones.)

But then even if I could pull that off, there’d be the guilt. Sure, I’d feel guilty leaving a school to scramble to fill a job they’re already having difficulty filling. (I don’t flatter myself into thinking my resume is that impressive. My specialty is just in demand, and supply is low.) I’m talking about the Mom guilt. Ah, I remember the Mom guilt so well from my last writing job seven years ago, especially during the inevitable lulls. What are my kids up to right now? I should be home with them.

Doing what, though? Watching Spongebob’s latest exploits is my 10-year-old’s favorite pastime, and reading fan fiction about some androgynous lead singer of a band long disbanded is my teenager’s favorite. So now there’s another source of guilt: why am I not using this time to teach the girls about the world? Oh yeah. That usually takes money. Ironically, that’s a resource that, like Superman and Clark Kent, can’t be in the same room with another commodity: time. But isn’t Pinterest just chock-full of thrifty mom-as-inspiration and educator ideas? I hop on that wheel with all the gusto of a never-before-tripped rodent.

Alas, I am a hamster at heart. One of those pre-makeover ones from the cube-shaped car commercials. No, wait, I’d be one of their moms. The one covered in shavings.

 

Summer Blog Hop - My Writing Life

I've been asked to participate in a summer blog hop. The assignment is to answer questions about my writing, then select other authors to answer the same questions on their blogs within the next couple of weeks. Be sure to see the links to their blogs at the end of this post and find out more about these wonderful writers. A special thanks to Brandy Heineman for inviting me to join in.

What are you working on? I write mysteries. Currently, I am working on several short stories for the next Virginia is for Mysteries. My short story, "Washed up" is part of the first Virginia is for Mysteries anthology.

I am also working on a novel about a Private Investigator from Richmond, VA. PI Delanie Fitzgerald receives an assignment from a tell-all author that sends her on a search for a former rock singer who may be hiding in plain sight. Many of the clues have gone cold in the almost thirty years since the fiery crash that purportedly ended the promising career of Johnny Velvet of the Vibes.

And if there weren't enough dead ends in the hunt for the flamboyant rocker, the PI lands another high-profile client willing to pay large sums for information. Chaz Wellington Smith, III, a loud-mouth, strip club owner, wants her to uncover the mayor's secret life. Chaz's antics eventually land him in jail for the mayor's murder, and he needs more of Delanie's help to clear his name. She uncovers a murder suspect, but he keeps popping up in her other investigation. The intertwining of the two cases causes Delanie to intensify her efforts to find the connection before another murder occurs.

How does your writing process work? I start out plotting and outlining my work. I want to make sure that the humorous moments, crimes, and action scenes are spread out through the chapters. Then when I start writing, I tend to go where the characters take me. It takes quite a few editing sessions and my wonderful critique group to put the finishing touches on my manuscript.

I am a full-time IT manager. My team is responsible for technical writing, training, software testing, business continuity, and records management. I try to squeeze writing time in at lunch, evenings, days off, and weekends.

Why do you write what you do? I write a lot of different things. I blog. I write and edit technical and business writing during the day. But I have loved mysteries since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. My friend Katrina and I raced through all the mysteries at our school and public library in Virginia Beach. So when I'm not writing, I'm reading mysteries and thrillers.

What advice do you have for new writers? Keep writing. You can always edit later. And find a good critique group to help you with your writing and to keep you motivated. I love my group. It's a great mix of writers/readers and published/pre-published. We all write some form of mystery, so the group understands the genre and its "rules." You also have to be willing to listen to the criticisms and make changes to improve.

And always take lots of pens with you to your book signings. At our book launch, I left my purse in the car. I took one pen, and it died on me when I started signing. That is one lesson that I will always remember. Thank Goodness, my mom was there with a spare.

Tag. You're it! Check out Brandy Heineman's blog to see her advice for writers.

Brandy Heineman

Brandy Heineman is a Christian novelist infusing her stories with family history and faith. She's a graduate of Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia with a degree in Business Administration and Communication. She is also a first-generation Southerner who occasionally gets caught saying things like, "Y'all want some pop?"

Brandy is a member of ACFW and a Finalist in the 2014 Genesis contest. She's represented by Jim Hart of Hartline Literary Agency, and her first novel is contracted with Elk Lake Publishing. You can find her on Twitter as @brandyhei or like her on Facebook. You'll find her answers to the blog hop at http://brandyheineman.com/.

 

 

How to Use Facebook's "Interests" to Build Specialized Lists

I manage a number of Facebook pages for several groups. I use Facebook's "Interests" functionality to create lists of sites that I want to see in a newsfeed. This gives me one place to go to see what these sites have posted recently in case I want to share pictures or information. I set up one for my writers' group, so that we can promote each other's writing.

To Create a Specialized List

1. Open your personal Facebook page. Click the Home link at the top.

2. Look at the pane on the far left. Scroll down (under "Pages."  Click the Interests link. Then click More.

3. When the Interest page appears, click Add Interests.

4. When the Add Interest page appears, click Create Link.

5. When the Create New List page appears, click Pages (on the left).

6. Search for the people/pages that you want to add.

7. Click on the name/image to select the person or page. A blue check appears.

8. When you are done, click Next. You can always add or delete from your list later.

9. When the Create New List page appears, name your list. Then select who can see it (Public, Your Friends, Only Me).

10. Click Done.

11. Your list will appear on your Home page in the left panel under "Interests."

To Edit Your List

1. Click on the name of your list (on the Home page under Interest).

2. Click the Manage List button (far right under your banner). The options drop-down appears.

3. Click Edit List. You can add members by clicking the "On this List" drop-down and selecting Pages. Search and add new entries.

4. To remove an entry, click on it. When the "X" appears on the image, click it.

5. Click Finish to save your changes.

Notes

When you click on your list to see the newsfeed, you'll notice that the banner page at the top of the screen rotates among the banners of the pages in your Interest List. You can't change this.

If you are sharing content from someone's personal page (one where you've Friended the person instead of Liked), you need to know that not everyone will be able to see it. This is based on the security settings on the person's page.

After you have built your list, the suggestions for other pages to include will pop up on the right of your screen. If you want to add a suggestion, just click on it.

I made a News list from all our local TV stations and newspapers. I can click this if I want to see the latest news stories.

 

 

Book Signings 101

We launched Virginia is for Mysteries last January. Since then, we've done quite a few book signings, panels, and presentations for our anthology. Here's what I've learned...

1. Always have lots of pens and give-aways with you. I had my only pen dry up at our book launch.

2. Stand up at your signings. It makes you look more approachable. I learned this from Lisa Scottoline at the Virginia Festival of the Book.

3. Always bring candy, and it should be chocolate. Thanks, Mary Burton for the tip.

4. Create a supply bag. Include tape, pens, camera, bookmarks, business cards, and anything else you could need.

5. If you're in a large room and you wear makeup, you may want to go with darker colors, so the folks in the back can see you.

6. Ladies, paint your nails. Everyone is looking at your hands.

7. When you schedule a signing, always ask about the location. We did an outside venue in January. And even though they had a heated tent, it was freezing.

8. Even if someone else is selling your books, keep a box with you. We had two signings where the bookstores ran out.

9. Always have something to give away. Print bookmarks, postcards, or business cards with your social media contacts. Don't forget to put your ISBN# on your materials.

10. I bought a fold-up handcart on Amazon. It's great if you're toting boxes of books to different venues.

Happy Book Signings!