Mistakes, Reviews, Edit!

Okay Everyone should know by now...I'm a sucker for my daily horoscope and today is no different, but I love how it always works to my advantage when it comes to writing a blog post. So without further ado, here is My Horoscope for today

Don't be afraid to look for (and find) mistakes in your work -- after all, isn't it better to discover something that you did wrong yourself, rather than have the big boss or teacher discover it? Sure, it might require more energy or time to proofread or double check something, but instigating a positive change is always worth the extra effort. You need to build a reputation as someone who gets it right, not just someone who gets it done on time.

Okay so I have been looking for reviews on my novelette "Kyle & Kelly" Which was free this past weekend. Now I'm not a professional reviewer myself and really hate to give negative reviews or even constructive ones, it's just not me, but if I read a book and I like it, I will leave a quick review for the author on amazon or smashwords, or wherever their book is and I will review it here on my blog. Anyway I have been searching for people to review my book but I'm sorry, I am not going to pay someone $25 to give me a review! Besides there are plenty of my copies that people have purchased out there that I shouldn't have to pay for a review.  I'm cheap! I learned that from my dad :-) But I learned from my mom that if you are going to do something, do it right!

So now on to Mistakes!

Also I am not going to pay someone $3 a page to proofread and edit my book. I'm sorry once again, but as I said, I'm cheap." BUT and that's a big word! That doesn't mean that I should just throw it together and publish it without reading through it, time and time again myself. Yes we all use spell checker, including myself, And no it doesn't find "Hi" misspelled, even though it should say "His" Or that you wrote "your" instead of "you're" or even the fact that you somehow put an extra word in like "He is was the whatever" Yes sometimes my grammar is off and my puncuation isn't in the right place, and I have fragmented sentences (Hey, that's how my character said it in my head!) But I don't want people to give me a bad review because I didn't take the time to read through my own story and find my mistakes before I put it out there for the whole world to see.

 I don't want to give you a bad review based on your mistakes. I want to give you a good review because your story intrigued me, made me laugh, or cry. I know it's hard when you have a 100,000 word novel. Print it up and read through it. Enlist the help of family and friends to see if you have mistakes. I know we all get in a hurry.

 I got the idea for "Kyle & Kelly" on the 10th of January after receiving my jury duty summons. I wrote it out and must have read it 50 times before taking the plunge to self publish it. It is only 78 pages. It would have been 113 pages if I hadn't had problems with embedded fonts and formatting, because I ended up using the Arial font instead of Times New Roman. I had it published and available by the 3rd of February (My birthday!) Yes, I was in a hurry also, but I hope that when people read it they will like it or hate it because of the story and not because of mistakes. Please and I can't say this enough.. If you are cheap like I am, read and reread your story, find your mistakes, and be proud of your work.

If anyone would like to read "Kyle & Kelly" and review it and yes look for my mistakes, let me know and I can send you a copy.  

Oh and just so you know, I have very tough skin and you can't offend me, unless you tell me I'm rude, which seems to cause little mental breakdowns on my part!

:-) Have a great day everyone! 

Should vs. Supposed to vs. Need!

Good morning and Happy Monday and Tuesday to everyone!
I, like you, have a lot of things I need to get done and my blog post is first on my list!
So I thought I'd share some of my goals for the week with you today and see if you can relate.
I have a lot of books in my kindle so I really need to get some reading done,
but here are the top four I hope to get read this week.

• "Frozen Past" is the new one out by "Richard C Hale" I read Richard's novel "Near Death" and I like his writing style. You can find "Frozen Past" here, 

http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Past-ebook/dp/B007HETCU6/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332169433&sr=1-4

• Next is "The Butterfly and The Bull" by Stuart Haddon and you can find it here

http://www.amazon.com/The-Butterfly-Bull-ebook/dp/B005Z4TWMS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332169600&sr=1-1 

• Then I have "LOL" by Charlie Nitric and you can find it here  

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141623

• And last but not least is "Eternal Darkness" by Natalie Hancock and you guessed it, find it here!  http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Darkness-Cursed-ebook/dp/B0076U1UT2/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332170180&sr=1-6 

Last week I read  "Indie Authors Make Better Lovers" by Vonda Norwood And it was funny, fun, and a sexy read and you can find it here
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140487
Okay now for the rest of my to do list!

• Put the finishing touches on "The Good Dr. Grant"
• Format it
• Write the blurb for it
• And get it uploaded to createspace
• Work/decide on the cover for "Chris' Journey Turning Different Corners"
• CLEAN HOUSE!
• Give my poor dog a much needed haircut and bath

Well that's my week. How's yours shaping up?
Oh and I forgot to say, get back on my workout schedule! And I just have to share my horoscope for today. Love it!
Aquarius
March 19, 2012
The completion of a long-term goal might have you feeling enthusiastic, energetic, and happy. You're also likely to be looking to the future, Aquarius, formulating ideas for other projects and discussing them with friends. Group activities could benefit you at this time and put you in touch with new people who could possibly become close to you. In the evening, go to an exciting movie. A thriller would suit you just fine.
As for a movie, Nah, but maybe One of those books I mentioned!

Let's Talk About Sex

HaHa! I knew that would get your attention! I have questions...
I know... mother of three and I had to google, "How to write a sex scene"
Hangs head in shame. But I still have questions!

I was reading a blog post and the guy said something to the point of,
"And make sure they have safe sex. Always use a condom, unless they are procreating."
Does your hero stop and say, "Wait, let me put my condom on?"
I know with STD's and aids and unwanted pregnancies, that yes they should, but do you write about it?
When my sons first started going out, I'd give them the speech...
"No drinking, no drugs and wear a rubber."
And you'd think they'd be shocked, but normally their response,
"No problem, no problem, and always."
No wonder I don't have any grandbabies!
And if you find my little speech shocking let me point out that
here in my city we have a special class for 14 year old pregnant girls.
Maybe more parents should give my little speech...

Okay next question! And maybe it's not really a question, but I would like to hear your thoughts on it.
A publisher's submission guidelines
"No sex under 21"
I had my hero and heroine wait until they were 18 and yes, they forgot the condom, and yes she got pregnant and yes, I am breaking all the rules here, I know, but 21?

Okay last question and it's for the guys, so if you're not a guy grab the closest one and ask them...
Does a guy worry that his partner is comparing "him" to their ex while having sex?
I know we are from two different planets and that some guys do worry, "Did they satisfy them." but I'm talking on a deeper self esteem level.
Okay that's my questions :-) Hope everyone is having a great day!

Another Rejection Letter

I know the title sounds horrible, but...
Yes, I did receive another rejection email yesterday.
And at first I was actually happy because...
I have been thinking of self publishing this particular book.
It's the first book in my series "Chris' Journey Turning Different Corners"
And then I was depressed...
What's wrong with this book? It's a great story!
And then I was...Hmm...I don't know...Understanding, maybe?
I have read countless blogs about querying and they tell you,
                       "Do your homework!"
And they are right! From the beginning I have questioned my genre with this particular story.
Is it a "Romance?" Yes, basically speaking, but it has all these other variables to it.
It starts out with "Chris" being a 12 year old foster child and gets to 18, falling in love,
having sex, getting married, and then tragedy strikes crashing her world down around her,
Then there's abuse, and new friends, and turning points, acceptance, and closure at the age of 22,
but no HEA, because...That's where book two comes in...

Okay, so to sum it up, this is what the rejection letter said;
"Unfortunately, after careful consideration of your manuscript, we have determined that it does not fit our needs"
And they are right! Even though the agents and publishers I have queried are looking for romance novels and series, mine really does not fit their needs.
They aren't saying it's not a good story, just that as a romance novel,
it doesn't fit with the typical ones that they publish. I also know, from doing my homework,
that the last book in the series (Which was originally written as a stand alone) would fit,
but I want the first three books out there first and then I'll look into querying the final one.

Just remember "Rejection letters" can be a good thing!
Just keep doing your homework and don't give up on your dream.

Me? A Writer?

First let me wish you a Happy Monday. Good morning everyone! I'm afraid this is going to be a long post so grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. :-) I got up and found 99 new emails this morning.
I follow a lot of blogs. 99 isn't too bad though as long as I tackle them all today. Last week there were over 2000 unread emails and let's just say I was a little slow at checking my emails.
But...My post today is about me being a writer. I have been reading a lot of author interviews on blogs and usually the first question is;
"When did you know you wanted to be a writer?" And you will usually find answers like;
"When I was 9. I started writing short stories or describing my grandma's sugar cookies or, when I was 5, I wrote everything."

Personally, when I was 5, I was having imaginary tea with Elvis while sitting at my little table and chairs in my bedroom. I wasn't thinking of becoming a writer, but I had a great imagination! My "When I grow up, I want to be..." Was usually a teacher, or a secretary working in an office keeping everything organized for a business.

I, like all of you, have worn many different hats from wife, to mother, or father, to animal lover, and have had different jobs. Some interesting, fun, and exciting, others not so much so, but they all taught me valuable things. I was the cleaning lady for the YWCA, I worked in one of those little photo booths that they used to stick in parking lots where people would drive up and turn in their film and a couple of days later they'd drive back up and pick up their pictures. I even got robbed there during my first 3 weeks! Now that was scary, but I hung in there until the owner closed the place down about a year later.
 I worked for the school district off and on for 17 years. I was a noon aid, a food service worker, and even a reader for the blind in those 17 years. During my last year I decided to go to college.
Wow, me starting college at 40. I decided I wanted to change my age group and open a board and care for the elderly. I retired from the school district, rolled over my retirement to a traditional IRA and it was off to school. I lost my mom at the end of my first year to colon cancer and lost my brother at the beginning of my last semester a year and a half later to congestive heart failure, but I went on to graduate and got my A.A. degree. A few months after losing my brother I got a job working for a rental car company and my goal to open a board and care got pushed to the wayside.

 A few years later, while still working there, I decided I wanted to be a gift basket designer and was doing well enough at it that a few years later, I even opened a gift shop designing custom gift baskets and party sets. I decided to close my gift shop after 3 years due to the economy and a business partner who was going through a nasty divorce and failed to tell me he hadn't paid the rent in 7 months. My landlord was a great guy and I could have stayed open, but decided it was time to move on. And that was in February 2011. So here I sat wondering what to do. Throughout all these years I have had fantasies running through my head and the one at that time was so strong that in May I decided to sit down and write it out. In fact I was on the third chapter and decided I better google how to write a story. I didn't know what POV or HEA was. Heck I had to google how to write a sex scene! So here I am, not quite into a year and I'm a writer. Who would have thought that all those fantasies and my imagination would lead me to here.

Description Exercises

Have you ever had a conversation and then walk away thinking, "I should have said that!" You know... hindsight! Don't we all wish we had that! Well that's what I love about blogs. I can say "hey I should of said that or added that" and here I am editing! A comment from IntricateKnot and you can find her blog here  http://intricateknot.blogspot.com/ triggered an AHA moment for me. So with much ado I have to add to this blog post :-))
I was reading a blurb a couple of weeks ago for this one book and the description in the paragraph was mind blowing and not in a good way. They way overdid their description to the point that 12 words out of 20, I didn't know if they were actual words that I could find in the dictionary or if they were made up words, but this got me to thinking about my own writing and I realized I don't describe enough. I tend to rely heavily on dialogue between my characters and make my readers use their imagination, maybe sometimes too much!
So I'm thinking there has got to be a fine line there somewhere. Where do you find it? Or do you? Do you rely too much on the dialogue or too much on the description? I'd love to hear how you balance out the two.


Good Morning and Happy Friday! It is VERY WINDY in my area this morning and it has triggered my blog post for today.
How do you describe the wind? What if it's a blustery wind? Exactly what is a blustery wind? Well according to my dictionary Blustery is

3.

vi blow loudly in gusts: to blow in sudden loud gusts (refers to winds) What is wind? According to the dictionary 1. moving air: air moving across the surface of the planet or through the atmosphere at a speed fast enough to be noticed  So how do you describe it? What if you needed to describe wind to someone who has never felt it? What about water? Or try explaining a lush green lawn to someone who can't see it. Sometimes it's easier to describe solid objects. A person, a house, things we can touch or hold. But explaining thoughts, feelings, actions, and emotions can be difficult at times. Take the time to look around you today and work on describing things you see and can't see. .Picture yourself describing these thing to someone who can't see or feel  them. Have fun with it! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!