I got the Versatile Blogger Award!

I was informed that I received the Versatile Blogger award the other day and have been procrastinating, in between writing, but have finally told myself, Karen you really need to post this" So here it is...

BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME! And I am very honored to have received it.

First The Rules

Everything in life has rules, and the Versatile Blogger award is no different. So here goes.
(Actually this is probably the easiest part!)

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
Thank you Debra. I am honored and surprised, because I wasn't expecting this. :-)
I love following Debra's Blog. She has been very supportive and helpful and always has a kind word and puts up with all my dumb questions. I hope you will follow her also and don't forget to follow her on twitter too!
http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/reapers-and-dvrs-at-the-row80-check-in-1-29/

@DebraKristi

2. Share 7 things about yourself. Now this is hard! No Laughing!
* When I was little, I would make believe every day that I was sitting at my little table, having tea with Elvis.
* Even though I probably know all of the words to most of the songs, "I'm NOT a Beatles fan" Sorry...
* I'm a big fan of Ozzy and 80's hair bands and Matchbox 20
* I hate clutter
* I love everything vanilla and white chocolate
* I'm open minded and a positive person, who loves to help others
* I love creating things and I custom design gift baskets and party sets

3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading. Okay...I knew this would be hard, but didn't expect it to be this hard. I love finding and following so many awesome blogs, how do I only pick 15, oh well here goes...

* This is Brian's Blog. He was the first person I did a guest blog post for. It is a health related blog about his book "Death: Living to talk about it."
http://brha99.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/this-weeks-journal-jan-20th-through-jan-26th/

* This is one of Cecilia's Blogs
http://thestupidappraiser.info/LaVitaNuova/

* Genreality Always has some great advice for writers
http://www.genreality.net/stranger-than-fiction

* And this one I just started following today!
http://amloki.blogspot.com/2012/01/sign-up-for-some-atozchallenge-blogging.html

*Looking for awesome, recipes, pictures and fun/ I highly recommend
http://www.theredheadriter.com/

* I've read and loved  Richard's book "Near Death" Even reviewed it here on my blog, check out his blog!
http://richardchaleauthor.com/

*This is Caddy's blog. She interviewed T.M. Souders today :-)
http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-fabulous-author-t-m.html

* This is Patti's
http://theangelsarehere.wordpress.com/readers-questions-answered/

* There's only one word to describe DC's AWESOME!
http://dcmcmillen.com/2012/01/31/2118/

* This is John? Paul? :-) I never know, but he is one of the most versatile bloggers on my list! Wonder where George and Ringo are? :-)
http://blog.pauldorset.com/

*Karen's Blog. I love Karen's blog because she's got an awesome name! :-))
http://kptoz.blogspot.com/

*And Charlie's is a must see!
http://curiousstories.blogspot.com/

*Mish Who is always an inspiration
http://writer-in-transit.co.za/drabble-challenge-relief/

*Peter's blog will leave you rolling on the floor in laughter! And I love his nemesis!
http://peterhobbs1.wordpress.com/

*Zen was one of my NaNoWriMo Buddies who kept me on track!
http://zencherry.wordpress.com/

I Love All my blogging friends that I follow and that follow me. Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry, but they are the best!






4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

Live Life to Write Better

Someone posted this saying on facebook this morning and I thought,
"That should be every writer's motto." We need to take the time to enjoy our lives and the people around us. We all have memories, thoughts, feelings, and wonderful and not so wonderful people in our lives that should inspire us in our writing.
Stop for a moment, feel your heart beating? place your fingers on your wrist. Now you feel it, don't you. Think about how it would feel if you were happy, scared, or excited. Now go out and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Close your eyes and hear the birds singing, a dog barking, or even a neighbor mowing the lawn. Revel in the joy of a child's first word, a lover's touch, or a kind word. Talk to people, no better yet, listen to people. Listen to their thoughts, their feelings. We have all felt happiness and sorrow it's part of life and the more we experience life, the better writers we become.

I went and visited my dad this morning. He's a character. I did use some
of his personality traits in one of my novels. He's someone I love and respect

very much. He will be 88 in April and still going strong and he's a big part of my life.

Well to sum this up, enjoy your day today and set aside your writing for just a little while and go live life. It holds some great inspirations for some great writing!

Dilemmas

Good morning! I think... Today I'm just thinking out loud, so bear with me and maybe you can relate.
I get up this morning and I feel...yuck. Not sick or anything like that, but just...
I've been sitting too much, and eating too much, and can't stand wearing my sweats or flannels for too long once I get up and yet my favorite jeans are dirty, so I put on my next faves. They don't fit like my favorite ones, but they have to do.And then to top it off, I cut my hair last week, not bad, but...It's too short to get up in the morning, run the brush threw it and put it in a ponytail and too long to get out of bed and run the brush threw, it has to washed and blow dried! UGH! And then to top it off...my dog is being annoying this morning every time I get up from the chair he's dogging me and attacking my shoes.  But these are just minor annoyances, what has got me feeling yuck? WRITING! Yes, writing.

I started a new story this week. In my head it was basically all cut and dried, BUT
I made the mistake at the very beginning of introducing a guy (not the intended hero, But he'll make your heart flutter) A crush that she has had since day one, that she grew up with. And then I have a part where she's thinking back to her past true love, and then I introduce the hero, but now I'm not sure which one should be victorious! Oh how the plot thickens...
I haven't even thought about the happily ever after, so I have no idea how the story will end, BUT
after pouring my heart and thoughts out to you, I just came up with a new plot twist! So I am off to write!
Thanks for listening and I hope all your plots go in all the right directions!
Have a great day!

How much is too much?

I love to read. I always have. But am finding now that I'm writing, that we tend to get caught up in word count.
Yes you need to describe your characters and set your scenes, but do you really need to describe the mole on the right hip of her third cousin? Unless there's a certain significance to it.  Do you have to have their agenda minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day? How much is too much? And how much is not enough?
When you pick up a book and it drones on and on, do you lose your interest, thinking to yourself, "They really didn't need all that" Can your story be told in 25,000 words compared to 50,000? How much is lost when you cut back, or add more? I guess the big question is, "How much do you put out there vs. how much you let your reader's imagination work?"
And once they read it will they remember it, or at least a part of it?

I used to read Romance novels when I was younger, now I write them and read other genres, but I can remember this one novel (I read it like 20 years ago) well the basic outline of it, as if I read it last week.
It was a Harlequin novel, I have no idea who wrote it (and that's the sad part, but I have always been terrible with names) but it has stuck in my head and I wanted to share just the basic plot of it with you and we will see if I can keep it short, I don't know I get kind of wordy sometimes.

This is what I remember;

There was a count, duke, whatever (See, what he was didn't make an impression on me) He lived in a big castle. (Where? I don't remember) He had been injured and had lost his sight temporarily or at least they hoped it was only temporarily. So a young, overweight, plain looking woman was hired to take care of him. All the mirrors had been removed and placed in the basement. (Still don't know why, because his eyes were bandaged and he couldn't look in them anyway) She had low self esteem and he was a cranky person with the attitude of "Why me?" Kind of like "Beauty and the Beast" Anyway, every night after he fell asleep she went down and went skinny dipping in the pool and over time she had to take in her clothes so they would fit. Now remember there are no mirrors to look into. Over the course of let's say six months, he was falling in love with her. She was kind and caring. Something he had never experienced before. So on the day the bandages were to be removed she didn't want him to see her, in her mind she was fat and ugly. So when they removed the bandages and he could see, she wasn't in the room and he went searching through the castle looking for her. Finding her, she told him he didn't want to see her, because she was ugly and not good enough for him and he took her down to the basement where the mirrors were and made her look in the mirror at her own reflection and she was beautiful. She was in great shape from the nightly swims, and her hair and skin glowed from eating right and on and on...

 I am looking at this from a reader's point of view and not the writer's point of view.
Put yourself in your reader's shoes for a minute...
How much is too much and what will they remember?
Hopefully they won't be like me and forget who wrote the book.

Just a last note check out http://www.genreality.net/its-all-about-the-details, I think their blog post works well with mine today!

Let's Skip the Rest of January!

Can we just fast forward to February? Please?

Wow January has had me on a roller coaster. My email account was hacked into, not once, but twice.
I have had to send out apology emails to everyone for the spam that my hackers have been sending them.
 Then I had to create a new email at a different server. What a mess!
And then there was the mix up with my paypal debit.
And to top everything off, My car has failed the smog test 3 times, even after I paid out the $168.00
to have the carburator rebuilt! So I'm stuck at home :-(
But then that's not too bad, I wrote a novelette and am working on another while being stuck at home,
But the worst thing for me is:
Being stuck on the second book in my series!
The words are there, in my head, some on paper, others on the computer, the whole story actually in one way or another,
But they are just words. I can't seem to express the emotions that those words should express.
The love/hate, deep down, I will be there for you forever, no matter where our paths lead us, type of emotions.
So can we just fast forward a couple of weeks and hope February is better?
And I'm not the only one who has been having a not so great week. Check Out Debra's blog here

http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/launch-needed-row80-check-in-122/

At least she's got an awesome poem to help with the struggles.
Happy Sunday everyone, and here's to a better week! I hope!

Tuesday Blogs to Follow

I have a pending blog post, that I so do hope to share later today, but for now, I thought you might enjoy other's blogs that I follow and enjoy!

http://peterhobbs1.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/pet-peeves/

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/book-cover-design-and-the-problem-of-symbolism/

http://clairejdeboer.com/2012/01/author-tips-on-building-relationships-and-sharing-your-words-with-the-world

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/dont-eat-the-butt-lies-that-can-poison-our-writing-career-1/

http://mainstreetmusingsblog.com/2012/01/09/freshly-pressed/

http://wordservewatercooler.com/2012/01/16/i-have-a-dream-today/

I love Blogs!

Good morning! And Happy Tuesday!
Today I just want to share a few blogs that I have found and that I follow, since I really need to update my other blog today! Yikes! You can find it here...
http://karensdifferentcorners.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/my-firsts/

This is J A Bennett's new blog http://j-a-bennett.blogspot.com/2012/01/fresh-start.html?spref=tw

Here is some advice on creating a good blog or web page.
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/01/06/is-your-website-hurting-your-writing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheCreativePenn+(The+Creative+Penn)&utm_content=Google+Reader

And here are a few of my faves I follow

http://www.theredheadriter.com/

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/

http://theballadofjoeyflowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/the-love-the-hate-regret-we-all-have-it/

http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/immortal-monday-poseidon-not-the-hollywood-version/

There are so many more wonderful blogs that I follow not mentioned today, but I am thinking I should start sharing them on Tuesdays.
Have a wonderful day today everyone!
Karen

Writing Love

As some of you know, I have a fondness for reading and sharing my horoscope. I find it fascinating how they relate to my writing as well as my life. And today's is no different.
I am writing the second book in my series. And I am having trouble writing just how deep the main character's love is for each other. This is a love story that has been in my head for a long time and yet...I just can't seem to capture the essence, the soul, the...The bond that they share and will for the rest of their lives, even when they are apart. It's not a writer's block, it's a feeling that needs to be conveyed to the reader, that for some reason, I can't find the words for. A passion that they share, and I'm not talking about sex, but a deep passionate love that reaches to the very depths of their soul, that tattoos their love on each other's hearts for the rest of their lives, no matter where they go, or who they are with. Oh well here's my horoscope for today. It reminds me of my hero and heroine as they stumble towards a perfect love.

Aquarius (1/20-2/18)

Not every romance can start off as a sizzling affair, so don't get discouraged if you and someone else are experiencing a slow burn instead of a white hot and intense heat. It's a good sign -- it says this thing between the two of you is more about going the distance than it is about drama. Every time your heart connects with someone else, it's a different experience and should be respected as such. Do not compare this to anything you have ever experienced before

New Book Review for "Eleven"

I just finished reading "Eleven" By Carolyn Arnold last night and am here to share my review.
I am new to this thing called "review" And also new to reading books by authors other than Stephen King!

So here goes,
The first few pages didn't grab me quite like I had hoped, but I pushed on and once I was past the first few pages, Carolyn pulled me in and hooked me through to the end. I am a big fan of the crime shows on TV, but normally don't read that genre. Carolyn really did a great job on writing her story, forming the plot and gave it a great ending. There were some great descriptions and yet she left enough to the reader's imagination. The only complaint I really have, and this is just my personal opinion, was that I would have liked to see a little less of the descriptions and a little more dialogue between the characters. I would have liked to see the character's personalities emerge though their dialogue more than through their actions.

But overall I give "Eleven" a 5 star review.
And if it's ever made into a movie, Tommy Lee Jones has got to play Jack! Or my second choice would be Billy Bob Thorton! He was my favorite character in the story. You did a great job creating him!

If you would like to read "Eleven" By Carolyn Arnold you can find it here
http://www.amazon.com/Eleven-Carolyn-Arnold/dp/146643936X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1325613920&sr=8-6

You can find Carolyn on facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolynannarnold
And follow her on twitter Carolyn_Arnold
And don't forget to check out her site
http://sassy3421.blogspot.com/2011/12/tuck-and-roll-writers-highway-part.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CarolynArnold+%28Carolyn+Arnold+-+A+Writer%27s+Journey%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

Love to Read!

Good Morning and Happy New Year! I was supposed to have posted this blog post 3 days ago, but... And it was supposed to be about New Year Resolutions and Goals, but...So I thought I'd combine them into one post today.
First, I don't make resolutions. To me they are like "Promises" and "Rules"
"Never make a promise you can't keep."
                  And
"Rules were made to be broken"
So no resolutions here! For me they are just a way to set myself up for failure. But I want to share some other blogger's posts with you this morning on their resolutions and goals.

http://nepheletempest.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/as-the-year-fades-to-memory/
http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/12/goals-resolutions-words/
http://www.ericaluckedean.com/the-daily-blog/2012/1/2/theres-nothing-like-a-good-book.html?lastPage=true#comment16431943


http://clairejdeboer.com/2012/01/the-difference-between-a-new-years-resolution-and-a-goal

But wait! I do have some goals for 2012!

1. I want to read more books by new authors. I'm a big Stephen King fan, but since I started writing in 2011, I decided to start reading books by new authors and giving them support. (And I'm doing good so far. I have read two books since Christmas by new authors. Richard C Hale and Carolyn Arnold.)
2. To get better at writing reviews. I tend to be short and to the point!
3. To improve my query writing. Here I also tend to be short and to the point. 
4. To keep learning new things.
5. Finish writing the middle two books for my series, "Chris' Journey Turning Different Corners"
6. And last, but not least, to reconnect with family and friends that I seem to have been neglecting since I started writing. I've heard being a writer is a lonely life and boy they weren't kidding!

And this is my tarot card this morning. Sounds good to me!

"The Knight of Pentacles card suggests that my power today lies in practicality. I plan ahead and consider my options to set priorities or define goals that serve my long-term purpose. My values lay in the potential that often remains unseen by others. I am cautious, steady, optimistic and reliable and have earned the new trust or position that empowers me. My asset is accepting responsibility."

So I wish each and everyone of you, "An awesome new year, filled with success for all your resolutions and goals!"

My Book Review for "Near Death"

This is my first book review, so bear with me and let's see if I can do justice to
                                "Near Death" By Richard C Hale.

First off, I am a big fan of Stephen King and rarely do I read books by other authors, but I had read a portion of the first chapter of "Near Death" in November on Richard's blog, and it made me cry, so I put it on my Christmas wish list and my oldest son bought it for me.

"Near Death" Is about Jake, who loses his wife in an accident and he goes on to develop a special technology to record other's near death experiences. (That's the only thing I am going to tell you about the plot.)


I did find two small parts in the beginning that I'll call hiccups. One was where he introduced Frank and the other was the part about the plane and the war. I would have put at the beginning of the plane part, "In the meantime, in a desert somewhere in Afghanistan" But that's just my opinion.

I also found myself agreeing with Teri about Maddy (Both characters in the book) That I didn't like Maddy, but I am guessing that's a jealous female thing. :-))

Richard didn't give a physical description to all of his characters, which I liked, because it let's the reader use their imagination as to how they see them. Sometimes less is more when writing.

Overall I give "Near Death" five stars!
I found the book quite enjoyable. It pulled me in and hooked me to the point that I didn't want to put it down.
I look forward to reading more books by Richard. Watch out Stephen King you have competition.
Oh! And as a new writer myself, I read a lot of help blogs and one thing they tell you is proofread...
There is one typographical error on page 97, but if you want to know what it is, you'll have to buy the book, because I'm not telling!

If you want to buy "Near Death" You can find it here...
 http://www.amazon.com/Near-Death-Richard-C-Hale/dp/098477890X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325022667&sr=8-1
and here for your nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/near-death-richard-c-hale/1107395403?ean=2940032835486&itm=1&usri=near+death+by+richard+c+hale

You can also follow Richard on twitter Richard_C_Hale
And find him on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Richard-C-Hale/165798456830067

Now quit reading my review and go out and buy his book!

Stress? Me? Never! UGH!

First reason for the stress reduction kit...
The holidays are fast approaching!
And I'm NOT ready!

Second reason for the stress reduction kit...
I have been writing query letters and I have come to the conclusion...
I write Sucky Query letters!
The hook is okay. It's short, but says what I want to get their interest..
 I've got my contact information down to a "T"
But, It's that first part where you tell the publisher or agent why you are submitting to them. Do I really have to say why? I mean, I wouldn't submit to them if I didn't want to get their attention. I mean, I'm not sending out a million query letters, just a few hand picked chosen ones, that I have found in google search and that I have heard about through other writers and authors.

Okay well, most people request your query letter to be no longer than 1 page, so with mine they really don't have to worry, I think mine is a half a page long!
I know...But mine is short and to the point! It basically says, "Here's what I've got and here's where you can contact me." End of query. Hopefully, I will get better at it. I guess my main problem is, I'm not really good at sucking up, but will make you fudge and cookies to sweeten you up!

Well that's the reasons for my Stress Reduction kit. Feel free to print one up for yourself and use as needed!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Everyday there's a holiday!

Well not quite, but if it's someone's birthday, that could be a holiday too, right?

Hi Everyone! I had tweeted today about using plastic tablecloths for wrapping paper. Hey!
It works great for those BIG gifts. But here's something you didn't know, and that is that I love to use a twin bed sheet for a table cloth for a child's birthday party!

First, put a plastic tablcloth on the table, then put the sheet over it. Now with fabric paint, write Happy Birthday and the child's name, add some balloons, or frogs or whatever your child likes. (Don't forget to let it dry) Then when the guests arrive, leave some permanent markers or fabric paint pens on the table for the guests to write messages for the child on the sheet! After the party's over, throw it in the washer and Ta Da! The child has their own personalized bed sheet!

For great custom party sets, check out http://myuniquebaskets.blogspot.com/ 
Or
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.345025984459.188512.152122694459&type=1

How to write a book?

I have read 10,000 help blogs on "How to write a book." Well maybe only 500, but it feels like a heck of a lot more! And every single one of them tell you something different. Not only do help blogs tell you how to write books, but there's also the ones who tell you how to write queries and synopsis'. And then there are the submission processes of agents and publishers.
First you have people telling you, "No purple prose" If you don't know what that is you can find out about it here;
http://www.debstover.com/purple.html and yes, there is one small line in my book that has it, but in my defense, that part of my book took place in the '70's. And I didn't know what "purple prose" was until about 10 minutes ago!
Okay so now you are done writing and it's time to query.
First they tell you how to write a query and you would think it would be a simple process, but no it's not. It can be one of the hardest things you'll ever do and I think I just submitted the shortest query in history! Very short and to the point. Oh well. It was my first submission and let's hope I get better as I go along.
Second they tell you, "Don't query a series." So what if they are asking for series?

So here's the deal;
I've written my book. I wrote it the way the story played out in my head. I proofread it and did the edits and reread it. It's done! It might be only 55,000 words, but it is a tragic love story with closure and I cried through a major part as I was writing it. Hopefully that's because of the story and not my writing. No, it doesn't have a happily ever after. Not yet anyways, because it is the first book in a series of four books and then you get the happily ever after. Which, by the way, has been written also and is apprx. 93,000 words.

So the moral of this story is...
Write your way, in your own words. Take time to double check spelling. Make sure the story flows and comes together nicely and do your best on queries and the synopsis and if they like it.... Read the help blogs either before you begin writing or after finishing the first draft. And once you've submitted that book to the agents and publishers you want, take a deep breath and don't start stressing on what you think you did or did not do. It's been sent and it's up to the the people you queried now.

My 2011 Christmas Newsletter

I've never done a Christmas newsletter. Some people do and some don't. I have received them off and on, from family and friends. This year I received one from a friend of my dads. What do you put in one? I mean, you either have great news you want to brag about, or sad news, or, maybe you just want to get everything out and have a sympathetic ear, or shoulder to cry on. So I thought I'd do mine here, but do it more as a conversation between me and you. We'll see where it goes and what happens! :-))

Karen tells her readers, "Oh I hate the thought of a new year."
And they want to know, "Why?"
"Because it's always depressing."
"I don't get it. Why is a new year depressing when it's a brand new year, a new beginning, a way to start over?"
"Well for one, I'll be another year older! And then there are all the things we leave behind."
"What kind of things? I know, tell me how 2011 was for you."
"Well in January it's a new year! Haha! Sorry, guess I should be serious. There are all the decorations that have to come down which seem to leave everything looking bare and empty. And since I had my gift shop, there was double the work and emptiness. February wasn't too bad. No wait, I turned another year older and closed down my gift shop in February!"
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Why did you close your shop?"
"Well for one thing, my business partner started flaking out on me in August the year before. He was going through a nasty divorce and evidently hadn't been paying the rent, which I found out in February. Luckily I had an awesome landlord. Yes, I'm responsible for the back rent, but at least he's taking payments. I could have stayed open. I had someone else that wanted to come in and be partners with me, but I decided it was time to close that door."
"Well it sounds like you were dealing with it in a positive way."
"It was just one of those things. Everything happens for a reason, right?"
"What happened after that?"
"Well, March and April were pretty quiet, except my oldest son turned 35. May had it's good and bad.
On Mother's day my middle son called me to wish me a Happy Mother's day and in the next breath, told me his dog, Slick, had been hit by a car. Now Slick is my only grand baby, none of my boys are married, and I was devastated. I told my son, "I'll have to call you back, when I can compose myself a little", I did call him back later that night and we both spent some crying time together. But there was good in May also. I started writing. I was tired of cleaning and laundry. There's only so much you can do, you know, and I had this story in my head for months, so I thought, "Might as well put it on paper." And that's what I did. Actually finished the first draft of that book on the 30th of October. Right in time too, because I started NaNoWriMo on the first of November. But let's go back to June. My son got a new puppy and her name is Sandi. Now I have never been a lover of pitbulls, but she is sweet and shy and I have grown to love her. July, August, and September, pretty much flew by. (Both my younger boys had birthdays in September. One is now 27 and the other is 22.)  Writing tends to do that to you. You seem to get lost in the story and when you hit that final period, you look up and say, "Wow where did the time go?"

And this is Sandi, who loves to smile!

"So is there anything else about 2011 that you want to tell us?"
"Well let's see...Spent Memorial day, 4th of July, and Labor Day weekends in San Diego. Got my little dog Duggy, neutered the first week of December, and I finished writing and editing my second book! So will be submitting it this coming week, so hopefully next year's newsletter, will be a little more exciting and not soooo boring! And how was your 2011?"

This is Slick and Duggy

May you all have a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy, happy and Wonderful New Year!

No One Knows

I've been told that no one knows your book better than you!
So my question is, "How come it's so hard to write a query and synopsis?"

I was talking to a friend a couple of weeks ago. She is an English Lit professor and a writing instructor.
Right now she is grading and reading finals, but when she's done, she's agreed to read my book that I just finished. I told her she needs to be impartial.
 "Yeah right" she tells me. We've been friends for 18 years now.
Anyway, she was asking what my book was about and was trying to pull out all the details.
It didn't dawn on me until after I hung up that she was trying to get a synopsis out of me.
I should have realized this and maybe my synopsis would be done! Oh well. I'll probably get together with her next week and hopefully she can teach me some things about writing!

Have a great week everyone and if you get a chance check out my other blog on wordpress.
http://karensdifferentcorners.wordpress.com/

Just Write? Distractions?

Good morning and Happy Thursday! Let's take a journey through my mind today. Just remember to hold on because it could get quite bumpy and turn upside down and...




Okay first I love reading my horoscopes every morning. This is one of the many for today and I thought it might work for my blog post today...

You could toss hours of work at this project, and it would look only slightly different in the end. However, let it roll on without much supervision, and you'll deserve the righteous feedback coming your way.

I interpret it as JUST WRITE!




I want to talk about writing, especially if you are planning on becoming a writer.




I guess I should put my disclaimer in here! I am new to writing, I am not an expert, everything you read here is just my opinion and take everything with a grain of salt. :-))




I was 3 chapters into my first book when I decided, "Hey I should search the web and see, "How to write a book" Okay so I'm a little backwards."




And that's where my distractions began. If you have a story stuck in your head, my advice to you is either




#1 Sit down and write it, just write it however it is in your head. Write from your heart, your mind, and your soul. Don't go searching for writing tips, just write. Then after you have finished your story, then find all the help blogs and edit your story using all the tips you find.




or




#2 Before you even put that first word on the paper, search all the help blogs and make a short list as to what to look for as your are writing. POV, transitions, character development, etc. Then as you are writing your story, you can refer to your list.




NaNoWriMo has the concept right. Just write! No matter if it goes off in every different direction, just write, no editing, no deleting sentences, just write straight through.




And Stephen King agrees;







"Upon being asked by a fan how to become a writer, Stephen King replied, "Write."

— Stephen King







We have enough distractions to deal with. There are the cleaning house, doing laundry, cooking, and all the other every day distractions that pop up.

Then you have your twitter, facebook, blogs, etc. And the blogs are my biggest distractions, because...

I follow a lot of writers, author's and agents help blogs. And when you are writing these tend to be big distractions because...You stop writing and start going back over what you have written and start editing. Wondering did I do this right, or should I have said he said/she said, or...




So either write first, then find all the help blogs and edit, or

Find all the help blogs first, then write your story.




A word of caution. Every person has a different writing style, everyone has a different way of looking at how stories should be written. You need to find your way, your inner voice and as Stephen King says,




"This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. Fiction writers, present company included, don't understand very much about what they do -- not why it works when it's good, not why it doesn't when it's bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit."

Stephen King, On Writing"

— Stephen King




Anyway, I do love the help blogs and one of my favorites that I follow is Paul Dorset's Blog called "Utterances of an Overcrowded Mind"




He has written a book on becoming a writer and shares some great insights on how to write a book.


http://blog.pauldorset.com/p/wfs.html




Okay now that I've told you how I feel, Maybe I should be writing...Or finding another help blog to share to help you on your way. Nah It's time for me to get busy and write

My Duggy Shoes

My new shoes! Thanks dad!

I went to my dad's last Sunday. I wore a nice pair of jeans, a tank top, and a button down sweater and my Duggy shoes. Now for those of you that don't know what my Duggy shoes are they are my favorite tennis shoes, that my little dog Duggy has been chewing on since I got him. Anyway my dad called me Tuesday and wanted to know what size shoes I wear. I asked him why and he said he just wanted to know how big my feet were. So I told him a 10, (yes, I have BIG feet) Which seems unusual because I am only 5'5" and weigh about 135 lbs.
Now I am not poor, nor am I rich, and I have other shoes, but I like my Duggy shoes. They are comfortable.

Sorry back to my dad, He told me he went out and bought me a new pair of shoes, Sketchers to be exact, and paid $97 dollars for them. WHAT! I cringe if I have to pay more than $25 for a pair of shoes!

Oh well, wonder if they will go with my holey 80's look jeans....

Was it good for you too?

Okay now that I have got your attention...Get your minds out of the gutter! I'm talking about NaNoWriMo.

I've been seeing blogs and posts on comment boards, or is that comments on post boards, (Shaking head) Hmmm...
Anyway whichever way you look at it, Some say they enjoyed NaNo and some say they didn't.
Personally I thought it was a lot of fun and I'm kind of sad to see it done.
It was my first time...
I wasn't sure I could do it, but I prevailed and look forward to next year.

I wrote my 50,000 plus words. I decided my book would only have 4 main chapters, so I finished the first, third, and final chapter. And got the beginning and end of the second chapter, but need to fill in the center.

The hardest part about nanowrimo for me is writing in a straight line...beginning to end. I tend to skip around some.

The book I wrote is actually the first book in a series of four books. I decided to write it, because I had just finished the fourth book. But on the plus side I have started on the first chapter of book too and have the ending chapter of book three done! Did I mention I skip around a lot?

Oh Well, I hope to see everyone back writing next year!

Here are a couple of blogs from fellow NaNo writers! Check them out!

Simon's Blog This was his first year too!
http://simontall.com/2011/11/30/november-a-novel-and-death-of-the-author/



And Cheryl captures the writers block/procrastinator in all of us with her short videos! http://www.cherylreif.com/2011/12/01/for-all-you-fellow-wrimos/#comment-3843

Happy Dec. 1st You survived, you may all get up from your chairs now! Take a bow and pat yourself on the back!

For those of you that like the comraderie that goes with NaNoWriMo here is a link on FB where you can continue writing your nano
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IE-After-NaNo-Writers-Group/218931721510267

You Are Awesome!

"You are Awesome" Maybe that's not the best title for this post.
Maybe it should be,
 "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" or
 "Thinking of others" or
"Make a Difference"

The Christmas season is upon us. It's the final countdown to Friends, Family, Presents, and Holiday Cheer, But...
Every year I make the same plea. I post it on FB, My blogs, or I tweet it.
We were all Thankful on Thanksgiving, now it's time to give back.

There are people every where that don't have what we have. There are homeless, people in shelters, nursing homes, and many people out of work, struggling just to keep their gas and electric on.

So I am asking for everyone to help others.
Whether you donate canned goods to a soup kitchen, or give to Toys for Tots, is up to you.

If you're not sure who to help here are some ideas and some of my favorites.

Make A wish Foundation http://www.wish.org/

Candle Lighters http://www.ccfsocal.org/candle2/about_us

Leukemia Society http://www.lls.org/

Ronald McDonald House http://rmhc.org/

Your local hospital Children's ward- Books, CD's, crayons, Lego sets, slippers, and hats.
(My oldest son, now 35, had leukemia as a child. So these are personal faves of mine)

Do you knit or crochet? How about making a couple of scarves and donate them to the homeless shelter, or make some small lap blankets or slippers for a local nursing home.

I'm not asking you to donate a million dollars here. With dollar stores everywhere you can pick up a few coloring books for kids, socks for the homeless, or whatever you can imagine.

And one last plea, buy a couple of cans of dog food and donate to your local animal shelter, because they need love too.

I know times are tough for everyone and many of us can't afford to help at all, so for those of you, please share a smile, a warm handshake, a kind word, or just a hug. Or volunteer to help!
 It can be the best gift of all.

My apologies for those that don't celebrate Christmas. I wish all of you Happy Holidays!

No matter what religions we are, or what beliefs we have, it all comes down to, we are people, We share this world together and it is up to us to make it a better world.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

You are Awesome!