G= Good Grief

Ever watch Charlie Brown? I love when he sighs, Good grief. Especially when he's talking to Sally. That's how I feel sometimes when talking to people who don't quite grasp all the things I do on a daily basis. For Instance my job(s) are the following:

I work for MONTH9BOOKS, LLC. What do I do there? I'm kind of like a gofer or the go to girl. I'm the assistant to the publisher, Georgia. Look at all these G words spouting through here. I'm also the Author Liaison which means I deal with all the authors, answer their questions and get anything they might need.

I'm also a writer. I write every day. Not 1000k words like I'd love to do, but I do write about 500-800 words per day.

I'm a mother. My children need picked up from school. Driven to events. Fed. Helped with homework. Yup this is all the makings of me.


Am I busy every day? Yes. I am.


Happy writing

F=Friendship

friend·ship [frend-ship] noun the state of being a friend; association as friends: to value a person's friendship. a friendly relation or intimacy.friendly feeling or disposition.


I believe in order to be great at anything in life, you need to develop friendships. As an author, I have gained friends from all different aspects, fans of books, well known authors, Agents, Publishers, and people still climbing their ways through the publishing stages. I grow from these people, by understanding and honing in on where my talent is best served. 

To those people who have helped or touched my life to get me to where I am today, Thank you. And also I want to Thank my Blog Followers. I love your comments, and the face that you still enjoy my posts. 


And here is a list of my writing friends Blogs that I've always enjoyed reading:

http://creepyquerygirl.blogspot.com/

http://writersally.blogspot.com/

http://www.writegame.blogspot.com/

B=Balance

bal·ance  [bal-uhns] noun, verb, bal·anced, bal·anc·ing.
noun
1.a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
2.something used to produce equilibrium; counterpoise.
3.mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.
4.a state of bodily equilibrium: He lost his balance and fell down the stairs.
5.an instrument for determining weight, typically by the equilibrium of a bar with a fulcrum at the center, from each end of which is suspended a scale or pan, one holding an object of known weight, and the other holding the object to be weighed.
verb (used with object)
18.to bring to or hold in equilibrium; poise: to balance a book on one's head.
19.to arrange, adjust, or proportion the parts of symmetrically.
20.to be equal or proportionate to: I'm always happy when cash on hand balances expected expenses. One side of an equation must balance the other.
21.Accounting.
a.to add up the two sides of (an account) and determine the difference.
b.to make the necessary entries in (an account) so that the sums of the two sides will be equal.
c.to settle by paying what remains due on an account; equalize or adjust.
22.to weigh in a balance.


This is difficult to do. Balance in your life, Work, Family, Schedules. I know. I've been there and done that. What works for me is to-do lists, and timelines.

This can also work for stories. You've got to have a balance, a flow of direction, and a solid timeline. Give a reader too much too fast, you'll ruin the story. Give them in spoonfuls but in long spans the reader will get bored and likely shelf your work. Balance make this is possible. So how do we create balance?

Simple enough, Make a map of what you want. Main plot, Sub plots. Where do you want your main plot to unfold? You've got to give hints to the main plot through out the story. Follow a cookie crumb trail if you will.  Sub plots where would you like them to unfold. These are kind of like little obstacles. put up your road blocks. Remember all detours lead to the point of destination where you need to go. Make sure your plots do just that, but are leading to the main plot.

Happy writing.

A=Attitude

at·ti·tude  [at-i-tood, -tyood] noun

1.manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes.

2.position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.: a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.

3.Aeronautics . the inclination of the three principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind, to the ground, etc.

4.Ballet. a pose in which the dancer stands on one leg, the other bent behind.

Let's face it, as a writer our egos get slammed daily. Our attitude suffers, because we're told Don't Lash Out. Don't React. But we want to. Oh man, do we want to. I mean who do these people think they are? Well, they're humans. Humans with opinions. If you feel your Attitude changing from positive to negative try these steps. 

1. Breathe.

2. Shut down the screen or walk away from whatever is making you feel miserable.
3. Read or do something that always makes you smile.

And then...

Do you ever have one of those never ending days? It's like people are constantly doing that AND THEN... this happened or that and you really just want them to finish. I felt like today reading this book. I was seriously thinking to myself, Oh for godsakes get to the point already. And usually I'm not like this books. Usually I love falling in love with the words on the page. I love when something is so good you literally melt into your sofa. Or you know you're coming to that ending stretch of the pages and you're literally saying Oh man Oh Man this is almost done. Then when it is you're scouring for more, hoping there is another book coming out soon.


So when I got this book was good, but could of ended a lot shorter than when it did, I felt exhausted afterwards. And it wasn't the kind of exhaustion that comes from reading until a book is done. This got me thinking though, how many times have any of you ever found yourself editing a book you're reading? I do. How many of you thought, wow they really did drag this out?

When writing a book I know a few rules or codes I should call them. I stick by them too.
1. Don't write a bunch of crap just to lengthen the plot. If this happens my plot isn't strong enough to make a novel.

2. Make sure the voices are different. And don't make guys sound like your girlfriends unless in fact you want them to play the role of your best boy friend. (Think you know what I mean by this) Guys can be sensitive but they need to have some strengths too.

3. Make sure your timelines add up. I just went  through and listed classes in 45 minute intervals, practice times. Work times. Game days. Whole list of day school starts and graduation day. Why go through any of this nonsense? Because it's a timeline. I might not use all of this, but I'd rather know where I am then guess and go back and rewrite.

4. Read. Read not only over your own work line for line, but read and study other writers. How they capture emotions in their books. What made you love their writing? What made you hate it? And just try to come up with a list of things to avoid.

5. I know no matter what I write or how I write it, not everyone will love my work.


What are some codes or tips can we add to this list?

HOLY BATMAN!!!

Are you into Superheros? So am I! I love the marvel comics, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-men, you're getting it. Totally Love them. That's why I'm so excited about are newest Book Birthday for MONTH9BOOKS, LLC.

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to SIDEKICK!!! Congrats Pab Sungenis it's finally here!

What's Sidekick about?

Perfect for comic book and superhero fans, as well as reluctant readers and boys seeking more male-centered fare, this young adult novel follows the complicated life of Bobby Baines. He's in high school, which is bad enough, but when his hero Scarlet Knight dies, he's forced to take up the mantle. Except Scarlet Knight never had to deal with eeking out a passing grade in math, keeping his fellow sidekicks in check, or stopping a giant squid from bearing down on his school and crushing everyone inside. After all, Bobby Baines is no superhero-he's a sidekick.

Find it  here and here.

LOL