A Gift For the Writers Out There and the Readers Too!!

Last week I traveled to Dallas for some training and the weather was colder than I expected, but the setting was amazing. The facility was set on the edge of an old ranch, with rolling yellowed hills and fence posts as far as I could see. On a long walk one afternoon, I found myself drawn to the far side of the ranch where a few cows grazed beneath a tall aluminum windmill. Shoving my iPod into my pocket, I plucked my ear buds out of my ears and listened as the old windmill creaked with the force of the breeze. Inhaling deeply, I smelled red clay, the musk of cattle, and damp hay. Closing my eyes I felt my face slip into an unexpected smile. This place, the serenity in the landscape, the quiet rustle of the animals as they grazed, the smell of the barn, it all took me home.

Throughout the week I was approached by many people who congratulated me, but also by two who are also working to publish their own books. In the midst of leadership training I found myself surrounded by the landscape and embraced by other writers. It made for a great week. I spent more than one lunch hour answering questions about how I was able to make this happen.

So here goes, some links for your stocking that I used to get me where I am:

Read Amanda Hocking’s blog: How it all happened. She told me the recipe for publishing on my own.

Read the Nelson Agency’s Blog. What is an example of a goodquery letter? Kristin offers some of the best advice in the biz for crafting a query letter. She also has a tough love approach that offers honest feedback in a sometimes unsettlingly vague world.

Read about Createspace. This is a subsidiary of Amazon.com with a great model that gives you the ability to finally see your book in print.

Make it an eBook. Create accounts on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and Smashwords. Embrace the eBook and put it out there.

Create a blog. Create a place where you can write about what you write.

Join GoodReads and share a list of books and authors that you love. Add me as a friend!

Ok now, the gift for the readers…A Marked Past will be on sale for E-Readers for only $.99 for the next 14 days.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A Marked Past for Kindle
A Marked Past for Barnes and Nobel
A Marked Past for other E Readers on Smashwords

Location, destination, expectation

Location, destination, expectation

For those of you who have only known me in a world of consulting, and business suits with college degrees and a fabulous wardrobe, it surprise to you to know, that I come from a vastly different world. It’s smaller in some ways, but better in others; it’s quiet at times, serene to the point of longing for an afternoon nap, but warm and nurturing when you feel the heat of the sun on your neck or the breeze at your shoulder. It’s one of blue collar roots that run deep and keep me grounded, even in the midst of traffic on K Street, or sitting on the beltway after a long morning meeting. Those roots stay with me and feed me inspiration.

In literature, as in life, we are shaped by our experiences, and our characters reflect those moments. They live out the fantasy of the situation, good, bad, or fatal, while we simply watch from afar, remembering or imagining the outcome. When I was writing about Salem it didn’t become authentic until I went there. The feel, the smell, the experience was missing from my words. I’ve always heard write what you know, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to write what I wanted to know, to change who I was, in order to create something amazing on the page. I wanted to feel the chill of the Salem swirling around me as I stood outside the old Town Hall, so I went there and stood in the cold air.

This weekend is no different. Right now I’m interested in learning about root working, and the people who to it for my second book. I want to understand their tie to the ground, the vegetation, and the power that comes from the earth. So, I’ve done my research and this time tomorrow I will be on a boat in Kentucky, floating across a lake toward Cumberland River. And as the peacefulness of the bluegrass state calls to me I’ll be taking in the beauty of the world around me.  Deep in the lush green, watching the sway of the tree, I’ll be channeling my inner Mark Twain, and dreaming up my own Huckleberry Finn. Signing off for a week from the internet...

"We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

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A Mother's Touch

On Mother’s day I have to take a few seconds to honor my mom; she is a huge reason why I write in the first place. My mom was very young when she had me but she didn’t let that stand in her way of a wonderful, supportive, and loving mom. When I was little I loved to read, and be read to, enter my mom, who read to me night after night, even when I chose the same books over and over again. The Monster At The End of This Book with Grover was my favorite for a while, and I can still remember the suspense she would build up as she flipped each page, growing ever closer to the monster….

She later told me that I made her read that book so often that she hid it under the couch cushion just to get me to pick something else to read. From Grover, to Ramona, to Dear Mr. Henshaw, to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, to Sweet Valley High, then Christopher Pike, then Dickens, then Hemingway, then Austen, then two English degrees later, none of it would be possible without my mom.  So Mom, this is for you.

In my first drafts of A Marked Past I wrote Leah, Lyla’s Mom, in as a major character, mirroring her after my own mom. I gave her a positive outlook, an outgoing, bubbly personality, and a forgiving heart. Leah was front and center in the action, teaching Lyla about the importance of family, loyalty, and honor; but my literary agent told me she had to go. She advised me that “teens do not want to read about parents, cool or not” so Leah’s role changed; I cut it to one of a static character, removing her from the main storyline, pushing her to the background, but still being careful to keep her as part of the larger story. She may not be part of the everyday action, but she appears when Lyla is at a crossroads and needs to be reminded of what she’s fighting for. Most of our moms are probably in the same situation. They may not star in the everyday drama we call our lives, but they were there in the beginning shaping us in to the people we are today, and even now, they always seem to make an appearance when we need them most.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there, especially mine!