Redding, Brower and Nixon ...LIVE internet radio/tv MEET AUTHORS Like Nothing You've Experienced

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JUMP! Characters We Love or Hate or Both

Bella from Twilight? Rashkolnikov from Crime and Punishment? Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind? Hannibal Lechter?

I am conducting an informal survey..YOU DO NOT NEED TO PICK ONE OF THE ABOVE!!!!

Tell me who is the fictional character that sticks in your mind the most? What makes them so memorable?

Now I can talk about it---NEWS!

I am thrilled to announce that I have signed with Marisa Corvisiero of the Lori Perkins Agency. We are working toward the publication of Dark Dealings (see some unpolished excerpts to the right of this post) and future projects.  It has been a long road, most of it spent trying to become a writer worth reading.  I am extremely excited to see this novel move to the next phase and welcome all that Marisa brings to the table.  I can now focus on the next manuscript knowing I am in good hands.  

The publishing business is a changing place and everyone needs to blaze their own trail.  There is always a place and a way for great writers to be heard. Like your novel, find your voice and what works for you.  Be open to changes and revisions. Never give up  on the dream.


A big shout out to Barbara Rogan, who took a newbie with delusions of authorship and whipped her into shape. I learned a lot in her classes and met some amazing writers who remain dear friends.  Another shout-out to the PubWrite folks (find them on Twitter (#pubwrite) and on Facebook. Amazing supportive and helpful folks and a growing force in self and indie-pubbing. And last, but not least, the Liberty States Fiction Writers through which I first met Marisa and the unstoppable Lori Perkins.


As news develops, I will keep you posted. In between, stop back for my usual ramblings.

My Life is A List

So this blog will probably sound like my life right now—stream of consciousness.  I started making a list of things to do.  I like lists.  I figured I’d begin with large categories and then break it down to specific tasks within those categories (anal, huh.)

So I started with: family, work (as in day job), writing and publishing. 

So under family, I have more chores, you know the fun stuff like laundry, and the biggie, my daughter’s graduation party.  The party is three weeks away and, well, sooooooo not ready. I think my hubby needs to be on the list as I have to be reminded to give him some TLC. Lets not forget the kids, the father and assorted aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws.  I think I still have friends.

Work, well that stinks and I really need to actively look for another option.  I know the job market is tough but no one should dislike going to work every day and not try to change their circumstances. So job hunting should be on the list.

Writing: I have Dark Dealings out to my beta readers and am starting to get comments back.  I will need to review those comments and make corrections and changes, as needed.

I have found that my fledgling blog site gets better traffic if I post three times a week .  Daily would require giving up certain activities like bathing-bad idea.

I have three projects in various stages.  I also would like to try my hand at short stories that could be publishable and erotica (under another name) because it would be fun.

I must also continue to refine my writing skills, because I am anal (see above) and expect nothing less than the best from myself.

Publishing:  First of all, I continue to be on the fence about traditional publishing and indie/self publishing.  I over-analyze a lot of things (see this post), so not only do I weigh the pros and cons of each, but I also question my own motivations (control freak, impatient).  At some point soon, I know I need to fish or cut bait.

Regardless of which route I choose, I have to “build my platform” that means finding ways to reach out to future readers and introduce them to me and my work.  It also means attending conferences and getting involved in writers groups, which also falls under the writing category as refining.

And I need to start working out again and lose 15 pounds and read the pile of books in my office and on my Kindle.

Most of all I need to make a plan to stop making myself crazy or at least give up sleep.

So how’s your day going?

Writing Conferences: Now more than ever!

As anyone who has read my blog, or the many others out there by wiser heads than mine, knows the publishing world is changing at Warp speed.  My advice to you is that writers’ conferences are the place to be.

I have always enjoyed spending time with colleagues in the industry.  Where else can you attend workshops by agents, editors, bestselling authors, marketing specialist and then later that evening share a meal and a beverage or two with the very same people. This past weekend was the second annual conference by the Liberty States Fiction Writers, a group of which I am a proud member.  We are a young group of multi-genre writers but have attracted writer and awesome blogger Sarah Wendell and NYT bestsellers like Jonathan Maberry and Mary Janice Davidson and MANY others too numerous. For those I missed and other details, check out our website at http://www.libertystatesfictionwriters.com/

Now more than ever it is fascinating to hear the thoughts of others on where they believe the market is going.  This weekend included workshops on e-pubing and branding alongside the craft workshops on character, plot, pitching.

The attendees seemed to fall into various groups.  Those who had not recognized the changes, those who recognized that changes were occurring but not do see the implications for their business (not sure they see that they are a business), those that see the changes and know they need to respond but not sure where to start, and those that see the change and have begun talking about options and possibilities.

It was a microcosm of the industry.  I sat with an agent Saturday night over a few, and she hit the nail on the head when she said that she was optimistic for the future for herself and the market, it was the present that concerned her.  I think we are trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing and how to navigate the storm.

Which group do you fall into? Are you ready?  Are you getting ready?  If you want to get ready, I recommend that you find a good conference that is within your budget and go.  Whether you are intending to trad publish or Indie publish, talk to everyone, go to workshops, hang out at the bar afterwards.  You will get more than you expect and meet wonderful people who will encourage you and support you in what can be a lonely calling.

Share your writing conference experiences with others.  What conferences do you recommend?

Zombies on a Monday-What a Way to Start a Week

This weekend I finished Alan Goldsher’s fictional journalist romp into zombiedom “Paul is Undead”.

I picked it up off the shelf at B&N, intrigued by the title and premise and further convinced by the “Two Rotted Thumbs Up” from Jonathan Maberry, a writer I also enjoy and a player in the zombie fiction world. Check out his website:  www.jonathanmaberry.com  

What does this have to so with the Hero’s Journey?  The story is one man’s quest to discover the “real” Beatles, in an alternate reality that includes Ringo as a Seventh Level Ninja,Yoko as a Ninth Level Ninja and Mick Jagger as a Zombie Hunter, among other clever twists.  It is terrific world-building wrapped in a pseudo Rolling Stone style interview. In definitely includes the call to adventure, the test, the mentor, and bringing home the elixir (sort-of J).

Beyond the quirky humor, puns and dead-on descriptions, Goldsher’s Rock and Roll world-building is part of an expansion of the zombie myth that intrigues me.  Of all the paranormals, zombies are a confused and often two-dimensional lot.  Until Romero, we had the Haitian-African variety, created and controlled by magic of some form.  They could be used in a focused manner without any seeming self control.  From Romero on, the zombie devolved further into shuffling (although recently they seem to have picked up the pace), mindless, rotting corpses suitable only as target practice for the lucky mortal or ravenous instruments of death or undeadness for the unlucky.  In terms of historical roots, neither type of zombie has an extensive mythology making them ripe for re-imagining.

Goldsher’s zombie’s are self aware, conversational and very deliberate in many of their actions.  They are more akin to their undead brethren the vampire, but with a different diet.  As a result they become interesting as characters themselves and are no longer props.

For anyone interested in the Rock and Roll and a new brand of zombie, I recommend it.  

What other zombie books would you recommend?  Who is taking it to the next level?

13th sign on the 13th. Thank God It's Not Friday!

13th Sign?

My friends at Liberty State Fiction Writers, Caridad Pineiro, the originator, and Rayna Vause, have blogged their Thursday Thirteen.  Today I came home from working my day away as a psychic intuitive Pisces to find out I was now an Aquarius.  How does this connect to Caridad and Rayna…

Not only have the zodiac signs moved but there is a thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus.  Apparently the Babylonians skipped him since they liked 12 better than 13. So this Thursday the 13th we now have 13 signs of the zodiac.

So what does this really mean?  Do I read a different horoscope every morning? Should I have my chart redone? And what about those poor souls who are Ophiuchians (is that even the correct term), where do you go for your daily dose of celestial guidance?

Here are links to Paul Kunkle’s original interview and a list of what the zodiac dates are.  Boy does Scorpio get the short end of the stinger.

What do you think?  What if your new sign isn’t compatible with your mates new sign?

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/113100139.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl

The interview.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/new-zodiac-sign-dates-oph_n_808567.html#s223863&title=kristin_leigh

New dates.