Guest Post by Samantha March – The Book Reviewer Gets Reviewed
The Book Reviewer Gets Reviewed I did not realize how much pressure I was going to feel after publishing Destined to Fail. Sure, I felt…
Guest Post from Samantha March: Obessed With Books
Around Christmas time, I traveled back to my hometown to visit family. My cousin Leah, who is three years younger than me, started talking about…
Guest Post by JS Wilsoncroft
Info for Firefly and Wisp’s Blog
My name is Jamie Sue Wilsoncroft. I live in Pennsylvania with my husband, two children and 3 yappy dogs. I have been a professional dog groomer for over 16 years. It wasn’t until 5 years ago that I started writing stories. I was writing short stories and entering them into contests on a Stephanie Meyer’s fan page on Facebook. The support that I got from the readers was overwhelming and soon I started my own short story page on Facebook.
My first story, Roller Coaster Love was a hit. I never tried to get it published, but I went on to write many other stories. One day, while grooming a dog, an idea for a new story came to my mind. This is the much anticipated, The Unfaithful Widow. People laugh when I tell them that I could never quit my day job. New story ideas always seem to surface while I am shaving the dogs. lol
After spending months, grooming during the day and taking care of my family and writing at nights, I finally finished The Unfaithful Widow and emailed it to Firefly and Wisp Publishing. Within a month, Fourth of July weekend to be exact, I got an email saying that I got a contract. It has been one hell of a fantastic roller coaster ride since. Not only has my brain been brewing up more stories, Firefly and Wisp has loved them and published them.
“Toothless” was my first short story to get published. It’s with the paranormal anthology, 13 Tales of the Paranormal. Soon after its release, another publishing company asked me to submit a story for their anthology. My story, “Dorothy” was published by A Cuppa and an Armchair. Firefly and Wisp also released a holiday anthology, A Home for the Holidays. This features my story, “Jingle Bells and Puppy dog tails.”
Not long after I wrote “Jingle Bells and Puppy dog tails” my brain began brewing another story, Remembering Zane. I didn’t have intentions of writing another story at the moment. I wanted to focus on getting The Unfaithful Widow ready, but this story kept popping back into my head.
Remembering Zane is a bittersweet romance story, that made me cry. I actually had to stop a few times and walk away to gain my composure. How sad is that? Lol How Remembering Zane came about? I kept having visions of this woman walking into a funeral home, smelling an eucalyptus plant. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she faced the man she once loved.
Believe it or not, I usually only get ideas of just the beginning of a story and when I sit down and start typing everything else just kind of flows out and onto the screen of my laptop. I never know how the story is going to end until I get there. I truly love the ending of Remembering Zane. It brought me tears of joy as I typed the last paragraph, which was unusual because I always hate writing the last chapter of a book. I never want my stories to end. I feel lost, like I lost a friend when I no longer write about my characters.
Blurb for Remembering Zane
At ten years old, Bonnie Reese knew the minute she laid eyes on Zane Withers, that he would forever have a place in her heart. After years of dating, then finally going their separate ways, Bonnie always dreamed that eventually they would get back together.
But those dreams were shattered as so was her heart, when she got the devastating news that her beloved Zane had been killed. As she faced her worse nightmare of going to his funeral, Bonnie runs into Zane’s best friend Jonathan Wood. Little did she know, Jonathan has had deep feelings for her since the 7th grade. Now that his best friend is gone, will Jonathan have the guts to tell her that he’s loved her since high school? Or will he keep his secret to himself forever?
Author Links
https://www.facebook.com/loveisdeaf72
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Wilsoncrofts-Short-Story-Page/133965579992782
www.jswilsoncroft.com
http://jswilsoncroft.blogspot.com
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13389374-remembering-zane
Book Links
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Zane-ebook/dp/B006UK4LGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325898414&sr=8-1
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/remembering-zane-js-wilsoncroft/1108162068
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120432
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGf0FOrfegQ
Rating’s on Amazon
#97 in Short stories
#13234 overall
Guest Post by Samantha March: When I Grow Up
I found an old memory book a few weeks ago and let myself get submerged in my past. Big bangs, neon scrunchies, and shirts that said “Princess in Training” dominated the photos. I saw old class photos where I had drawn big red X’s over my enemies and photos with a big red heart over my crush. Some had both. I thought it was interesting that each grade year came accompanied with a fact sheet. I had dutifully filled in who my best friend was, my favorite movie and song, a few other random details about my life, and finally – what I wanted to be when I grew up. From second grade on, my answer remained the same – “author.” Sometimes a more glamorous position would be written in – actress, supermodel, ballet dancer – even the occasionally “mommy” made it on the page, but “author” never disappeared.
Since those dream filled sheets have been filled out, I have worked many different jobs. My first real employment was making pizzas at a Papa Murphy’s. They were not impressed with my acrylic nails. Then there was dressing room “recovery” at a department store during the holidays. I have since learned to loath a messy dressing room. Then my favorite job – working in a concession stand at an event center. I worked with my best friend, my mom, a cousin, and made some great friends at that job. And I met a bunch of hot hockey players, bands, and comedians. And got to eat free food. Then I had my college jobs, where I often worked at multiple places in an effort to not bury myself in student loans. The college gym – terrific job. I could do my homework, work out, and again I worked with some amazing people. A hotel clerk – another awesome job.
I loved my work there and meeting so many different people. A hospital, a restaurant, a bank. I did time as a travel agent, on my own and for a company (I have my AA in travel and hospitality). I managed a massage clinic at only twenty years old, where I had over twenty employees reporting to me and it was my responsibility to make the store run smoothly. Then there was my internship with a wedding planner. Super long hours, my weekends were full and my arms ached from carrying chairs, tables, and other equipment around, but it was incredible to see a wedding start with a seed of an idea and end so beautifully and with such joy. And now, after all the jobs, resumes, interviews, crappy shifts, uptight bosses…I can call myself an author.
I remember just a few years ago feeling so frustrated with myself. I couldn’t find a job I was truly happy with. I loved traveling – I thought a travel agent was for me. I loved going to spas – running a massage clinic should have been my calling. I have an obsession with weddings and love watching all the wedding shows – why wouldn’t I want to be a wedding planner? But nothing stuck. Nothing gave me that sense of satisfaction, that contentment that I thought should come with my career. But now, I have finally figured out why I put myself through so many jobs. Experience. Sure, I have real-world experience and job interviews are helpful to go on, but I have writing experience. I can write books with the main character as a wedding planner. I can write books with the MC as a travel agent or a personal banker or a hotel executive. I can take what I learned and observed from all those jobs and write stories about them. Some true events might find themselves published (all carefully fictionalized, of course). Instead of having to do hours of research on the job background, I can pull what I learned from hands-on experience.
I’m grateful for all those past jobs. I took something away from each one – a friendship, a funny story, and a lesson. I can’t to wait to incorporate more of these into my books. My second novel is due out around April/May of 2012, and the main character is the owner of a salon and spa. Do you think I pulled some of my experiences as being a massage clinic manager and put those into this book? Of course. I feel really lucky that I never gave up on what my second-grade self wanted, and I’m happy to finally say I love what I’m doing.
Guest Post by Samantha March : Reviews
No one writes a book hoping everyone will hate it. At least, I’m 99% positive on that. But what does a bad review do to an author’s spirits? When Destined to Fail went on sale in October, I was truly petrified. I remember when the first review popped up on Amazon. Four stars. Good review. Reader connected with the book. I cried. Of course I cried. Years of hard work and determination and endless typing and editing and frustrations over characters and scenes and nightmares of red pens had all culminated to that moment. My book was being read and getting reviews.
The next five reviews on Amazon were all four stars. Then reviews started going up on GoodReads. Four stars. A five star! (Yes, I nearly fell over when I saw my first five star rating.) Book bloggers were posting their reviews, and the feedback was overwhelmingly good. While I was ecstatic about this, I knew a bad review was out there lurking. It had to be. I never expected everyone to love or even like my book. It just wouldn’t be possible.
Then came the two star. A short little blurb on Amazon that said there were too many heavy topics and my main character was “contradictory.” Not much more was said – only six lines, so I really didn’t know what to take away from the review. It wasn’t really constructive feedback in my opinion, because it was so short and didn’t explain why they thought this. But hey, that’s okay. And you know what? It really was okay. I honestly expected myself to have a meltdown when the first “bad” review came in. I thought I would cry and yell and tell myself I would never write again (okay, maybe not that last one, but you see what I mean). But…I didn’t. I was strangely calm. So strangely calm I wondered if perhaps I was getting sick. Or if I didn’t read the review properly. Or something – anything!
I think I had prepared myself enough that when a negative review was posted, I knew it was coming. It’s a part of life for people to disagree with others and not like everything, even if others do. And another thing – I realize that my book has some pretty controversial subjects in there. It’s not light, it’s not fluff. Serious issues are spoken about, serious decisions are made by the characters. If everyone had a positive reaction to the book, I would think something was seriously weird.
I won’t mind if people give their feedback saying it wasn’t their cup of tea, or they didn’t expect something with a pink cover to be so serious. I will also be happy if people have a strong reaction to the book, whether good or bad. Even if it is bad, it means my story said something to them. It touched them in some way. I have read books before that I didn’t particularly enjoy, but some of those same books have characters that haunt me. That I can’t help but tell everyone about. Because I want others to read it and let me know what they think. If some readers have this reaction, great. Maybe it will get more people to read Destined to Fail and they will enjoy it. Who knows?
I will never be able to write a book that is aimed just at pleasing people. Who can? I want to write what I want to write, and I will do just that. Some books might be deeper women’s fiction. Some might be lighter chick lit. I have on my writer’s bucket list (post about this to come soon) to write a mystery and a book with a magical element.
My journey as an author has only just begun. Feedback, reviews, and ratings will always be there. Whether positive, negative, or just in between, I will embrace the comments and enjoy knowing that my book is being read. Because no one writes a book without wanting readers.
Guest Post by Aida Brassington
Ask a group of writers about how they create characters, and you’re likely to get dozens of different answers. Some people prefer to “pants” their way through a novel, or sit down with a vague idea of what the story is and who the characters are and just start writing. Some take a more structured approach.
I believe in the structured approach.
When I was preparing to write Between Seasons, a paranormal novel that tells the story of a ghost who falls in love with the woman who buys his house forty years after his death, I started with my main character. Name and physical appearance are important factors. I knew I wanted his family to be Irish Catholic, so I picked a good Irish Catholic name: Patrick Boyle. I have a different approach when it comes to physical appearance – I go searching for a photo online, someone who at least vaguely resembles the person in my head. It helps to solidify what I’m thinking. In Patrick’s case, I found a photo of a guy with feathered hair. Patrick dies in 1970, so the right hair was imperative (something I never thought I’d say!). And then it’s time to write it out: scars, eye color, hair color, jaw-line, nose, body type, height, weight, how he walks, his favorite words, nervous habits.
I’ve read arguments that this kind of stuff [link: http://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/writers-why-are-character-lists-a-waste-of-time/] is useless, a waste of time. Maybe for some writers. For me, giving a character detail breathes life into him. And when there’s a fully fleshed out character beating on the inside of my head, I’m going to be able to write him well. Sure, I could have sat down and started writing Patrick’s story, but he wouldn’t be half as real – to me or those who read the novel.
Read a review of Between Seasons, and you might see people talking about how they were touched by his loneliness, confusion, and despair but taken with his quirky late teen attitude. They like the true to life characters and real feel of the dialogue. I doubt I could have managed that without serious work up front on characterization. Patrick is engineered in a very specific way.
What do I suggest for good character building, regardless of whether you’re a pantser or a plotter?
Make a decision about your character’s ethnic background before you choose a name. No one is going to believe a sixteen-year-old Amish girl is named Shaniqua D’Amico.
While detailing physical attributes is good to do before you start writing, at least write down these details as you make them up during writing. Why? It stops you from giving your main character blue eyes in one chapter and green eyes in another.
Decide up front if your character is going to have any speech affectations or nervous reactions – a lisp, a word he or she uses frequently, the habit of chewing his nails when he’s nervous, a face twitch when someone says the word “moist.” Again, it helps with continuity and reduces the need for edits later on.
Nothing’s worse than reading a book that begins with a character who speaks like he’s in the third grade but suddenly switches fifty pages in to a character who comes off like he’s a Harvard educated Ph.D. Don’t let yourself get caught in that trap!
Want to judge whether Patrick Boyle is well-written as a character?
Try: BETWEEN SEASONS
$3.99 in electronic formats at Amazon US [http://www.amazon.com/Between-Seasons-Aida-Brassington/dp/0615562264] | Amazon UK [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Between-Seasons-ebook/dp/B0061G3HHA/]| BN [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-seasons-aida-brassington/1107065107] | Smashwords [http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100552]
$12.99 at Amazon in paperback [http://www.amazon.com/Between-Seasons-Aida-Brassington/dp/0615562264/]
Guest Post by Samantha March: My Characters Did What?
I am in the process of writing book number two. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I didn’t give myself a lot of details before I started writing. I planned on the main character and a few of the supporting characters, I knew what I wanted to happen with my plot and some key scenes I felt needed to be included, but otherwise, I was just gone with the wind. Seeing where my writing takes me. And oh boy, has it taken me places.
Now, I’m about to where I think the halfway point should be, and my characters are getting themselves into some rather large messes that I didn’t see coming. How is this possible? I wondered the same thing when I was just starting out, and authors would tell me that they could type without even thinking. That the story was coming from somewhere inside of them. Crazy? I thought so. Now? Not even close. I’m starting to slowly plan for my third book, and just last week as I was leaving my job, a scene came at me with full force, uncurling slowly in my mind. I saw the characters, I saw the opening scene, and I saw a new character that I hadn’t yet thought of enter the picture. I ran the rest of the way to my car so I could dig out a napkin and write everything down.
Then just yesterday, I was typing Chapter 11 for book number two. I had a set scene that I wanted to get written. Planned it in my head, knew how to approach it. All of sudden, something had taken over my fingers and what was being typed was not what I had envisioned. A whole new scene popped out of nowhere and found its way into my story. After I finished the scene and was rereading the chapter, I found I was in love with this version of Chapter 11, which was completely not what I had expected when I started my writing.
When I first realized that I could type scene after scene without really thinking, that I was just letting that inner voice do all the work, was a thrilling moment. Do I have to go back and heavily edit and make some revisions? Of course. Do I cut some of the scenes that came so naturally to me? Yep. But that’s all part of the writing process and one that I have come to accept. Now, I don’t feel so confused when someone talks about the voices in their head or says one of their characters is giving them a hard time. I’m right there with them––and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Guest Post by Ella Slayne
From One Writer To Another…
(I admit that a lot of this is easier to say rather than do but the tips below are things I try to work towards. I don’t always achieve it but they serve as reminders and hopefully keep me on a relatively sane track – LOL!)
Believe in yourself.
Writing takes guts. So if you’re already doing it on a regular basis, or even on and off, you should give yourself a pat on the back right now! As writers, we expose our creative selves and that can leave us feeling vulnerable. We take part in critique sessions and submit query letters, always hoping for some positive feedback, for some praise, ultimately a publishing contract!
And if we get a rejection or some negative criticism, we try and suck it up and move on from it. But somewhere in between taking the feedback and pushing forward we may find that our self-esteem take a little knock, and over time those knocks create a bit of a chip or dent which can get bigger and bigger until it seems that although we keep writing, we begin to doubt ourselves and the worth of our work.
So I say this: don’t look to others for validation that your work is worth something. Criticism is vital, yes but don’t make the mistake of thinking that a rejection for example, somehow means your work is not valuable or that you have nothing to offer. You do! And the biggest trap you can fall into is self-doubt. So take a moment to give yourself self-worth because after all your own self-belief is the most important. Without that, you have nothing to offer the rest of us!
Don’t be stubborn though.
Believing in your work doesn’t mean that you should be stubborn or a stick in the mud! It’s easy to be attached to the manuscript you’ve written and you should be, I mean if you don’t care about what you’ve written, why should anyone else right? We all have paragraphs, descriptions, character development or a plot twist that we’re proud of and that’s great, but if you are consistently given the critique that something’s not working or that you should cut a significant section of text, don’t just flap it away as irrelevant because you particularly like that bit, or it took you hours to write it. You won’t learn anything by simply disregarding feedback you disagree with.
Instead I try to be flexible (and this is not always easy I admit). I take time to explore why the reader may not have felt the same way. Usually there is a reason and it may just be that I need to rewrite it or move a piece of text to a different place in my book (maybe even save it for a different book altogether).
Ultimately a writer’s goal is to communicate efficiently and to as many people as possible. We don’t always get it right and that’s why the opinion of others is imperative in helping us hone our craft.
Network by all means, but do it your way!
This is a real problem area for me because I’m naturally quite shy, even in cyberspace, so ideally I would prefer just to publish my books and then shut-up! And I could do that, it’s true, but in reality very few people would know about my book, let alone read it.
We all know it’s out there, the new-age of social networking: Facebook, Twitter, blogging etc. Even if they are not your thing, you can’t avoid them, so it seems to me the best option is to embrace them.
I started a blog, signed up on Twitter and created an author Facebook page in an online networking frenzy! It felt great at first, I was tweeting and updating my status all the time and doing a lot of online socializing!
Then I read articles and blogs about the do’s and don’ts from writers and the publishing world and I became frustrated and confused. Because just like many aspects of writing, it’s all subjective; when one agent says they don’t like to connect via twitter, another will happily do so, when one writer says they welcome all comments on their blog, another will say don’t bother to comment unless you have something meaty to offer. What’s the famous phrase? “You can’t please all of the people all of the time….”
These online forums can be a brilliant resource, but they are not without pitfalls because it can be a nightmare trying to navigate around online networking etiquette. You can drive yourself crazy trying to worrying about whether you should return every Twitter follow or comment on every blog you come across.
I think the key here is to do what feels right for you; create your own networking style and be true to yourself.
Guest Post by Tony Timbol
Why Single Mom’s are my heroes
Many authors write fiction because they want to entertain and not lecture when telling truths they believe in. The story below is fiction but based on some hard truths I and others have learned…
Walking up to the checkout lanes I could see I was in a race to get to the cashier ahead of my competition. The floor manager had just opened Lane 5. The smiling clerk said, “Over here! I’ll take you,” and waved me over even before she switched the lane light on. I picked up my pace. Holding on to the bulky paper towels saver pack and sweaty milk carton I looked again at my competitor and could see her closing fast. But I had a lead on her. I knew if I kept focused, I would win the day and get there first. Then I saw that she had stopped, dropped her Walmart reusable bag to the floor and started to kneel. I heard her say, “It’ll be fine sweetheart.”
I slid to a stop. The cashier waved again. But inside my head a voice said is that *Allyson? Turning I faced the woman and looking closer saw it was the single mom my wife and I had counseled four years ago. The tall, pretty blonde had bent down on one knee and soon had her arm around a sad faced girl child. I could not recall the little girl’s name. She was just a toddler then. I remembered Allyson, though, the woman whose lost smile eventually returned. Her story began to change my attitude about single moms.
Allyson’s divorce hit hard. The partnership she thought she had was one-sided. Her husband’s words of commitment spoken in passion and financial plenty faded as his gambling debts piled up. His addiction strained the relationship. 18 months of fruitless 12-step meetings became too much for her, his heart never seemed invested. Finally get help or get out was her demand, fair enough he said. Out he went with his truck leaving dark tread marks of a high speed exit from their lives.
During the first few counseling sessions, Allyson’s sunny view darkened and she worked hard work to see any light, let alone credit God for any of it. Church and religious people were the first, not to help, but to blame. The now available young mother, still thin and attractive, was soon isolated in the family values world of suburban religion. I was among those to cast the first stone, even as a trained counselor, whose was supposed to see brokenness and not simply behavior. She talked much about the poor cards God had dealt her until she began to recognize the game she had been playing and the men she had been drawing. It took time and many tears for her to find some peace. Eventually she accepted her history remarking in one session, “the past does not have to determine your future, but it sure pushes you hard in some directions.” I began to see my own past and judgmental eye. She vowed to break the pattern committing to a more spiritual course even though she was not sure what exactly that meant.
Her warm smile and kiss on her daughter’s cheek began melting the child’s frown. Picking up a few pieces of the wrapped mini-Kit Kat bars off the floor, the child’s bag had torn; Allyson placed them into the reusable bag. Glancing at the other pieces on the floor, she said, “Honey, it will be fine. The bag you had only took you this far, let’s put them into the sack and let’s get home. They’re not ruined, just a little dented.” The girl looked at her and smiled.
Standing up, Allyson saw me and beamed a grin. Taller than me, she approached and leaned over giving me a warm hug then looked around the store, “Is Serena here? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you and her.” I told her that she was home. She introduced to me Gabby, still smiling. We went through the checkout lane together. I offered to buy the small items she had.
“No, it’s okay, we doing fine. The first few jobs after the divorce sucked but I have a great job now with a good boss, two years last month. Even have a little savings, maybe for a house soon!” she said as she looked down and patted Gabby on shoulder. Exiting the store, I walked them to their car and caught up on news as much as we could before we said our goodbyes. Watching her and Gabby drive away, both smiling and waving, my spirit lifted.
Standing there waving, I nodded my head. Allyson was typical of the single mom’s we had counseled. Most had a lioness’s heart and a willingness to change. Despite wandering males strutting through their lives, they cared and protected their young and did what they had to do. Yes, Allyson and her sisters changed my attitude about single moms, now hero’s in my book.
Tony Timbol
Author, Cybil Raven Chronicles
www.cybilraven.com
www.tonytimbol.com
*Allyson is a composite of multiple single mothers and is a fictitious name so as to respect confidentiality.
