HOLIDAY SALE on Signed Paperback Books

Buy NOW for the Holidays!

Order a signed copy
of any or all of my three Klondike Mystery books
at the sale price of only $10 per book, normally $15 each.
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Klondike Mystery Books: Order a signed paperback book!

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STICKTOITIVENESS #Indelibles June Post

Trying to stay on track with my blogging commitments, it's the second Wednesday of the month and time for an #Indelibles post to help support other authors.

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STICKTOITIVENESS
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Miriam-Webster says it's "the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult or unpleasant".

Wiktionary puts it even more simply, "(informal) persistence; determination".

To be successful at most anything you need sticktoitiveness (wow, say that three times real fast). Writing is no exception. You can write part-time, scribbling a few words at lunch, during a school break or while the kids are napping, but you still must STICK TO IT and finish.

Do not plan for ventures before finishing what's at hand. ~ Euripides

It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

Whenever you have taken up work in hand, you must see it to the finish. That is the ultimate secret of success. Never, never, never give up! ~ Dada Vaswani

What are your secrets for sticking to something you've started? When do you decide a project isn't worth the effort? Do you think it's important to finish no matter whay?

Grant me patience, NOW! #Indelibles May Post

This my first post since last November for the monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors. We post on the second Wednesday of every month.

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PATIENCE
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I know, we all need to be patient. We need to work for and wait for our rewards. How come I get less patient as I get older?

[courtesy of Savage Chickens]

For me, I think I actually noticed it first after my husband of 19 years. It was a natural part of the grieving process, not being able to concentrate on anything for very long. Fast forward almost ten years and I find myself impatient for the 30 seconds left on the microwave. I stop it at 10 or less and clear it. Why? It's so silly. Makes no sense to be that impatient.

Does this impact my writing? At times it does, especially when I'm doing research. But worse is when I'm editing. By the third or fourth go-round, I'm DONE! I was ready to move onto writing the next book after the first or second revision.

How about you? Are you a patient person? Or do you want it all now, instant gratification?

Indelibles Indie Life for November

This my November post for monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors.

#NaNoWriMo
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A lot of my writing friends are busy participating in NaNoWriMo and I actually feel left out. So I've been visiting the Facebook support group for NaNo'ers and offering support where I can. I did two NaNo's last year and produced two books. Right now I'm just too busy with personal things to even attempt writing but I hope to jump in again with Camp NaNo next summer. 

I've always worked better with a goal and a deadline and NaNo provides just that. Write 50k words in a month. It's actually easier than it sounds. My first NaNo, I had a dead body - a location setting - a few characters. That was it. I didn't even know who the killer was and while writing the book, the killer changed three times. LOL! I ended at at 52k at the end of the month; the story wasn't complete but I had survived Camp NaNo AND had most of my first novel written.

The other thing that happened during NaNo was the discovery that I could be a pantster, that I didn't have to be a plotter. This was counter to everything I've ever done but it was freeing; it really boosted my creativity.

Do you work better with deadlines? Are you a plotter or pantster? Would you ever or have you ever tried doing the opposite?

Indelibles Indie Life for October

This my October post for monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors.


 I Am TRAVELING
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Yup, still on the road. We left from TN on our Route 66 adventure on September 7th and we finished in Santa Monica, CA on October 7th. What a wild trip it's been. We are now relaxing in Las Vegas until Friday when we will head eastward for home.

I managed to get the Amazon version of the second book in my Klondike Mystery series, "Barely a Spark", published before we left and it's now getting formatted for the print version as well. I haven't decided if I will publish it on Smashwords or not...

This was my first series and I found it hard to not put in spoilers from the first book, something I hadn't considered until a friend read the first few chapters and pointed that out to me. I had to go back and make some big changes but it made the rest of the book easier to write with that in mind.

One thing I hadn't anticipated - how hard it was to feel as excited about what I was writing as I had during the first book. Not sure what the difference was. I knew people would love the first book and they did. I wasn't so sure about the second book. Was it moving fast enough? Was there enough mystery? Would the new characters add or take away from the story?

If I ever write another series I will be very cautious about continuing one book into a second. It's one thing to leave a cliff-hanger (I did in book two), but you need to be sure the current story is DONE.

Do you write or plan to write a series? What's been your biggest fear?

Indelibles Indie Life for September

This is the third month in the new monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors.


 I Am ON THE ROAD
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Not all writers work at a desk or a cute little writing nook. Some work on lunch breaks in any spot they can grab. Others fend off sticky fingers and snotty noses as they scribble away. Desktop, laptop, notebook, journal and yes, even the old fashioned typewriter. Everyone has their favorite tools. Then there is me, a traveler. All I need is a laptop and a good Wi-Fi connection and I'm good to go.

Right now I am traveling on my Harley-Davidson Sportster, have been for about a week. I brought my ultra-laptop with me (Samsung) as well as my Verizon aircard and travel route (so hubby and I can share the connection). That said, most nights I'm too tired to write, barely able to handle basic correspondence.

How do you handle the interruptions of daily life in your writing, whether it's children, work, family or other obligations? Me? I'm retired...

Day late and a dollar short?

Yes, I almost missed several scheduled posts like IWSG and the Indelibles. Yes, I did miss my Five Friday Facts - again! Yes, I'm sorry. No, really, I am.

But right now I just have too much life going one. I'm working hard to edit my novel, "Barely a Spark". I'm getting ready for our two month motorcycle trip on Route 66 and I'm getting ready for our move to Ecuador. Phew!

I did simplify ONE thing, I'm now down to two personal blogs plus this one. I merged four personal blogs into one, that should help. If you're interested, you can find it at Our Prime Years.

One final note - THANK YOU to almost 1000 entrants in the giveaways for my copy of paperback books at Goodreads.com. And a HUGE congratulations to the winners, E. Steen (copy of Home Again) and P. Hanby (copy of Not a Whisper).

Indelibles Indie Life for August

This is the second month in the new monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors.


 I Am Editing
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Writing is hard but for me, editing is even harder. Why? First, I never like re-reading my stories. I guess if I would let them sit and stew for a bit, that might help. But no, I'm a glutton for punishment and I jump right into editing as soon as the writing is done. (Okay, I might take a few days off.)

This means two things. First, I'm too close to the story and miss things and second, my brain plugs in all the missing words and corrects all the misspelled ones. This is the third book that I've done this way and I am really hoping I've learned my lesson and will change it next time around.

When I finish this book, Barely a Spark (book two in the Klondike Mystery series), I plan to work on a trilogy of romance novellas. I will write all three before tackling editing the first one. We'll see how well that goes.

Do you ever continue doing things the wrong (or perceived wrong) way? Have you been successful in changing that habit?

Indelibles Indie Life for July

This is the first month in the new monthly support group sponsored by The Indelibles, called Indie Life. We get to post anything we want in support of other independent authors.

Writing: What Works For Me
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When I started to get interested in fiction writing fifteen years ago, I bought every book I could find. I joined Writer’s Digest Book of the Month Club. I bought magazines. I joined forums and other online groups. The result? I spent more time reading and researching than I did writing.

When I decided to try my hand at fiction writing again in January 2012, I started down that same route. Joining online groups, buying Kindle versions of books about writing, chatting with other authors and ordering online magazines. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was falling into that same bottomless pit.

Then I ran into a group of writers who posted weekly flash fiction from several sites on their blogs. Could it be that easy? Just write and put it in my blog? Surely not. Even if I did manage to write something, could I possibly let someone else read it? I didn’t know anything about writing, did I?
I took baby steps, it was easy since almost no one read my writing blog yet. I wrote something I called “The Surprise”. I had a lot of followers of my personal blog and they were kind enough to read it and leave some positive comments.

Taking a deep breath, I tried it again. Umm, no comments. No surprise since I didn’t really like the story much myself. Then I found Lillie McFerrin’s “Five Sentence Fiction”. Each week we were given a word and a photo and had to write five sentences, no more.

Eureka – visuals! This is where I found what worked for me. Give me a photo and I can write forever. I continued to do flash fiction, often finding my own photo to represent the word, phrase or situation. Words flowed so much more easily.

When I decided to expand into writing a full novel, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’d done so well with flash fiction, cutting my words to the bone, Slicing and dicing, no fat left. Could I manage to expand my words to 50,000 for Camp NaNoWriMo?

Once again, I fell back on what worked for me – visuals. I found photos for the location of the book, then I went searching for photos that showed me what I wanted my characters to look like. I started a board on Pinterest and pinned them all up there.

Next hurdle, where to write? Since I had a deadline, 50k words in 31 days, I knew I had to write almost every day for hours. Working from home was difficult, too many distractions so I packed up my new ultra-portable and headed to the local McDonalds. It worked!

The key here is to find what works for YOU, what helps you be creative, what helps you be productive. It might be a corner of your dining room, a chair on the deck, a local cafe or in your office, if you have one. A favorite pen or pencil, I have a few, a special notebook or your computer. A word prompt, a photograph – take it and use it.

Now go write….