There are many changes happening in the publishing industry. Ebooks, the economy, and new technology seem to be the driving forces behind most of the current changes. Everywhere you look, there are quotes, articles, and opinions about all the goings on.
Isn’t it exciting? I know for some of you, it’s scary. Change is never easy. And for some, it will be more of a challenge than others. Like when your print publisher announces a complete change of business model and decides to go totally ebook. This has got to rock your world, simply because it probably seemed to come out of the blue.
Or how about this one. That B&N is for sale. Who saw that one coming? Things are happening at a rapid rate in the publishing world for sure. And the truth is, change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. You can make it work for you. If you’re willing to consider, and embrace new ideas.
Imagine. Living in an era when big publishing’s business model will be changed forever. Powerful stuff. Overflowing with opportunity, despite all the negative press.
When it comes to change, especially major changes in the marketplace, this is the way I see it. There are three kinds of people.
-Those who wait for things to happen.
-Those who make things happen.
-And those who sit back and wonder what the hell happened.
Which one do you want to be?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Rules, Rules and More Rules
This came through the other day, and it’s still hanging about in the back of my consciousness, so apparently I’m meant to tell you about it.
It’s very easy to get bogged down in negative self-talk, rejections, not enough time to write, and all those other things associated with trying to work at building a writing career into the rest of our already bursting-at-the-seems life.
When I read this article from Writers Digest entitled,
The 10 Commandments of Fiction Writing,
it was like a going back to basics moment for me. Aha! My perspective snapped back in place. It was just enough of a tug back to reality to remind me that I write because I love it. And all the negative things don’t really matter because they are all part of the process. And I will not, live my life without it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
It’s very easy to get bogged down in negative self-talk, rejections, not enough time to write, and all those other things associated with trying to work at building a writing career into the rest of our already bursting-at-the-seems life.
When I read this article from Writers Digest entitled,
The 10 Commandments of Fiction Writing,
it was like a going back to basics moment for me. Aha! My perspective snapped back in place. It was just enough of a tug back to reality to remind me that I write because I love it. And all the negative things don’t really matter because they are all part of the process. And I will not, live my life without it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Personality Conflict
Have you ever written a character you didn’t like? And I’m not talking villain here.
It’s all about the heroine, or the hero. In this case, both. I make no claims to know all there is to know about the craft of writing. Yes, I’m published, but that in no way means I’ve nothing left to learn. As taught to me by my current WIP (work in progress, for those of you having a wtf? moment).
They each have a job to do in your story, correct? What do you do if you don’t believe they can handle the task the story has set for them?
It took me awhile to come to grips with this. At first I balked and thought, nah, I created them. Of course they’re going to work it out. I justified their existence by telling myself I didn’t know them well enough. And kept writing. And I still wasn’t buying it.
The hero seemed weak, more of a nineties kind of guy, when what I wanted was more like knight-in-shining-armor wrapped in Pierce Brosnan.
The heroine couldn’t convince me she was a strong female role model, no matter how she tried. Simply going with the flow does not a role model make.
What to do, what to do. Um, uh, mmmmm. *light bulb* Rewrite! Yes. That will work.
It didn’t. And the third time it didn’t work either.
I looked at all the other story elements. Plot, subplot, supporting characters, setting, dialogue, back story, etc. Nada, zip, zero. It all seemed to work together, I could see where the story would go, knew the beginning, middle, and end. The problem still remained. I didn’t believe in my main characters. Nothing they did could suspend my disbelief.
I have to ask myself, did I run out of talent? Or is there an elephant in the room and I’m just not seeing it?
The choices are - ditch these two losers, or recreate them with the strength they need to carry on.
What would you do?
It’s all about the heroine, or the hero. In this case, both. I make no claims to know all there is to know about the craft of writing. Yes, I’m published, but that in no way means I’ve nothing left to learn. As taught to me by my current WIP (work in progress, for those of you having a wtf? moment).
They each have a job to do in your story, correct? What do you do if you don’t believe they can handle the task the story has set for them?
It took me awhile to come to grips with this. At first I balked and thought, nah, I created them. Of course they’re going to work it out. I justified their existence by telling myself I didn’t know them well enough. And kept writing. And I still wasn’t buying it.
The hero seemed weak, more of a nineties kind of guy, when what I wanted was more like knight-in-shining-armor wrapped in Pierce Brosnan.
The heroine couldn’t convince me she was a strong female role model, no matter how she tried. Simply going with the flow does not a role model make.
What to do, what to do. Um, uh, mmmmm. *light bulb* Rewrite! Yes. That will work.
It didn’t. And the third time it didn’t work either.
I looked at all the other story elements. Plot, subplot, supporting characters, setting, dialogue, back story, etc. Nada, zip, zero. It all seemed to work together, I could see where the story would go, knew the beginning, middle, and end. The problem still remained. I didn’t believe in my main characters. Nothing they did could suspend my disbelief.
I have to ask myself, did I run out of talent? Or is there an elephant in the room and I’m just not seeing it?
The choices are - ditch these two losers, or recreate them with the strength they need to carry on.
What would you do?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Renegade Renovation #12 – We’re In!
The trim was all painted, and hung on the drywall with care.
In hopes that the inspector would soon be there...
And here’s the rest of the story. At the end of June, somewhere around the last blog post here, we made one final push to get everything ready for the final inspection. The inspector came, and said things looked great, we could move in. Yay! Sort of.
Yes, it was a milestone. One we’d been working to reach for more than a year. There was one tiny thing we didn’t realize though. The work wasn’t over yet.
The trim still had to be filled, caulked and touch-up painted. There were closet organizers to install.
And then the biggie. Moving our belongings from storage, into the house. Whoo-hoo!!
The answer to your question is, yes. I’m writing this post from my shiny new office. It’s not quite together yet. After all, you need a place to put all the junk, right? But it’s so cool. After what feels like months of depravation, here I sit surrounded by box after box, stacked three high. Of books! Ain’t life grand.
In hopes that the inspector would soon be there...
And here’s the rest of the story. At the end of June, somewhere around the last blog post here, we made one final push to get everything ready for the final inspection. The inspector came, and said things looked great, we could move in. Yay! Sort of.
Yes, it was a milestone. One we’d been working to reach for more than a year. There was one tiny thing we didn’t realize though. The work wasn’t over yet.
The trim still had to be filled, caulked and touch-up painted. There were closet organizers to install.
And then the biggie. Moving our belongings from storage, into the house. Whoo-hoo!!
The answer to your question is, yes. I’m writing this post from my shiny new office. It’s not quite together yet. After all, you need a place to put all the junk, right? But it’s so cool. After what feels like months of depravation, here I sit surrounded by box after box, stacked three high. Of books! Ain’t life grand.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Back On Track - Or Is That Off Track?
Any hoo, I'm back in the land of technology. Taking time off was a must do, in order to get things done as fast as humanly possible. I'll clue you in on those 'things' very soon.
The only coherent post I could have made over the last several weeks would have been, "Oh, I'm so tired." Brings to mind Madelaine Kahn in Blazing Saddles...which makes me laugh out loud.
Starting Monday, we'll be back to the regularly scheduled program around here. Whatever the heck that is. I'm looking forward to it. I hope you are.
The only coherent post I could have made over the last several weeks would have been, "Oh, I'm so tired." Brings to mind Madelaine Kahn in Blazing Saddles...which makes me laugh out loud.
Starting Monday, we'll be back to the regularly scheduled program around here. Whatever the heck that is. I'm looking forward to it. I hope you are.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
TBR Everywhere You Look
It's no secret that writers are also voracious readers. Our To-Be-Read piles are legend. Tell me, was I the only one so naive as to think that getting an ereader, and an app to read books on my BlackBerry, would eliminate the piles of books which multiply like rabbits all over my house?
You have got to be kidding me. Not only do I have an overflowing TBR pile, I now have a very large TBR file. The whole renovation thing is taking up most of my spare time, and working on a manuscript I'm behind on, is taking up the rest of the time, so there isn't any time left over to read. That's really okay for now. But the aforementioned problem still exists. Ten-fold!
Here's a short list of what's in my TBR's. These are the ones I can see at a glance.
Pile
Original Sin by Allison Brennan
Lover Mine by J.R. Ward
Atlantis Redeemed by Alyssa Day
Hot Westmoreland Nights by Brenda Jackson
What a Scoundrel Wants by Carrie Lofty
The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Ms. Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber
Serpent Moon by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp
File
A Bitch Named Karma by Stephanie Haefner
The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles
Jack Daniels Stories by J.A. Konrath
AfterGlow by Pamela Vee
Under The Dome by Stephen King
A Darker Trinity by Candace Gilmer
Bright Star by Greyson Reyes-Cole
Yep, my tastes are eclectic. I'm one of those weirdos who reads the back of cereal boxes too.
What's in your pile?
You have got to be kidding me. Not only do I have an overflowing TBR pile, I now have a very large TBR file. The whole renovation thing is taking up most of my spare time, and working on a manuscript I'm behind on, is taking up the rest of the time, so there isn't any time left over to read. That's really okay for now. But the aforementioned problem still exists. Ten-fold!
Here's a short list of what's in my TBR's. These are the ones I can see at a glance.
Pile
Original Sin by Allison Brennan
Lover Mine by J.R. Ward
Atlantis Redeemed by Alyssa Day
Hot Westmoreland Nights by Brenda Jackson
What a Scoundrel Wants by Carrie Lofty
The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Ms. Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber
Serpent Moon by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp
File
A Bitch Named Karma by Stephanie Haefner
The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles
Jack Daniels Stories by J.A. Konrath
AfterGlow by Pamela Vee
Under The Dome by Stephen King
A Darker Trinity by Candace Gilmer
Bright Star by Greyson Reyes-Cole
Yep, my tastes are eclectic. I'm one of those weirdos who reads the back of cereal boxes too.
What's in your pile?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Renegade Renovation #11 – Queen of the Tile
Welcome to June. And summer. Niiiice.
Holy cow, where did the month of May go? My apologies for being a bad blogger again.
It seems the time passed me by in a flurry, well, more like in stacks and stacks of tile. Endless days of being on the floor, against the wall, or bent over the tile saw. And it’s finally finished!! That’s what I want to celebrate and who better to do it with than you? Hope you enjoy the photos.
Why did I do so much tile work, you ask? Well, here’s the deal. My budget allowed for inexpensive flooring in a few places, installed by the flooring people. Or, it allowed for tile if I did it myself. Of course, back when everything was shiny and new, with the blush of oh-my-we’ve-got-our-own-house still upon us, tile seemed the best way to go.
Fast forward about eight months, spent working on nothing but the house in our free time. The blush is long gone. Actually, was there a blush? Not sure I remember it. I can’t blame anyone though, because I willingly agreed to do the tile since I’ve done it before. Funny, though, after a few years, you forget how much work it was way back then.
Just how much tile did I do? Uh, let me count the rooms...the laundry room floor, the master bath including floor, shower and counter tops, the guest bath floor, and the kitchen backsplash. Queen of the tile, for sure. Guess it could work as a side job if the whole writing thing doesn’t fly.
At any rate, the push is on, to get this renovation finished so every spare moment is spent doing something on the house. Looks like only a couple more weeks and it’ll be finished. I can’t wait for the day I can just walk into my office, and write.
Holy cow, where did the month of May go? My apologies for being a bad blogger again.
It seems the time passed me by in a flurry, well, more like in stacks and stacks of tile. Endless days of being on the floor, against the wall, or bent over the tile saw. And it’s finally finished!! That’s what I want to celebrate and who better to do it with than you? Hope you enjoy the photos.
Why did I do so much tile work, you ask? Well, here’s the deal. My budget allowed for inexpensive flooring in a few places, installed by the flooring people. Or, it allowed for tile if I did it myself. Of course, back when everything was shiny and new, with the blush of oh-my-we’ve-got-our-own-house still upon us, tile seemed the best way to go.
Fast forward about eight months, spent working on nothing but the house in our free time. The blush is long gone. Actually, was there a blush? Not sure I remember it. I can’t blame anyone though, because I willingly agreed to do the tile since I’ve done it before. Funny, though, after a few years, you forget how much work it was way back then.
Just how much tile did I do? Uh, let me count the rooms...the laundry room floor, the master bath including floor, shower and counter tops, the guest bath floor, and the kitchen backsplash. Queen of the tile, for sure. Guess it could work as a side job if the whole writing thing doesn’t fly.
At any rate, the push is on, to get this renovation finished so every spare moment is spent doing something on the house. Looks like only a couple more weeks and it’ll be finished. I can’t wait for the day I can just walk into my office, and write.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)