Joy. Laughter. A celebration of life. My dear Clancy was only on loan to me these past eleven and a half years. On Friday, June 15, 2007, God took him home. Now my sweet boy romps with the other dog angels, and his memory will be forever in my heart.
It never ceases to amaze me how writers pull together and help one another in times of need. Case in point is the blog “tour” being conducted to assist mystery writer Elaine Viets. She has a new book coming out in May, but due to suffering a stroke, she may not be able to go on tour. Writers across the country have jumped in to help her by adding her books to theirs at booksignings. In some cases, her fellow and sister writers are standing in for Elaine at scheduled signings on her tour.
Other writers are passing the word about her new book Murder with Reservations. It’s the latest in Elaine’s “Dead-End Job” mystery series. One of the most interesting things about Elaine is that she researches her novels by working the “dead-end” job of her heroine, Helen Hawthorne. In her latest book, Elaine…uh…Helen is a hotel maid hiding out from an ex-husband. Add a dead body and…well, that’s all the teaser you get. LOL
Writers and readers can participate in the “tour by proxy” and get an autographed bookplate.
I’m busy reviewing entries in a novel writing contest. It’s a privilege to be able to give back some of what I’ve learned about writing over the years. I tend to write more out of gut instinct regarding what works and what doesn’t, so providing feedback challenges me to be clear and specific. Writers often enter contests to get feedback on their work, and with the hefty price tag of $25 per entry in many cases, they have a right to expect a bit more than “This doesn’t work.” There needs to be a “because.” We preach about “show not tell” in writing a novel, but that can also apply to giving feedback in contests. At least that my two cents.
Later today, my webhost is moving my website to a new server – bigger, faster. Yea!! Access might be sporadic during the changeover. Not a big deal, just a minor inconvenience for a few hours, and mainly overnight at that.
It’s not too late to sign up for Linnea Sinclair’s online class, Character Torture 101, over at WritersOnlineClasses . Linnea is a dynamite lady and I had the privilege of taking several courses from her back in her private eye days. She shared her knowledge of investigative techniques and her exquisite sense of humor during her COFFIN courses. I’ll be spending March learning new “torture†techniques for my characters. 
My how time flies! Linnea has given up her PI work and is now an award-winning author. She writes mostly sci-fi with a nice blend of romantic suspense. Her new book, Games of Command, will be out this week. More info on Linnea on her website.
Writers are encouraged to be voracious readers, but I don’t think the original intent of that advice was to read email lists. I’m subscribed to 22 email lists (as of today) and several of those lists generate over 50 messages per day. Now who has time—really—to read all that chatter?
The key thing should be to evaluate each list and determine it’s “cost-benefit” rating.
Just answering those questions makes going no mail an easy decision on more than half of my lists. I can even put my resource lists on no mail until I actually need to ask questions or do research. (Getting organized for research is grist for another post.) That just leaves the announcement lists (sporadic posts), and my RWA chapter lists. Hurrah!! There’s hope for me yet. 
A few days ago I upgraded to WordPress 2.1 and it promptly “broke” the blog theme that I had spent countless hours modifying from a beautiful design created by Patricia Mueller. Thus this new, simpler look which I uploaded today. Perhaps it’s all for the better because now I can stop obsessing about my blog theme and get back to working out the theme for my novel.
Actually I tend to write with an eye toward an underlying theme of redemption. I don’t deliberately set out to do that; it just seems to develop that way when I begin creating my characters. Somehow each character’s “wound” requires some form of redemption. Heaven help me not to analyze it! Any time I start analyzing what I’m writing or why I’m writing it…well, let’s just say that the work is soon abandoned. I never hear “why are you doing that?” as anything other than a demand for explanation and justification. LOL
For a helpful article on theme and premise, check out Vicki Hinze’s writers’ library. That woman is amazing! 
I’m busting out at the seams here with such pride for my baby brother’s musical success. Never you mind the competitors on USA Network’s “Nashville Star.” Take a listen to my personal choice to be the 2007 Nashville Star:
W. Alan “Bill” Vincent
My kid brother has an awesome voice and is a talented songwriter. That’s not just a proud sister’s opinion, either. Noosiree. Bill performs regularly at Lyrix, a music bar and cafe in Nashville. If you’re near Englewood, TN, he’ll be appearing at the American Legion Post on Feb. 7 and Feb. 28.
And that’s not all the good news. Nashville Independent Music has accepted Bill as an artist. NIM is an invitation-only website dedicated to independent artists and songwriters. You can pick up a few of Bill’s songs for the pittance of $.99 each.
Congratulations to my friend Nikki Leigh on the e-book release this week of another novel. Nikki is fascinated by lighthouses, and Lady Lightkeeper is the second book in her series set in mythical Misty Cove, Massachusetts.
Kudos also go to Nikki for winning a 2007 Ariana Award, which recognizes excellence in book covers. The cover of Widow’s Walk won “Best in Category” and is now in competition for the QUASAR award. Both awards are sponsored by EPIC, a professional organization for e-book authors.
A great way to start off my New Year: a reprint of one of my articles has been picked up by Absolute Write. I’ve been a subscriber to their free newsletter for eons, but it never dawned on me to submit an article. Well. . .I’m blonde, you know. LOL
A few months ago I bought Jenna Glatzer’s book Make a REAL LIVING as a Freelance Writer, and was inspired to rekindle my freelancing efforts. Jenna was the moving force behind Absolute Write for several years and has a pretty decent freelance writing career herself. Certainly someone to model. AW boasts an online circulation of more than 78,000 subscribers. I hadn’t thought about it until now, but I probably should update my blog and website a lot more often as part of my new marketing plan.
You might be wondering what freelance writing has to do with how to write a novel. For one thing, being published in any venue is not only a kick for my writer’s ego, it’s also a publishing credit that bespeaks a serious attitude about my career. Nonfiction keeps me writing when I’m feeling stuck with my novel. My background is in nonfiction and it’s more of a comfort zone for me than fiction, so I tend to go there when I’m frustrated or insecure about my fiction writing.
The trick is to keep writing no matter the doubts and fears. If you’re bogged down in one type of writing, try something else. It’s the discipline of writing regularly – some vehemently insist it be daily — that will eventually get you where you want to go. So just keep writing, no matter what!
Veterans’ Day is a special day we in the United States set aside to honor the men and women of our military forces who serve our country. - past, present and future. With our nation currently at war, I think it is important to take the time to say a sincere “thank you” to all our military forces, at home and abroad. You can learn about the history of Veterans Day and this weekend’s activities at the Veterans Affairs official website.
I come from a long line of military veterans. Way back in my lineage, an uncle fought in the Civil War. My grandfather served in World War I and World War II. My father served in World War II and during the Korean Conflict. My mother was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in WWII. My uncle Paul (Mother’s younger brother) died in the skies over the English Channel during WWII. Two sisters were in the military - one in the Army and one in the Air Force. And each of those girls married military men. I was the rogue, doing my service in the Navy Reserve.
There’s likely to be a showing of the movie “To Hell and Back” this weekend. The movie stars real-life World War II hero Audie Murphy. I’ve seen it numerous times and Murphy’s bravery still awes me. He was also a talented songwriter and his music was recorded by a number of well known artists, including Gordon Lightfoot and Bonnie Guitar.
Another moving tribute to our veterans comes from Canadian musician Terry Kelly, whose song “A Pittance in Time” is well worth a listen.
People don't fail.
They stop trying.
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