Love Fall and Pumpkins

In the fall season, I love to get out and drive, snap some shots, and maybe visit some festivals.

When looking for pumpkins for homemade pies, I think the ugliest pumpkin--a pale brown--has the best thick orange meat. FWIW: I think pumpkins should be stored and eaten, not massacred. I'm OK with painting them, though. :)

Just now, the Ozarks are starting to turn into gorgeous fall color, which will flame across the hills. With a lot of nut trees, you can see wild turkeys along the road. They are not that pretty, but at least they are not the ugliest--turkey vultures.

The leaves in the center are sassafras. Not really sure what part of the tree is used for healing Ozark tea.

My neighbor's persimmon tree was loaded this year and the pits held the shape of a spoon. Translated: Bad Winter. Spoons equal shovels. Shovels for snow. Which is why I am ordering more wood for the fireplace insert.


During this time, I usually visit the Amish, pick up baking supplies, etc. and generally just enjoy life.

I hope you do, too. :)

Story Fetching

Writers have to get out from behind their desks to be fresh. Stories are out there waiting to be collected, which I did.

I've just gotten back from a 5000 mile, 18 day trip from and back to Missouri. Traveling alone, I just let the stories roll onto me. I loved every minute. My thanks to Honda for my sweet running CR-V 2002 LX, a plain good driving car and no gas hog, either.

The Trip: From SW MO, I headed north to Sioux Falls, IA and then took a left on I-90.  SD, WY, MT, ID and then North Central WA State to visit relatives. One of the highlights there was getting a tour of a relative's Boer goats. Very interesting. More stories brewing about those, and the one Nubian "weed-chewer."

Somewhere in the ID mountains, there was a fantastic elk with velvet on his rack. Huge, gorgeous beast munching beside the road. I really slowed down when passing him because of danger, and so wished I could have taken a photo. The problem with cameras and animals and that the animals move quickly. :)

June apparently is calving month and throughout the first leg, there were lots of calves. At a guess, more Angus than others.

A few days there, then I cut down WA State to Longview, WA just across the river from Oregon.

Longview has lots of logging, and the air smelled great. Across the river was even better driving with lots of greenery to the famous Hwy 101. If you haven't traveled on 101, you'll love it. Lots of gorgeous scenery, and I had a great fish and chips lunch at the Sea Hag in DePoe Bay.

I visited relatives in San Fran for a wkend or so and then drove a straight shot thru hot I-80 NV/UT/WY/NB. From Lincoln, NB, it was a jog around and then down to KC and south to SW MO. Did I say it was hot??!!

It is great to bum off relatives, which helps on motel etc. expenses. :) Thank you, everyone. Loved Panda Express in San Fran and wish we had one near.

These were waiting for me on my porch light. I tried to sell them to my neighbor and he wouldn't take the bargain. Relocated them in a tree for mama to tend.

I've driven parts of I-80 when researching Night Fire, set on the Oregon Trail. If you can, take that trip and you can almost feel the struggles of the pioneers. As a writer, one of the most difficult tasks is getting the time matrix correct, this because certain points had to be reached by certain dates. I read the diaries of Donner Pass, and when driving that area had the eerie sense of their terror.

I really wanted a good windmill photo, like the one I saw in KS. There were so many lives and stories caught in the few remaining paddles. Alas, all the windmills I saw on this trip were new and shiny, or without paddles.

A few humor points: 1.) I counted 18 road kill deer and no antelope, though they were visible. I came to the conclusion that antelope are smarter. Okay, they are probably faster and dodge better, but I like the smarter idea.
2.) On some NW pass, maybe just before swooping down into Coeur d'Alene (gorgeous walls of pines on either side of the road) there were signs directing people to call and report unsafe drivers. The numbers to call were full length, which would require the reporting driver to divert his attention. Not only that, but there was no cell phone reception for miles.
3.) Near Salt Lake City, on the miles of white flats, black stones formed graffiti along the road. And the 4-story tall metal tree with canoes was a true surprise. :)

These long drives are heaven and gifts for the storyteller. I never got that shot of the perfect aged wooden windmill, but did love WY's wind farms. The scenes were almost sci-fi, all those 3-paddled monsters lined up on the horizon. Congratulations, WY.

I'll be writing more about my trip. Loved every minute--5000 miles and no trouble.

!!Then after I was home decided to drive to the "Vegetable Lady". Picked up a spike and got a flat tire within miles from my house. :)

Writing: What Works/Sales

When Night Falls

What works best in marketing books?

It’s all debatable. The topics on the table right now are: Titles, Reviews, Bonus Material, Benefits of Twitter and Facebook, and always Covers.

Right now, I’m dealing with replacing a blah title on book I wrote years ago and am now publishing in eformat. Not a clue why the publishers wanted that title, but blah, blah blah. I’m indy publishing, so I can darn well do what I want with it.

When the book is originally published in traditional or legacy as some term it, it will already have reviews under that same title. That means when the title is republished in eformat that the reviews generally go with it. However, when re-titling the same work, those reviews can be lost.

Reviews. The essential sales piece and correct format is also essential. If epublishing some reviewing site require so many stars on the reviews, 10 at one place. Some require say 4 5-star reviews, and then some require a book blogger review, etc. Getting readers to review means asking them for a slice of time they could use elsewhere. But readers/writers please review?

Which brings us to the Snarky Review. Ah, people. Reviews are Subjective, which means they are taken in and appraised by the very individual and personal preferences of people reading them. Sometimes the story flows with the reader's expectations/values whatever. Or maybe not. Or maybe their having a bad day and nothing is going to hit him/her right. (It's like that with editors, too. :))

But some people delight in ripping apart, putting down, for whatever reason. "It was so awful. Wallbanger quality" is interesting. Because usually, when questioned, the book was so awful that they read it completely through and could remember exact passages. Personally, if I read a book that is really awful, I'm not reading it throughout. So, something held that reader.

In a writer's world, a snarky review can be the unfortunate result of another writer's jealousy. Sorry, but it happens. Some people just delight in that.

Writers pick up a few callouses, or they should, and not take these snarky reviews to heart, so deeply that it disturbs their real life. On the other hand, a good, thoughtful review can be used by the writer as an evaluation of better writing in their next story.

If you have a Kindle, there is a handy application at the end of the books, which you can use to review or to simply give stars. I try always to do this.

Flashback

But back to Titles. Typically, a book is titled to its market. A women’s fiction book may have a softer title than a mystery. (Personally, I stay away from Death, Kill, etc.) But in ereading, a catchy title may suit that market better.

Which brings us to the different ways a book can be published, but under the same title. Many writers with reverted titles, such as moi, are using Lulu or CreateSpace, and other publishers to create trade paper books. Generally, that title has to fit somewhere on the Cover. Use too many words and you’ve lost impact. Because… the author also has to have their name large enough for repeat buyers. Plus sticking a nice quote from a reviewer on the cover somewhere adds interest.

Too many words in the title is generally troublesome. We want titles to slap into reader’s memory banks, so they’ll remember what to buy. We want reviewers to remember the titles.

The question of Bonus Material came up recently. Bonus Material refers that little extra kiss at the end of the book. Make that kiss too long and you’ll lose some readers. Too short and they’ll feel as if you didn’t deliver. I’m not certain how I feel about Bonus Material. I wonder if it might not be better as a short story, if it is epublished. But in paper, naturally, it would need to be included at the end of the book.

At the end of the book, after The End, ad work is essential, especially in epublishing. That’s where we splash Subscribe To My Enewsletter, my website and blog. Or, in the case of my MacLean trilogy, the titles of all the other books.

Enewsletters are invaluable. Generally this means a consistent reader, who cares enough to stay attached to what you’re doing. I’ve got a contest running right now on my enewsletter, just a simple drawing that ends Dec 30 for an epublished book, The Loving Season (The MacLeans) first of the MacLeans.

Which brings us to the best mode of promotion. It seems like everyone has their own preference. Free books is generally a super promotion, which nudges sales on more books. I don’t have any free books at the moment, other than the drawings I’m having for my ebooks at Twitter, coming up soon.

Twitter is excellent promotion ground and so is Facebook. Goodreads and others.

But exactly how much promotion can a writer do, and still write?

Every day, writers balance promotion and writing and generally life. Everyday, they make choices on the topics above.

I'd love your comments on them.

Win a Kindle!

A Lady's Choice

I'm one of 22 authors participating in Access Romance's Holiday Track-Down. You'll have to get the specs at Access Romance.

Not only is a Kindle offered, but several Prize Packs!

I'll give you a really strong hint: Check out my new web page for my backlist books. These are my early books, brought back to life in epublishing. This is quite the task and the list is growing. I'm doing and redoing the covers as I discover more about this format. Most are available on Kindle, Nookbooks, Smashwords, and A Writers Work. The links are on my new page.

I'm in full holiday mode now and enjoying the return to these early stories. I have quite a list, so watch for more.

And sign up for my email newsletter? I'm also on Twitter and Facebook.




Here's a Holiday Anthology, done with other authors. It started out as a collection of holiday mysteries and ended up as romance :)



This is a 3-in-1 and the cover was absolutely gorgeous.




I hope you're all relaxing a bit this holiday season. We're having a low-key season and I'm alternately writing and baking. Gingerbread men coming up!

A Writer's Holiday Hiatus

The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great

Writers are busy with deadlines, family and holidays. The combination can get hectic, but generally most are trying to infuse themselves with rebirth that comes with a new year and peace within--speaking from a writer's POV.

That peace within can be called, healing or going back to the "well". The creative well can be deep and offering new techniques or ideas for just where to put that special energy.

I like to step back for the holidays, once the bustle of family/friend gift-giving is settled. This year I did my usual baking (check out Barbara Samuel/Babara O'Neal and other writers who bake and those who sew).

The creative spirit transitions into many areas, which for writers gives time to process their next projects.

With all the tremendous changes in publishing, there's lots to think about while making cookies or sewing or traveling or playing games or decorating the tree.

In easing 2009 out and looking forward to 2010, writers are really considering their projects and how to spend holiday time.

I'm settling back a bit, calling friends, talking with family, but the writer part of me is very busy.

I want to finish a major writing project that is dear to me by Dec 31. That's number 1 on my list. Here's the rest of it:


2. Read Donald Maass's Fire in Fiction. I'd heard so much about this book since its publication in May 2009, and it's waited. So on those quiet evenings, I'm reading what seems so far to be a tremendous book. I've always loved Dwight Swain's Techniques of the Selling Writer, which is a must, I believe.

3. Fiction reading.

4. See a couple of movies, i.e. Avatar, Inglorious Basterds, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

5. Start cleaning my bookselves. Earlier in the year, I donated learning tapes and writing books to local groups, but I've a way to go. I'm trying to downsize and that is not easy as each book brings memories of the time I was researching, etc. Writers love books. I am using a data base now for the "keepers", called AllMyBooks, a software program which so far has been pretty good.

6. I went through my contracts and made a list of what I need to do when business starts up in January. I usually make my daily business to-do lists in the previous evening, that way I can start out working in the a.m. I usually work first, then do necessary business/mail/email whatever.

7. I spend a lot of thinking time, which involves candles and quiet. This is stepping back mode. I've already made some resolves for the New Year. Let's see if I can keep them :) One is getting back to painting canvases. They've been waiting. One year I decided to start painting and found that my paint tubes were too old. I bought new. You can see some of my work at my website I'm planning seascapes. (Have you ever noticed how many trilogies, etc. are set oceanside? That nuance is a character in itself.)

8. Redoing my website. It needs a whole new look and direction. Since I do my own Internet work and am active in my 3 blogs, others blogs, Twitter and Facebook, my website has waited. I'm also behind on GoodReads, which I joined and never really got into.

9. Then, what is really necessary? I think writing and creative time needs to come first and Social Media time second. I'm balancing the time necessary for Facebook, etc. Facebook has literally swamped me. I enjoy Twitter's short droplets.

10. I'm considering just what writers' conferences, meetings are important to me and why. With our business changed, flipped over really, our modes so different, conferences are really going to have to lay it down to get attendance. Information is easily available online, and writers' checkbooks have flattened. While reclusive by nature, writers need "Face Time" to energize and group planners are going to have to deliver to draw attendees. Sometimes I go to see friends and sometimes because a program seems great. One aid to groups is to get their scheduling promo out there at the top of the year, because now writers are choosing very carefully where to spend their conference/meeting dollar.

It might not always be at a conference or group meeting. Sometimes a writers coffee group can really energize individuals. And some of that energy is keep hopping by a single writer taking their laptop to a coffee shop. Sometimes a writer with a busy family will take a motel break all by themselves. This is actually a good idea, to remove all distractions.

So this Holiday Hiatus is very important to the creative writers spirit: refreshing, going back to the well, planning next year, schedules and projects. I'm finding that most are planning a little step-back time for themselves, retaining energy to feed their creative spirits.

We're all in deep discussion now about what we're doing at the end of the year, so if you want to add your ideas for a writer's creative holiday hiatus, come on down!

New Year Coming

  I'm doing Ye Old File Drawer organizing at the end of this year. After writing for several publishers with representation from several agents, several amendments to contracts, etc. needed better organization/consideration.

With new horizons popping up every day, I'm considering e-publishing several very early books and that calls for lots of contract reading. You'd be surprised what a mop-up operation this can be, certainly not small enough when sorting, to fit across a desk. There is also communication with agents and rights. Rights are very big now, and should have been much earlier.

 Right or wrong career decisions are at a writer's every turn. A good filing system is only so good, if it does not have all the correspondence/contracts in it, and I had to request one contract from a former agent.

Agents are usually great to deal with, even after leaving them. I need to prepare some correspondence to former agents, but that will have to wait until the new year.

  Right now, I'm putting the old year to bed, doing some tax set-up stuff (spreadsheets are great), but I'm also thinking of my New Year's schedule and possible travel. Writer scheduling is probably one of the most important facets of a career.


Publishing usually happens this way: A book is coming out, high energy needed for its "pub" date. Then: A book is due, plus all the articles, etc. and other obligations. Those two dates frequently occur together: Pub Date and Contract Manuscript Due Date. Holidays are really difficult when both dates fall within that time.

I'll be gifting advice about spreadsheets in January or so.
  One of the must-do items on my list for 2010 is getting a new PR photo. Or take my own. iStockPhoto has great advice on this.

One of the best tips I can give is to collect a freebie calendar booklet for tax mileage and keep it in the car. Do you realize that those freebies we used to see in every drugstore are scarce now? So get that 2010 calendar going, check out the conferences that will be of the most use to you.

Yep. Time to clean up the old year and lay out plans for the new one.

Since stress-free is my theme today for all three blogs, My Jam Jar and The Second Cup and this one, my today's writer's advice?

Work on your filing and business and scheduling in advance.

Winter Day Party

Tarot for Writers


Family is great, but there are just some times during the winter-cooped-up season, that a party with friends takes the German Chocolate Cake. Such was last Saturday, and though a winter storm watch was in effect, I drove an hour or so to have a terrific few hours of fun with friends.

Chip and dip, a sandwich platter, and hot/cold tea. Add everyone's individual tarot cards, plus a psychic, and the winter advisories were forgotten in the warmth of friends.

Featured psychic Linda Winders is always phenomenal, as a psychic and as a person. You can find her at Keen Online Psychic readings, or at her Maiden of Mystery blog. She's also a highly talented seamstress/quilter/costume designer, etc. But you can read more about her at her blog.

Linda shared some exercises from Tarot for Writers. One exercise was to answer a prescribed list of questions, one card assigned to each. The cards, plus your own intuitive senses, provided characters sex/age/personality, etc. Every one brought their own tarot deck, some with 2 or 3 different ones, and the around the table discussion got interesting very quickly. I didn't know there were "intuitive" decks, without the Cups/Wands, etc.

While fun and double the fun with friends, I still don't get Tarot, even with an Idiot's guide to Tarot and Fortune-Telling how-to at hand. A friend, the host, is really good at reading her own and references it for answers. As a veteran of creating my own stories without divination, I found the experiment really interesting. While receptive to story-churning ideas from any quarter, I'll have to work on getting a story from Tarot. Reportedly, though, some writers are able to churn story ideas from this method.

Due to snow and sleet and a long drive home, I left the party early. I could have stayed for hours. Loved the visit, the friends, the topic. If you get a chance meet Linda Winders (she's on Facebook), you'll have an interesting experience every time.

We used to have unusual no-cost parties, such as sharing a dish/recipe or a plant start exchange, but this was a first experience for me. It was a very enjoyable Winter Day fun-time with friends.

Sweetheart Day

I've always loved Valentine's Day, from the moment I started drawing hearts with a red crayon. This red heart was done for a cover idea. Valentine's Day may be my favorite holiday. It's a fun day, and I've already sent some Valentines and heart-shaped cookies. Sweetheart Day should be every day, IMHO, and I'm hoping that this year, especially, little hug-type things will pop up more in our lives.

Where oh where are those large cut-out books, the ones where you made your own envelopes? They were such fun, but this year, I couldn't find them. Penny Valentines are just as good, even enclosed in a letter to a friend.

It was on one Valentine's Day that I discovered little boys would rather play with blocks than make Valentines.

While child-sitting, I'd set out all the "makings" on the kitchen table, ready to cut and glue and color. I called the boys in from playing with blocks and trucks. They sat, looked as if they were being punished and asked to return to their building.

What a shock. My daughters had loved making Valentines. :)

Perking Creatively and Otherwise

Okay, let's skip the chit-chat about Black Wednesday and get to work. Black Wednesday is a notable time for writers, because so much news of publisher changes, poor book sales, and layoffs occurred on that day.

Writers must adjust, and refer to the good points and accomplishments in their careers. For myself, I am thoroughly pleased with my psychic triplet trilogy of 2008, a real challenge to keep all the threads running straight through from At the Edge
, through A Stranger's Touch
, and ending in For Her Eyes Only
.

A STRANGER'S TOUCH 4/2008 placed on the NYTs extended, my first hit there, though I've been on other lists.

My new projects are varied and I'm enjoying the end of the year, feeling more creative than ever.

Maybe Black Wednesday came along so that writers could really reach deep and step off the groove to creative other worlds. Anyway, it's an interesting theory I support. I believe there are new opportunities waiting for writers, but we're going to have to reach out and embrace them.

On another note, I am most pleased that Flashback and Silence the Whispers continue to be well received. Patricia Cornell has a video expressing her thoughts on the CSI affect, which is interesting. Another theory is that romantic suspense must either be "hot" or "thriller" to do well.

I wonder. There are a tremendous amount of writers caught/trapped in this very serious economic scenario, some of whom have books in the works, being edited, marketed, etc. The ripple effect isn't like the tiny butterfly one, growing as it sweeps the world. This one begins with a blow from a sledge hammer.

I hope you visit my other blogs to see my "real life". The Second Cup deals with today's life and My Jam Jar reveals more of my "home life" side.

The end of the year brings all this out in me, so be prepared. :)

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. I baked cookies for those living away, the red boxes filled with gingerbread men. By the time I was finished baking the whole recipe, I was dreaming gingerbread men. They are only 2 inches high. The oatmeal cookies are for the adults.

My heart-shaped cookie cutter has vamoosed somewhere. We have a lot of kitchen/gourmet stores in town and I hunted thoroughly without results. One clerk said she didn't think people baked cutter cookies any more. If they don't, why is every shape known to man dripping from the shelves, including airplanes, bunnies, etc.?

The search became a real hunt, which included a glass top for my antique Revereware perking pot. No one had them. EXCEPT, the best store ever that has everything. Called Dick's 5 and Dime and located in downtown Branson, this old fashioned dimestore drips everything you've ever wanted, or could want. There, to be sure were several different styles of heart-shaped cookie cutters, and my perculator top.

I wait for Valentine's Day all year long and shop for little items that might apply.

Also gone, to my sadness, are those huge paper books with cutout Valentine's and glue-together envelopes. They were so much fun.

I'd baked gingerbread men, the larger version at Christmas, but these little guys were all over my kitchen. That last batch was really difficult to follow through :)

Valentine's Day Special

I'm busy at work, just the last week of editing, before I turn in a new book. Meanwhile, I've been busy updating my website. January had two red bag contests. One ended Jan 15, and the other Jan 31. Why two, you ask? Because I was soooo busy in January and needed the top two weeks to work. Work happens.

I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day and have just posted a contest for it alone. The prize is an advanced reading copy, or ARC as we say. This is for A STRANGER'S TOUCH, pub date April, which is the second of the Aisling Psychic Triplets.

Since April is my favorite month, and birthday month--yes, I take all month--and it is the pub date of Tempest's book, I've also posted an excerpt from her story. There will be more excerpts and more promotion, but right now, I have to get back to work :)