The Saga of Mr. Fern

Mr. Fern, who by then was raggedy, although he still had green fronds, sat discarded outside the teachers’ room door at the school where my husband teaches, and rather than let him be consigned to the garbage, John brought him home. For years, Mr. Fern sat by the sliders to the deck in the winter, and on the deck, summers, and regenerated and bloomed, and — I truly believe — begat a whole family of ferns that return every year, shooting up like alien pods, in my pachysandra patch.

So it was with great sorrow that two or three years ago, we watched as Mr. Fern deteriorated to the point where he had no new growth, his leaves shriveled, browned, became dessicated, and he died.
We put him in the back yard nevertheless, loath to leave him in the detritus that would be cleared away in the bi-annual garden clean-up. And there he sat for a summer, a winter, another summer, forlorn, dried up, leafless, lifeless …

And then one summer day, I saw a sliver of green poking out from the midst of the jungle of brown. One fully formed fern frond, child-size, fresh green, fresh life, a little miracle stretching out from the dirt and decay. No stopping him then. I began watering him. He pushed out more long stringy fingers which turned into an explosion of brand new fronds.

Mr. Fern is back. Why, how, from that mass of crinkly dead leaves, I’ll never understand. I thought he was truly gone, and then, suddenly, there he was. And now he sits in my cluttered dining room by the sliding doors, growing and flourishing every day.

It’s a lesson to all of us. Sometimes we feel hopeless, helpless, dry, dessicated, chewed up, beaten down
– like we couldn’t produce another word, even if it was the word “I” — and we just bury ourselves and let it all go.

Don’t let go. We’re writers. There’s always life in there, even if at times it seems like still life with no possibilities. All it needs is a little poke and prod. A book, a word, an overheard conversation, something in the news — and we green up, poke our way out of the dessication, and get going.

Because we have to. Because there are stories to tell and we can tell them. Because there are fictional lives to explore, and we can do justice to them. Because when you’re a writer, you’re never not writing, even if you think you’re not.

And, because we can.

Thea Devine is currently working on her next erotic contemporary romance. She’s pleased to announce that five of her early books, Reckless Desire, Ecstasy’s Hostage, Relentless Passion, Montana Mistress and Angel Eyes are now available in Kindle editions.

Imposter Syndrome

Happy Friday everyone. Casey here. If you have a moment, please stop by my blog. I’m hosting another Goodreads giveaway to celebrate the paperback release of The Undead Space Initiative.

In case you hadn’t yet heard the news, Mystic Storm will be published in 2013. And while this is my third published novel, I still feel like a giant imposter.

Like someone is going to single me out and yell – “Fake! Fraud! She’s not a real writer!”

I know that sounds totally ridiculous but I know I’m not the only one who sometimes feels this way. I have heard an established NY Times bestselling author admit to having the same feeling - that no matter how many novels you write and sell that this one might be your last.

That you will never, ever write anything “good” again. Your career will be over!! You’ll be a “has been”, the equivalent of a dried up old spinster.

Eek! What’s a writer to do? Well, for starters, it’s time for a reality check.

By the power invested in me I say to you -  You’re a writer. A real, honest to goodness writer. Doesn’t matter if you’re unpublished, published big, published small, self-published, or any variation in between. If you’re dedicated to the craft of storytelling and you are actively putting words on a page, you’re a writer.

Feel better?

If not, and you’re still fretting,consider this:

1. Ignorance is bliss. Remember back in the early days of writing before you knew any of the “rules”? When it was a thrill just to type those words on the page and “publication” was some far off dream on a distant shore? If you find yourself traveling down the road of uncertainty, hark back to that earlier time. Too many “rules” equals zero fun. Ditch’em. Be that dreamer again. The completion of one book doesn’t mean you’re doomed to never write another good story again.

2. There are many paths to publication. Readers don’t care who published your novel. All they want are well-written, entertaining stories. I know I don’t go looking for books based on who published them. I just want to read something good and judge accordingly.

3. Tell the Doubt Monster to shut his (or her) gob. If you’re suffering from imposter syndrome, consider it a form of self-doubt. Cut it out.

And finally, square your shoulders, hold your head up high and be proud of your accomplishments (no matter how big or small they are that day, week or month).

Now say it with me – “I am writer, hear me roar!”

Time for the truth – who else has had imposter syndrome? And what are your suggestions for combatting it?

The Buck Stops Here

Yay! It’s Friday again! Hope you’re having a good one! Casey here.

Harry Truman famously had a sign on his desk that read – “the buck stops here.” I’ve always loved that phrase.

It’s the ultimate mark of true leadership, taking responsibility for an action, even if you personally didn’t cause it. Like a good captain, you go down with the ship and are responsible for your subordinates behavior. Not an easy thing to do.

I’ve been in this position, not as U.S. president, but as a mother, a manager, even president of my sorority chapter in college. In my day job, I’ve sworn off having responsibility for others. Too much stress, too little reward. Obviously, as a mom, I can’t do that, but lucky for me, my sons are well-behaved.

However, I can’t totally abdicate my leadership role as an author because there’s only one captain at the helm of the good ship SS Writer - me.

Often times, when I attend my monthly RWA chapter meetings, I hear a common complaint – “I need more time to write.” Or “I need someone to motivate me to write.”

I’ve addressed adding more time, so this time I’m switching to motivation. And I’m not going to go easy on you. There’s a reason Suze calls me “the whip cracker.”

First rule, when it comes to motivation – you are in control of you. No one else.

To use myself as an example, if I’m sitting at my computer staring into space or web surfing or avoiding writing, the first person I chastise is me. Sound harsh? You bet!

But it’s also great news. That means you can take charge and do the work.

Casey’s Whip Cracking Tips:

1. Recognize that you are procrastinating and cut it out!

2. Determine why you’re procrastinating. Maybe you’re stuck at a certain point in the plot. My advice, either skip that spot and come back to it later or plow ahead and write something (and fix it later if you don’t like it). I can tell you this from personal (and recent experience), waiting for inspiration to strike isn’t going to work!

Don’t make me send this guy . . .

3. Enlist the aid of a friend. I know I just said, no one can make you do the work, but it can help to spend time with others. Even if to cheer you up!

4. Join a writing sprint – CTRWA has them all them time on our Facebook fan page!! All writers are welcome, not just chapter members.

5. Use the carrot and the stick approach. Try to reward yourself for meeting your goal (avoid using food, otherwise you’ll be stressed about your weight too). And, sorry, but if that doesn’t work, you have to suck it up and just do it (hear the whip snap?)

My final tip, realize that tomorrow is another day. Believe it or not, there are days (and sometimes weeks) where productive work won’t get done. That’s not an excuse to slack off, but do recognize that sometimes life throws curve balls.

Now, go forth and be productive! Or I’ll find you with my whip! *snap*

What are your favorite whip cracking techniques?And do they work for you?

A Day in the Life of The Doubt Monster

Happy Friday everyone. Casey here. I’ve recently discovered evidence that the my sneaky adversary is up to no good. Look what I found!

To Do List:

5:10 am – wake up when Casey does. Whisper doubts in her ear about her WIP so she can’t fall back to sleep.

6:00 am – while Casey is doing her day job, read e-mail, catch up on latest DM news. Oh, look at the cute little puppy on Facebook!

8:30 am – Consider taking a class. “Character Assassination: 5 Quick and Easy Ways to Use Characters to Foster Doubt”. Or perhaps, “Your Author has been Published: New Fears and How to Foster Them.”

9:00 am – Decide to take both classes. More weapons in the arsenal of doubt are always a good thing.

12:00 pm – Lunch with fellow Doubt Monsters. Listen to endless complaints about how their authors have the delusion that authors and Doubt Monsters can be friends. Scoff at the idea. What is the world coming to?

2:00 pm – One more hour until Casey finishes the day job. Take opportunity to plant idea that time would be better spent on social media. And as a parting jab – remind her that she will never be free of the day job.

3:15 pm – Observe: Plan to steal Casey’s time with Facebook and lure of a higher Klout score appear to be working.

5:00 pm – Dinnertime. Torment Casey while she is cooking. Remind her that she’s been working on Mystic Storm since February. Ignore her counter argument that she wrote an entire book between May and June.

6:30 pm – Casey appears to be staring off into space. Her hands are on the keyboard but nothing is happening. Yes. Yes.

6:45 pm – Enlist aid of cat to distract her further. @#$@ Cat refuses to do my bidding.

7:00 pm – Uh. Oh. Casey finds my to do list. Yup. She’s making that super angry face. She flicks me away with rude gesture and bad words, then starts writing.Nooooo! Hey, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

9:00 pm - Am able to briefly tempt her away with a series of fun Facebook photos. But she soon returns to writing. Drat!

10:30 pm- Casey’s been productive despite my best efforts. Have no fear. Tomorrow is another day.

Yeah. Just bring it Doubt Monster. It’s on!

Anyone have a similar experience?

Care and Feeding Of Your Doubt Monster

Another Friday has arrived! Yay! It’s still not to late to enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card over at Night Owl Reviews!  Before I talk about my favorite little pest, I have one announcement:

I have a release date for The Undead Space Initiative - July 2012. Once I have the cover, I’ll share it.

So back to The Doubt Monster. We were watching a movie not too long ago. Yes, he likes TV and since he’s always around, why can’t he have some fun?

Anyway, the movie was Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. It was trippy story about a writer who’s visiting Paris with his fiancée and her parents. It’s immediately obvious that they want different things in life.

He wants to walk in the rain. She thinks it’s silly and unneccessary. He’d like to move there and write his novel. She wants to stay in LA (where he can continue to write movie screenplays).

While sitting on a step at midnight, pondering his life, a 1920′s car arrives and whisks him off to a party attended by famous intellectuals and writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

What does this have to do with The Doubt Monster? Well, everything! That writer’s Doubt Monster was so powerful, he could make time travel possible.

Obviously, my Doubt Monster is a tad bit jealous. He has no such abilities.

I won’t tell you what happens next in the movie. You will have to watch for yourself.

Back to the topic at hand. Now that we’ve been together for a while, I’d like to offer these tips for making the most out of your monster.

1. Ground rules are a must. Establish parameters of when and where The Doubt Monster is allowed to influence you. My monster is not allowed to speak to me when I’m writing my first draft. Period.

2. Do not ignore your Doubt Monster. Seriously. If you try to suppress the monster, he or she will get back at you - big time. See above – you don’t want the DM to mess with  you when you should be creating.

3. Cultivate confidence. Make yourself feel good. Compliment your efforts. So rather than saying – “my writing is total crap.” Instead say – “this isn’t so bad” or even better – “this is pretty damn good.”

4. Reward good behavior. See #1 – For his patience, I let Doubty play when it’s time to revise. I let’em rip. If he’s been really good, I may even ponder a few concerns at night (after the lap top is off) and right before I fall asleep.

See, he does serve a useful purpose. He can guide me when I know something is missing or not quite right. The trick is to be confident in yourself. Be the Author Goddess! It’s your world, your rules.

And if your Doubt Monster gets uppity, just watch Midnight in Paris and remind him that until he can manipulate space and time, he’s nothing special!

What are your “monster” rules?

Another Moment, Another Lesson

Thea Devine here, confessing that quite often I feel like I’m at the prom without a date.  Although, since I didn’t go to prom, maybe that analogy isn’t quite apt.  (But there was that senior high school dance where I was helping out, when a classmate said so pityingly, “Oh, don’t you have a date?” It scarred me forever.)

Anyway, it used to happen especially when I had to go alone somewhere I didn’t know anyone.  I just dreaded it.

So I was quite taken by this moment that happened the year we delivered my oldest son to freshmen orientation, where, that evening, we were among the hundreds of guests invited  to a reception at the home of the president of the university.

We were with my son’s roommate’s parents, and we were watching a petite woman make her way among the crowd, stopping to greet people and ask whether they had a son or daughter at the school.  A few moments comparing notes and she went on to the next group of guests.

I was admiring how she’d taken the initiative so easily among a multitude of strangers.  When she finally came to us, someone  behind us thought to ask, “Who are you?”  It turned out she was the wife of a famous politician, whose son was in that freshman class as well, and she chatted with us for a few moments and moved on.

A politician’s wife.  Who would know more about how to work a crowd?

But for me, it was a magic moment, completely divorced from who she was.. This, I thought, was how you conquered those prom feelings.  How you’d deal with being shy and feeling out of place.  How you became a fish swimming in water instead of flopping around on the riverbank.

You ask the other person to talk about him or herself.  Who doesn’t like to talk about themselves?  Maybe you don’t ask who they are or what they do.  Maybe, like my boss I wrote about in a previous post, you say, tell me everything.  People do, trust me.

I mentioned this moment to a very shy and retiring friend of mine because I was so taken with the lesson, and I was kind of floored when she exclaimed, “Oh I know her!”

Of course.  So I wrote about it — a short story, about 1000 words.   Of course.  What else would an author do?  That’s precisely what those moments are for.  To learn from, and to make fiction from.

Of course.

Are you shy?  Do you feel like you’re at the prom without a date?  Have you ever had a magic moment in a crowded room? (Falling in love counts,)

Lisa Kessler – Night Walker

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here with one of my favorite paranormal romance authors – Lisa Kessler aka Lady Disney.

Lisa, I’m thrilled to have you as my guest today. Let’s start off with the Scribes’ favorite question!

How do you battle the doubt monster?   

This is a great question because I have not yet mastered the Doubt Monster! LOL  Maybe we never really do?  Some days the words flow and I know in my heart the story is cooking!  I love the characters and the pacing is super.  Then other days I stare at my story and have this nasty whisper in my head that says “This is boring.”

So I wish I had a magic cure! I’ve been lucky that on my lowest days, somehow a reader out there must sense it because out of the blue I’ll get an email or a facebook note from someone who read something of mine and wanted to let me know they enjoyed it.  That can make a WORLD of difference! 

Otherwise I’m forced to gag the monster and keep typing! LOL

What story haven’t you told yet that you want to tell?  What is holding you back?

I started a third book in my werewolf series called, Blood Moon, and just after I started working on it, my Night Series sold to Entangled Publishing, so I had to set that book aside to work on the Night books. 

But that werewolf hero, Gareth, just keeps growling in my ear sometimes and I’m itching to go finish that novel…  Someday soon!

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere.  What is yours?  What is it about?  What makes it terrible?  Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

I have a novel that I started years ago before there was a YA section in the bookstores called, Perfect.  I started it as a horror novel about cloning and experimental drugs, but now that there is an entire genre of YA, I think if I toned it down just a hair, it might work for that.

It’s my grown daughter’s favorite story I’ve written, so I’ve promised to finish he book someday.  It’s about a teen girl who finds out that she is really an experiment for a drug that makes “Perfect” children.  She’s never been sick, or injured or outside of her house.  Ever. 

 But she’s about to turn 18 and the experiment will be finished.  And she will be too.

 Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book.  How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

In my novel, Night Walker, my heroine, Kate, has an ancient VW bug convertible that is held together with vice grips, bungee cords, and duct tape.  I based her car off of two cars I grew up with as a kid. J

Let’s talk about Lady Disney? Who is she and how did she come about? And what is behind the fabulous Cruella costume?

I wish it was a cooler story! LOL  When I started writing most of the sites, like facebook, twitter and even just a website of my name were already taken.  Lisa Kessler is also a fabulous professional photographer in New York!

The email address that I’ve had forever is LdyDisney (and I’m a crazy Disney fanatic) so I used that handle for twitter and facebook. 

My “power suit” (Cruella) is a holdover from MySpace.  When I started writing horror short stories, I used my “power suit” for fun, but every time I changed my pic back to my street clothes, I’d get a bunch of notes that they couldn’t find me and where was Cruella! LOL

So apparently I had accidentally branded myself! J  It turned out that people remembered my Cruella power suit and could find me because of it.  Who knew?

I’ve been gradually switching over to my headshot, but I’ll probably always wear my power suit on Twitter…

Please tell us about your latest book. The cover for Night Walker is <fans face> so hot! What’s next in the Night series?

I just got the big news that Night Walker has been picked up for national mass-market release!  So in May Night Walker will be in bookstores across the country in a mass-market size paperback!  I’m so excited that Calisto will be able to find more readers…  Woot!

The big re-release also shook up my future release schedule a little, so the next release will be Night Thief which is a prequel novella to Night Walker.  It should be available in September.  I can’t wait to share Kane with all of you!  *swoon*  I should have a cover for it soon…

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

While researching for Night Demon (Book #2 in the Night Series) I went to Cancun to tour all the Mayan ruins.  My kids were smaller then and we visited Chichen Itza.  They talked me into hiking the big pyramid.  The steps were so steep we had to monkey crawl up.

Have I mentioned I’m terrified of heights?

So anyway, I got up there and realized how high up we were and how steep the stairs were, and of course there wasn’t a handrail, so…  I started to panic! I may have evencried.  Anyway, my sweet son sat on his butt and told me we could scoot down.  Those stairs were much cleaner thanks to me wiping them down with my backside…  Hundreds of them! LOL

We lived, and I kissed the ground when we finally made it down!  Yikes!!! LOL

Lisa’s Bio:

I’ve been dreaming up stories since I was in elementary school. My first book was titled “The Wonders of Unicorn Creek” and my publisher was Dehesa elementary school. 

Since then, I’ve published numerous short stories in anthologies and magazines. My story, “Immortal Beloved” was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award and was recently re-released in the “Dead Souls” anthology, along with a follow-up never-before-published story, “Subito Piano”. 

I’ve completed 4 novels so far, and just received a contract from Entangled Publishing to publish my Night Walker series!!! 

Night Walker will be available Fall 2011… 

I also post new short stories on my Blog, so feel free to stop by for a read. http://lisakessler.wordpress.com/

Thanks for being our guest today, Lisa! Paranormal romance fans, don’t miss this book. If you have a question for Lisa – ask away!!

Interview: Donna Shields – Secrets of Jenkins Bridge

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here. Please welcome my fellow Soul Mate sister – Donna Shields. She’s here to answer our favorite questions and tell us about her latest book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE.

How do you battle the doubt monster?

The only way I can get past the doubt monster is a good two to three day break from writing. I’ll read a book instead. When I come back to the story, my mind is refreshed, and I can move on.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you? Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before.

Oh yeah. I really want to write a steampunk one and maybe one day I’ll start one. I have a couple ideas kicking around.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

First, I’d cry. I couldn’t imagine not being a writer. But, if I couldn’t I’d go back to college to become a nurse.

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

Yes, I actually have a couple. I don’t think there’s really anything terrible about the stories. I’m stuck where they have been left at. One is about a woman and a child in hiding from her now ex abusive husband and he’s on the hunt for her. He hired a PI (my hero) whom doesn’t know why this man is really looking for her. Slowly it comes out and all he wants now is to protect her. I will eventually finish this story because I believe it will be one awesome romantic suspense story to tell.

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

Well, just between you, me and your entire readership (LOL), when my husband and I were having some serious marital issues I’d just begun writing Boneknapper (one I’m currently working on). I felt the need to punish my husband through my poor hero who has a deadly Voodoo curse placed against him. Let’s just say it’s wonderful therapy.

Your first book, THE SWAN COVE MURDERS is a novella. Is writing a shorter story, easier or harder? And is your new book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE also a novella? And please tell us about your new book.

I think it’s easier to write a novella. With a novella you only have a short amount of words and I find I write with ease being direct. With a novel, you have to meet a minimum word count and I don’t even come close.

With Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, I just barely made the 50K word count needed to be considered a novel. Secrets of Jenkins Bridge is Katherine and Mitchell’s story. They used to be high school sweethearts until tragedy struck and Mitchell abruptly left Addison, unknown to him that Katherine was pregnant. Years later, he returns chasing down a mob boss who is a partner is his father’s company and to clear Mitchell’s deceased best friend of murder. Katherine has been run off the road, and her and Mitchell’s daughter has been kidnapped. They race against time to find their daughter and discover they still love one another.

Here’s the blurb:

Hunting down a dangerous mob boss has brought FBI agent Mitchell Donovan home, reawakening an old flame, resurrecting a dead best friend, and discovering fatherhood. As if those aren’t enough, his new case will push everything else aside: finding the kidnappers who took the daughter he never knew he had.

Katherine Delaney never forgot the heartbreak Mitchell had caused with his abrupt departure all those years ago. With her dead ex-husband accused of murder and her daughter kidnapped, she will place her trust in the one man who could trample her heart again if she gets too close. But, will the resurrection of Katherine’s ex-husband and Mitchell’s chase for a killer destroy their second chance at love and happiness?

This is your second book with Soul Mate Publishing. Please tell us about working with a smaller, digital press. How has the experience been for you? And what led you to go with a smaller press?

Since I’ve never worked with a big press, I can only assume. I get more one on one with my editor with quick responses to my concerns and questions. I feel like it’s more of a personal relationship. The experience has been great. I absolutely love my editor and am so excited to be starting my career with Soul Mate Publishing as they are beginning this great voyage into the publishing world.

What is your junk food of choice?

Why chocolate of course

What is your guilty pleasure? 

 I would have to say Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or Pizza Hut’s cheese stuffed crusted meat lovers pizza.

Excerpt:

They followed the paramedic toward the ambulance while Gladys and the other woman continued to talk.

He’d had a nightmare in the early hours before Gladys’ call had awakened him. The Camaro from his dream sat in the same exact spot. Aidan pointed out the car and told Mitchell he had to save ‘her’, whoever that might be. He figured he was about to find out. If, in fact, he wasn’t losing his marbles.

As they rounded the corner to the back of the ambulance, Gladys stopped short causing Mitchell to nearly colliding into her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he croaked, and then cleared his raw throat. “What’s the victim’s name?”

The paramedic shook her head, blonde ponytail swishing. “We don’t know. Haven’t found any ID yet, and she’s a little confused. Has a nasty bump to the head.”

He let Gladys climb aboard. Her upward movement stopped in midair, one leg dangling a little too close to Mitchell’s jewels. He jumped back as she whipped around, almost losing her balance. In a barely audible tone, she said, “I know her.”

“You know practically the entire town.” Mitchell gestured toward the victim. “Say something. Who is she?”

Her gaze stared off in the distance above his head. “It’s just so weird. It’s the widow whose husband drove off that bridge.” She pointed toward Jenkins Bridge, the old wooden-covered overpass in the distance.

An icy chill ran up his spine. Gladys moved aside, giving him full view of Katherine Delaney. She may be battered and bloody, but Mitchell could never forget her face, her high cheekbones, or the tiny, turned up nose. S**t.

Their eyes met, and his chest instantly tightened, his throat constricting. Something was wrong. She seemed to stare through him. Surely, she recognized him. He hadn’t changed that much. He managed to find his voice. “Hello.”

Katherine closed her dazzling emerald eyes. “What happened?”

He put his trembling hands behind his back interlocking them. “You were in an accident. What’s your name?”

She shook her head, the confusion apparent..

“It’s all right. This is Detective Freeman and I’m Detective Donovan.” Would the name register?

If it did, she didn’t react. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from them.

The paramedic announced, “Gonna have to finish this at the hospital after the doctor examines her.”

Mitchell reluctantly backed away allowing Gladys to jump down. Once the ambulance left, Mitchell said, “She didn’t recognize me.” Hundreds of miles apart and fifteen years later, and none of that mattered anymore. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her. What was her life like now? Did she still live on the ranch with Aidan’s mother? Or did she have another whole life somewhere else?

Would she be okay? What if something happened to her? He couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t.

“You know her?”

Of course he had. When he left Addison, he had been running from the hurt they’d caused one another. And his mother’s death. And his own demons.. “You keep forgetting. I grew up in this town.”

“What’s your connection?”

He didn’t want to get into his and Katherine’s complicated past at the moment. “We went to school together. Her husband, Aidan, and I were best friends.”

Gladys’ milk chocolate eyes grew large. “Oh wow. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. That was a long time ago.” Life goes on.

About Donna:

Donna Shields grew up on romance and scary stories. With her love for suspense and the slightly unusual, she enjoys tying these elements together to create stories full of love, danger and the paranormal.

She lives in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, her children, and some great haunts. She’s a mom, a ‘gramma’, a wife, a friend, an avid reader and writer. When she’s not occupied with all that, she loves traveling to Playa del Carmen and Jamaica.

You can find me:

At my blog: http://donna-realworldwriting.blogspot.com
On facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/shieldsdonna
On Twitter: @Donna_Shields
On SMP’s Author Blog: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/
You can buy Secrets of Jenkins Bridge at: http://soulmatepublishing.com
Coming soon to Amazon and Barnes and Noble also.

Thanks Donna!

Since we Scribes love secrets – who’s got one to share with Donna? Which do you prefer long novels or shorter novellas?

I Can See Clearly Now

Hello, Katy Lee here. I am so excited to tell you that this coming Wednesday, Feb. 15^th, I will be hosting a special blog with New York Times Bestselling author, Catherine Anderson! AND she will be giving away a copy of her latest, LUCKY PENNY, to one lucky commenter. So mark your calendars and join us this Wednesday.

Now, I am going to be honest with you all about my latest work in progress. I have created a mess. A heaping snarled and knotted ball of yarn—the kind you can’t see the sunlight through if you hold it up to the window.  I had no idea where to start to unravel and fix it. At first, I tried starting at the beginning, but just made more of a mess. All I could do was put it up on the shelf and try to move on.

I started spinning another story, but the shelved one kept falling back into my lap. And no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I knew deep down I had to fix it. I couldn’t leave it in such dire straits. It was actually impeding on my inspiration for any other writing and making me tired just thinking about it, or trying not to think about it.

So, I took it off the shelf. I knew the only way I would be able to move on was to unravel it piece by piece, line by line, working each knot out gently and carefully.

But which knot to start with was the question. Page one was not the answer, and I love the ending, so that couldn’t be the answer, either. It was somewhere in between that needed help. So instead of editing, I went back to the drawing board.

I had to re-plot and refocus before I could rewrite. But could I handle the truth of what I found?

(Thank you Thea Devine for your post on trusting your instincts this week.)

The truth was I was being duplicitous in my story. What I typed was not what I intended my story to be about. I think, perhaps, in the writing zone, I was attempting to keep up with the trends to put out an edgy story. But, in doing so, my characters were forgotten. They made decisions that they wouldn’t have made. I was not being true to them.  And I was not being true to myself. The values I live by were missing from my story.

The Unlocked Secret:  People express themselves best when they are true to who they are and aware of how their life journey affects their work. Be honest about your work and your life. And as Thea said on Wednesday, trust your instincts.

I know I have a long road ahead of me, but I can see clearly now, and I know it’s going to be a fun and exciting trip. The truth really does set you free. Free to fix your messes and free to move on.

Question: Tell us about your shelved books. Have you ever thought of taking one down? Could you handle the truth?

Rejection Confection

So you’ve written a book. Yay! And you’ve edited it until it’s sparkly and shines. Double yay! You spent months pouring your blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul to complete your masterpiece.

Now what?

Some people submit directly to a small press or epublisher. Others take the huge leap into indie publishing. But so many of us search for a literary agent.  And what do all agents require? An awesome query letter.

UGH! I don’t know about you but I find writing queries way harder than writing a book. It’s hard to compress an entire book into a one page letter. If you think that I’m about to give advice on how to write a great query letter you’re sorely mistaken. The only advice I can give is to go find somebody who knows what they are doing and ask them to help you. That’s what I did. Oh and check out QUERY TRACKER. This is the site I’ve spent inordinate amounts of time on researching. It tells you everything you could possibly want to know about an agent. What they represent, whether they are taking queries, who their clients are, how many people have queried them, response times. And if you need a pick me up they’ve even got a section with success stories.

So you picked your agent. You’ve sent your query and are waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed. You check your email fifty-nine times a day like a nut job waiting for those magic words to pop up in the subject line. RE: QUERY.

And more often than not, instead of seeing, “I love it. Of course I’ll represent you and make you a superstar.” You get a rejection. Boy, do they stink and each one is like a little dart of self-doubt directed right at you writing heart.

But rejections are apart of the writing business. And writing is subjective. It’s impossible to please everybody. So expect to be turned down often. There are three types of rejections that are common.

No Response Means No

This is my least favorite of all rejections. I realize that agents are people too and that they get inundated with queries. Yes, I understand that they get busy but so do we. And if we took the time to write a book, research you and submit chapters of our work to you, you could at least have the decency to tell us no. A no, can be a bummer but at least we know. There’s no wondering if they received it, no waiting, no holding out hope for a response. And seriously how hard is it to send a form letter?

The Form Letter 

I’m okay with the form letter. I once got a form rejection four minutes after I sent out a query complete with a synopsis and fifty sample pages, which the agent asked for on their site. Unless they were super speed readers they probably didn’t read my query. But a quick no is always better than a slow no. It’s easy to move on from those.

The Personalized Rejection

This can be a tricky one. I received a very sweet one this week.

Ms. Pope

Thank you for submitting to our agency. There was some excellent prose in your first chapter and I was entertained by your writing, however I will not be able to offer you representation. It’s not your quality of work so much as the tight market and the fact that I only represent a very limited amount of commercial fiction. I truly believe this industry is very subjective and hope you find a home for this project somewhere else.

That was nice. Did it take the sting out of being rejected? A little. But it was still a no.

I’ve also got a rejection that stated my hero was low-class and that real people didn’t act the way I had written them. Ouch. That rejection also caused me to wish that agent never sold another book and that his agency went under. I know. I know. Mean. But writers have feelings because we are people and sometimes it’s better to say nothing at all than to tear apart somebody’s hard work.

On the flip side not everybody is rejected all the time and when that reply comes, asking for more it’s a very nice feeling.

YOUR TURN! Tell me what you think about rejections. Had a nasty one? A sweet one? Are you querying? Have an agent? How did you get yours? Query a publisher? How did that go? Of course any and all comments are welcome.