VHP Author: Vila Spiderhawk

Good Tuesday morning, fellow lovers of the written word. Today, I have fellow VHP author and all around good gal, Vila Spiderhawk! Come get to know this VERY nice lady & wonderful writer! You won't regret it! :)


Vila SpiderHawk and her husband share a log home of their design in the woods of Pennsylvania where they live with their five cats and enjoy frequent visits with their many woodland friends.

After all the gremlins leave this Halloween, curl up with a SpiderHawk book or two!

Hidden Passages: Tales to Honor the Crones
Forest Song: Finding Home
Forest Song: Little Mother
Forest Song: Letting Go
Forest Song Cookbook

http://www.vilaspiderhawk.com



Dagmar

“Where’s your papa?” I switched Karl to my other aching breast. “His last class was two hours ago! Even if a student held him up with a meeting, he should have been home by now! Come on liebchen. Eat for Mama. Or are you worried too?” He spat up. I wiped his mouth then threw a towel over my shoulder. “Do you have gas?” I willed the door to open to my husband and absently burped my son. “It’s not like Papa to be late. Our whole dinner will be wrecked,” I fretted rubbing circles on his back. “Oh that’s a good one. Good boy!” I put him back to my breast but, however much I coaxed, he would not suck. “Well, how about a nice nap until your papa gets home? Then we can play.” I rose and took him to the bedroom. I put him down on his belly and covered him up with the afghan I had knitted for him. Sitting down on the old rocker, I sang to the child.

Sleep, baby, sleep
Your father tends the sheep.
Your mother shakes the branches small.
Lovely dreams in showers fall.
Sleep, baby, sleep.

Sleep, baby, sleep.
Across the heavens move the sheep.
The little stars are the lambs, I guess
And the moon is their shepherdess.
Sleep, baby, sleep.

Sleep, baby, sleep.
I shall give you a sheep.
And it shall have a bell of gold
For you to play with and to hold.
Sleep, baby, sleep.*





Karl grunted as I sang. I smiled and looked around the room, as I often did when I was alone. The floor was bare; the paper peeling; the curtains, Mama’s hand-me-downs. The bed was saggy in the middle, but I liked our little trough. It forced my Gustav and me to sleep like spoons. By any standards, our apartment was shabby and small, but to me it was a gold and crystal castle. “Imagine me, Dagmar Weiner, Dagmar ­Rosenfeld now, with my own home and with a husband and a son! How did I come to be so blessed?” I shook my head in disbelief.


Don’t be so recklessly complacent, the old-cellar brown voice of caution resonated from my girlhood. The things you treasure lavishly can disappear in the next breath. Be watchful. I went over to the window.
The street was five o’clock busy, people rushing home from work in street cars, and on bikes and on foot. Frau Schmidt locked up her bookstore and nodded to the door. She patted her yellow tiara of braids and pulled her collar up against the wind. She had no one to go home to, and I always felt sad that her husband had died before his time. I’d often thought to invite her to dinner or for tea but had somehow never managed to do it. I thought to open the window and to call out a hello, but the worry over Gustav stayed my hand.


Going into the kitchen, I turned off the stove. I’d made a pot of linsensuppe, since it was Gustav’s favorite dish. But it had simmered too long. The carrots were soft, and the lentils had turned to mush. At least the brötchen were all right, though they were no longer warm. Yeast rolls last. They would be fine for several days. But I feared that the bienenstitch was going to be soggy by the time we got around to dessert.


Like a thief, the sun had crept behind our neighbors’ tiled roofs. I sat down. My stomach growled. I had to eat. I felt sorry for Frau Schmidt as I ladled soup for one and dipped a chunk of roll into the bowl. “Gustav, come home right now!” I demanded of the door. Knowing that anything that kept him out so late was certain to be bad for our marriage, I laid my head down and wept until my heart was wrung dry, as I would do every night for many months.


*Old German lullaby, no attribution possible.
© Vila SpiderHawk 2009
All rights reserved



To learn why Gustav was so late, pick up Forest Song: Little Mother.
Available in paperback or Kindle from
http://www.amazon.com
and from my website,
http://www.vilaspiderhawk.com

Author Spotlight: Smoky Trudeau

Good morning, everyone! Today's Author Spotlight is the incomparable Smoky Trudeau!





Welcome, Smoky! And please help yourself to all the virtual cookies, coffee or tea you like! As I told Chelle, I am quite inept in the kitchen, so they're store bought, but I was able to boil the water for the coffee and tea without burning the house down! :)






First off, I think it's important that our readers know a little about your work. You're a multi-published author. You write and non-fiction alike. You also have an anthology that was released recently. As a writer, which do you find to be more enjoyable: fiction, non-fiction or something like Observation of an Earth Mage, which is a compilation of poems and essays?



My writing really is all over the board, isn’t it? I think that’s because I started my writing career as a freelance features writer. I wrote about everything from baton-twirling champions to endangered ecosystems to turbine engines. I had to be versatile to be good at my job, and that versatility has carried over into my books.


If you’d asked me this question a year ago, I would have said unquestionably, fiction writing is my first love. I not only get emotionally involved with my characters—they become like family to me—I am emotionally involved in my settings.


The setting of Redeeming Grace is Windy Hill Orchard on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. That was the name of my beloved aunt and uncle’s peach orchard when I was a child, so the setting is a real place (although the orchard is long gone).


The setting of The Cabin is the mountains and Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where my roots run deep through my father’s side of the family.



But Observations of an Earth Mage is me truly writing from my soul. My connection with our Mother Earth is profound and spiritual, and I’m told that really comes through in the book. I’ve had readers write me emails or contact me through Xanga or Facebook and tell me I’ve inspired them to go camping, or take a hike, or take up gardening. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment knowing I’ve helped others get attuned to the wonders of nature.




Speaking of Observations of an Earth Mage, could you tell us more about it? I'm very curious as to what inspired you to create this incredible anthology. Did you write these poems and essays with the intention of creating this book, or are these writings from over time that you put together to create Observations of an Earth Mage?




They are both. I had my first earth mage experience when I was a three-year-old child, while sitting in an apple tree in my family’s back yard. (I define earth mage not as one who does magic—I’ll leave that job to Mother Nature—but rather as one who sees the natural world as a magical place.) I had an epiphany about my place in the natural world, that I was no better than the bees and the birds and the bears, I wasn’t above the snakes and the snails and the swallows. I am Nature; Nature is me.



So, I’ve been writing about my experiences in the natural world all my career, and had essays and poems published in a variety of magazines and newspapers. After floundering around for a year or so on my Xanga blog, searching for what the right niche was for me, I took a camping trip to Yosemite and wrote about it. My readers responded with such enthusiasm I started blogging regularly on my meanderings. My publisher took note, and invited me to put together a book about my experiences. She didn’t have to ask me twice! After that, my husband and I took to the trails at least a couple of times a week to gather more story material, and volume one of Observations of an Earth Mage was born.





Another passion of yours is teaching writing. You have Front-Word, Back-word, Insight Out,


Left Brained, Write Brained,



you also have “Write Well with Smoky Trudeau” as well as regular blog talk radio shows where you give listeners information on how to improve their writing skills. Did you always have a passion for teaching and assisting other writers?




Yes! I taught writing and creativity workshops at Parkland Community College in Champaign, Illinois, for many years before moving to Southern California, and was a frequent keynote speaker at writing conferences throughout the Midwest. I loved teaching. I get a profound satisfaction of watching aspiring writers grow, and when I find out a former student of mine has published something, I feel like a grandauthor (like a grandparent, only of writing, not kids!). One of my students, Robert Hays, has published three books since taking my class, all from Vanilla Heart Publishing. I’m very, very proud of him!




I personally LOVE your “Write Well with Smoky Trudeau” exercises. You really push people to be creative and to push themselves as writers. What do you think is the most important thing for aspiring writers to learn or remember?




To have fun with it. Yes, writing is hard work, but if you take it—and yourself—too seriously, you’ll end up frustrated and your writing will be weak. Writing is supposed to be fun! That’s why a lot of my writing exercises involve silliness and cartoon characters. They seem fun, non-threatening, so how hard can they be? Yet even the silliest of exercises get the writer to stretch their creative imagination, and that’s what writing exercises are all about.



Another aspect of your writing that I highly admire is your range of storylines. Not only do you write in various genres, but you also explore different eras and lifestyles. There is such diversity in your writing. Is there anything in particular that inspires you to learn about these different time periods?




Well, Redeeming Grace was supposed to be a love story. My aunt and uncle were nineteen and forty when they met and married back in the 1920s, and were the most devoted couple I have ever known. I inherited their love letters, and I set out to write about that. But the book took on a life of its own, which as you know, manuscripts often do, and the story doesn’t bear the foggiest resemblance to their story. The Cabin, on the other hand, stemmed from an incident in my own family’s history. My triple-great Granddaddy Benjamin’s cabin, built in the late 1700s, still stands in Virginia. Benjamin had fourteen children. The youngest, Elizabeth, had a child out of wedlock in the 1860s, then disappeared completely from our family tree. No one has the foggiest idea what happened to her. The Cabin is this fiction writer’s wild fantasy of what may have become of her ancestor.



As an open history nerd, I absolutely LOVE the fact that you have Redeeming Grace, which occurs in the late 1920s, and The Cabin, which throws James-Cyrus Hoffmann, your main character, into the era of the Civil War. What was the most fun or interesting part of writing historical fiction?



Doing the research. For Redeeming Grace I had to research what sort of lingerie women wore in the 1920s, and that was quite an education! Really fun. Because The Cabin is a time travel novel, I had to research when a lot of things we take for granted were created, like Coca-Cola, indoor plumbing, and refrigerators. That was fun. I love trivia, and doing this sort of research for a book is a trivia-lover’s Nirvana.



As you know, I love giving authors the opportunity to talk about their books! :) Would you mind sharing the synopses or premises of each of your books as well as some quotes?



Here’s the synopsis for Redeeming Grace:




The tragic deaths of her mother and two younger siblings have left Grace Harmon responsible for raising her sister Miriam and protecting her from their abusive father, Luther, a zealot preacher with a penchant for speaking in Biblical verse who is on a downward spiral toward insanity.

Otto Singer charms Grace with his gentle courtship and devotion to his brother, Henry. But after their marriage, Otto is unable to share with Grace the terrible secret he has kept more than twenty years. Otto believes he is responsible for a tragic accident that claimed the life of a young woman and left Henry severely brain damaged.

Luther's insane ravings and increasingly violent behavior force Grace to question and reassess the patriarchal religious beliefs of her childhood. Then tragedy strikes just when Otto's secret is uncovered, unleashing demons that threaten to destroy the entire family. Can Grace find the strength to save them, and in the process find her own redemption? Redeeming Grace is set on Maryland's eastern shore in the late 1920's. The book will appeal to lovers of literary fiction who enjoy theological debate and who understand happy endings, in novels as in life, sometimes come at a heavy price.





And for The Cabin:




James-Cyrus Hoffmann has just inherited his grandfather’s farm, and with it a mysterious cabin deep in the woods on Hoffmann mountain; a cabin he has dreamed about since childhood. When James-Cyrus enters the cabin, he is vaulted back through time to the Civil War era, where he meets Elizabeth, the brave young woman who lives in the cabin, and Malachi, a runaway slave. James-Cyrus realizes his dreams of the cabin were visions of the past, and that Elizabeth is his great-great aunt—a woman who vanished without a trace from the family tree. He also learns of his ancestors’ pivotal role in the lives of dozens of runaway slaves who were offered a safe haven at the cabin, a station on the underground railroad.
Cora Spellmacher, James-Cyrus’s elderly friend and neighbor, begins to unravel the secret of how he is able to make his fantastic leaps back and forth through time. In doing so, Cora begins to hope a tragic wrong from her own past can be righted, and that she can regain something precious that was lost to her many years earlier.
The dreams continue, and James-Cyrus realizes Elizabeth and Malachi are in terrible danger. With Cora’s help, James-Cyrus undertakes a daring plan of rescue that promises to rewrite his family history and change all of their lives forever.





I've often been asked how much of myself is in my characters or vice versa. Since you use familial locations and stories, how much of yourself do you give to your characters/how much of a personal reflection are they of you?



I haven't intentionally modeled any of my characters after myself, and hadn't even thought about it until you asked. But, thinking about it, James-Cyrus in The Cabin does have a lot of my personality traits. He loves the wild animals that inhabit Hoffmann Mountain, and is nonplussed when he ticks off a mother bear by inadvertently getting too close to her cubs (actually, it was the cubs that wandered too close to James-Cyrus!). He handled that encounter well; I've had a lot of close encounters with black bears, so I knew how to write that scene based on my own experiences. James-Cyrus is also very curious and has a strong sense of what I call wonderlust--that constant urge to answer the question, 'I wonder what's over there/up that mountain/under that rock/etc." That's me to a T. During the book, he begins to really connect with the magic of Nature. He learns to be an earth mage, although that's not the central plot of the story. That's really interesting and a good question, Lauren. I hadn't realized how much of myself I'd put in James-Cyrus.





Thank you so much for joining us today, Smoky! It was a real pleasure having you here! :)




Smoky is the author of two novels, Redeeming Grace and The Cabin; two books for writers, Front-Word, Back-Word, Insight Out: Lessons on Writing the Novel Lurking Inside You From Start to Finish and Left Brained, Write Brained: 366 Writing Prompts and Exercises. Her new photo/essay collection, Observations of an Earth Mage, is now available as well.

She is working on her third novel, The Storyteller's Bracelet.


Visit Smoky at www.smokytrudeau.com.

Why Unbreakable Hostage is the Golden Child

Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a nerd. Actually, I'm an Uber nerd! I can't sleep. I am too ridiculously excited about seeing Unbreakable Hostage in print.


I think it's time I explain why I'm so high on myself about this book.



As you all know by now, fiction wasn't really my thing. I've been a non-fiction writer since the age of 14. That's a LONG time to stick to simply one genre, but that's the way it was for me.





I've been quite open about my astonishment that VHP would publish Loving Her, mainly because I still view it as a work in progress. I've gotten tremendously wonderful feedback from people who have read the book & I'm proud of that.




Unbreakable Hostage, though, is my rare pearl.

I vividly remember talking on the phone with my publisher. I had just sent her the original version of Imperfect and I asked her what she thought I should undertake as my next endeavor. She told me she thought I should write a suspense novel. I gibed her. Me? Hell no! As I've stated in previous blogs, VHP has a phenomenal collection of suspense writers - all of whom are superior to me in every which way.





I think it's important to note something here. Imperfect is a tragedy, there's no debating that. It was tough because it was my first full-length novel, but it was easy for me to relay that story. It's direct. It's not gripping or intense like a good suspense novel or movie. It's intense, don't get me wrong. It's intensity is different than something that would have you at the edge of your seat, though. I'm also a really direct person. I'm a NYer & Philadelphian. I'm a city girl. I cut to the chase. I do not beat around any bushes. I don't have time for that. All of my writing reflects my thought process and speech patterns: it's direct. Good, bad or indifferent, I don't know. I'm just stating facts. So, you can imagine that as a direct person, the idea of creating diversions and twists and turns was extremely difficult for me. I don't think that way, so how am I supposed to write that way?





I didn't think I'd have anything decent. I honestly did not. I took on the challenge and I wrote. As you know, music was key in helping me to create this story. I spent hours upon hours upon hours writing and polishing this story. When I was finished, I was quite proud that I actually accomplished it! If nothing else, I could say that I had challenged myself and I was successful. I didn't give up - I saw this project through to completion.



The real shock was at how well it was received by my publisher! Again, I didn't think it was of that calibur, but she loved it! Who am I to argue when it works in my favor? LOL. I titled it, word counted it and submitted it. Soon thereafter we had cover art, and I was good to go! :)




Yes, I'll admit that Unbreakable Hostage is my golden child. Don't get me wrong. Like any parent, I love all of my creations - and each one is loved differently since every piece is different. This one has to stand out, though. This was a tremendous challenge, and I more than accomplished my goal. I'm proud. It may not be the greatest piece of literature ever written, but it's a milestone for me and I'm happy! :) Isn't that what it's all about any way: my happiness? LOL. Just kidding! Seriously, though, this book has made me feel like a true writer - an accomplished writer.

How I Knew I was a Writer

In my unending quest to blog about things of a literary nature, I thought I should talk about how to know if you are a writer or not.



I was an unusual kid. Hell, I am an unusual adult! LOL. Seriously, though, how many eight year olds do you know sit in their rooms for hours writing novels? Yep, that was me. Geeky, dorky, nerdy me. I wrote and wrote and wrote. I also read like a fiend as well. Words were my life. In 5th grade, a teacher of mine had an article in an education periodical. In that article, she wrote "Lauren knew she was indeed a writer." Yeah! I STILL take serious pride in that comment. An adult saw serious talent in me at the ripe old age of 10!




Then life hit. I wrote up until I was in college. College writing was just crapping out a term paper as quickly as possible. I had no time to create. Reading was just trying to understand the gibberish in ridiculously large and heavy burdens they called text books. Reading and writing had lost their novelty. Though, I took a few courses in Hispanic literature and art, and I was still able to appreciate the written word then. That was it, though. Minimal for an English nerd such as myself.





Then REAL life hit. I was in my early twenties embarking on a career in the sciences. I LOVED my work in the veterinary field, don't get me wrong. I ate, slept, drank, dreamed and lived veterinary medicine. Like any job in the medical field, though, it was extremely time consuming. Once again, literature was pushed back; this time even further. All I had time for was reading the latest in veterinary progress, treatments, etc. You have to have a certain number of continuing education every year in order to mainatin your professional license. So, my reading and free time were focused on all things veterinary. I had no choice.





I missed writing, though. I missed history. I missed the creativity. Science challenged me, and for that I am ever grateful. Language touched me, though. And my heart longed for it.



On rare occasions, I could implement my writing into my job by doing things like booklets, informative brochures and boring crap like that. It was not glamorous by any means, but it was a brief taste of the passion I had had since early childhood.




My life took a drastic turn a few years ago. Suddenly, I was writing more. A LOT more. It was great. My vocabulary expanded! My creativity returned. I was the little girl who could write again! :) I was still going with my old hat: historical non-fiction. Boring I know, but I'm also a history nerd so it suited me well. I wrote some fiction in my spare time, but as I've said previously, that work was for my eyes only. I knew my fiction kung-fu was weak (anyone get that reference? LOL), but it was fun to try. I didn't expect it to go anywhere, and I was fine with that plan.







Then, through a friend, I found the amazing Vanilla Heart Publishing. For some reason, they took a chance on me. Me! The kid who couldn't write fiction to save her hide was offered work as a fiction writer! LOL. I thought they must have been crazy, but I was thrilled that their insanity worked out to my benefit! :) Here I am, almost 3 books (2 out & one due out soon) later, and I LOVE it. I'm trying a few new things with fiction and I have this amazing community of writers and scholars who are FAR above my piddly little writing level, but we all work and support each other as a family! VHP was the greatest thing that ever happened to me! :)





Enough about me. How do you know if you're a writer? Well, there are a few things that you should examine.




First off, do you know verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc? Do you know what a proposition is? Do you know that that last question was not written correctly because it ended on a proposition? LOL. Yes, I am a self-admitted grammar nazi. Grammar isn't everything, but it really is important. A good writer knows more than the basics. They are also well-versed enough that they can properly edit their own work before it goes into publication. Yes, there are editors & that's what their job is, but let me tell you that it is far more impressive to have a strong, well-edited piece. It makes life a hell of a lot easier for your publisher & editor. They'll like you more too. ;) It's just smart to make your piece as strong and polished as you can before it goes into the editor's hands.




Secondly, do you like words? Do you enjoy expanding your vocabulary on a regular basis? Do you like the challenge of creating interesting sentences. Can you turn "it was a nice spring day out" into "The sun glowed brightly against a pale blue sky. The light, fluffy clouds danced to the songs from the birds as the flowers gently swayed in the breeze. Spring was here, and all of nature sang to its glory."? Seriously. That's the kind of stuff a good writer should be able to do. You're not just relaying a story. You're painting. How boring would the Sistine Chapel be if the angels were just blobs? Michaelangelo added details into his paintings. As we writers should with our words. Make sense?






You also have to love working hard. It's not necessarily physical labor, but you have to write, write, and write some more. You have to promote your work. You have to tell the world about who you are and what you've created. You have to make appearances on-line and in the real world so people know who you are, and they know your books. It takes a lot of dedication and time. Your ass may hurt from sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, but that is the price we pay for pursuing this dream. It's not glamorous at all, and very few people become the next James Patterson, but it's still worth the effort if your motivation is to create, not to become famous.

Make sure your priorities are straight. If you just want instant fame, writing is NOT the right industry for you. Go audition for a reality show! LOL. :)





So, that's it folks. It takes time, desire, determination, hard work, knowledge and passion to be a real writer. You have to love it, eat it, BE it. Words should be your life. That's what it takes.



Now, if you're one of the folks who just want to give writing a whirl, GO FOR IT!!!! I tell everyone to at least try it. Why? They'll see that it's not as easy as it seems. But it's also a great way to challenge yourself, to grow, to become more educated. You should always write to write. Publication doesn't have to be your end goal. For me, even as a published writer, that is the icing on the cake. To be able to create something new is really my goal. To write a suspense novel was my goal when I embarked on the story of Unbreakable Hostage. Getting it published and reaping all the rewards that I am now is just an incredible bonus.





So go and write, folks. Have fun, be creative! Enjoy writing! :)

Am I a Writer Who Doesn't Write Enough?

Yesterday, I changed my settings on Facebook to import my blog to my profile. Yeah, I changed that rather quickly. It's overwhelming to my friends, and I want to keep my blog on blogger. If it's all over the place, what exactly is the point to logging in every day and writing about something new? Seemed pointless to me, anyway.





So, as I was deleting all of my blogs from my profile (that was funny in and of itself! LOL), I was looking and noticed my blogs are rather short. Which is funny because if you know me, you know I'm a gabber. I write LONG text messages and e-mails. Seriously, I can't just keep things short. It's comical! :)




So, if I'm suchy a wordy little twit, why aren't my blogs longer and more in depth? The reality is, as much as I would LOVE to really get into my topics in my blog, I just plain can't. Sorry guys. Trust me, I have an opinion on almost everything and I LOVE expressing myself through words. I'll admit that I would have LOVED to expand on my blog about books and print as dying art forms; or be able to explain character depth, plot, emotions, etc. My life just isn't amenable to that. I wish it did, but it doesn't. Every blog is done is "sections" throughout the day and night because I just don't have a solid hunk of time every day. I just do it as & when I can.



Four cats, a dog, a three year old, house chores & what ever errands can be accomplished by me walking all take up A TON of my time. I would love to sit and write endlessly but I can't. Besides those distractions, I have eyeballs and a spine which require me to remove myself from my computer. :) Let's face it: life doesn't always lend itself to the needs of a writer.




I will admit, I do tend to be a bit ADD, but I still love to sit and type. It's fun and relaxing for me. I LOVE the sound of my keyboard! :) So, I enjoy the precious moments and rondezvous I have with my computer that I do get, because they are that much more special.




I'm not complaining, mind you. Life is what it is. You gotta do what you gotta do. And as you get older, you got more you gotta do! LOL. It's all good. As I said, it's a part of life. Perhaps if I lived in a different era, I might be able to lead the writer's life I sometimes day dream about, but even that is highly unlikely.




So, I'm sorry I'm chinsing you all. I don't mean to short change anyone. I do the best that I can with what I got. Sometimes it's great, sometimes I want more. Life is what it is and you just got roll with it! :)

But that's what editors are for!

First off, I want to thank everyone for their great responses to yesterday's blog. You all had some wonderful & very insightful things to say. Thanks! :)



Today, I am going to discuss one of the worst things for a writer: editing! (Insert scary music here)




I know, I know. We're writers. Editors are...well, editors! They love to hack up our work and change our words, right?


WRONG! The editor is a fresh set of eyes. They are the new person reading your work & making it really shine. Editors are our friends, fellow scribes! :)




Plus, if you really want to stick it to them, edit your work yourself!



When I wrote my first book, I edited it umpteen million times. Why? I wanted it to be strong and to be well received by publishers. Like all of us, I went through quite a few rejections. I doubted my abilities as a writer, but I pressed on and was eventually published. My publisher was impressed by the fact that the book needed almost no editing. Saved her time and money, and I came out looking like a damn good writer!




If you are seeking publication, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to either edit your work or pay someone to edit it for you. Professional editors rake in over $10,000 per piece they edit. So, unless you're crapping out money, edit your work yourself.



Editing actually gives you the opportunity to improve your writing and linguistic skills. Remember that this is your work, so take pride in it and really edit it until it is perfect.



My publisher gave me a great tip which I implement & am passing along to you today. Once you're done with a piece, set it down for a while. Each of us works on a different schedule, but I have found that you need at least one week minimum before you get back to your story. Why? You need a break. You need to stop reading the same words repeatedly. You need to NOT think about your characters. Read a book, watch TV, or just do something to take a mental break before you get back to it. By giving yourself that break, you actually come back to your piece with a new set of eyes and it really helps your ability to edit and enhance your work! Trust me, I've done it & it works out tremendously well for me! :)





Yes, editing is boring and monotonous. We all hate it. It is the bane of the writer's existance, but it must be done. By editing your work yourself, you become a better writer (and you'll find that as you progress, your works need less editing! How cool is that?!)

Put aside your hatred for the editing, fellow story tellers, and allow the editing process to help you grow and become better at your art!

Books: A Dying Art?

Good morning, world! Well, we've all survived another new year. Still no armageddon. Sorry, folks! :)




This needs to be the year of writing, guys.



Let's face it: Writing is a dying art. Anyone can have a blog and call themselves a writer or a blogger. Print has been dying since late 2008. We saw how many newspapers - some of which were historical institutions - die with the bad economy. Why? Because we'd rather sit in front of our computers to read.




Trust me, I am ALL for saving trees. But I also know that there are so many alternatives for paper such as hemp (not pot people, HEMP). Hell, we could take a cue from the ancient Egyptians and create something along the same lines as papyrus. There's an idea!





My point is this: we have options to save writing and still have print without killing the environment.



We're not even reading books any more. We're reading stories on our computers or nifty little gadgets called Kindle. Don't get me wrong, e-books are currently the main bulk of my sales. But you can't curl up under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and a good Kindle. We ALL remember that great cozy feeling! Is there anything better than that?




Living in this digital age has separated us from human contact and from those feelings of warmth and reading good books. Now, we'll read something, see a flashing ad & go over there. We have allowed ourselves to have an attention span of about 2 seconds.




I miss books. I miss READING. I miss the feeling of a book in my hands. I spend so much time on my computer typing away. I would love nothing more than to curl up on my couch and read, or to get lost in a good story right before bed.



Let's do what we can to save our ancient roots as story tellers. We need print. We need our traditions and formats to stay. I look at our little three year old and wonder if she'll ever have the memories I have of just reading books, or will she be glued to a computer before she even turns 10. I don't want her to miss out on that. I don't want our society to lose its historical roots. I think we need to make this the year that our art form is revitalized and doesn't become a bunch of zeros and ones in the computer world.



We need to all come together as readers and writers to make 2010 the year that our art doesn't die!

Happy new year and happy reading!! :)