The Next Big Thing: Candles on the Spinnet

Good morning, everyone! This week, I'm doing something a bit different (as in I'm posting on a Monday! LOL). I am participating in The Next Big Thing chain, where writers talk about their next book/story. So, without further ado, here is my next big thing...

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?
Currently, it’s titled Candles on the Spinet. I have reasons to change that title and reasons to keep it, so we shall see what it really ends up as! :)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
An old, dilapidated piano I found in the basement of our new home. It was built in 1907. It spoke to me the first moment I saw it, and it continues to do so. It’s a magnificent piece and I hope to do justice by it with this book.

What genre does your book fall under?
Hmmm…Paranormal, mostly. There are elements of self-discovery, romance and good old contemporary fiction as well.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
For Corinne, our heroine, a British actress named Charity Wakefield would be perfect. I’d like Olympia Dukakis to play Margaret and Vanessa Redgrave to play Agnes. They’re all beautiful, talented women who could really help these characters come to life.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A new home for Corinne while her husband is deployed changes her life - and her perspective - in more than one way!

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I will submit it to my publisher, Vanilla Heart Publishing, and see what happens.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m still working on it. It’s only been a couple of months, and I’m really taking my time with it. I feel the need to be patient and specific with this one, so I’m not rushing it! :)

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Eeek! I don’t know. This is my first paranormal story, but it’s not strictly paranormal. I think it’s safe to say that the story line is akin to If These Walls Could Talk 2 as far as a house and a piano that spans decades and the connection between the generations.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Again, that piano in the basement just spoke to me as soon as I saw it. The more I thought of it, the more I saw there was a story to be written there. So I did! :)

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
There is so much to this story. It is a love story, a story of self-discovery, an historical fiction piece AND a paranormal story. There is depth, fear, emotion – this story has something for every reader!


I hope that you will all read it when it comes out. No worries as I will keep you posted on my progress! :)

Happy reading! :)

Writing Chores

Happy Thursday morning, gang!

Today, I want to talk about chores.

We all hate them. BUT, they are a necessary part of our lives.

What happens when chores become a necessary part of our careers as well?

What am I talking about? I'm talking about writing what you don't really want to write. Most college students would say, that's their 10 page paper that's due tomorrow. For a writer, though, there are writing chores. There are things we don't necessarily want to do, but we do them in the hopes of advancing our careers.

To some extent, these chores separate the men from the boys. With self-publishing and e-books, anyone can call themselves a writer. As I posted in my last blog, I've been seeing a lot of that lately, even from people who I thought were actual writers. Unfortunately for me and their readers, that is not the case. HOWEVER, when I see a writer pursuing articles and venues of all sorts, my hopes are lifted. A real writer will write. That's what we want to do. Just like there may be some parts of your job that you don't like, we writers will write things we don't necessarily want to write. We write what we can when we can so that when the opportunity to write what we want to write comes, we can savor every minute.

Recently, I was asked to watch a movie and review it for a local LGBT newspaper. I did. I had never reviewed a movie and I had no real interest in movie reviews, but I loved the opportunity for exposure. I hated the movie and I struggled in writing a gentle review. I got through it. It's another writing accomplishment for me. It pushed and challenged me. It has given me the opportunity to expand as a writer as we ll as broaden my reader base. And sitting through one crappy movie to do one review takes me one step closer to my dream of being a full time writer and writing what I want to all the time.

Writing chores like ay chores are no fun. We don't like them as much as we don't like cleaning a nasty toilet. But it has to be done. And the rewards, just like a clean, shiny toilet, are well worth it! :)

The Grammar Nazi Rants

I am a self-proclaimed grammar nazi. I know it, I admit, I own it. It's just a part of who I am.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a fellow writer (NOT with VHP). It was an announcement for her newest book release. Like most authors, she's throwing an on-line bash to celebrate. There was a problem, though. What was it? The second line read, "and your invited..."

I shook my head in dismay. Really?! I'm friendly with this gal. I'll admit that I haven't read her work yet, but I'm happy she has a new release. But come on! YOUR invited?! If she genuinely does not understand the difference, I have to question her abilities as a writer.




That's the problem with e-books and self-publishing. I'm not directing this solely at her. There are a TON of people out there who think they can write. They want to write the great American novel. I get that and I respect that dream. I dream of being an amazing artist. However, I don't paint and then sell you something claiming it to be a masterpiece. At the risk of sounding harsh, people need to know their limitations.

What kills me is that things like this are so commonplace now. Music lyrics boast terrible grammar. Text messages have created an entirely new form of shorthand. People will tell you frankly that they don't care about proper grammar. Their, there and they're are all completely interchangeable. You HAVE to use an apostrophe in order to make a word plural (i.e., horse's versus horses).

What's happening? Our language is one of the most difficult to learn. We're actually making it harder. We're also making ourselves look absolutely foolish on the global stage. Other countries are producing wonderful works of literature. Business people don't perform transactions internationally using text shorthand. To others, we appear as uneducated, inarticulate fools. Personally, that offends me. I am anything but. I hate the fact that my country appears as such to others. We're better than that. We need to show everyone that we are.




Call me crazy, but I genuinely believe that true mastery of our language can and will lead to better things for all of us: both indivdiually and as a nation. Let's get back to speaking and writing the English language as it was intended. You never know what could come of it! :)

Happy reading!

Wendy Ely

Happy FRIDAY morning, gang! Today, I want to talk to you about a fellow author. She is sweet as pie and deserves your attention.

Her name is Wendy Ely.

Wendy is a romance writer. She says about herself, "Wendy has always been fascinated by romance. She began her first romance novel when she was just thirteen-years-old. It certainly wasn't anything great but sparked the passion for writing romance novels. When she’s not writing, she's usually busy taking care of her two children in Phoenix, Arizona. Wendy keeps busy with her small business and going to college. During her free time, Wendy enjoys traveling and being outdoors."

She is a fun person who is very adventerous and brings that life and adventure to her books!

She has several titles out, including:
Cross the Line

Confessions

Midnight Secrets

Dreaming of Him

Jesse's Brother

She can be found on Blogger

Twitter

Goodreads

And Facebook


She is definitely worth checking out! :)

Happy reading!!! :)

A Blank Page

Hello, dear readers!



I apologize again for my absence. Yet again, my job has gotten the best of me, though things ae improving.

So anyway, at my Artist's Way meeting last night we were discussing a blank canvas.

One the ladies said a quote about blank canvases. It has been said that a blank canvas holds infinite possibilities. The moment you draw your first line, you are telling the canvas all the things it is not or cannot be.



I'm a writer, not a painter. So for me, I think of a blank page.

I have heard so many writers talk about the fear of a blank page.

I was never afraid of a blank page. They always excited me because I knew there was no limit to them. I was excited at all of the prospects that page could be.

Hearing that quote last night really put things in perspective for me. Never before had I thought that I was telling the page that this was what it wasn't or it couldn't be that because I was making it this instead.

Should I be afraid of the first stroke of my pen or the first key I type?





The optimist in me says no. I understand the fear that other writers and artists are talking about now. I think it is a good fear, a healthy fear. I think that all artists should approach a blank with this fear and with respect. But we need not be petrified. Rather, use that fear to choose our words or pictures carefully. To limit the canvas in the best way possible - by making the limits beautiful. Once a word is written or a line is drawn, it cannot be undone. So let us handle our craft with the utmost care and caution. Let us not be frivilous.





So now, my approach to any creative endeavor will be different. I have always taken my work seriously. Now I shall do so, but again with a new perspective.

I encourage artists of all types to share this perspective with me. I think it is the best way for each and everyone of us to create our very best.



And with that, I wish you happy reading! :)