Just for fun.
I hope at least one of these made you chuckle.
Month: October 2018
Unsolicited Advice for Writers
I saw this in a Facebook post and thought it was so appropriate that I had to share. The author is unknown, so I can’t give proper writing credit, but it was shared on Tamara Saviano’s FB page.
1. Keep your eyes on your own paper. Do not ever, ever, ever, ever compare yourself to other artists/writers.
2. Do not talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on. This has nothing to do with family approval.
3. Do not base the success of your entire career on one project.
4. Do not stick with what you know. Get outside your comfort zone as often as possible.
5. Value your expertise. Really.
6. Do not let money dictate what you do.
7. Do not bow to societal pressures.
8. Do not do work just because you think your friends would love or approve.
9. Never give investors and patrons creative input. Either they believe in you or they don’t.
10. Do not set unachievable/overwhelming goals to be accomplished by tomorrow. Procrastination is a good friend to artists. You need time to dream.
I could relate to all of these, but particularly loved the ones about getting outside my comfort zone as often as possible and taking time to dream.
How about you? Did any of these resonate with you?
Writing-Marketing: The Balancing Act
I didn’t write this post, but it was such a GREAT one that I absolutely had to share. There was not a re-blog button on The Book Designer’s blog page, so I did the next best thing. I hope you get as much from this as I did.
We all struggle with this balancing act and Gila Green’s advice is golden! Please take time to visit her website and take a look around.
By Gila Green
We hear it all the time, “How can I possibly market my existing book while writing my next book?” or “I don’t like marketing. I just want to write.” But the reality is that to be successful as an author, most of us need to continually do both–marketing AND writing new books. The good news is that it is possible to do both. In today’s guest post, Gila Green offers suggestions for how to manage our time, develop a strategy and succeed—on both fronts! I think you will find what she has to say helpful.
Time is like the sweet table at a bar mitzvah; depending on your gender, age, and weight, there’s either way too much of it or never enough of it. The kids can’t believe how quickly it has been devoured and at least half the adults can’t figure out why the chocolatey temptations haven’t disappeared already.
Books are Written Between the Margins
If you’re an average writer you have a day job and writing is your second job. (I’m not even going to get into family responsibilities, that’s another post.) Balancing your time while you try to succeed in two jobs is hard enough, but what happens when your second job splits in two?
For writers who have published a novel and have to deal with the momentous task of marketing it, coupled with producing a second novel, time management becomes an enormous challenge.
It doesn’t matter if you’re setting up a Facebook account, diving into chapter two, or pitching to reviewers, part of your brain screams: you should be working on something else!
It seems equally critical to market your novel, especially in its first twelve months of release, as it is to write a new one (because everyone knows the best way to market your novel is to produce another one—more on that below–and some writers may have signed on to write a sequel or a series.)
For writers suffering from marketing-writer split, you either have three jobs or two second jobs. Either way you slice it, it’s tough to chew on without breaking your teeth or worse, losing your mind.
The situation can seem even tougher if the novel you have just released is in a different genre and/or aimed at a different age category from the novel you’re writing or vice versa. I know plenty of authors with young or middle-grade books out who working away at an adult novel. The worry over wearing two hats just turns up the heat on the writing-marketing split.
So what’s a writer to do?
Here are four ways you can succeed…
TO CONTINUE: https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2018/10/the-writing-marketing-balance/
Canadian Gila Green is an Israel-based author, editor, and EFL teacher. Passport Control and King of the Class are among her published novels. Gila’s White Zion collection will be available in April 2019. She is also currently working on a young adult eco-fiction series with the first novel in this series, No Entry, coming out in September 2019. She has been teaching flash fiction online since 2009 at WOW-womenonwriting. Visit Gila: www.gilagreenwrites.com
This was brought to us by Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer.
https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2018/10/the-writing-marketing-balance/
Sunday Gratitude: The Vote
I hate to admit that I have not voted in an election in over nine years. I swore I wouldn’t ever again, because I feel that we are only led to believe we have a voice. But, after this post and Willie’s song, I will be at the polls in November!
Atonement In Bloom Book Launch Party Bus!
It is a privilege and an honor to share my blog today with Teagan Geneviene, and to introduce you to her new book!
All aboard! Beep-beep, yeah! The party bus is here. (Click here for theme music Magic Bus!) Our first stop is in Connecticut to pick up Dan Antion, who has a handy guided tour of Atonement, TN. Dan agreed to be a relief bus driver too, since bus-driver-Lilith the calico, sometimes has to take a break to give Deme or Honeybell a head bath.
It’s best if you read the first book first. So, for the launch of “Bloom,” Atonement, Tennessee is on sale for 99¢ (e-book). Click Atonement book covers for purchase links.
Residents of my fictional town might be of any race and from any ancestry. So author and translator Olga Núñez Miret translated the debut novel to Spanish! For that language, I changed the title to Expiación y Magia!
Speaking of the otherworldly pigs, I should mention the order of the Atonement stories. Your first visit to the town is Atonement, Tennessee. It’s an urban fantasy — set in our present-day, real-world but with magical elements. Aside from the heroine and her neighbor-friends (or as Diana Peach likes to call them, the gall palls (Diana’s review here), you’ll meet the grumpy sheriff, Robin Warden.
The first “snort” in The Glowing Pigs, Snort Stories of Atonement, Tennessee is about a very young Deputy Robin. (Review by Dr. Phuong Callaway here.) That particular story is tied to the novel I’m launching today, Atonement in Bloom.
Here’s the blurb!
The quaint town was stranger than Ralda Lawton could have imagined. The local population included supernatural beings of the fae variety. Although only she and a few others knew about that.
In a past life, Ralda ― Esmeralda had been involved in something with those supernaturals and it had carried into her present life. In Atonement, Tennessee, that almost got her killed. Now she has new problems, and new supes to complicate matters.
Atonement in Bloom continues the misadventures of Ralda, her friends, and neighbors in the small (but far from peaceful) town of Atonement, Tennessee. Her old house and cemetery are still there, along with Lilith the cat, quirky townsfolk, and assorted supernaturals.
Now Lilith the calico sniffs out a strange beast.
Fae foolery backfires. A friend is abducted.
On a cold December day, Atonement, Tennessee comes into bloom.
I don’t know why the party bus is stopping. Oh! It’s a delivery of flowers in honor of the book launch from Kirt Tisdale of The Wall Gallery! Wow… beautiful blue roses. Thank you, Kirt. The blue rose of the impossible is an important element of Atonement in Bloom.
We’re back on the road, and Dyanna at Ravenhawk’s Magazine has plenty of music for our road-trip. Lilith, slow down. I see Melissa from Today You Will Write at that bus stop up ahead.
Hang on to your seat-belt. Lilith just took a sharp curve and we are magically in Kentucky. Deme wanted to check out Teri Polen’s October horror and suspense book fest, Bad Moon Rising! You’ll find 31 authors and their books there!
Welcome to Atonement, TN! Everybody in town is taking part in the fun. Annie’s Antiques is hosting an exhibit of Art by Rob Goldstein.
What’s that on the next table? It looks like an Aladin’s lamp. And a puff of colorful smoke! Oh, it’s the Lamp Magician. Welcome, Magician. I’m glad you could join the party bus!
My stomach is growling. Thank goodness Carol Taylor and Gerlinde de Broekert have catered the book fair. There are delicious foods at every booth! However, Deme and Honeybell love to read, so they ran straight to the Atonement, TN Book Fair. They’re in hog heaven with so many great books!
Heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting this Bloomin’ Party Bus. Click the author names for more info.
Chris Graham (for Agnes Mae Graham)
Olga Núñez Miret For this book see here.
Now available as an audio book too
I’d LOVE it if you’d check out this review for “Flowers and Stone!” https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R13PIOBLYNJI4D/
Jacquie Biggar has a sheriff too…
Valentina Cirasola will help you tour Atonement, TN in style.
Barb Taub will keep you laughing the entire way.
Resa will help you find the right thing to wear. She’s a costume designer. She would have enjoyed helping Ralda, Bethany, and Lacey search through the antique clothes in Sunhold’s closets (scene in “Bloom”).
How to Follow your Dreams through Writing
Author, Nicholas Rossis, gives some thought-provoking things to consider when starting a writing project. It is well worth the read!
Getting started with a writing project can be daunting. It is difficult to know if the ideas in your head will look any good on paper, and whether anybody else will want to read them once they’re written down. It can be especially intimidating when you’re starting a project that’s close to your heart, a project of passion that showcases your own creativity and unique ideas. The best way to approach it is to have faith in yourself, follow your own dreams, and stick to your guns… but remain flexible.
So, how you can achieve this and realize your vision in writing?
Find your niche
Photo by rawpixel / Public Domain
The internet as a whole, and Amazon’s book-buying empire in particular, has made self-publishing much easier today than it was even 10 years ago. This is fantastic in that it gives writers the opportunity to reach a wider audience…
View original post 648 more words
CCR Rides Again!
I’m willing to bet we can all recall listening to Credence Clearwater Revival in their heyday. And, while the group was only together officially as CCR for four years, look at the impact they made on the world through their music!
And, now for their 50th Anniversary, Craft Recordings is releasing 7 LP Box Set to commemorate the milestone. The Press Release I received had this to say:
“The arrival of Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s 50th anniversary brings an unprecedented celebration of everything the band contributed in their short but startlingly epochal time together (1968 – 1972). To commemorate this milestone, Craft Recordings is releasing a deluxe box set comprising the band’s complete seven-album studio output: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo’s Factory, Pendulum and Mardi Gras.
Each album in this collection has been mastered at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios, benefiting from an exacting process that allows for an exceptional level of sonic clarity and punch, bringing these classic recordings a new vibrancy. The 180-gram LPs come housed in handsome tip-on jackets replicating the packaging of the original pressings. Along with the complete studio album collection comes an 80-page book featuring new liner notes from music journalist Roy Trakin, archival photos, and reproductions of band ephemera – offering something for both new and the most diehard of Creedence fans.
Although the band members were together for only four years under the Creedence Clearwater Revival appellation, they managed to accomplish more than many artists do in a lifetime. Powered by John Fogerty‘s visceral growl, along with Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford‘s gritty, in-the-pocket punch, they’ve sold over 30 million records in the U.S. alone, releasing 14 Top 10 hits, six Platinum albums (two of which went to number one) and one Gold album. They also managed to play over 150 tour dates around the world, including a headlining spot at Woodstock.”
Thirty million records in the U.S. alone! Wow!
Pre-order the 7-LP Deluxe Complete Studio Albums Box Set HERE.
I’m curious. How many of you still have turntables that play the vinyl? I managed to hold onto one when I moved from Coleman.
In the attic above the recording studio, Rick must have had over a dozen he’d accumulated. I kept the one we used in the recording studio.
I would be hard-pressed to pick just one favorite song from CCR. There were SO many, but this is one of my faves.
I think this complete compilation would be amazing to have for many years to come. What do you think?
Mountain Laurel – Segment 6
As we closed out our segment last week, Andy Roberts had a vision and a visit from his father telling him to get his ass back in the fancy car and go make some music. But, he’s also leaving the cabin with a priceless bit of information about his brother, Timmy. Let’s see what he does next.
###
I pulled into a truck stop not far down the road.
With a steaming cup of coffee in hand, I fished the yellowed paper out of my pocket, located a pay phone and dialed the number on the letterhead.
“It’s a great morning here at the Blackmon Children’s Home,” a cheerful voice greeted me.
After I finished explaining who I was, I heard excitement on the other end of the line. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you called. We thought Timmy’s family was dead. He’s just about to turn eighteen, you know. He had an obsessive fascination with the banjo when he first came to stay with us, so we taught him to play. You should hear him. He’s nothing short of genius.”
I choked back tears and promised to be there within two hours. I told the kind lady I would be taking my brother home with me as soon as paperwork could be processed.
Just before I turned onto the highway, I rolled down the window, hung my head out and shouted, “I love you, Papa. Keep watching because I’m going to get this right!”
I thought about the fragrant blooming tree in front of the cabin and how Mama’s eyes shone the day Papa planted it. I began to write.
She is like a Mountain Laurel
A breath of pure fresh air
Her hair the scent of floral
Her eyes so bright and fair…
THE END
I do hope you’ve enjoyed this short story. It won first place in a short story contest sponsored by the Texas Associaton of Authors in 2016.
It is part of a printed and eBook, “Short Stories By Texas Authors Vol 2.”
If you’d like more information about The Texas Association of Authors visit the WEBSITE.
For more on this short story contest for 2019, click HERE
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Writer – Andrew Joyce -Short Story – One Word……..
This story from Andrew Joyce is so heart-warming, but also profound. I think you’ll see why I had to share it. LOVE is the answer.
Sedona, Arizona Re-cap
Yep! You knew it was coming, didn’t you?. 🙂 I’ll re-cap the Sedona, Arizona adventures in pictures because they are worth a thousand words.
If you’ve never visited this magical place, perhaps these pictures will suffice to pique your interest.
Another formation
Second Hiking Day
In the doorway of an old ruin
Another day of hiking in the Red Rocks and discovering some old ruins.
I hiked with them down into the canyon almost two miles. It was an incredible experience, but I struggled to make it back up the steep incline in the mid-day Arizona heat. It was a lesson to acknowledge and respect my limits. 🙂
Sunset at the Airport Vortex
Sunset at the Airport Vortex
We made it to the Airport Vortex to watch the sunset the next day.
All dressed up for a fabulous dinner at the Enchantment Resort nestled between two vortexes.
The last morning. We hired a guide to take us on a hike that included a yoga and meditation session.
After taking the girls to get their Aura photos taken, we headed home. Sedona, Arizona is a special place on our planet and I will visit it again!
I hope you enjoyed the pictorial tour!
Writing and Music 
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