April kicks off two separate short story writing competitions for me. So, I started going through my folder of ideas and characters and it struck me the varied ways stories come.
It made me wonder. Which comes first for you, as an author?
The story idea?
Or the Characters?
For me, it has come both ways. For my short story, “Maggie,” the characters came first, then the story idea followed.
For “Obsessed,” the story idea came first and the characters followed.
Is there any right or wrong way? Absolutely NOT! It is exactly the same concept with songwriting. Sometimes the melody comes first and the lyrics follow. Other times, the lyrics come and the melody follows. But, on rare occasions, both the melody and lyrics come together hand-in-hand.
That’s when there is magic!
And when the magic happens, the readers feel it. Or, in the case of music, the listeners.
In the first Creative Writing class I ever took, the professor asked the question, “What does every human have in common?”
Of course, the answers were that we breathe air, we drink water, we have to eat and require sleep. He agreed with all those answers, but he said the one characteristic that every human being possesses is the innate desire to feel something. The answers to “feel what?” are as varied as there are individuals. But, the desire to feel is present in everyone in some form or fashion.
As writers, it is our job to make sure that happens with our stories.
But, I’m curious. Which comes first for you? The story idea? Or the characters? Or, like with me, does it vary?
D.L. Finn has released a new book of poetry! And, I am pleased to present it to you here in her own words!
Thank you, Jan, for having me on your blog to talk about the release of my first poetry book, “Just Her Poetry Seasons of a Soul.”
Finn Facts:
I’m a pile maker. When I put things away, I am unable to find them later.
My first attempt at driving in the snow, I ended up on top of a tree. I slid off the driveway onto a small cedar and got stuck. We made it a snow day and stayed home.
Blurb:
Take a journey with D.L. Finn as she blends her love of nature with her deepest emotions. Sit with her on the forest floor observing its tranquil beauty, or stroll along the ocean’s shore admiring the vastness of its horizon. Here in these peaceful moments you’ll be able to experience her thoughts and feelings in the light—and in the darkness. This is a thought-provoking collection of poetry that invites the reader into all the seasons of a soul.
D.L. Finn is an independent California local who encourages everyone to embrace their inner child. She was born and raised in the foggy Bay Area, but in 1990 relocated with her husband, kids, dogs, and cats to the Sierra foothills in Nevada City, CA. She immersed herself in reading all types of books, but especially loved romance, horror, and fantasy. She always treasured creating her own reality on paper. Finally, being surrounded by towering pines, oaks, and cedars, her creativity was nurtured until it bloomed. Her creations vary from children’s books, young adult fantasy, and adult paranormal romance to an autobiography with poetry. She continues on her adventures with an open invitation for her readers to join her.
It is with great pleasure I introduce a new collection of short stories from author, Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko!
Day 10:
This is the tenth day of my ten days tour.
The Clue:
Below are the titles of the stories. If you have read the snippets, try and match them to the titles. Beside each title write the number of the snippet. At the bottom write your name and submit.
*You Will Die If You Scream!
*Is This Love or What?!
*Florence
*The Silent Thief
*Lost in Soho
*Simple Things of Life
*The Break-In
*Wedged-In
*Girls’ Talk
The Rules:
I have randomly chosen a short snippet from a story in my book for you to read each day of my tour. Today, I have listed the titles of the stories from where the snippets were taken. Match the snippets to the titles. Once again, I will choose only three winners from the correct matches. The winner with nine correct matches will be gifted with a $15 Amazon gift card and an eBook copy of your choice from any of my books. The second with eight correct matches will be gifted with a $10 Amazon gift card and an eBook copy of your choice from my books. The third winner with seven correct matches will be with gifted a $5. Amazon gift card and an eBook copy of your choice from my books.
Now the catch! If you follow the tour and read the snippets, you may want to read the complete stories and leave a review of the book after the tour.
This tour is supported by another of my books; Pregnant Future. If you want to read that one too, that will be great. However, the focus will be on Vagaries of Life: And Girls’ Talk. Good reading!
About the Author Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko
Joy has written and published extensively on national and international scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Her first short story I Come from Utopia was published in African Voices, Spring/ Summer, 2007, pg. 18. Since then, she has published numerous others in RAVE SOUP FOR THE WRITER’S SOUL Anthology, Vols. 1 & 2.
Mirror of Our Lives: Voices of Four Igbo Women was published in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Contest in 2012. She has also two books published in the Italian language. The First titled: Io Odio, Tu Odi, & Cinema E Africa Nera, are both by Edizione, Tindalo.
In Pregnant Future: No One Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring, her latest Novel, Justina is the story of every young woman who found herself alone in the world to fend for herself. It is the story of the pitfalls that await such a woman. It is the story of survival
Justina was a fighter. And, although it seemed the world was against her and her future was destined for failure …she persevered in the face of it all.
The future that was being thrown in her face, was not the one she had dreams of …and if she wanted to get her feet on the right path, she was going to have to show the world her strength. But, does she?
Will she have the will to make it to the end, unscarred?
What would you do if you knew what the future had in store for you?
Would you run towards it with open arms, or would you run away and never look back?
Justina must make a choice …before life chooses for her.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE.
Lastly, Joy is a member of the best book club ever – RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {#RRBC}! If you’re looking for amazing support as an author, or if you simply love books, JOIN US! We’d love to have you!
I am thrilled to introduce you to an award-winning author and his trilogy, The Billy Battles books!
Dealing With the Dreaded Rejection Letter
If there is one thing most authors have in common, besides the sheer agony
that sometimes accompanies the writing process, it is the dreaded Rejection
Letter from an agent or publisher.
I don’t know who got this one from Harlequin, but it had to be devastating
to the person receiving it.
I have received a few rejection letters–though none like the one from
Harlequin.
Most authors–even wildly successful authors–have also received their share
of rejection missives.
Don’t believe me?
Just take a look at this list of rejection letters that were sent by
publishers and agents to world-renowned, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning
authors. It is simply part of the creative process, and you need to keep moving
ahead–just as these authors did.
—“The American public is not interested in China,” a publisher
wrote Pearl S. Buck. Her book The Good Earth becomes
the best-selling US novel two years running in 1931/32, and wins The Pulitzer Prize in the
process.
—Alex Haley writes
for eight years and receives 200 consecutive rejections from publishers and
agents. His novel Roots becomes a publishing
sensation, selling 1.5 million copies in its first seven months of release, and
going on to sell 8 million.
—“He hasn’t got a future as a writer,”a
publisher opines. Publication of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold leads
to its author, John le Carré,
having one of the most distinguished careers in literary history.
—“Hopelessly bogged down and unreadable,” a publisher tells
Ursula K. Le Guin in a 1968 rejection letter. She was not deterred, and her
book The Left Hand of Darkness goes on to become just the
first of her many best-sellers and is now regularly voted as the second best
fantasy novel of all time, next to The Lord of the Rings.
—The Christopher Little
Literary Agency receives 12 publishing rejections in a row for their
new client, until the eight-year-old daughter of a Bloomsbury editor demands to read
the rest of the book. The editor agrees to publish but advises the writer to
get a day job since she has little chance of making money in children’s books. Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone byJ.K. Rowlingspawns
a series where the last four novels consecutively set records as the
fastest-selling books in history, on both sides of the Atlantic, with combined
sales of 450 million.
—“It is so badly written,” a publisher tells this author.
Dan Brown is not discouraged, however, and tries Doubleday where his book makes
an impression. The Da Vinci Code eventually sells 80
million copies.
—“Too different from other juvenile (books) on the market to warrant
its selling,” says a rejection letter sent to Dr. Seuss. His books
have racked up $300 million in sales, and he is now the 9th best-selling
fiction author of all time.
See what I mean?
Editors, agents, first readers who dig through the publisher’s slush
pile–all are quite capable of making bone-headed decisions about other
people’s work. And they do it all the time.
So if you have a stack of rejection letters sitting on your desk or stuffed
into a file cabinet, don’t despair. You are not alone.
What you should do, instead of becoming despondent and inconsolable, is read
those rejection letters carefully and look for the constructive criticism in
them.
In most cases, you will find some–though as one publisher told an author
many years ago: “This manuscript should be buried under a pile of
rocks and forgotten for the next thousand years.” (That book
went to become a bestseller and was even made into a movie. Its name: Lolita.)
Phrases like that can be a bit disheartening–even to
the most thick-skinned scribbler. So far I have not received anything
quite so venomous…though I have had my go-rounds with a few agents and
editors who couldn’t see the value of what I was working on.
Now that I am writing fiction rather than nonfiction, I am finding that I no
longer care what an agent or publisher may think of my work. I find that
especially satisfying when I can see that customers on Amazon, Barnes &
Noble and Goodreads like my book and are giving it mostly 5-stars with a
handful of 4-star ratings.
That tells me that I must be doing something right.
The key is believing in yourself and the story you are telling. You will
NEVER please everybody. There will always be those who don’t understand or just
don’t like your book or books. That’s life.
But it is critical that you DO NOT stop believing in what you are writing.
Does that mean you should ignore valid and constructive criticism?
No, it does not. If somebody has taken the time to tell you what is wrong
with your book or why he or she didn’t like it, you should also take the time
to consider that criticism and learn from it.
It doesn’t mean you should give up, stop writing and walk away from your
computer. Writing is a skill that cannot be taught–at least not in the same
way one learns calculus or biology.
It must be learned. And we learn to recognize good writing by reading.
Then we learn how to write by writing, writing, writing–even if the writing
we do is terrible, with way too many adjectives in place of strong action verbs
or way too many compound-complex sentences that give readers migraines as they
slog through page-long paragraphs.
Reading should be fun–not a chore. And only you, the writer, can dictate
that.
So if a rejection letter says your prose is ponderous and pretentious, or
your story is tedious and byzantine, you might want to take a hard, critical
look at what you have written.
And after doing that if you still disagree with the author of that rejection
letter, then by all means, plow ahead. You may be right and that agent or
editor may be wide of the mark.
Time and book sales will tell.D
Ronald E. Yates is
an award winning author of historical fiction and action/adventure novels,
including the popular and highly-acclaimed Finding Billy Battles trilogy.
His extraordinarily accurate books have captivated fans around the world who
applaud his ability to blend fact and fiction.
Ron is a former foreign correspondent
for the Chicago Tribune and Professor Emeritus of Journalism
at the University of Illinois where he was also the Dean of the College of
Media. His award-winning book, “The Improbable Journeys of Billy
Battles,” is the second in his Finding Billy Battles trilogy
of novels and was published in June 2016. The first book in the trilogy, “Finding
Billy Battles,” was published in 2014. Book #3 of the trilogy (The
Lost Years of Billy Battles) was published in June 2018.
As a professional journalist, Ron lived
and worked in Japan, Southeast Asia, and both Central and South America where
he covered several history-making events including the fall of South Vietnam
and Cambodia; the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing; and wars and
revolutions in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Nicaragua, El Salvador and
Guatemala, among other places. His work resulted in multiple journalism awards,
including three Pulitzer nominations and awards from the Society of
Professional Journalists and the Inter-American Press Association, to name a
few.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE.
Lastly, Ron is a member of the best book club ever – RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {#RRBC}! If you’re looking for amazing support as an author, or if you simply love books, JOIN US! We’d love to have you!
I enjoyed this history about short stories and how they became recognized as a distinct literary form in the nineteenth century.
A short story must have all the same elements as a full-length novel, but much less complex, and of course, much shorter.
The RRBC Catalog has a great list of short stories that would be perfect for celebrating this special month! You’ll find stories from myself, Rhani D’Chae, Beem Weeks, Wendy Scott, Patricia Guthrie, Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko, D.L. Finn, Vashti Q, Nonnie Jules, and many others! There are LOTS to choose from.
I can’t express what a tremendous joy it was meeting John Howell and Gwen Plano in person yesterday at the Take 190 Book Fest in Killeen. The three of us collaborated together on the Aspire To Inspire RAVE WAVES radio show for a time and the friendship we developed was wonderful. But, to meet in person… It was like a family reunion! #RRBC#RWISA ! Authors are family!
I am traveling the next few days and will be away from the computer. So, I want to leave you with a little inspiration that I hope brightens your day and perhaps causes you to smile and walk a little taller.
Enjoy!
Make it a great day! I appreciate you!
I’ve turned off comments since I won’t be around to respond.
I am SO excited to host this author and her book today! I have read this book and can tell you it’s a great story! And there are GIVEAWAYS! Now, let’s hear from the author.
The Button Tour Giveaway:
2– “The Button” Kindle Format
$5 Amazon Gift Card
1-“The Button” Signed Paperback and Book Marker
A Second Excerpt from “The Button.”
It’s the end of chapter one. Lynn has been partying
all night. She stepped outside for a smoke before having “just one more drink”
before heading home. All alone after a quick conversation with the cute
bartender she hears a voice in the dark:
“Go.”
“What?” Lynn looked around, but there was no
one there. Alone and hearing voices—awesome!
“Leave.”
“Hey, who’s there?” She peered into the
darkness. No one answered. Her arms were covered with goosebumps. That voice
reminded her of something, but what?
Unnerved, she hurried back into the bar and ordered
another drink. She wanted to put that warning voice out of her mind. It kind of
reminded her of high school, for some reason, but why?
“Here’s your drink, miss,” said the sour,
gray-haired guy—Gus, according to his name tag. Didn’t Kent say that Patty was
replacing him? This didn’t look like a Patty.
“Thanks.”
“You paying? It’s a dollar fifty.” Gus gave
her an eyeroll that made him look like he was going to pass out. His girth was
that of a man who liked to eat, but he had the smooth hands of a man who didn’t
like to do hard work. He didn’t strike her as a man who’d serve drinks, more
like someone who drank a lot of them.
“I am,” she replied, ignoring the tone.
“Keep the change.”
“Yeah, I will. I might be able to put my kids
through college, now—gee, thanks.”
Wow, what a jerk, she thought, now wishing that she
could get her fifty cents back. She sipped her watered-down drink, listening to
the band butcher “Edge of Seventeen.” Boy, did that seem like a long
time ago to Lynn, now that she was on the edge of twenty-one. The warnings to
leave were forgotten as she finished her drink. Stacy made eye contact and gave
a thumbs-up. Lynn knew that meant she was staying with Dapper Dave. Lynn’s
thumb went up in response. It was time to go. She stood to leave but quickly
sank back onto the red stool as the room began to spin. She felt an arm go around
her, holding her up. She tried to see who it was, but her head wasn’t
cooperating.
That was the last thing she remembered until she
collapsed, naked, into bed at two in the morning. She groaned as she reached
for her alarm clock. She couldn’t be late for work again, or she’d get written
up. As she pushed the button to engage the alarm, she noticed it was set for
8:40. No, that wasn’t right. She moved the arm back to seven. There.
“Hey!” Something touched her legs.
Had Stacy’s cat, Princess Leia, jumped on her bed? She
never left Stacy’s room at night. Strange. There it was again. Lynn loved cats,
but this little striped one was so spoiled—what a pest. The room began spinning
again. The cocaine wasn’t doing its job. She passed out the moment her head hit
an unfamiliar satin pillow.
D.L. Finn is an independent California local, who encourages everyone to
embrace their inner child. She was born and raised in the foggy Bay Area, but
in 1990 relocated with her husband, kids, dogs and cats to the Sierra foothills
in Nevada City, CA. She immersed herself in reading all types of books,
but especially loved romance, horror and fantasy. She always treasured creating
her own reality on paper. Finally, being surrounded by towering pines, oaks and
cedars, her creativity was cradled until it bloomed. Her creations vary from
children’s books, young adult fantasy, adult paranormal romance to an
autobiography with poetry. She continues on her adventure with an open
invitation to her readers to join her.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click
HERE. Lastly, D.L. is a member of the best book club ever – RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {#RRBC} and she’s also a member of the very elite, RAVE WRITERS -INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS {RWISA}! If you’re looking for amazing support as an author, or if you simply love books,
Writing and Music 
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