Life is full of Rejection

Life is full of Rejection

 

Get used to it.

Sorry to burst your happy bubble, but I’m a realist.

Life is rejection.

It starts at an early age when a parent must deny a child, whether it is during the weaning process, or the extra dessert, or the potentially dangerous things kids can get into as they grow up. The older we become the rejections segue into the romantic arena (who hasn’t been crushed by their crush?), school (last pick in gym class, raise your hand *raises hand*), and other extracurricular activities such as dance (sorry, not flexible enough), sports (sorry, not fast or skilled or up to the same level enough), or the arts (Meh, it’s a picture, albeit a nice picture).

Until finally, when true adulthood arrives, you are writing your resume for your dream job. You’re happy in the knowledge that they have to pick you out of the 100 of your fellow job seekers.

But they don’t pick you. Not even an interview, much less a thanks-but-not-for-us letter.

And without feedback as to how to ‘boost’ your resume to the top of the stack, what do you do? How can you tailor your resume to fit their needs? How do you find out what exactly they are looking for?

You don’t. Rejection sucks, doesn’t it?

As a writer I’ve been rejected A LOT, from contest entries to agents to editors at publishing houses. We’re talking rejections in the THOUSANDS. The responses have been no response (no response = no, right?) to generic “not for me” rejections to negative comments, namely “not good enough”.

The hardest part of rejection is to figure out what to do after having your soul crushed. Do you keep trying? Do you switch gears? Do you give up? Or do you dig deeper?

I’ve done all of the above. I think writing historical romance to fantasy to middle grade to picture/chapter books and, finally, back to fantasy could be considered ‘switching’ gears.

And no, I haven’t found that elusive magic elixir. . . yet.

After a long writing break that segued into rejoining the working force, I think I’m ready to take baby steps into the writing arena again. Rejuvenating my blog is a start. Maybe I’ll be able to dig deeper into my soul to pull the rawness out of my hidden psyche to craft a story.

To paraphrase (actually, I’m brutally ripping off the concept, not paraphrasing) one of my favorite shows, FORGED IN FIRE, “It’s not what the rejection does to you, but what you do when you receive the rejection.

I don’t care who you are, rejection hurts.

But when rejection happens…it’s how you deal with it that molds you into the person you can become.  

Peace,

MAGolla

Finding Focus

This blog has been quiet for a few years, because I didn't have much to say. While I plan to sporadically blog, I don't plan to link this blog to any other social media, unless I have a really great recipe/news/etc to report.

In essence, this is my private journal that I will put up for public view only if you want to pop over to my blog. . . which means no one will read it. Fine with me. I'm good.

So why did I decide to blog again?

My Cousin-in-law posted a note on FB that he was finally ready to blog about stuff. I commented that most people don't have the time or interest to spend clicking to a bunch of blogs and reading everyone's pithy thoughts. But it is a good way to keep your hand in by writing daily. There are a few bloggers who have reached remarkable success and even they have had to stop blogging--the Pioneer Woman--is one of them.

But no one really blogs now. Blogging is so ten years ago. Many of my author friends send out monthly emails to let readers about their life/new book/writing. Which is the method I prefer to see. I can click the links to buy or read more, or I can simply delete into trash. Other people simply post life/writing tidbits on FB because blogging is draining.

So you might ask again why am I blogging?

For the last few years, I've felt out of sorts, writing-wise. Aimlessly puttering through life. I couldn't settle down on any one project--I think I have about eight or nine stories started--picture books, chapter books, middle grade, a techno-thriller, and even some fantasy. No it isn't YA, but it's more firmly in the fantasy genre with a romance as the secondary plot.

I really couldn't finish a project. And when I did finish a project, a middle grade story featuring Kyte Webber, TIME OF THE YETI, and queried it, I would get rejections or no responses. Which is very frustrating, unhelpful, and sent me into the 'Why bother writing at all?' mindset. I have no idea if the story sucks because the writing is terrible. Or it's a great story, but no one is buying that sort of story. Or it would actually be good with XYZ strengthened.

No idea. It's like living in a vacuum, spinning around and around in the canister of a Dyson, along with tons of dirt and dog hair.

At times, I would decide to give a previously written story another edit to see what I could do to strengthen it only to bog myself down in the first chapter.

*sigh*

And then yesterday, I had a minor epiphany.

I needed a story bible to keep everything in my Goblin's Apprentice series straight--names, characteristics, backstory, etc.

And I discovered Microsoft One Note . . . so much for paying for the Scrivener program sitting on my computer.  

It's early in the story bible game, but this is the most excited I've been in a long time.

I can ORGANIZE my stories, my characters, EVERYTHING!!

Organization gives me focus.

I have a binder for Goblin's Apprentice, with an assortment of tabs, which have numerous pages. I have each story in chronological order, including the Chapter books and stories about Rory Leafhopper, Piper, and a soon to be named Goblin who doesn't squeak.

I'll start short and simple, rereading my chapter books and making notes,  before moving to the longer stories.

I have hope that this will work to get me into my world, where I can write fun stories again.

Time to get started documenting stuff on GNOME WITHOUT A HOME--Rory Leafhopper's story.
 
Later!

Writing Again . . . Finally!

As you might have noticed, I haven't blogged in quite awhile. Oh, I've posted one here or there, but I haven't had a real pattern to my blogging since May 2014.

At first, I just wanted a break, so decided to take the summer off. But then I enjoyed the free time that not blogging gave me, and . . .

 

I started writing again.

It's been over two years since I really buckled down to write. Oh, I've written a few things, dabbled with the beginnings of various stories, but I haven't simply sat down and churned out the words.

I'm churning them out now. I have a small goal of 5,000 words a week.

I'm working on Dragon Days of Summer, book four of The Goblin's Apprentice series. Once I finish the rough draft, I'll have to spend quite a bit of time layering the mythical aspects, plus characterization, plus differentiating the characters. Kyte has a couple of new bff's . . . just saying.

What will I write after this?

I don't know.

But I do know that blogging too far too much creative energy. This doesn't mean that I won't blog, I will. It just means that I won't be blogging as often. So if you don't want to keep coming back to the blog to see if something new is posted, then you might want to have the blog sent to you via email. This way you will only get a message if I've posted anything new.

To that end. I need to go write.

Later, Peeps!

Weighty Wednesday -- Insight

Ask anyone who has been on Weight Watchers and gained lifetime what the most pivotal part of the process was, and I bet a large majority will pipe up that it's the meetings.

Over a year ago, I gained lifetime status. I had gotten to my goal weight and maintained it up to a point, but then there were the inevitable fluctuations.

But then something happened last November and I simply stopped caring. Oh, I still went to the meetings and watched my weight continue to escalate. I had the tools to fix this. I had the support of my fellow WW members. I had the support of my leader.

I was missing a key support person in the support of my weight loss.

ME.

If I didn't care enough to make the change, nothing anyone else said, or cheered, or did would make a damn bit of difference. I had hit the wall of apathy, and I had no clue how to get out of it.

Until yesterday.

My friends, I will tell you that the meetings are all important, but it isn't the materials presented to us as much as it is the other people sharing their insights that make the biggest impact on us.

The one person who profoundly affected me was Nina (pronounced Nine-A). She made one comment that struck a cord and made me realize where, and WHY, I managed to go wrong. I can't quote it, since I had so many errands and didn't get a chance to write it down, but to paraphrase,

"If we don't care enough to make the effort to lose weight, then we see this attitude showing up in our other behaviors."

 

And I thought to myself, "Holy crap! That's it!"

 

I didn't stop to thank Nina after the meeting because I was afraid that I'd burst into tears, but I have to thank her next week. Her comment was exactly what I needed. She provided me with insight that I hadn't realized.

 

After I got home, I started putting a timeline together, along with looking at my weight loss graph. And though the dates are rough, the curve of my weight gain was directly related to my inability to write. Almost two years ago, I had lost the need to write. There were numerous reasons: a falling out with my cover artist, the gazillion rejections that eventually, and ultimately, say "You're a failure.", and the stagnation of the story I really wanted to write, but wasn't able to find the words.

 

Now, this didn't mean that I didn't write, I did, but I wasn't really writing the story that I NEEDED to write.

 

Fast forward a year and twenty pounds heavier, two weeks ago I started writing the story that stalled. Part of the reason was to give my friend, Meg something to read while recovering from chemotherapy. She's been a staunch supporter of mine for a long time and she loves these characters as much as I do.

 

Writing about this story and these characters has made me happy again. And when one is happy, one doesn't rely on food to satisfy some deep need.

 

Now, this doesn't mean all my dreams will come true and the weight will simply melt off. Heck no! It will still be a challenge to make those food choices, but with Nina's insight, I suspect I know how I managed to fall down that hill into self-absorbed depression.

 

And now that I'm back in the game, I think the support of my WW friends will truly help me get back on the right path and continue this weight loss journey.

 

Later, Peeps!

No Excuses

I really don't have any excuse for not blogging other than I simply wasn't in the mood.

Well, okay, there might be more to this story than that. There are a couple of reasons that I didn't blog.

Number one reason--

Reading. I started reading the Enchanted, Inc. series by Shanna Swendson. These books are what I would call a light paranormal romantic comedy. They are simply too much fun! I'm really enjoying these stories.

I'm currently reading this last one in the series. So I should be back in the swing of things soon.  

#2-- Yardwork. Though I haven't been the one to do the actual planting, I have been whacking back some of my crazy plants and pulling those seedlings that seem to find their way into the mulch. We've had to replace several perennials, one tree, transplant roses and mini mondo grass that had started creeping into the beds, and this doesn't include the numerous flats of annuals that were planted in the beds and the numerous pots on the deck. There's a lot of work in keeping the Oasis de Golla functioning!

#3-- Crocheting  I have been crocheting, but I took a break last week to try my hand at crochet thread and a size seven needle. It took hours for my hands to recover from this. I used the same pattern as the afghan I'm currently crocheting, for the simple reason that I finally have it memorized! This would be a 'doily' that many people have hidden away in their linen closets. Let me just say that if you have one of these, or anything crocheted with thread, TREASURE IT!

#4 --Mother's Day weekend. All I did was laze around in the pool and watch my hubby work in the yard. It was SWEET!

#5 -- Goldie. Yesterday, the one goldfish that we have in the pond had a traumatic experience. I'm surmising what happened because I didn't see it. Our house is close to a wetlands area, which means Great Blue Heron tend to do fly-bys. And yes, I have scared them from our yard before. 

 After I took my daughter to school, I came home and went outside to replace a tube on the Kreeepy Krawly (automatic pool cleaner). It wasn't until I went to get the knife from the buckets we leave out there that I noticed the goldfish out of the pond. 

 Five feet away from the pond, which means he didn't jump out. This is a big goldfish, which explains why the heron didn't just gobble him down. He's about 16 inches long, and has lived in our pond for many, many years. 

 There's a story behind this story on the goldfish. He was one of three that we rescued over ten years ago! One of my hubby's co-workers had a Great Dane who enjoyed flipping the fish out of her pond, so she decided to give the fish away. The other two simply died from old age, which give you an idea why this fish is so large and so tough.

 Anyway, when I picked up the fish--it gasped. So I slid it into the pond since I had no idea how long it had been out. It lay there. The koi went up to him and bumped him with their noses, but he just lay there. After about 15 minutes--I was working on the pool cleaner, remember?--I figured he was dead and decided to take him out and put him in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until trash day next Monday. When I picked him up out of the water--his mouth kept moving. Oh, crap! He was still alive! I slide him back into the pond. 

 Goldie is still swimming around this morning. He's not as wonky as he was yesterday, but he is alive. 

 He's missing part of his tail, some scales on either side of his body, and he has a dark mark at the base of his skull where I think the heron jabbed him to paralyze him before grabbing him and taking him out of the pond to eat. 

 Goldfish are tough, tough critters! 

#6 Writing --after I posted the short story on my blog, I wrote a rough draft of another short, which ended up about 1500 words. I need to layer it a bit more and I'd like to see if I can sell this one to a magazine. And then yesterday, I started writing on DRAGON. I managed almost 800 words before I had to pick my daughter up from school. I'm in the writing mode again. 

Next week is finals week for my daughter, so things will be a little crazy with changed school hours, plus other stuff going on. 

This summer will also be difficult to blog since the kiddo will be swimming two-a-days, which means she swims from 6 AM until 8:30 AM and then 3:45 in the afternoon. The morning swim will be across town, so I'll be doing my morning walk at that park, which means I might not be blogging regularly. 

That't it for today. I have to get dressed to take the kiddo to school and then I have to take Mom to the hairdresser. . . and then the grocery story, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, it's errand day!

Later, Peeps! 

Writing and a Snippet

Well, peeps, I'm writing.

Not NaNo speed, but I am writing . . . on two stories, with a goal to finish them by the end of the year.

The first one is DRAGON DAYS OF SUMMER, the fourth book in The Goblin's Apprentice series. I'm currently at 20,414 words, and I expect to hit 65,000-75,000 words at the finish. It's a little long for MG (middle grade), but that word length isn't too hideous. TROLL (book three) came in at 66,000 words.

And only JK and her editing team knows how long the Deathly Hallows is . . . well, lookie there, Answer has the answer to everything. Book 1 Sorcerer's stone--76,944 words, compared to book 6 Deathly Hallows--204,796, but the longest was Order of the Phoenix at 257,046.

Who knew, right?

I was slightly stuck in this story, and to be perfectly truthful, I don't like how I wrote through this particular scene, but the story is almost to the point where I know exactly how I want to write it. Oh, that doesn't mean there won't be misbehaving scenes, but hopefully they won't stop me cold.

The other story is called FIRE WITHIN. It's under the Mystic Elements tab on my blog's home page. It's technically a "New" adult urban fantasy.

What is "new" adult?

It's one of those catch words that editors and agents toss around. Basically it's not YA (young adult), which is usually considered a high schooler, mid- to late- teens, though sometimes it can go a little younger or a little older. I consider the age of the character to be in their early twenties. Out of high school, but still unrealistic as to what life is all about.

This was the story I worked on the most this week. It's a lot more hard hitting with nasty language to boot. Sorry, but that's the way the character needs it to be. She's at a hard place in her life.
This is a rough draft, so there might be mistakes, booboos, and errors.

Please forgive, but there is a reason it's called "the writing process".

If you have any kids (12 and under) who read my blog, then you might want to keep them from reading this little excerpt.

****

The Fire Within

 

Chapter One

Footsteps echoed down the metal corridor. Quincy Jones’s eyes opened as she listened to the cadence of two pairs of heavy steps. To her knowledge, her cell was the only one occupied at this end of the hallway. They were coming for her. She would have company in three, two, one . . .

The small metal window in the steel door scraped open. “Warden wants to see you, firestarter.”

God, she hated that name almost as much as she hated the asswipe who used it—Cunningham. “I don’t suppose Warden thought to provide me with some clothes, did he?” In first two days she was imprisoned, she had burned up five sets of scrubs, the mattress covering the bare springs that formed her bed, and she had blistered the paint off two-thirds of the cell walls. Other than acquiring a fire retardant blanket, nothing else had been replaced.

“You’re in luck today. He didn’t want to see your lily white ass traipsing down the halls disturbing the other patients.” Cunningham gave a greasy chuckle.

Patients, my ass, this place was more like the Hannibal Lector wing for criminally insane psychopathic murderers, she thought, as a set of gray scrubs were shoved through the hole. At least it wasn’t one of the bright orange jumpsuits that the total loser whackjobs wore—besides orange would have clashed with her maroon hair. “You have exactly two minutes to get dressed. If you aren’t ready, then too bad, you can walk the gauntlet naked.”

The metal springs on the bed squeaked as she rolled off the frame and padded over to the door in her bare feet. Long ago, or was it just days?  She tried to hide her nudity, but soon gave up. Cameras watched her every move. Cunningham called it ‘suicide watch’. Maybe it had been valid when she first arrived, but not any longer. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to suspect they watched her just to jacked off in the control room.

Perverts.

Time to Write

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter came to me and told me that she needs to know what happened next in my Goblin's Apprentice stories. At the time, I knew I had a lot of other stuff on my plate and I wouldn't get to it anytime soon.

So I told her that I would try to have it finished by the end of the year.

I have only two months.

Eeeeeekkkk!

Actually, I've been marking items off my to-do list quite nicely and I should be ready to start the process (again) tomorrow. Tuesday is errand day. So I'll be tweaking my candy fillings (Cranberry, Pomegranate, Cherries Jubilee, and making a new batch of Limoncello) in-between my jaunts into the world.

Though it's been a year since I've written TROLL, and almost a year since I started writing DRAGON, the characters still live in my head. It's just that the plot and story are evasive.

Thank goodness I managed to write a brief synopsis!

How many times have you heard a writer say those words?

Never.

Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to tackle NaNo this year, not officially of course since I have some of the story already written, but in the daily challenge of writing.

Anyone want to join me? Writing is such a lonely business that having someone challenging you is part of the fun!

Later, Peeps!

Writers See Things a Little Differently

Though I write about a bunch of different things on this blog, I still think of myself as a writer, not just a spewer of random information (even if it seems to be the case most of the time).

I don't write about the topic of writing because there are far too many other bloggers (NYT times authors, agents, editors) out there who do a better job at it than I would.

But, every now and then, I'll write a little blog about writers.

This is one of them.

The sneaky thing about writers is that they look just like anyone and everyone--yes, you could find them on People of WalMart, because we have to get groceries, too. Remember, sitting at one's computer will cause butticus expandicus unless one actively tries to fix the wide butt problem. Many times, writers will have a crazed look in their eyes as they forget to brush their hair and wander into WalMart in their jammies as they look for toilet paper because they are frantically writing on deadline.

The movie Romancing the Stone did a totally fun job of portraying a romance writer. This is still one of my favorite movies. . . In fact, I haven't seen it in awhile, I need to watch it while I dip about 100 more pieces of caramel today.

So being a writer is basically being undercover. We blend into the masses. We watch everything and anything. We are ghosts who most people wouldn't recognize even if we struck up a conversations with you. We aren't movie stars trying to stay out of the view of the paparazzi. Shoot, they don't care about writers--we already look frumpy, they wouldn't sell photos of a frumpy writer looking even frumpier than usual!

Writers are the people who eaves drop on conversations or who make up stories for people they watch walking in the mall.

Writers tend to see life a little differently than the average person.

And since I write fantasy, I look at everything a little differently. On my evening walks behind the school where my daughter has swim practice, I snapped these pictures. The light was just right the first time I walked past these trees, but when I took the pictures the light had changed just enough for them to lose some of their magic.

 

This tree has a couple of different 'faces' in it. 

The gnarled roots looked like a gnome could find a home in them.

 

As I mentioned by the time I walked the track (10 minutes) and came back to take this picture, the true magic was gone. The first glance out of the corner of my eye in this second photo, it actually looked like a gnome was blending into the knees of the tree roots.

 

This tree was the inspiration for GNOME WITHOUT A HOME picture book.

 

See?

 

Didn't you wonder where writers get their ideas?

 

The real answer is everywhere. All it takes is a curious mind and a 'What if?' question.

 

Later, Peeps!

Contest Quandary

I make this same mistake every January.

I outline my goals for the year. I make a plan how to achieve those goals. And then I manage to derail my good intentions by volunteering to judge a contest or THREE.

Yep, idiot in tow here.

The first batch of contest entries is only about 25 pages and a reasonable scoresheet. I've read and judged four of them and made profuse comments. All I have to do is tweak my comments (play nicey-nice) and add up their scores. The last entry, well, I don't know what's going to happen with that one.

Here's the sitch:

When I received the entries last Friday, I opened them up and scrolled past the scoresheet to the first page to see if I've read/judged/critiqued it before. All of them were fresh and new submissions that I'd never seen before. So when I started judging the entries, I simply read them the way my computer alphabetized them, unless the topic doesn't interest me, then I place it at the bottom of the list.

Excited that I was, a) on the last contest entry, b) that I didn't have any real clunkers in this batch, I opened the entry and scrolled through the pages. Why I did this, I don't know, but I'm so glad I did!

This entry was a mess, a HOT MESS--and it had nothing to do with the actual story content--font sizes were different, some sections were all CAPS, some sections were single spaced, and I have no idea what happened in other sections, except that the author's fingers typed off one key stroke. Yep, total gobble-de-gook. Originally, I thought, "Oh, I can simply reformat it." until weird section really jumped out at me.

Nope. Not happening. Not my job.

In all the years (12 of them) I've judged contests, I have NEVER seen one that looked like this!

It was the contest coordinator's job to check formatting, maybe she has a clean copy. I emailed her. Turns out, all she did was look at the first page, too.

Oops.

Usually the coordinator's are totally awesome blossom. I never have to do anything other than send my judged entries back, and they let me know if everything is hunky dory. This coordinator, though very nice, seems simply overwhelmed. I'm sure she works a 'real' full-time job outside of writing and helping with this contest, and this might be her first contest to coordinate, but she has forgotten to give me my judge number, and hasn't numbered any of the contest entries, along with the formatting issues on this entry.

Why are numbers this important?

To make it easy to keep track of HUNDREDS of judges and entries. When I co-coordinated RWI's (now obsolete) published author contest, I had pages of computerized excel sheets to keep track of everything. And I couldn't have done it without Susan Shay's help.

I'm just so glad that I decided to hop on these entries to get them judged within the first week of receiving them--I think the coordinator should be thankful, too. Many judges wait until the last minute to judge their entries. Can you imagine what the entrant would think if she got a frantic email during the last week of judging asking for a fresh copy? It wouldn't reflect very well on the contest, because this sort of thing tends to go viral through RWA loops.

--um, I'm not in RWA any longer and I don't expect anyone from this loop to tattle about this unnamed contest . . . GOT IT?

Once I get a clean copy, it will be a non-event. The other judges will also get a clean copy and life will go on. Crisis averted.

Anyone who volunteers to help with a contest is a saint. And unless you help, don't ever diss them. There is a LOT of time and commitment that happens around every single entry.

Today, I'll reread my comments, tally up my scores and send back the other entries. I'll judge the remaining one when I get it. But until then, I'll start reading the BOOKS I got in the mail for the second contest I volunteered to judge.

And then, I expect another packet contest entries to judge to arrive sometime next week.

Oh, and I still have 5000 words to write on MY story for this week. If I focus today, I might get a couple thousand written today.

Gotta go feed the dog, Peeps. Then it's time to go for a walk, tweak my contest entries and write my own story. Busy, busy, busy!

Later, Peeps!

Lots of Little Things

School starts this Thursday. I'm pretty sure we have the important stuff taken care of: school supplies, school uniforms, and summer reading is finished. Taking her to school won't be as easy as walking her to the school behind our house. Nope, she will have to be driven across town to Cascia Hall . . . luckily, I'm not stuck with THAT particular chore in the mornings! Hubster will be taking her through the horrendous road work areas (three lanes on major expressway narrowing down to one--are they serious??) and then continuing on to work.

I'll be picking her up at 3 PM, well, 2:55.

With school starting I'd like to start a nice normal writing routine again, but I have a lot of little things I'd like to accomplish before I can do it. This is just the stuff that piles up over time, until you know you need to do something about it.

Saturday night I finished one the them.

The magazine pile--I had about six month's worth of magazines to go through. Of course they were all cooking magazines and I had to pull out the pages of the recipes I found interesting, then trim them to a reasonable size before filing into one of my thirteen cookbooks. -- DONE!

My earrings---I keep my earrings in four fishing tackle boxes. These are only 1-inch deep and clear(ish). I need to take a picture when I'm finished. Well, about two years ago, it was in fantastic shape. My hubby had spray glued the polyester backing to fuzzy stuff so I could hook my earrings through the material and keep them nice and neat. I need to cut new pieces for the earrings I use and to reorganize the boxes, as my earring habit seems to keep growing.

--I picked up cute little person with a pearl head earrings in Seaside and a pair from the Italy venue in Epcot that I'll be getting for my b-day.

My blog---yep, I need to do some housecleaning on this blog: hyperlinking my WW and FF blogs to their respective places, updating my book info, copying and pasting all my WW blogs to a document and then organizing them for my weight loss book.

My documents folder--I've been really bad about this one, as it has grown to unimaginable proportions . . . when you have to scroll down to see all the documents, it's too large!

And then there's the 'other' stuff I need to do:

Reformat my Goblin's Apprentice books for print--which means I need to do another editing job.

Fill out my Weight Watcher's leader info when it arrives--if I decide to actually take the job. I'm still waffling on this one. The pay isn't good, but there are some perks. But then there's wear and tear on my car, the lack of ability to call my own shots, plus my mom might be needing more of my driving skills in the near future.

Brainstorm my Elemental series.

Plot Goblin's Apprentice book 4, DRAGON DAYS OF SUMMER

Finish working on my Christmas projects

Order chocolate supplies to be ready to make and mail the donated items I've already promised.

And of course, last but certainly not least, act as chauffeur to my kidlet. Swim hasn't started back up, but it will when the pool is ready to go. And we already have two other school activities PRIOR to school starting!

Monday is a get-together pool party for the kids. And Wednesday is orientation and a retreat, but hubby wants to do the driving on both ends of it so he can figure out his driving plan of attack.

While there is no firm deadline on any of this--with the exception of the Christmas items and the donations to Lee Lofland's Writer's Police Academy in September--I don't really have to DO anything, but I'm ready to work . . . and that's a big plus in my book!

Oh, BTW, does anyone know how I can make book marks or something like that I can put into the candy boxes?? I have no clue where to start on this!

Later, Peeps!

Writing 101--Evolution of a story

I think many readers think that the story that they read is the first incarnation. Well, for most of us, it isn't.  Beginnings are the most difficult to write because the writer has to:

1) engage the reader
2) introduce characters to engage the reader
3) give enough back story so not to lose the reader's attention

Notice the common denominator?  THE READER.

As much as writers are delving deeply into their own personal psyche, they are also tempering their story to engage as many readers as possible. Writing in a particular genre and style also play a part in the equation. You don't want to pick up a thriller and have it start with how horrible the main character's childhood was. You want to start with action.

Writers not only write, we rewrite . . . A LOT.

About three years ago, I wrote GNOME. During my querying phase, which lasted for over a year, I rewrote the beginning of the story no less than five times. AND this was after I had edited it prior to the query process. After I decided to query FAERIE, Summer 2010, I put GNOME aside. During the fall of 2010, a friend of my self-pubbed and was doing quite well. I knew I would have a tough time selling my novel (it's a middle grade and her novel was a romance--different audience, and romance writers have been electronically publishing for numerous years), but I thought this story deserved a break so I had another writer friend look at it. She thought the beginning was slow. 10,000 words into the 40,000-word story slow. I cut 1/4 of the story and rewrote it into 1,200-words.

GNOME is now lighter and leaner.

As a writer, you have to make the hard decisions--for the good of the story. So many newbie writers feel that their words are gold and refuse to buckle under pressure because someone didn't 'get' their writing. There's a reason many people don't 'get' your writing and many times it's because it is weighty with backstory narrative and information dumps.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't write the backstory information--you should, BUT DON'T SHARE IT WITH THE READER. They don't care. All they want is to get into the story--so start the story with change. What makes your character's happy little world go into Hell-in-a-Handbasket? So what if your main character had to lie about their age to get a job at fourteen to support their drunk and psychotic mother. This is backstory. This builds the characterization of the main character (MC), which in turn, effects the MC's decision making and actions/reactions to various circumstances, but the reader doesn't want to read about it.

Every writer has their own way of writing. Some writers write X# of pages every day and edit the previous day's pages before they move on. Other writers write the first draft all the way through, discovering their characters, plot, etc as they write. And then when they know enough about the character's they can tweak and edit the story based on their new knowledge.

Some writers will write detailed character sheets, while other writers 'wing it'.

Not every writer writes the same way. This is a good thing, because everyone has a story inside and the difference lies in how you tell it. Just remember, that a first draft is 99.9% NOT good enough. Dig deeper into your characters. Read your genre. Cut all the superfluous words. Tighten excessive wordiness. Chose your words carefully. As a writer, you are a wordsmith. Treat words with the proper respect and use them well.

Remember, only YOU will have the passion to write YOUR story.

Writing and Weight Watchers

I'm happy to say that my first week of Weight Watchers wasn't too traumatic. For one, the program changed and now allows a different point calculation system, along with most fruits and veggies being worth ZERO points. And then they also raised the lowest amount of points allowed, with the points being calculated from some complex formula involving, carbohydrates, fat, fiber and protein, whereas it used to be calculated with calories.

I knew being accountable for everything I put into my mouth would be key for me. It makes me think before I take a bite. I had one big day last week as it was my wedding anniversary--19 years--and we ate at a very nice restaurant, Fleming's Steakhouse. Yes, I had to pull from my weekly allowance of points, but it was worth it.

Oh--and I also lost 6.6 lbs.

So what does Weight Watchers have in common with writing?

The journey.

With both of these journeys there are many similar hurdles: highs and lows, frustration and exhilaration, boredom and excitement.

As a writer, you are also held accountable for the words you put on the page. The words should weave a story simply by your word choice and how you put your sentences together.

Writing and weight loss are tough, but so worth the end point satisfaction.

And don't you ever think that either one is easy.

Because they aren't.

Later, Peeps!

Ratchet Up The Stakes

My family and I went out of town for Mother's Day to Silver Dollar City. SDC is designed to be an old Ozark town from the 1880's, complete with craftsmen of the time: blacksmith, broom makers, potters, glass blowers, candy makers, etc. You get the picture. Plus they have quite a few rides. And yes, it was my idea. I needed to get away and ride some roller coasters. I love roller coasters, but that wasn't always the case.

When my daughter was little we went to SDC, but we only rode some of the easier rides. I wanted to ride an easy roller coaster called Thunderation. So I jogged toward the place I thought it was and saw the name Wildfire. I went up the long road toward Wildfire because I didn't want to take an hour before I met back up with hubster and child. I was in luck. There was no line for Wildfire. YAY! Then I got a look at this roller coaster--it went upside down and the loops looked crazy-tight like pulling a round balloon oblong. Uh-oh.

I took a deep breath and went on it. . .

Three times. It was fun! But I couldn't get hubster on it for two more years. The kiddo would have been right with me, but it had a shoulder harness and she was too short.

But they also have another coaster called Powderkeg. No shoulder harness, but a really snug lap bar. The kiddo could ride this one when she was four. And boy, did we! It still scares the heck out of me and it doesn't go upside down--sideways yeah--but not totally over. It scares me because it is so fast that you are up and over the hill before you realize it. We're talking two or three seconds tops. It's still a lot of fun.

So what do roller coasters have to do with writing? A lot actually.

On the drive to SDC I started (and finished on the way home) a middle grade novel by Rick Riordan called The Lightning Thief, featuring Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It was wonderful!! After I read this I realized that I had to ratchet up the stakes in my gnome story. I knew I would have to, but reading this story really brought it home to me.

No matter the age level you are writing for a writer needs to have a couple of things in his/her arsenal.
1) conflict--without it, the story is boring. The best type of conflict is a mixture of internal and external. And this story did a great job of mixing it up.
2) it has to get worse--if all the story questions get answered at the beginning of the story, there is no story. It has to get worse for the character before it gets better. This also helps the writer with characterization. Who wants to get behind a character that has everything? No one. We all like to read about underdogs. We connect with those characters more than the ones who have it all.

In romances, we know the hero and heroine get together. In mysteries, we know the mystery gets solved. In Urban Fantasies, such as the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher, we know Harry will survive--because there will be another book in the series until #24 or #25. Why read a book if we already know how it ends.

We read for the journey, for the roller coaster ride. The good, the bad, and make it worse stakes for our main character. So when you're writing a story remember to make it hard and harder for your hero, your readers with thank you for it later.

Because reading a good book is like a roller coaster ride, when you think it is looking up for the hero then it is time for him to hit rock bottom again . . . and again . . . and again.

Write on!

Friday's Mish Mash

We had a few rays of sunshine yesterday! Yay! Hubster mowed the lawn while I took the kiddo to soccer practice. I used to read in the car, but the practice area is on a grassy section of a large church property, so I began to walk the property on her practice days. I can hoof it around the perimeter five times and it takes me about an hour--yeah, it's that big! They have most of it poured for a walking trail, but it stops about halfway around a pond, so I walk to the end, do a U'y and walk back. I really enjoy it when hubster can walk with me--we can really reconnect and talk about adult stuff. We also do family walks on the other nights of the week. It's great exercise and it has helped the kiddo's endurance during the soccer games.

I just checked on my afghan and it is up to $75! Yippee! Let's see if it will get to $100. Remember, it's for a good cause.

NaPiBoWriWee was an experience. No, I didn't write any picture books. :-( BUT I did write down some ideas that I can percolate over the summer. It was a good challenge, but next year I need to be prepared in advance.

I started going to town on my MG novel this week--the one I need to finish by the end of this month! I'm getting pretty excited about it. I know I'll probably have to change the POV in the first chapter (it's in the mom's POV), but I'm leaving it in right now.

I also belong to a BIAW (Book In A Week) yahoo group that Barbara does once a month. And next week is the week. I really want to crank out this story, so I can let it sit before I start my layering and revisions. In preparation to this plan, I'm going to read the first Percy Jackson and the Olympians book, a middle grade novel that has turned into a series. We are heading out of town so I plan to read in the car. Hubster hates it when I do that because I'm 'supposed' to entertain him and keep him awake---isn't that what those Monster drinks supposed to do?

Hubster read the rough draft picture book out loud the other day to the kiddo. Of course, I was listening with my eyes closed to hear all the nuances, etc, and found many places that I can cut. So I'm really happy about that. There are also a lot of places that need some serious work. Since my eyes were closed I didn't see my kiddo's reaction. Hubster said she was really interested and reading along with the story. Right off the bat, the consensus was to cut Piper's brother--whoops, he's gone! See how easy that was? :-) I need to tweak this story so I can let it sit over the weekend.

So many things to do and not enough time to do them. I also volunteered at my kiddo's school and that will eat into my writing time today, but that is partly the reason I quit working to help out with her and her class. Maybe it will make me more focused and I won't get sucked into those reality judge shows. Yes, I am addicted. But isn't acknowledging it the first step??

Write on!

Can Writers Still Enjoy Reading?

Jody asked: "Since you are a writer and are accustomed to dissecting your own work, does it affect your enjoyment of reading? Are you able to be a mere reader, or do you find yourself dissecting characters, plots, dialogue, etc etc when you read? Can you just take off your "writer" hat and enjoy?"


The short answer to this question is: Yes, we can still enjoy reading. In fact, many writers are voracious readers. If we want to stay in the game we need to read what is being published in the genre in which we are writing, but we have to take into consideration that these 'current' books were actually bought two years ago.


But I've also found that I'm less tolerant of slow pacing, characters I can't get into, dialogue that causes me to roll my eyes while reading, unrealistic setups or stupid plots. Yep, all those books get published. I used to plow through a book until the story got good, but now I don't have the time, or inclination, to waste on books that don't excite me. And this goes for debut authors as well as multi-published authors. Even big name, NYT best-selling authors write clinker books, BUT they already have a fan base and I doubt if their crappy books will effect their overall sales--unless they keep producing crappy books.

When I discover an author that I enjoy reading, I'm swept away by the story. I put on blinders, and a 'do not disturb' placket is hung around my neck. Do not try to converse with me. Do not ask me questions if you honestly expect answers. Do not expect dinner to get cooked--the phone number for Savastano's pizzeria is on the fridge. LEAVE ME ALONE!

Yep, those are the best books, and I keep them to reread over and over again. I know the hero and heroine are going to get together, or Harry Dresden will survive to be in another book--I reread for the journey, the roller coaster ride.

Does it take more to engage me now that I'm a writer. No, just a damn good story--and it doesn't have to be published. I've fallen in love with unpublished writers when I've judged their entries in a contest. If the story makes me forget I'm reading a story, then the writer has done his/her job and I'm a happy reader.

What do my writing friends think? Please chime in with your opinion!

Oh, I finally finished (it was hard!) my faerie picture book (PB)! YAY! Now, I can finish writing my middle grade novel, while the PB ages like fine Cab. :-)

Write on!

Spring has Sprung in Oklahoma

It will be later in the day before I get the pictures posted, so don't hold your breath. My day is out of whack as I have to drive hubby to work (doesn't want to get his corvette wet) and take the kiddo to get fitted for contacts (which will probably take two hours). I debated about lugging my computer, but decided against it. The battery doesn't keep it's charge and I'd have to search for a plug.

Hubster put this pond in eight years ago. The small window to the left of the Japanese maple is my writing window.

In other words, I'm going old school. Yep, pencil and paper. Okay, not a pencil. but a purple pen. How else am I going to write purple prose??

Actually, I have to figure out how my faerie is going to get past the dragon. I'll be beating my head against the wall again with that problem. I think I might just bring a book and make my life easier!


I took some pics of my blooming flowers, but can't figure out how to download off my phone. I may have to simply give in, take pics on my camera, download onto hubby's computer (he has the tether) and mail them to my computer. What a pain in the hinny! But I will get some pictures of my irises!

Pictures downloaded: Batik iris on the left.

On the right is a columbine. I don't know the variety and am actually surprised to see it blooming, since I didn't think it survived.

And this mini rose bush has the first buds of the season: Lemon Pearl.
I have about forty rose bushes, so I'll be shooting pictures when they come into bloom
Pictures later! They're up!
Write on!

The Name of Things

It's been awhile since I've written about . . . .wait for it . . . writing.

Of course that was the whole reason for this blog in the first place. But writing exclusively about writing stuff can come over a bit stuffy and boring, so I tend to digress. . . a lot. And notice how much I like ellipses? The little dot, dot, dot thingies. They're fun, aren't they? Well, word through the publishing grapevine is that they look down on the little ellipses as lazy writing. I try to leave them out of my novels, and actually succeed sometimes, but they needed a place to play so here they are.

But today's topic isn't about ellipses--those darn things just sneak in. If I'm not careful I'll have this blog full of em-dashes--the double long hyphen thingies--uh, oh . . .

Back to the topic at hand: I have a tough time with names in my stories. I over think them, because names tell so much about a person. Readers form their first opinions when they see a character's name. If you see a name like Donna, odds are you know of a Donna(s) and have formed an opinion of what she looks like/sounds like/her personality. A reader's life experience can influence how they enjoy a story. And writers can throw in red herrings simply by giving a secondary character an unexpected name, or villain could be acting villainous because he has a simple and boring name.

I have a habit of going overboard in the opposite direction. I make my names too unusual, therefore they stand out in the stories I write. Unless you write fantasy, then you have to come up with something 'different', though the trend seems to be using apostrophes in place of vowels. Anne McCaffrey did this with her Pern stories, the dragonrider's name becomes abbreviated when he impresses a hatching dragon. There's a reason for her names, but I have no idea how she manages to keep everything straight throughout her numerous series. Sometimes characters in one series make cameo appearances in another series. ACK! I can imagine the spreadsheets and wipe boards!

*sigh* I digress. . . again. Sorry about that.

If a writer is writing a historical novel, the writer must have a name that fits the time frame of the story. There is a little wiggle room, but you don't want to yank your reader out of the story by introducing a 'Tiffany' to a Regency. Even if the name was around at that time period, I don't know and I certainly didn't check my sources so if I'm wrong--oops, it will jerk the reader from the story. Trust me, I've read some contest entries like that. Now, if it was a time travel that would be a different story.

I'm writing a middle grade novel right now and have the child's name of Rhiannon who I call Rhee (and I don't even want to get into the -rhea thing!), and the mom is Bryn. Yeah, two weird names. I did better with the males in the book, Jason and Mike. :-) But I think I'll need to change the girl's names or one of them, but I'll finish writing the story and worry about that later. If I manage to get an agent/editor who is interested, I'll do whatever they feel is best for the story. Remember, names are important to the characters, but don't drive yourself crazy about choosing the right name. In the end all that matters is that this is YOUR story.

Or am I the only one who has this problem?

Write on!

I'm So Proud

of my kiddo I get misty-eyed just thinking about this!
My kiddo is in second grade and she wrote a chapter book story. Her story is titled, Chicky in the Past. Now, granted, I needed her to translate all the misspelled words, but when she read it to me . . . I. WAS. IN. SHOCK.
For a second grader it was pretty good. And I don't think this is just 'proud mom' beaming with delight. She had written four chapters, and the story had a beginning, a middle and an end. Chicky even went on his adventures with his buddy, Ox. If she had written it a couple of months ago, I would have submitted it to the school contest (for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it), which is judged by teachers according to the child's age group.
I intend to type it in the computer and print out a copy (along with saving it in her document file along with her Dear Santa letters) to put in her keepsakes box.
All I can say is, WOW!
I'm just so proud of her I'm about ready to burst!
Did your kids ever do something that surprised the heck out of you?
Write on!

Ahead of The Game

Everything in life is a game.
Losing weight is a game. (and no, standing up so the calories run out your feet doesn't count)
Dealing with your coworkers is a game.
Manipulating your child into NOT having nightmares is a game.
And writing is a game.

The key is to learn the rules and then bend them when needed. (yeah, I know I'm gonna get flack for this)
1) Losing weight: instead of eating five tortilla chips break one into five pieces. Salsa is zero calorie, so you get five times the satisfaction from on tortilla chip. Or do the fork technique while eating salad, dip the fork in salad dressing then spear the lettuce. The dressing is the last taste on your tongue when you pull the fork from your mouth. After eating the salad, check the little pot of dressing. I usually use 1/5 of it.
2) Coworkers: if you butt heads with someone, avoid them. Simple, huh? If you must work along side, keep it business only, until you get home then bitch about it to your wife. (yeah, been there, recently) Or my trick, be so obtuse that you didn't know someone was being snippy to you. ;-) yeah, me again.
3) Manipulating kiddo: Sometimes the kiddo decides she's going to be scared about something. Time to replace that 'thing' with a new story. Invent a story or simply lie *gasp* to the child. Shoot, we started the "you're going to college brainwashing" when she was an infant. At 8, she knows she's going to college.
4) Writing: is the biggest game out there. True, you need to learn how to write, that's why there are the so called 'rules', which are really guidelines, but you also need to learn punctuation, grammar, and structure. Once you learn the rules BREAK THEM. Rules make for a very sterile story. The only way to learn your voice or writing style is to expand your horizons.

I've struggled with writing for years up, learning grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, until last summer. Then I got it. Don't get me wrong, I still have my personal list of rules that I follow, but I had to realize that if I'm going to get rejected I want to be rejected for my own story, and not a compilation of other people's opinions, which is subjective anyway!
Am I still getting rejected? Hell, yes! Because . . .
writing is a game.
Write on!

Google Yourself Lately?

I did a couple of days ago.

And it can be very eye opening. Luckily, I'm a 9o-year-old woman from Colorado who does something with her state fair every year. Or maybe I could be a mid-40's woman who comments on writer's blogs and discovered this blog as the last entry on the first page. Or I'm an endocrinologist. *WooHoo*

So far I'm pretty clean. But you might want to check yourself out. For all you know, you might share a name with a stripper, or KKK head honcho, or porn star, or a leftist radical that the government is closely watching. Now, if you write erotica and you share your name with a porn star--more power to you! Bet you will get some good hits for your new book!

But if you write children's novels and you share the name with a porn star, you might seriously consider changing to a pseudonym. See To Pseudonym or Not (1/3/09) {I'd link it, but I don't know how to link to my own blog, sorry}, and start working on name recognition.

It's simple. Put your name in the search engine (google, webcrawler, yahoo) and hit enter. Now, there are various tips out there. Use quotes around the name tends to cut down on the site from randomly grabbing your first name and matching it with someone else's last name. Or you could use + in between each part of the name. This also tightens the hits some.

"Margaret A. Golla"

Margaret+A.+Golla

Just because you have a bazillion google hits, it doesn't mean they represent anything current. One of my first hits was from a blog comment two years ago. And yeah, I do comment on blogs a little more often than that.

The reason I googled myself was to see who else might have my name. I write in two very different genres and though I've bought two domain names I haven't set either one up yet. I googled myself and found out Margaret A. Golla comments on many, many topics, but M. A. Golla does not.

Guess which one I'm using for my kid's books?

Write on!