Writing in layers, like our lives…

As I sit and ponder writing, life and the many things we do, I see the layers of it all. Layers are all around us. We have the family layer, life layer, work layer, faith layer and so many more layers it’s crazy. As writers we have even more layers than most.

Some days my layers overlap and I have to push them apart so that I don’t get overloaded. Some layers are heavier than others but in the end they’re what makes us who we are. My writer layers come in multiples, sometimes when my writer layers overlap I get knocked to the wayside. That’s when my mind can’t stay on one story and the characters start running over one another.

Do my layers of life and writing run into one another? Yes they do. I’ve seen many days when I struggled with the writing layers, but that’s what makes a writer work harder. As the characters run around trying to get heard, I wrangle them into the stories that flow out of my fingers. The layers of a story unfold and then a new layer starts. Oh the life of a writer’s mind.

How many layers do you have? If you peel them back carefully can you find your true self. As for me, when I peeled back my writer layer I found myself. I hadn’t realized that I needed that layer peeled back. For many years I left that layer piled under so many life layers and once I revealed it I started a fresh start. My writer layer has brought me into a new world of wonder and other worlds.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Wednesday Inspirations…

As I sit here sipping my coffee and looking at the twinkling Christmas tree I’m inspired to write. This is the time of day that I sit and write. The hubby is off to work and my son off to school. I have a little time to contemplate my newest WIP and work on edits, not to mention blog posts and social media catch-up.

This morning I’m working on Ridge. I’m already madly in love with him and his ornery ways. He’s pulled at my heart strings for weeks because he’s such a deep person with real problems. I can’t wait for all of you to fall in love with him. It won’t be hard and then of course he has three brothers and a sister that will pull you into their lives. Since I love cowboy romance it’s nice to be back to writing what I really love.

Unfortunately my brain is already wanting to write another Christmas romance, but no I refuse to jump into the frying pan. I just hope I can keep it all at bay for a little while. I do have something in the works for release before Christmas, but we’ll see how that goes.

What are you working on today?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Finding your writing niche…

Good Tuesday morning! Hope all is well in your corner of the big world. Have you ever thought about changing up your writing style or even the genre you write in? Many authors do this with a lot of success, some not so much. Let’s talk about the in’s and out’s of changing things up.

To get things started let’s say you’re a romance writer. Well, the romance genre is a widespread market going from the sweet innocent romance to the hardcore erotic style. Some writers just have the knack to write certain types of romance and when they try to go up the pole or even down they don’t seem to excel. But maybe you’re not doing well in the category you write in, what next? Try something new? Maybe…

I’ve talked to several authors that have tried many writing niches. Many authors go from romance to mystery without missing a beat, but others struggle with the change. One author changed her romance writing niche. She normally writes paranormal romance which is racy and at times dark, but then she tried a romantic comedy. It was a hit. But of course she’s known for her paranormal romances, what does she do? Well, she dabbles with both now. I’ve read both by her and have to say they’re great. It was a great transition.

Another author friend tried to step out of writing mysteries to try writing romance. Let’s just say she struggled. She told me that writing mysteries just coming easily, but trying to write a romance novel gave her a headache. I suggested just writing a mystery which is what she does best and sprinkle in some romance. Well, she’s doing that and it seems to work.

As for me, I’ve been writing romance for a long time. I’ve tried Christian Romance, Time Travel Romance, Cowboy Romance, and several others, but they’re all in the romance genre. But, I just published my first children’s Christmas book and I have to say it was fun. Now I’m working on a children’s series and it’s challenging. By no means am I leaving romance writing, I’m just venturing out a little.

So, what’s your writing niche and could you change if you tried?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Where does it stop!

Guess what I did yesterday? No not that, well maybe but it’s not what you think. I created a children’s book. It’s been in my brain for over two years and I decided to try out KDP’s new Kid’s Book Creator. My cover designer and I sat down with powerpoint and created each page.OF course she looked at me a little strangely when I said, I have an new idea. It always scares her when I say that. She usually asks when I’ll stop trying new things and I figure that will be when I’m gone. I made it easy because I’d already written the wording so it was just the point of creating the pages to go with the wording and I have to say it’s harder than you would think.

I have another children’s book in the work, but this one is for a little older age group. It’s a little more book form than picture book form. As a children’s minister I hear so much out of children. Some weeks I just sit and laugh at what comes out of their little minds and mouths. Parent’s beware, your children spill the beans often, but innocently. I know more about the parents lives and mishaps than anyone. It’s so funny and so much fun. But I do keep it all bottled up in my overactive brain. Maybe I’ll bring it out when I need extra help one day, never know.

As for the children’s book area of my brain, yep I went there. A couple of people have wondered when I’d venture to that area, especially since I work with children. Since I’m a big kid at heart it’s not too hard to slip into their mindset. Some days I feel like I’m just a bigger version of them. Some days my friends and family say I act like them too. Not sure if that’s good or bad. LOL!

So, if you get a chance go over and check out my first attempt at a children’s book. Now I have to warn you, this is our first attempt at Horseshoe Publishing so don’t be too critical.I can say it was extremely fun!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday morning rain!

Monday mornings are tough, but when you wake up to the sound of rain on the roof, well, it just sets the mood for the day. Of course here in Georgia it’s cold and rainy. The temps are hitting a high at lunchtime and then going down from there. So it’s turning out to be a dreary, cold, sweater wearing day.

Right now I’m curled up on the couch, sipping coffee, watching the Today Show and catching up on my posts. This is what I call my special time of the day. My son is at school, hubby is at work and I have about two hours before I need to get ready to walk across to my office. This is also my writing time.

This morning I’m working on Ridge. I know, I’ve been talking about this book for several weeks, but I’m excited about this book, well actually the whole series. Of course you know I love a cowboy romance and this will turn into five. Each main character is special and has so many facets of their personalities.

Someone asked the other day if I have anything else in the works, along with the Five Oaks Ranch. I have to say that a book came into my mind about two weeks ago. I’m playing with an outline, but mostly working on Ridge. As you know me, I do have several books on the back burner. Funny how you get into a story and then something happens and your attention spans steers off in another direction.

What are you doing this morning? Is the weather good in your area?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Saturday morning writing…

Good morning all! It’s really cold here in Georgia. I’m sitting by the fire with my second cup of coffee and checking my posts. I love this time when I’ve got a little time to write posts, post on sites and work on my writing.

Today I’m working on Ridge, which is the first installment of the 5 Oaks Ranch series. I can’t help but smile as I write each part. As you know me well, I’ve got the outline completed and know basically where the story is headed. Some days I’m so excited that I go ahead of myself. No actually I do. If a certain part is calling out to me, I’ll create a separate word document and get it down. When I actually get to that part, just copy and paste. It helps keep the overcrowding of my brain from completely taking over.

Ridge is a special character to me. He’s got this rough edge that just makes him pure cowboy. The time he spent in Iraq during his two tours of duty have given him a edge that will cut the most unwilling intruder into his world. His only soft spot is his little sister Maggie. The smile she gives him makes some of the stone around his heart chisel away. But the fun part starts the minute he meets Mallory, the new ranch vet. Their sparring will keep you wondering where it’s headed. The fun part is how Ridge avoids things that are unavoidable. Can she break the ice that’s totally Ridge?

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on his story. If everything goes well you’ll be able to meet Ridge before New Year’s but let’s just see how it goes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

As my mind drifts…

It’s funny how the writer’s brain works. Some days I can push the characters voices away so that I can do my accounting or other work that needs to be done. But most days they seem to take over my thoughts and even the simplest tasks are hard. The only way to get them calm is to write or at least get a outline down on paper.

One example of my mind drifting was discovered yesterday morning at breakfast. I love apple cinnamon oatmeal. When I was at the grocery store last Friday I picked up a box of my beloved oatmeal or so I thought. I all but forgot I’d purchased the box of oatmeal until yesterday. I smiled happily as I heated my water and mixed my oatmeal. I did notice that the oatmeal had pieces of something red in it, but I thought it was made from red apples, so hence the red peels.

As I took the first bite, anticipating the sweet apples and wonderful cinnamon flavor I made a face. This wasn’t right. I took another bite and still nothing familiar. I got up and walked to the kitchen, curious about why this tasted different. That’s when I made the discovery. I’d purchased apple/cranberry oatmeal. Giggling at my goof up, I remembered that a story line was niggling my brain as I shopped and evidently I wasn’t paying attention to my purchases very carefully. At least the oatmeal is flavorful and the cranberries are good for me. I’ll eat it and remember my mind drifting.

I’ve noticed many times in my life when I would drift away to another time, place or most anywhere but where I need to be. But be warned, when driving it’s not good to drift too far away.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Thursday Morning Shout Out…

Good Thursday morning everyone. I know I’ve been a little lax in my posts, but I’ve been on a deadline with Her Wish For Christmas. It had to be downloaded by midnight Monday and I met that deadline with six hours left over. That book took a lot out of me because of the emotionally charged content. When I typed the last words and finished the edits I was tickled pink with the results. My editor finished the final read and when she was done, the smile that spread across her face was priceless.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here. Of course with my other job as an Accountant, I had end of month, end of quarter and end of tax year. Also had Fall Festival and Trunk or Treat at Church. SO I’ve been a busy little bee lately, but if you’ve read many of my posts you know this is how I like it. The busier the better I always say.

Now that the Christmas book is in Amazon’s hands, I can focus on Ridge. It’s the first book in the new series that’s about a family owned ranch and it’s five children. Each one of them has their own special issues and personalities. Since I’m a cowboy romance writer at heart, this one is exciting. What can I say, I love cowboys and getting to write about them is fun. All I’m planning to say is I can’t wait for you to meet Ridge, the oldest brother. He’s my favorite sibling so far, but once I get into the other’s I’m sure I’ll fall in love with them too. Keep watching for updates on The Five Oaks Ranch series.

The article that I wrote for Southern Writer’s Magazine is out in their Nov/Dec issue. I’m really happy with the results and can’t wait to see the results. If you don’t already subscribe to this magazine, then I suggest you run, don’t walk over to their website and subscribe. It’s a must have for writers. Here’s a little snippet of the article.

Hope all is well with everyone and here’s a little shout out for my publishing service which is having a Christmas sale. We’re offering 10% off all services offered through our company. Find out more at our new website: horseshoe-publishing.com.

As always great writing and May God Bless You…

Self Publishing – A good thing…

I’m back in the grid again. I’ve been working on our Church’s Fall Festival, which was yesterday, so that’s why I’ve been out of the grid for the last couple of days. It went really well, other that the attack of the cotton candy machine. The wind decide to get a little brisk about the time we started the machine up. We all worked hard to get it caught up and bagged, but unfortunately I was covered in cotton candy. Pictures of this mishap are posted on my Facebook page by many friends that thought it was really hilarious…

Ok, on to today’s thoughts. As most of you know I self publish all of my books. It’s a decision I made for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for one of my books to be picked up by one of the big guys, but if not, that’s alright too. I’ve had a couple of publishers call me to inquire about what I have coming up, but once we talked about the percentage of royalties and what they’d do for me if I put my book with them, well I politely turned them down.

I’m a person that researches things a lot, well sometimes too much. I’ve looked into the good points and bad points of going both ways and when I look at the numbers, self publishing wins every time. I have control of what, where, when and all the things that happen with my work. I also make more in royalties than if I went with a publisher.

The tools available now for authors allow you to make awesome covers and publish really great looking books. There are so many outlets for self publishers to post their books for sale and advertising. It’s amazing the rise in just the last two years of the acceptance.

You might be saying, but wouldn’t you sell more with the big publishers. Maybe…but when I talked with one of them, they told me that I’d have to do a lot of advertising and social media myself, which I already do anyway. They didn’t offer very much in the way of marketing, well no more than I do now, so why do anything different.

This is a choice I made for myself. Now a big publisher might be the best fit for you, so understand that I’ve just not had a really good deal thrown at me. The couple I did get just didn’t push the right buttons. Self publishing is more widely accepted now than it was years ago. I’ve actually seen big, NY Times Bestsellers come from self published authors. Many big authors are going back to self publishing. That tells me something.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Support the Author…

Good Tuesday morning. I hope everyone is safe and well. We’ve had a nasty round of weather here in the South and let’s just say it’s still really dark here.

When you pick up a book you’re taking a chance on that author. What if it’s an author you’ve never read or your favorite author? Either way you’re supporting that author. If you like the book it’s really important to send out a review. But what if you’re not too keen on the book, well still do a review, but don’t be nasty.

My rule of thumb when doing a review is to be honest and think of how I’d want a reader to respond. If it’s great then shout it to the world. If it’s alright, then give it a review that states it’s an alright read and maybe give some of it’s attributes if it has any.

But what do you do if it’s horrible? I’ve read some books that I just barely finished and others I never finished, even though I really truly tried. It’s time to review, but what do you do? Well, I think you need to leave a kind review. What’s that mean? It means don’t degrade the author with comments like “I couldn’t finish this book because it was horrid” or “This book stinks, don’t go near it”. Maybe say something like “This book wasn’t my style, but I tried it out”, which leaves it open for others to try. I like the reviews that mildly state a couple of issues with the book, but not by cutting the author to the quick, but by making a couple of suggestions. I’ve actually used some of mine to refresh my skills.

A comment I had on a review one time that really steamed me was that I left the book on a cliffhanger to get more money out of the reader by making them want to buy a book. She went on to say she wouldn’t buy another of my books because of it. The funny thing is that it clearly states it’s part of a Saga, which should have clued her in that it didn’t end with that book and she read it all the way through. Oh well.

My point is this, give your authors some love. We work really hard and spend a lot of time writing to get that book out there so give us something to work with. Good thing we don’t price our books by the hours we work on them. But it’s so worth every hour spent over the keyboard.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…