Month: November 2015

Revisions

I’ve been up to my ears in revisions. Apparently my manuscript wasn’t as “clean” as I thought it was, which is kind of embarrassing. I pride myself in turning in professional work to my publishers.  Oh well. My editor is an amazing woman who asks wonderful questions and points out holes a convoy of tanks could traverse. We’re making the book better.

I actually don’t mind revisions, because they mean I’ve accomplished the best part of being an author: I have written. “You can’t edit a blank page.” I’ve heard the quote attributed to many authors. Let’s just say that it comes from Nora Roberts. She knows what she’s talking about.

Telephone Woes

4 Comments

I know I’ve written about my loathing for telephone solicitation before. In case you missed that rant, you can find it here.

I have a new strategy for live callers.

“Thank you so much for calling. You can find my books on Amazon dot com. . . No, no you called me. I’m an author and this is my place of business . . . I pay the phone bill. . . check out my author page on Amazon, or go to my website. I have books available on Barnes & Noble and Kobo and . . . no, no, you called my place of business. Do you call your supermarket and pitch them whatever it is you’re selling? Then what right do you have to call my place of business and not buy one of my books?”

The caller usually hangs up before I can finish the spiel.

I still need to deal with robocall. I’ve heard NoMorRoBo works really well. I just need to hunt down an account number and a password to register the house phones.

Work-In-Progress Wednesday: Anne B. Cole

8 Comments

It’s Work-In-Progress Wednesday, and today I’d like to welcome Anne B. Cole!

ann cole author photo

MJ: November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Do you participate? If so, do you find it helpful? If not, why not?

ABC: I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2014. I didn’t participate in the traditional way—writing an entire book. Instead I worked on my third book in the Souls Trilogy, Souls Endure, my current WIP.

NaNoWriMo is helpful because it gave me a passion to write everyday. I believe I wrote 22 thousand words that month—the most I’ve ever written in a single month. Now days, I aim for 500 words /day.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

ABC: Hmmm. I love to garden and run but neither is very creative. I love to cook and bake—that could be creative with the limited time I have to fix dinners some nights:)

MJ: Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?

ABC: I love the outdoors and I’m a teacher, so my dream job would be to be a ‘naturalist hiking guide’ at a national park.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

ABC: A screened in porch (with windows during the colder seasons) with a view of fields/woods and perhaps a pond. I love watching the birds and squirrel that visit my window where I write now. Here is a picture of a squirrel in my peach tree from my real writing window.

DSC_0225

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

ABC: I love Sam’s loyalty to Gretta. No matter what the circumstance, he strives to help and protect her.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

ABC: Gretta tends to need more self confidence, so I put her in situations where she is forced to adapt and become stronger emotionally and physically.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

ABC: Supernatural Suspense—with time travel into the past, so there is a bit of historical fiction along with the paranormal elements. Yep, I’m a genre bender! I tried to fit my books into a cozy single genre…it didn’t work:)

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

ABC: Great question! I’ve taught many, many kids through my teaching career so picking names is difficult for me.

I chose ‘Gretta’ because years ago one of my preschool students had a new baby sister named Gretta and I fell in love with the name. ‘Dobbs’ is a very old family name.

I chose ‘Sam’ because I love the book, Green Eggs and Ham. ‘Daggett’ is a road in my home town in Pennsylvania.

MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?

ABC: The primary setting for Souls Endure—Delos— is a sacred Greek Island. With Sam and Gretta faced with breaking the final curse on Gretta’s ring, I needed to place them in a setting where gods, curses, and mythology all could contribute to the plot.

The first book in the series, Souls Entwined, was set in Milos, a Greek island near Delos. The second book, Souls Estranged, was set in the United States. I missed the island setting and knew I had to return to it in the final book.

 

MJ: Can you share the opening lines of your current work in progress?

ABC: Yes. This is from Souls Endure:

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Raindrops speckled the sidewalk, yet disappeared within seconds in the heat of late August. The homeless man adjusted his grip on the dagger still concealed in the folds of his new jacket.

He knew what he had to do.

The man who gave him the jacket had relayed instructions without words. Despite the pain he would inflict, his actions were necessary for the protection of the young couple.

He would complete the task without question.

MJ: Your current release, Souls Estranged, is Book Two of The Souls Trilogy. Where can readers find it?

SoulsEstranged (2) (1)

ABC: It’s available at Amazon.

MJ: How can readers stay in touch with you?

ABC: I have a blog, and I’m on Twitter and Facebook.

MJ: Thanks again for stopping by. Good luck with your books!

 

 

SOL: Football

I hate football. I loathe and despise the game. I’ve always felt there was something inherently wrong with a “sport” in which there are players whose sole purpose is to knock down other players.

On March 17, 2014, the Washington Post’s Tom Boswell wrote a thought provoking article questioning the future of the money-making machine. You can read the article here.

“[Football]’s billions in wealth built on decades of human wreckage.”

Every year, high school athletes die from football-related injuries. Yes, athletes in other sports–particularly basketball–die, but not directly due to injuries sustained while playing. (Basketball players tend to die of heart-related conditions.)

Professional football players are retiring early and refusing to allow their own children to play the game.  You don’t hear about that in baseball.

Given the way football is worshiped, there is no surprise when young players believe themselves above moral behavior. Yes, basketball players lie about their age, but one doesn’t seem to hear as many . . . criminal stories about them as one does about football players.

The only good thing about football are the novels by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.