Monthly Archives: August 2012

Writing to a Deadline AGAIN? You betcha!

Posted on August 22, 2012 | 32 comments

Yes, I placed myself in the clutches of a publisher’s deadline AGAIN. I didn’t expect to. It wasn’t planned. It just kind of happened. Here’s the scoop…

About two months ago a writing buddy of mine Terri Rochenski announced that she was submitting to an anthology. I looked up the publisher. They only did Romance.

WARNING WARNING DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

I giggled. Despite the fact that there was a romantic element in LAST WINTER RED, I knew that writing a straight Romance was not for me… and I was having so much fun blowing stuff up writing FIRE IN THE WOODS that I didn’t really want to take the time to start something new.

.
Anyway… A month later she put out feelers for beta readers. A little niggle gnawed at my gut, poking and peeling until guilt set in.

The little writing demon inside me smacked me upside the head… Who cares that it’s Romance! You just missed an opportunity.

The overachiever in me flipped back to the publisher’s web-site. There were still five weeks until the submission date.

Five weeks…

Is that long enough to come up with a story, outline, write, beta, edit and submit?

Honestly… No it wasn’t. Did I try anyway?

OF COURSE I DID!

I’m not going to draw this out… I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that I have already submitted a story to this publisher within the timeframe, and I managed to get it in a week early.

So, How’d I do it? Just to not make this post too long, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Be there or be square!

Writing Contests Benefits (wordsmithsix.wordpress.com)
Redlines are Encouragement (bcsirrom.wordpress.com)
The New World: Publishing: Killing Your Sales One Shot at a Time (deanwesleysmith.com)
What sort of women write erotic novels? Meet three “mummy porn” authors and find out what inspires them (mirror.co.uk)
Romance Writing Contest with Publishing Contract (kathytemean.wordpress.com)

32 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Writing to a Deadline

Tagged anthology, Arts, Chats and Forums, christmas anthology, Literature, Publishing, Romance, Romance novel, Writers Resources, writing

Write a Story with Me – Part 8 – Bring on the Teen writers. Go Ravena!

Posted on August 21, 2012 | 7 comments

Whoot Whoot! It’s write a story with me day! The lovely miss Ravena is jumping in from the UK. What an Awesome International team we have.

Doesn’t this totally rock that all these people from across the world are jumping in on this together. And the story is really coming together. If you are new, check out the links below to start fresh or in case you missed a post.

Without further ado, hop on a plane (or car, or balloon, or blimp… whatever you need) to read Ravena Guron’s addition to Write a Story with Me!

Go Ravena!

If you’d like to sign up, come on over. There’s always room for more!

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton (USA)

Part Two – J. Keller Ford (USA)

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Part Eight — Ravena Guron

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Vicki from the View Outside —- TAG! You are “It”

7 Comments

Posted in Flash Fiction, Write a story with me

Tagged Colonial Philadelphia, Fairy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, group writing, inspiration for writing, novel, Philadelphia, write a story, write a story with me, Writers group, writing, writing in a group, writing with friends

The Road to Publication #13: Do this because you love it. Don’t write for the money.

Posted on August 20, 2012 | 30 comments

I have a second job now. I am a professional writer. Yes, I will be paid.

Everyone I have asked says “Do it for the love of writing, because you have to write…don’t do it for the money.”

Yes, I do it because I love it. But it is nice to know I will get a little something for my efforts now.

However, this is one thing I didn’t consider. I signed my contract in April. I will be working on this for seven months on a strict schedule that they have provided to me. A few weeks before release date, the marketing will start, and continue for a few months after that.

I will not see anything in the form of compensation for all this work until May of next year. That’s an entire year after signing the contract.

Between you and me…I haven’t told my husband that yet. He knows that the checks won’t be huge unless the anthology is a runaway bestseller. Thank goodness he is happy because I am happy. If his sights were just on payday, it will be a long and possibly disappointing wait.

Now that I think it over, and look at everything that needs to be done to publish a quality anthology— all that time makes sense. In the end, you will get out of it what you put into it, both in the writing and in the marketing. I now understand how authors can get 1-2 novels out in a year…it’s because they have to. There is a ton of work involved, but for those of you who are lucky enough to only write for a living, you need to keep pumping out that material, because the fruits of you labor, once you get that contract, are about a year away.

Do I find this discouraging?

The paychecks are secondary. I am lucky enough to have a day job… as well as three new novels outlined. Once I finish this edit and submit my MS to the editorial staff, I will flip a coin to decide which, and delve into something new.

Do it for the love of writing and storytelling. Anything you get in retrospect will just be a bonus.

30 Comments

Posted in Road to Publication

Tagged April, Arts, Business, getting paid, how long, Publishing, Short story, Writers Resources, writing

Six Sentence Sunday – A blast from the past. This is funny.

Posted on August 19, 2012 | 34 comments

It’s Six Sentence Sunday again. Today’s is gonna give you a giggle. I’m going to allow you to wallow in my ineptness.

If you haven’t heard, Six Sentence Sunday is a group of people who mostly post their own work, but I just shoot out six sentences of whatever takes my fancy. Sometimes what I’m writing, or sometimes what I’m reading. If you want to find out more, click here. Visit Six Sentence Sunday Site.

I’m still reading Oracle by JC Martin. I didn’t want to post another 6 sentences from the same work, so I was sitting here at my desk, and I saw a printed copy of my early novel HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT hanging out, feeling abandoned.

I thought it would be fun to open it up to a random page, and just pick six sentences.

Now… I wrote this well over a year ago, maybe even two years, as last year at this time I was editing it. I laughed when I read this passage. I am going to curtail my inner-editor and post it exactly as it is printed. Mistakes and all.

Yes, thank goodness, I have come incredibly far in a little over a year.

At his feet, an arbor bug struggled to scale a small mound of dirt.

Harris sighed as he watched it. Why doesn’t it just walk around it? After it fell back for the third time, Harris flattened the mound with his foot, and the small creature continued on its way. He closed his eyes and smiled, actually finding gratification in helping something so small. Would Daniel Hyelven have done that?

OMIGOSH! Can you stand how much tell is in those six sentences?

Did I really use the word “it” four times in the same line?

This is really embarrassing. I just couldn’t believe it, but I thought it would be worth a laugh.

I just love this story, and someday I will go back and fix it. After looking at this paragraph, I know it will be a huge undertaking. 🙂

Hope you got a good giggle!

Recognizing Passive Voice (dailypost.wordpress.com)
Sexy Sentence Saturday…The Unidentified Redhead (bookishtemptations.com)
Subject and Verb Agreement (davidnwalker.com)
Six Sentence Sunday – Mya 3 (dbryantsimmons.com)
Six Sentence Sunday – Mya 2 (dbryantsimmons.com)
Writers on how they write: Orhan Pamuk (gointothestory.blcklst.com)
Six Sentence Sunday (lisavoisin.wordpress.com)
Six Sentence Sunday – My 100th #SixSunday Celebration! (lisafoxromance.wordpress.com)

34 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Six Sentence Sunday

Tagged Arts, beta reader, beta reading, critique, editing, Fiction, getting published, Oracle, Protagonist, publish, self publishing, Sentence (linguistics), Writer Resources, Writers Resources, writing, Writing and Editing, Writing help

When your novel comes up short

Posted on August 18, 2012 | 36 comments

I just finished my latest novel.

Yay! Right?

Umm, well not really.

For the first time in my life … My novel came up short.

I normally write huge, sweeping epic novels. The last one I had to hack up into five novels. The one before had three parts. My mind just thinks “big”.

This time, I tried to center my mind on a one-week timeframe. I carefully plotted it out, and assigned word counts. I thought it would be close, but I didn’t expect to be WAY OFF my target word count.

Do I have stuff to add? Well, yes, thank goodness. There are a few things that I found I needed at the end that will need to be introduced earlier on. The problem is, I need about 12,000 words, and I imagine the additions will only total to about 1,000 words. 11,000 more to go.

Yikes again.

I’ve edited 23 pages, and have added 230 words. I figure the total added for general editing will be about 2000 words. That’s 9,000 to go.

I don’t want to write unnecessary scenes just to make word count. I wrote tightly. Everything is spot-on.

Maybe a little too spot on.

Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Well I don’t like it. Nope. Not at all.

Writer-Talk Tuesday: Creating a Writing Calendar (kayedacus.com)
Novellas: The Word Count (angelofosmond.wordpress.com)
How to Write A Book (writesbymoonlight.wordpress.com)
Search and Destroy Those Weak Words (whatifyoucouldnotfail.typepad.com)
Hitting 10K in Camp @nanowrimo.org challenge| Make Something happen! Kicking Word Counts butt! (sylviahubbard.com)
My Year of Writing Dangerously – Guest Post by Russell Blake (ebarnes23.wordpress.com)
5 Ways to Meet a Deadline (writingishardwork.com)

36 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Senseless Ranting

Tagged adding to a novel, Dictionaries, how many words in a novel, not enough words in a novel, Word, Word count, writing

Jon Gibbs’s Ten things I wish I knew before I was published #6: Belay that Opinion, Captain.

Posted on August 17, 2012 | 7 comments

Your writing is not as god or as bad as you think. If you think you are the best author out there, you probably aren’t. If you are sure you stink, you probably don’t. (At least maybe not as bad as you think)

You are probably somewhere in-between. Even published authors are not the greatest writers ever. They just came up with something that resonated with someone.

If you love what you do, move forward with it. If you are good, someone will stand up and take notice.

Note: The above are Jon Gibb’s main speaking points, with my rambling opinions attached.

Jon Gibbs is the author of one of my son’s favorite books: FUR-FACE, which was nominated for a Crystal Kite Award.

Jon is an Englishman transplanted to New Jersey, USA, where he is an ‘author in residence’ at Lakehurst Elementary School. Jon is the founding member of The New Jersey Author’s Network and FindAWritingGroup.com.

Jon blogs at jongibbs.livejournal.com

Website: www.acatofninetales.com

Biggest Mistakes New Authors Make #2 – Jumping the gun- Writing Non-linearly (jennifermeaton.com)
Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make #3: Nope, you can’t explain yourself. Sorry, not allowed! (jennifermeaton.com)

7 Comments

Posted in Ten things I wish I knew

Tagged Arts, bad writing, how to be a better writer, Jon Gibb, Jonathan Maberry, Literature, my writing is bad, New Jersey, United States, Writers Resources

I am Such a Stinking Idiot. I Swear!

Posted on August 15, 2012 | 60 comments

I’ve submitted two works in hopes of publication. Last Winter Red was accepted, and will be published in December. Yay! But what was the other one?

The first writing I ever submitted was early this year. It was a 2,000 word short-story for a magazine.

This magazine is very well-respected, and takes submissions until the end of January. They choose the best out of the submissions to publish at different times during the year.

Their requirements were very clear. It needed to be about a dog, the dog could not talk, and it had to be polished and ready for publication.

Hello, let me introduce myself.

I am an idiot

Well, heck, I had a story about a dog! I ran it through some betas, worked it until I wanted to spit, and submitted it.

I never heard back from them. Not a squeak. And I can’t even say they didn’t get it, because I have a tracking number. They got it.

I guess it’s okay that they didn’t respond. They said they would only notify those who were chosen.

Anyway… I stewed over it for a while. Why wasn’t mine good enough?

I read the magazine, and my story beginning might not have been a fit for their readers, but the ending sure was. A story is a journey, right? I just figured my beginning may have been the problem, and moved on.

A few months ago, my writers group announced that they would be publishing an anthology, and asked all members to consider submitting. I thought about this 2,000 word story. The chances that I would send it out to any other magazine were slim.

Soo….. I opened up my final submitted version, and gave it a read for the first time in four months.

My eyes widened after reading the second line. No! It can’t be! I scanned back to the beginning, and started over.

Yes. It can be. Right there … In the second stinking line.

A TYPO.

How the heck many times did I proofread this? How many betas did I go through? How much time expended?

A Typo. Not just a typo. A BIG BLARING TYPO! So much for “Polished and ready for publication”.

Hello, let me introduce myself. I am an idiot. They probably never even read past the second line.

Yep, it’s me. I am an idiot. Feel free to smack me. Ugh!

I’m scared to read my own book! (zenscribbles.wordpress.com)
Authorship (mermaidssinging.wordpress.com)
Why Typos Always Matter, Even Online & In Text Messages [Opinion] (makeuseof.com)
The Business Rusch: Perfection (kriswrites.com)
Guest Blog – Jessie Andersen, author of “At What Cost” (writerlaurenclaire.wordpress.com)
Idiot (poemsforkush.com)
Editor explains ‘butt cracks’ typo in Los Angeles Times (jimromenesko.com)

60 Comments

Posted in Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make, General Writing Tips

Tagged beta reader, I'm an idiot, idiot, proofreading, Publishing, Short story, Typographical error, United States, why am i an idiot, Writers Resources, writing

Write a Story with Me – Oh Yeah! – Part Seven

Posted on August 14, 2012 | 4 comments

Wow! Vanessa Chapman totally rocked it this week. Not only did she send us the next installment, she mapped out all the characters for us in a graph! Go Vanessa!

Hop on over the Vanessa’s to see what’s going on with our story.

If you’d like to sign up, come on over. There’s always room for more!

Part One – Jennifer M. Eaton

Part Two – J. Keller Ford

Part Three – Susan Roebuck

Part Four – Elin Gregory

Part Five – Eileen Snyder

Part Six – Mikaela Wire

Part Seven — Vanessa Chapman

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

Ravena Guron —- TAG! You are “It”

Getting in the groove. (marcusthejulian.wordpress.com)
Get Your Writing Noticed: Theme – the most important part of writing! (author2be.wordpress.com)
One Side of Me Says (whatthefluffy.wordpress.com)

4 Comments

Posted in Flash Fiction, Write a story with me

Tagged Flash Fiction, Roleplaying, United States, write a story with me, writing fiction, writing group, writing in a group

Road to Publication #12: My Author page – Somewhere other than HERE!

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 53 comments

Wow. Pinch me. Every little step of this process that happens “in the public eye” that propels me closer to publication just makes me tingle. Honestly, it does.

I feel like a little girl playing dress up.

You know how you lay in bed and dream at night of pretty photos of you, and interviews, and all that? I mean, it’s starting to happen.

I know it’s not like Oprah has called or anything. This is just an anthology release, not a best-selling novel, but I’m seeing things I’ve only dreamed about come true… if that makes any sense.

This is a big one for me… my author page. This is the first time I have been featured somewhere OTHER THAN on my own web-site. I know it is stupid, but I made a shortcut to it, and I keep clicking on it to make sure it’s still there.

Here’s the link if you’d like to take a look. Come on, click me. You know you want to. I think I’ll pop over too, just in case…

Yep, it’s still there. I am an official J.Taylor Publishing author. Yep, that’s me.

Wow. So cool.

53 Comments

Posted in Road to Publication

Tagged author, Books, Literature, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey Show, Publishing

Sentence Sunday – Oracle by J.C. Martin

Posted on August 12, 2012 | 7 comments

Here are Six Sentences from the novel I am currently reading.

This is from the first chapter.

Vincent is a Magician. He’s just met up with a serial killer. Oh oh!

Blubbering pitifully, Vincent climbed the wooden steps on shaky legs.

He hesitated at the top, staring down over the threshold of the acrylic tank into the clear, rippling water below.

A mere few hours before, he’d stood at that very spot, feeling nothing more than supreme confidence and a mundane sence of boredom.

Olga’s warm body pressed into his as the intruder piloted her up the steps at gunpoint, her fleshy bosom heaving at Vincent’s back.

“Get in,” the gunman instructed.

“C’mon, mate,” Vincent pleaded, “whatever it is, we can talk–”

Interview with J.C. Martin, Author of Oracle (clairegillian.com)
Kenra Daniels’ #SundaySix Has A Title! (kenradaniels.com)
Author Love: J.C. Martin {Oracle Blog Tour} (jabelfield.wordpress.com)

7 Comments

Posted in Six Sentence Sunday

Tagged J. C. Martin, London, Oracle Corporation, Six Sentence Sunday, Six Sentences

Monthly Archives: August 2012

Writing to a Deadline AGAIN? You betcha!

Yes, I placed myself in the clutches of a publisher’s deadline AGAIN. I didn’t expect to. It wasn’t planned. It just kind of happened. Here’s the scoop…

WARNING WARNING DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

Five weeks…

OF COURSE I DID!

The Road to Publication #13: Do this because you love it. Don’t write for the money.

I have a second job now. I am a professional writer. Yes, I will be paid.

Six Sentence Sunday – A blast from the past. This is funny.

It’s Six Sentence Sunday again. Today’s is gonna give you a giggle. I’m going to allow you to wallow in my ineptness.

When your novel comes up short

I just finished my latest novel.

Yay! Right?

Yikes again.

Well I don’t like it. Nope. Not at all.

Jon Gibbs’s Ten things I wish I knew before I was published #6: Belay that Opinion, Captain.

Your writing is not as god or as bad as you think. If you think you are the best author out there, you probably aren’t. If you are sure you stink, you probably don’t. (At least maybe not as bad as you think)

I am Such a Stinking Idiot. I Swear!

I’ve submitted two works in hopes of publication. Last Winter Red was accepted, and will be published in December. Yay! But what was the other one?

Hello, let me introduce myself.

I am an idiot

Write a Story with Me – Oh Yeah! – Part Seven

Road to Publication #12: My Author page – Somewhere other than HERE!

Wow. Pinch me. Every little step of this process that happens “in the public eye” that propels me closer to publication just makes me tingle. Honestly, it does.

Sentence Sunday – Oracle by J.C. Martin

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Monthly Archives: August 2012

Yes, I placed myself in the clutches of a publisher’s deadline AGAIN. I didn’t expect to. It wasn’t planned. It just kind of happened. Here’s the scoop…

WARNING WARNING DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

Five weeks…

OF COURSE I DID!

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I have a second job now. I am a professional writer. Yes, I will be paid.

It’s Six Sentence Sunday again. Today’s is gonna give you a giggle. I’m going to allow you to wallow in my ineptness.

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I just finished my latest novel.

Yay! Right?

Yikes again.

Well I don’t like it. Nope. Not at all.

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Your writing is not as god or as bad as you think. If you think you are the best author out there, you probably aren’t. If you are sure you stink, you probably don’t. (At least maybe not as bad as you think)

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I’ve submitted two works in hopes of publication. Last Winter Red was accepted, and will be published in December. Yay! But what was the other one?

Hello, let me introduce myself.

I am an idiot

Related articles

Wow. Pinch me. Every little step of this process that happens “in the public eye” that propels me closer to publication just makes me tingle. Honestly, it does.

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Follow Blog via Email