Being an author.

I've been thinking about something lately and it goes a long with some feedback I've been getting from friends and family. I've been told that I'm selling myself short and should aim higher. I disagree because I like where I am right now in my writing career. Writing is a learning experience and there's more for me to learn.

So it brings up a question. When do you consider yourself an author instead of a writer? Is it when you get your first book finished? Your contract? Or maybe that huge book deal? I received my first book cover on Monday and it was so wonderful to see it. I was just thrilled! But the truth is, I had already decided I was an author long before I got the cover. I decided I was an author when I received my first contract from Lyrical press in January. Everything after that moment just reinforces the feeling.

So tell me your story... when did you decide you're an author instead of just a writer? Have you had not so welcoming feedback from friends or family? How did you handle it?

Talk to you soon,
Wendy

Timed Writing

I'm sitting here this morning thinking about all I need to get done, but wondering when I'm actually going to get to it all. Many times, I join in a chat room where we do writing challenges for 20 minutes at a time and then at the end, we report back how much work we finished. These challenges have really helped me get a lot done. In fact, I written two books in chat challenges.

Timed writing can work even if you are writing by yourself. Just set the timer and see what you come up with at the end of 20 or 30 minutes. You can amaze yourself at just how much you can get done when you are focused like that.

One of the main things to remember is that in this short time of writing, you're not supposed to edit yourself. Just write. Don't think about anything but what comes next. You can always go back and edit later. Once you turn off your inner editor, you can get a lot more done.

Sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn't, but even if you're sitting there writing junk, you never know when a pearl will show up in your writing. If you get stuck, skip that section and just write "add later" and keep going. If you need more research on something specific, then you can type in "fill in when researched" and move on. Just don't forget to go back in and fill that in once you have the information you need. This is one of the big concepts of the fast draft notion. The point is to get it all down and not lose momentum.

Have you ever tried timed writing? It can be a lot of fun and you can surprise yourself at how productive you can be. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Happy writing!

Writing Woes

Super Saturday everyone! *waves* I have family in from out of town and while I love it most of the time, this weekend…not so much. I’ve got three different muses babbling about three different stories in my head. Let me tell you, all those voices jabbering at once are a nightmare. Can kind of make me think I’m going a wee bit crazy at times. *glances about owlishly* Did I just write that for the entire world to read? *blink…blink* I must be crazy. *shakes head*

On top of that, I have three different stories that either requires editing or an outline and submission letters written on them. *bangs head against the wall* And Sierra has already threatened to crack the whip on me. *blinks…blinks* She’s pretty good with that whip cracking by the way. *winks*

Okay, I don’t work outside the home, so it should be easy right? Wrong! I have a family, am a full time mom, wife, maid, taxi service, and I still work part-time from home. It’s been my experience that clutter and mess do not magically pick themselves up regardless how much screaming I do at them. *pouts* And I’ve yet to coerce little fairies to come in and pick up overnight while we all sleep.

So, my question is how do you decide which muse to listen to? I have had arguments in my head this week with my muses about which story I am going to write on. My girlfriend—non-writer, by the way, so she cannot sympathize—told me they made fabulous medication for my problem. I glared at her over that smartass statement. I don’t need medication to calm them, I need to write. That is what calms the muses. And if I don’t get it written, my muses can decide to take a vacation at any given point and clam up unexpectedly. When my muses chat, I have to write or suffer the consequences.

This is how I’ve handled it…whichever muse screams the loudest—technically is the storyline that is at the forefront of my mind the most—that’s the story that gets written on first. When that one is written, then I go to the next loudest, followed by the third loudest or I just make notes on whatever is supposed to happen if I can’t get it written before I go to something else. Then the process started all over again. Have I confused you yet? This subsequently left little to no time to work on the edits, outline or submission letter.

Calgon, take me away! Did that just show my age? *blink*

How do you manage the craziness of writing, along with the stress of family, work, home life, ballgames or any other distraction that comes along? Aside from begging the time god to extend the day from 24 hours to 40 hours and a 7 day week to a 20 day week, I’m just not getting the job done.

Sharing my experience in buying a used laptop

My nephew's desktop computer finally quit on him. So I thought about getting him a refurbished or used laptop. At the college where I work, I found an ad for a used laptop. The picture looked great and the specs were exactly what I was looking for.

 

I called the number posted on the ad and set up a date, time and place where I could meet this guy.

Before I met him, I searched online about what to look for when buying a used or refurbished laptop. Here are the links that I found helpful.

 

10- Step Guide to Buying a Used Laptop That Works

 

What do I consider When Buying a Refurbished laptop

 

Well, I didn't get to use the 10 step guide. Here's why.

A young guy, a student, showed up carrying a laptop. The first thing I noticed about the laptop was the dirty cover. I thought, "no biggie." When he opened the lid, an equally dirty keyboard glared back at me. Again, I thought it wasn't a big deal. But when he showed me the screen, I could hardly see the icons. The screen was dark. He said that he forgot his power cord and he couldn't figure out how to change the setting to make the screen brighter. By the way, he told me that he's been using the laptop for three years. Uh-huh. What was he trying to tell me? That for three years he only used the laptop when it’s plugged in? Sounds goofy huh?

 

Anyway, I pretended to show interest by checking the power setting and clicking the icons. The battery life was at 80%. I wanted to check the ports and the hard drive, but because the screen was dark I told him that I'll call him back. When I got home, I sent this guy an email telling him that I wasn't interested--in a nice way.

With ever changing technology, is it really worth buying a used laptop or computer? Have you bought a used one? Would you rather spend your hard-earned bucks on a new one that would most likely run slower after a year?

 

Tierney

http://tierneyomalley.com

Going Away

This weekend I am going away. I will be staying at my brother-in-law's holiday house down at Phillip Island (South of Melbourne) So yeah, I have been knee deep in the editing of my latest completed work and thinking of the holiday so I totally forgot about writing an article for this blog. Doh!

So a quick post is what you'll get this week.

Do you listen to music when you write/read?

If you do, what sort?

Me? I must have music, it drowns out any other noise that may distract me, you know, fire alarms, neighbour's screaming blue murder, S.W.A.T team breaking down my front door, etc, etc...lol I listen to new age, mood music mostly as I find music with words sometimes pulls me out of my train of thought.

Anyway...gotta go. I promise I'll post a better effort next week :-)

Signs From The Man Upstairs Or Maybe I'm Just Mental

I know all my writer friends out there are going to groan when they hear this because I know better. Really I do. I always back up everything. At least I used to. Last week my computer crashed. Don't know why. I have virus protection and plenty of memory. It just decided to die. Along with it, died two manuscripts and many precious family photos. I think I can retrieve the stuff. Of course I'll have to pay out the wahzoo to do so, but some of the experts tell me that 99% of the time, they can recover lost data. Good news. Sort of. I guess.



I'm trying to make the best of it. I'm one of those fools that looks for signs. No, not freeway signs...signs from God. I'm looking for direction and generally when I ask for it, I get it. I was working on one of those manuscripts, planning to go in a whole new direction with my writing. That WIP is bye-bye. It forced me to go back to another werewolf novel I had been working on about six months ago. When I heard the market was saturated with these stories, I had put it aside.




If you read my blog often, you'll remember that I just went to a writer's conference in Dallas and heard from editors and agents that paranormal romances are still very much in demand...so....I'm back to working on this book and will charge full speed ahead.




See, I took that computer crash as a sign. For many things. Back up everything. Even if it's a page. Back up daily. It also taught me this. I better get a regular old camera. I never do anything with the digital photos. They sit on my computer. What a waste.

But most importantly, that computer crash reminded me to follow my heart. Ignore the market news. Let's hope I can remember to write from my gut, follow my passions. I adore paranormals. I was one of those kids that thought Halloween was the VERY BEST TIME OF THE YEAR...and being an October baby only confirmed it. I'm a lover of shadows, autumn winds and smoke fires. And I'm totally in love with with the hero of my latest WIP, Axl, grandson of Lord of the Wolfen. Here's what he looks like.



So speak up, friends. Do you believe in signs?

Congratulations to Carol L.

You have been chosen as the winner in Saturday's contest! We'll pass your email address on the the Ornery Eleven blog tour so that they can send your prize! Congratulations!!!