A Rose by any Other Name...

Good morning!

I've been taking a bit of a writing break the last couple weeks.  With "Fresh Ice" in the line at 52 novels awaiting formatting, I've decided NOT to do NanoWrimo this month and regain a little sanity in my daily schedule.

I was talking to my mother the other day, sharing my excitement at the release of my third book.  Now, my mother, I'm sure, is a well meaning woman, but she shared a thought with me and I'm not quite sure how to take it.

"For your next book," she said, "write under a different name.  You've published three books now with moderate success.  People have already made up their minds as to whether or not they're going to read your next book.  So for the next book, write under a different name and maybe more people will buy your book."

I had to remind her that I've really only published TWO books and that my third wasn't actually due out for a month.  But that little child, the insecure, uncertain child inside me told me my mother was right.  People who have read my books have already decided whether or not they're going to read any more.  Maybe I should "Trick" the reading public into buying my next book by changing my name.

Well established authors do this from time to time, but typically if they change genres.  Lori Foster, noted romance author, writes under L.L. Foster for her books that are not strictly romance.  I heard her speak at a conference once and she said she did this so that the reader would know what to expect from the book.  (She didn't mention how her mother felt about it.)

I do not consider myself a well established author.  I believe, as author J.A. Konrath preaches, that the self publishing business is a business of numbers.  The more you write, the more people will read.  (Konrath also writes under different names, again, when he's jumping genres or book series.)  The Sarah J Bradley brand has only been a thing for two books, and really, not even three years.  Do I have a best seller?  No, but I market two books I'm very proud of  (Click on the book covers above to purchase) and I will continue to write the stories that are in me.

But should I write them under a different name? 

What makes a book sell, especially in the e-publishing world, is a question few can answer.  The amount of time an author has to market helps  (I have none) the amount of time an author has to write helps.  (I've cranked out a novel every 15 months so far.)  Some authors catch fire right away, and we're not sure why, while some authors write and write and collect their quarterly check and are able to maybe pay the light bill with it.

But is it the name of the author?  I grant you...if I had an odd name, or one difficult to pronounce I might consider it.  Or, since I'm working in the romance world, if my name sounded too industrial  (My maiden name is Schultz.) I might change it.  I know I read books by some authors because I've read and enjoyed their work before and want to read more.  I know I will probably not read a lot of Herman Melville's work because I hated "Moby Dick" so much.  BUT, authors I've not read, I've not heard or, do I read them or not based on their name?

I don't see my sales, or lack thereof, as a problem with my name.  I see it more as an issue of time dedicated to marketing, and possibly the price point on the print copies.  As popularity of the e-reader grows, so will my reading public, so long as I continue to put out new material.

Will I write under a different name for my Elsie project next year?  Yes.  Because it won't be romance, it will be humor.  But I made that decision long ago, it had nothing to do with my mother's advice.

This is, after all, the woman who actually tells people that the first hundred pages of "Dream in Color" are really the only pages worth reading in the book. (She doesn't get that in those pages I'm working out some serious mother issues, and I'm completely mocking her.)  I was doing a book signing/book giveaway in my home, promoting both my books, and when she said that, all interest in the book went out of the room.  After all...if the author's MOTHER didn't like it...

My friends, we all have questions we have to answer when it comes to the direction of our writing careers.  What will make my books best sellers?  I don't know.  I put my heart and soul into each one.  My reviews, while not many, have been very positive.  Readers have come up to me and raved about them.  I'm so excited to share my next story with everyone I can't wait.  But clearly I'm not supporting myself with my writing at this point, and some people think I should be.

Shakespeare wrote, "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  A book written under any other name would still be my book.  It would still have my voice.  It would still be written by me.

So what do I do?  Change my writing name?  What are your thoughts?

Talent is talent is talent....

Hello all!

As many of you know, my dear friend and critique partner, Linda Schmalz is also an author of her own pair of wonderful novels, "A Lonely Sky," and "What Dead Women Want."

Today I'm sharing her most recent blog post because not only does she talk about a favorite song of mine, but she expresses so beautifully the concept of talent and its place in a world where talent is often overlooked.  She gives me courage every day to write the story in my heart, and I hope she inspires you as well!

Enjoy!

Bohemian Rhapsody and Me

An awesome book!

“Bohemian Rhapsody and Me”

I’m currently reading “Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury” by Lesley-Ann Jones. It’s a fascinating and richly detailed intimate look into the life of the brilliant musician, composer, singer and entertainer, whose life was cut short by AIDS in 1991. By all accounts, the biography is fabulous, encompassing not only Freddie’s life, but also details on how the rock group Queen was formed, and provides history on the songs they wrote.

I recently read the chapter on the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” which was/is as Jones describes it, “an epic undertaking comprising an a cappella introduction, an instrumental sequence of piano, guitar, bass, and drums, a mock-operatic interlude and a loaded rock conclusion”. Yep, it’s strange, complicated and masterminded, incorporating a mishmash of ballad, opera and rock into one electrifying song.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” nearly didn’t make it onto the airwaves, however. According to Jones, “Elton (John) denounced it …as a surefire flop. EMI and the industry in general voiced misgivings. Radios stations wondered what the hell …to do with a six minute single. Even bassist John Deacon expressed his fears …that to release “Bohemian Rhapsody” would prove the greatest error judgment of Queen’s career.” More: “Even those who recognized its magnificence immediately were reluctant to go on record, so dramatic was the departure of “Bohemian Rhapsody” from any previous accepted convention of rock.”

Add to that, no one had a clue what the lyrics meant, although some had theories (Freddie never revealed what they meant). Some people say it’s Freddie’s “coming out” song. Jones suggests her theory, that the characters represented the band members… (i.e. Freddie being Scaramouch, the clown, Brian being the scientist, etc.) Freddie neither confirmed nor denied any of this. Some believe the song is meaningless. And yet, it sold. BIG, and even bigger when the video came out; and, according to Jones, “it hit number one again for five weeks after Freddie’s death in 1991”.

Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango?

“So what does this have to do with YOUR writing, Linda?” you may ask. “YOU, Linda, are no creative genius as was Freddie.”

My answer: “Yes.” Sigh. “I know.”

But what I related to in this chapter about this particular song was the myriad of reasons people felt “Bohemian Rhapsody” would never sell. Lots of naysayers on that one, baby. And yet, it still sold millions. Why?

Simple. It was genius. It was unique. It was different and someone took a chance on it. Isn’t that what we as writers hope, dream and pray happens to our work?

I’ve attended a lot of writing conferences, workshops, and meetings and listened to many different authors talk about their writing processes. I’ve read books on writing, taken classes and, yes, even wrote two, what I think are, pretty decent novels. It wasn’t easy. What’s easy is to stop writing. To listen to the naysayers who say your book MUST be written according to the Holy Grail of Writing Rules. “Stick to one POV (point of view), don’t use adverbs, don’t write too much back-story, don’t kill off your characters at the end,” etc. The list goes on and on.

Can you imagine Freddie sticking to rules as he wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody”? "Oh no, Freddie, you can’t write a song no one will ever understand. Oh no, Freddie, you can’t mix opera with rock." But Freddie did it -the way HE wanted.

So I guess what I’d like to tell others who are struggling with the writing process is to remember that writing out- of- the box can be a good thing. The hardest part of writing, I’ve found, is ignoring the naysayers, the ones who say, “that book will never sell because…(insert a myriad of reasons)" and they want you to completely change it. Don’t. (Oh, and btw, the biggest naysayer will most likely be you as you write the book! Be warned, and keep that Negative Nellie persona out of the room!) Wouldn’t you have liked to been a fly on the wall when Freddie was writing “Bohemian Rhapsody”? I wonder if he ever thought to himself “God this sucks. No one is ever going to get this. The critics will tear it apart. Why am I writing this?”

So go ahead. Write what you want. Write without fear. Don’t write in a genre because it sells well. Write in a genre you love and love to read. Mix your rock with your opera and let it shine! Throw in some clowns, some scientists, stir and mix. Make sure your work is as good as you can get it (but, um, good grammar IS a rule you should follow), give yourself a pat on the back when finished, and publish! Put your exciting and unique novel out there for the adoring public to judge. You just never know what you’re going to get!

Good luck and best wishes to all!

A tool you may not be using...the beta reader.

Good evening!

Writing is a fairly solitary activity.  Sure, we have writer's meetings, conferences, get togethers, all of that.  But the actual act of writing is solitary.  Many writers joke about how busy they are with friends...the ones in their plot, the ones in their heads.  The bigger joke many writers have is that we writers are all a tiny bit schizophrenic.

The problem with a solitary activity is that we tend to lose perspective from time to time.  I'm not talking about sitting at your computer, thinking you're writing the next Gone with the Wind, and you're really not even stringing together coherent sentences.  We all have those moments, most of us recognize them, and we cheerfully hit the delete button and move on.

I'm talking about getting to the end of a manuscript and thinking that this is truly the finished product. 

Well why not?

You've had your critique partners critique it chapter by chapter for you.

You line edited it.

You had your college aged brother/kid/neighbor line edit it for you in exchange for a hot meal.

You are ready to submit it to a publisher...or better yet...publish it yourself!

But wait.

There's a tool you should have, could have, in your writing tool box, and you may not be using it...you may not even know you need it.

I certainly didn't.

When I was writing Dream in Color (Click here to purchase)  I was convinced...CONVINCED that I had a complete project on my hands.  So I sent it out...and got rejection upon rejection upon rejection.  REjection letters being what they are, I didn't have a clear idea what was wrong with it.

Until I talked to my friend "Penny."  Penny is not a writer.  She is, however, an avid reader, and better yet, an avid reader in my target audience.  I told her I was writing a book, she expressed a wish to read it.  I asked her if she'd read it and comment on it for me.

She agreed.

About a week later, Penny handed me back my three ring binder.  "Over all I like it," she said, " but there's just something....I'm not sure how you'd fix it, but it needs fixing because it's a little confusing.  Although I'm not sure what else you could do it."

Not exactly a rave review.

BUT, knowing that a reader had actual feelings about the book, and was able to at least tell me that there was something unclear about it, I went back to the manuscript.  I fleshed out the characters.  I made Ramona's daydreams more vivid.  I added more of the mother character, much to my own mother's delight. 

And then I asked her to read it again.  This time, she loved it.

And I sold it to The Wild Rose Press.

My next project, the much rewritten, oft shelved, never quite forgotten Lies in Chance (click here to purchase) got the same treatment.  I set it to Penny.  Again, a week later, she handed back my three ring binder and said the words I will never forget.  "Your last book was good. This one was a joy to read."

It is,  to this date, the best review I've gotten.  And that's saying something since, reviews for Lies includes a woman who came up to me at a writer's conference book signing, pointed to Lies in Chance, and shouted..."I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THAT BOOK!"  (and no, it was NOT my mother.)

So I guess what I'm trying to say is before you send your baby off to an agent, an editor, or a formatting company, pause for a moment and think about the reader.

I know, weird, right?  I've taken probably 800 workshops on how to write to get published.  I have taken classes on how to pitch a book to sell it, how to write three chapters to win writing contests, and how to get an agent to look at my book.

What we writers seem to have overlooked is...the reader.

In this day of self publishing, we get to cut out the middle man to a certain extent.  Oh we still need to edit, to critique, but if self publishing is the path you've chosen, you no longer have to write to please an agent or an editor.  You have to write to please the reader.  So it stands to reason, then, that you should probably have a READER read your book before you publish it.

It may just be the most important tool in your bag of writing tricks.

When you have teens living in your house, the novel writes itself!

Good morning!

My son, Skippy, recently graduated from high school.  He informed us that he really didn't care to go to college right away since 1)  he had no clue what he wanted to do with the rest of his life and 2)  he sort of liked just hanging out in his basement bedroom building his alternative music collection, and going to class was really going to hamper that.

I informed him that he didn't have to go to college, but he did have to DO SOMETHING.  His most recent English teacher told me the boy has a flair for writing...(I'm so proud...and jealous. Had just one teacher told me I should be writing novels when I was 18 I wouldn't have waited until I was forty to publish anything!)  So I suggested that Skippy spend a year working and traveling around the country, meeting people from all walks of life and maybe getting a spark to either pick a reason for higher learning or finding material for a novel.

Little did I know that this would become novel material for me.

Want to see drama, romance, betrayal, tears, adventure, car chases, rage, and power grabs in a book?  Send your almost 19 year old son on a road trip with two or more female friends.

It's rather funny to see which of his female friends are willing to get in the car and share road time with him and his actual girlfriend.  The role of "buddy" and "chaperone" doesn't always sit well with some girls...especially those who have romantic feelings about him.

Such was the case late Monday night.  Boy child and girlfriend and another friend were in Nashville for a concert.  This was his first road trip, sort of a test trip since Hubby and I planned much of it for him.  The biggest understanding was that he and girlfriend were NOT traveling alone.  (I've been very blunt about not wanting to be a grandmother before I'm a mother in law.)

Late Monday night I got a phone call from Other Girl's mother saying that Other Girl wasn't comfortable hanging out with Skippy and girlfriend, because, well, Other Girl thought she was Skippy's girlfriend.

Color me stunned.

A few quick texts to Skippy revealed that yes, Other Girl bailed...Skippy was shocked because his entire relationship with OTher Girl was based on pure friendship...not one thing else.  However, MOM, not to worry.  Skippy has friends all over the place  (Apparently the Alternative music scene is pretty widespread) and he found Other other Girl to travel along with them.

The biggest hitch was the drive back.  See, they were all supposed to spend last night at Other Girl's house.  Given her newly revealed love for Skippy, Skippy decided to drive straight though.  So I'm sitting here in my office unable to make breakfast because Girlfriend is sleeping on the couch in the living room and I'd really hate to wake her.

So hey, what do I need with inspiration?  I've got the makings of a most excellent novel right here.  In my house. 

Got teens?  Just follow them around for a couple days...who knows what sort of material you'll dig up!  Or maybe Skippy has found inspiration for his new novel.

Darn kid better not outsell me!

Once an e-pub always and e-pub?

Hello all!

I'm currently in the midst of working on two big writing projects.  The first is a currently untitled humor book about my life with the female nit wit at my office.  (You can vote for a title here.)  The other is a straight up romance about a former figure skater and a former NHL star.  (It's  first for me, I actually set out to write a romance, and by gum, I'm doing it!) 

Elsewhere, as you may know, I have two books out in various forms.  The first is Dream in Color, which you can get in print or e-book form  (and yes, Nook users, you can get it at Barnes and Noble.)  and then Lies in Chance which is in e-book form only.  (And both these books could use your help!  AHEM!) 

I like the idea of being an e-pubbed writer.  While the guarantees aren't there...yes, I've sold about 11 copies of Lies in Chance, but I just know that any day now people are going to go crazy for this book...I at least have the book out there for people to read.  For a new author, one without the support of Oprah, (who would LOVE my books if she read them, of this I am certain) just having titles out there is key.  I love having control over my cover, my editorial content, the name under which a book is published.

Marketing...however...and distribution...well, that's not as much fun.

So now I've got these two writing projects going, and I'm really confident that one or the other or both are going to blockbuster big.  If I e-pub myself, I can get them out for sale quickly.  If I go through a publisher, I once again step on the treadmill of submit and reject.  Then, if I'm lucky, an editor will buy my book, and then I lose a lot of control over the book.  ("Lies in Chance" is ALL MINE.)

So, even though I've only got two titles out there and I'm not making $300 a day (I'm a disciple of J A Konrath that way) my writing career is my own.  It's exhausting, but the covers I pick are mine.  The titles I pick  (as lame as they can be sometimes) are mine.   How much I sell the books for are mine.

On the flip side, the two books I'm working on have a ton of potential.  Like a moderate advance check sort of potential. 

So, am I a fool to consider going back to traditional publishing, in the interest of furthering my career as an author?  Now that I've chosen the path of e-publication, is that the way I must always go?

Charting where and how our writing careers go is a very inexact science.  What works for someone may not work for someone else. As a follower of J A Konrath I believe in the power of the e-book.  I believe that publishing is heading in that direction and that while print books will never go away, a day will come when more people get their books on a reading device than from a book store.   (And yes, I can hear my author friends running and shrieking.  Hey, I never thought music stores and video stores would die...but when I can buy one song for a buck, or stream unlimited movies for a minimal fee, then why should I get in my car and drive anywhere?  E-books are here to stay.

On the flip side of the coin...the perception is still that someone who is e-published can't get published anyplace else.  That is a perception that is changing more slowly than the reality.  Successful e-pub authors edit just as much as those who are writing under contract.  Maybe the slick polish isn't there, maybe the story is a bit more raw.   But aren't we told from early on that the world is looking for our singular voice?  Still, the perception persists that e-pubs just aren't as good as "real" books.

So if I've got a slam bang story that I know is going to fit perfectly with a giant publisher, am I an idiot for even considering NOT submitting to the publisher, who could give me big distribution and make me a more recognized name?  Or am I shackling myself and giving up my lifeblood to enrich someone else?


I don't have the answer for these questions.  I don't think anyone does.  I think we creative types very much just want to share our vision and our stories with others.  All I want is to have someone other than my best friends and my mom enjoy my books.  (Well, that and I'd like to quit my day job and just write.)

Now, you don't need to answer the question for yourself.  You just need to go forth and WRITE!

Planning or pantsing...which works best?

Good morning all!

Today one of my goals is to sit down and actually begin solid writing work on my new book of office stories.  (By the way...go vote for a title for this book here.)  It's the first time that I can recall that I first planned out a book and then sat down and wrote it.

Must debate is made...some of it right here...about what works best when it comes to writing.  I know writers who spend long laborious hours with character backstories, story boards, outlines, the whole thing.  By the time they're ready to sit down and write, they have presentation material that would make any business CEO sweaty in the naughty places.  (Okay, sorry, but I just had a vision of some big CEO guy getting all juiced up because of a stack of story boards.  LOL)

As for me...well, I just don't have that kind of time.  I write the way I make friends.  Things develop as I go along.  Sure, I have to go backwards often and adjust things about the character or in the plot because I've decided to take a different route further down the line.  The best example of that is while I as writing Dream in Color.  I had an idea where the book was going.  My main characters had other ideas. 

Which is better, which saves time?  Both and neither, I believe.  For those who plan...time is chewed up in the planning stages.  The actual writing, I'm told, is a breeze.  But it's the planning that takes all the time.  For those of us who write by the seat of our pants, a lot of time is taken up "fixing" things behind us that we've changed ahead.  My new novel, Lies in Chance, took me nearly 30 years to write...and I can't blame all of that on my real life.  That book should have, could have been done long ago...had I had a clear idea of where these characters were going.   (By the way...word on the street is that this book is better than my first.  Those are some of the early reviews I'm getting from friends who've read it.  I'm just sayin'!)

The end result of either method, however, is the same:  a completed writing project.  So does it matter how we write?  I don't think so...so long as we actually WRITE.

So today I'm starting work on a book that I've actually plotted out.  It's a weird feeling, knowing how this is all going to go.  In my head I'm hoping I'll be done writing it later this morning.  In reality, however, I've given myself until mid December to get this out into e-book land.  And then I'll continue my fun seat of my pants ways.

Meanwhile, pantser or planner, go forth and WRITE!

Obviously, writers aren't writing these things!

Good morning!


So we're a long weekend away from the mid term elections. Anyone else sick to DEATH of political ads on radio, TV, and those annoying calls on your phone? (We actually went to an all cell phone house...hubby drew the short straw and got the home number for his cell.)

 I love how those who make the laws make it so those laws don't affect them. Case in point, the phone call thing. Here in Wisconsin, we have a "don't call list." EVery six months we have to contact the office in Madison (and why don't they just take our names off the call list permanently? ARe there people out there who say, "Ya know, I've really missed those telemarketer calls.") and then our phone number is removed from calling lists for profit businesses only.

Note, the non profits and the POLITICAL people aren't included. So the ones who are the most guilty of jamming your phone with long, annoying, stupid ads, the politicals, don't have to follow the rules they set up for simple businesses. The carpet cleaning guy can't use your number....but the money grubbing, butt kisssing, complete bastard of a liar running for office gets your number and uses it several times.

But that's not what has me steaming right now. What has me steaming, from a writer's point of view, is the radio ad I just heard. Doesn't matter who it's for, or which party it's for because it's bald faced lies and it's running endlessly here in SE Wisconsin, where the Governor's race is about as nasty as I've seen a race because the two guys know each other, have worked with each other, and HATE each other on a personal level.

The ad set up is a couple driving in a car, obviously in a traffic jam. The woman is complaining about the traffic jam while the man growls that "Governor ______" made Wisconsin like another Illinois with toll roads. That those who can avoid it can zip through, but those who can't have to sit in traffic jams.

Okay, stop: Governors for the last 20 years have said certain roads in SE Wisconsin should be toll roads. INCLUDING THE GUY THIS AD SUPPORTS! Next, the ad this is AGAINST, hasn't been elected and to call him Governor at this point is a lie. Next: I've driven in Illinois. I don't have an I pass, because I don't drive down there often enough, but I've not been stuck in a traffic jam because of a toll road ever. I toss my $1 in the bucket and fly on through.

The ad then talks about how the Governor (Who isn't elected yet) voted to have the gas tax in Wisconsin go up every year without a vote.

1) The governor does vote. He/She vetoes a bill on the desk. 2) The gas tax in WIS ALREADY GOES UP EVERY APRIL WITHOUT MUCH OF A VOTE. IT's AUTOMATIC.

Then the ad whines about how Governor ___________ (again, not elected yet) was flown down to a secret fund raiser in Florida.

Really?

The ad ends with the woman pleading with her man to "tell me next time about these things."

And this is just bad writing. If these are things no one knew was going to happen, how on earth can the man warn the woman the next time?

See, fiction writers have to labor under the idea that things must make sense and ring true. Obviously these "writers" do not have to follow any rules, including a little thing I like to call "Liar liar pants on fire."

To be fair, this ad is not endorsed by any candidate. I have to think, though that the candidate that's going to benefit from this ad is doing a happy dance of joy because a large number of voters are just not informed.

So, my friends, as you go to the polls next Tuesday (and you should because it's our duty as Americans to speak) keep this in mind: You cannot believe a single word you hear on TV or the radio when it comes to the candidates. Do not believe the 24 hour talking heads on TV, they are completely partisan on both sides.

Who to vote for? Get informed! Look at the voting record for incumbents. Don't like it? Vote for the new guy. Look at how your community is doing. Is it better off or worse off? Think about what the candidates are saying! Turn off all the shrieking and think for yourself.

In the meantime, my writer friends, I think we should all try and get jobs writing for political campaigns. Obviously it's an industry that hires fiction writers!

Well, Mom did ask for it!

Good morning all!
I've been out of commission since Thursday because of my uncle's funeral in Minnesota. Therefore, I have no wild words of wisdom because I haven't exactly been focused on writing this past weekend.


That said, I did spend some serious quality time with my mother in a car. For those of you who know me, you know my relationship with my mother is...interesting. She's always supported my writing...provided it didn't get in the way of the multiple family responsibilities she seems to enjoy piling on me. Oh, and provided I write what she wants to read. (Read here: Not stories that involves salty language, love scenes, or anything that smacks of fiction because, in her opinion, the only thing I'm really good at writing is my humor, slice of life stuff.)


To that end, then, I did share with the world wide web, my travels back from the funeral home with my parents. I think you'll all enjoy it. And Mom can't say a word because, hey, she ASKED FOR IT! LOL!
So hop on over to my humor site:  http://itcanonlyhappentosarah.blogspot.com  And check out the type of writing my mother loves!


Now, I'm off to write something with salty language that involves a love scene!

We're not crazy...we're optimistic!

Good morning!

I spent the better part of yesterday morning getting my submission of "Lies in Chance" ready for the editor at The Wild Rose Press. She wanted the first three chapters and I did a little magic so that she actually go the first four. Now that may sound sneaky, but every time you submit something, you have to look at the previous rejections and try to make the submission better so that you don't get another rejection. It's all part of a big honking game.

After I hit "Send" I started the waiting period. At least Wild Rose gives me a time frame for a response from the editor. Some agents and editors just say, "If I don't want anything more from you, you won't hear anything from me." That's problematic, because how long do you wait until you think you haven't heard anything? A week? A Month? A Year? It's different for every agent or editor. I just read on Facebook from one author who said, "Hey, just because you haven't heard in a while doesn't mean they don't want your book. It might mean they forgot about it."

When the optimistic view of your business is "Maybe they just forgot about it," you have to wonder about the business itself, don't you?


So why do we write? Let's face it, the business of writing and publishing is a horrifying, self esteem destroying business. You work hard and you bleed your story out onto the page...or screen...only to be rejected again and again and again. Yet we keep writing, we keep submitting. It's like bashing your head against a tree, getting up and doing it again. If we saw someone doing that, we'd stop them, give them an aspirin, and ask them to accompany us to the nearest mental health facility.



Writing is different mostly because writers are the most optimistic people ever. Someone, somewhere wants what we've written. And we're going to keep submitting and polishing and editing and submitting until the day we die.



Recently I judged a contest for unpublished writers. Some of the entries I read were brilliant. (I'm happy to say that one of the entries I judged did make the finals.) A few were very, very raw. None of the ideas the writers had were bad. Some of them had tiny little things that needed tweaking. Some had some major hurdles, like maybe the need for a grammar refresher course. But none of the entries were without merit. As a judge, I could only give my opinion, which is what 99% of writing is. Someone's opinion.


Are there those out there who think I'm just bashing my head against a tree? Of course. But I figure, writing is mostly about opinions. Hey, I LOVE "Wuthering Heights." Everyone else who lives in my house thinks it's a terrible book. (Of course, two of those are teens and the other one is hubby who likes his fiction language a little less...archaically formal.) When it comes to books, it's all opinion. Which means when it comes to writers, it's all optimism. We WILL find that agent/editor that wants our work.
A bigger cause for optimism for those writers who just want to get paid for writing: E-publishing:
I've told you about the rejections I've gotten for "Lies in Chance." Wild Rose is the final stop on the publication train. If they don't want it, the story of my heart is going to get self published on Amazon. I'll take it to the people and skip the publishers. I've had enough readers read this story and love it, that I know if I could just get it past those in the business of publishing, and to the people who like to READ, I'll reach an audience who will love it.

So when you sit down to write, or you get that email of rejection, or you are waiting to hear from and agent, bear this in mind: Yes, it is harder to get a book published these days, especially for new authors. But there's always the wild world of the e-reader.


And that, my friends, is a big reason for optimism!

Now, go forth and WRITE!

Say it with me: I'm good enough...

Good afternoon!
Do you remember that SNL skit where Al Franken (Hey, that's SENATOR Al Franken to you!) would done a blond wig and a cardigan sweat and look in the mirror and pretend to be a loveable dork known as Stuart Smalley? He'd start out talking about some situation that was supposed to lead us all to a higher opinion of ourselves, and it always backfired into some self loathing rant. But always, always the skit ended with a daily affirmation. Stuart would look into the mirror and say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh darn it, people like me."

Being a writer is something like being Stuart Smalley. We all start out each day with a huge smile on our faces. TODAY IS THE DAY. Today I finish or sell the Great American novel. TODAY I get the big book deal. TODAY I hear back from that newspaper/magazine/blog and yes, they do want to hire me as a columnist!

Then, about noon, maybe we get an email or a rejection letter. Or we screw our courage to the sticking place and call that newspaper or magazine and find out that 1) They've gone out of business or 2) They found what you wrote so awful, they posted it on the office dartboard. (I have visions of several of my short stories still lingering in the local newspaper offices.

Well my friends, if this is you, the it's time for your daily affirmation! No, you don't need a cardigan, unless you're chilly in which case, go ahead. We'll wait...


Now, look at yourself. Even if you don't have a mirror, pick up your cell phone and look at your reflection. Tell yourself, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!"
If you don't want to do that, think of it this way, "Writing is an art. Publishing is a business. This rejection is not personal, it's business."


Now, if you're lucky enough to get a constructive rejection, then do your affirmation this way, "It's not my writing...it's my characters. My characters suck. Kill my characters and then they will love me!

Oh...wait...sorry. That's my personal affirmation!

So if you're writing, waiting, or wailing, don't forget to take a deep breath. Writing is an art. Publishing is a business. Everything in between is equal parts courage, persitence, and luck.

Remember, getting a rejection has nothing to do with you personally. YOU are good enough. YOU are smart enough. And gosh darn it, people do like YOU.

It's just your writing they're not so fond of! LOL

Now, my friends, go forth and WRITE!

Feeling like a fool over Floyd...

Good morning!

I wasn't going to write about this, but the topic simply wouldn't leave my brain. Try as I might, I can't shake the foolish feeling I have.

Many of you don't know, but I'm a big honkin' fan of cycling. (It's especially amazing since my own bike hasn't touched ground from the garage rafters in two years.) We watch the Tour de France as a family during the long hot days of July. There's something magical about watching men half my size defy the odds and ride a bicycle all around Europe.

I don't have any special team affiliation, of course I love Lance Armstrong, and my favorite cyclist is George Hincapie for reasons I cannot explain. But I always cheer for the Americans. (The Aussies, too, but especially the Americans.)

That said, four years ago an American named Floyd Landis won the Tour in great style. He was up near the top of the leaders for much of the race, but had a devastating lost in one of the stages. All hope seemed gone for the American. Then, the very next day after his massive time loss, Floyd stormed back with more than a vengeance. It was a miracle in the mountains. He road like a man possessed. And, because of those heroics, he won the Tour.

A few months later, the powers that be stripped him of his title citing doping issues. (Cycling has unforgivingly harsh rules against doping of any kind. Most cold meds aren't even allowed. Testing is random, frequent, and often motivated by loathing for a competitor. At least, that's what Lance Armstrong sometimes believes.) Floyd denied, denied, denied. And many of us believed him, fervently defending him when the discussion came up.

Now, four years later, Floyd Landis came out last week and admitted to doping.

The good news is, the discussion didn't come up much, so at least no one is calling me and mocking me. The bad news is, we had length conversations with the children about this, and now we look like fools.

The worse news is...we feel like fools as well.

It shouldn't surprise me. Celebrities generally don't belong on the pedestals we build for them. Sports figures cheat all the time. Actors are nothing like the characters they play. Rock stars don't love us as much as they say they do. (Well, except for Rick Springfield...of course!) It should come as zero surprise that Floyd Landis cheated. I'm an adult, I should be immune to this sort of thing.

The problem is, no one likes hearing their heroes are jerks. No one likes being lied to.

I've written here many times about how fiction is more logical than real life because characters in fiction, at least the heroes, aren't allowed a lot of leeway when it comes to character flaws. Oh, you can have the wounded, mysterious hero (We love him, don't we?) but in the end, he darn well better be honorable.

So I'm a romantic. I defended a hero I thought was honorable. Turns out I was wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't feel lousy about this.

But, like I said, I can't shake the feeling of being a fool.

Thanks for listening!