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Decision Paralysis as a Busy Momma Writer

May 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as BusyMom, Mom, Momlife, VelrcoPuppy, Writer

It’s a quarter to seven on a Sunday morning. The house is quiet. I’m up before my family. It’s just me, my velcro-puppy, and the birds chirping outside my window. There are no sports today which is a STARK contrast from the daily rat race of fastpitch softball, dance classes, obedience training, talent show practice, Girl Scout meetings, birthday parties, house work, and the job that actually pays me.

But today I’m up early and this time is mine. Sure, I contemplate getting in a morning work-out, taking aforementioned velcro-puppy on a walk, or making a nice breakfast for my family.

Today, writing wins.

Which of my writing projects should I work on? Sometimes this decision is so easy, but today it is not. Typically, I select the book that is speaking the loudest to me. I can hear the characters talking to each other, just waiting for me to start typing their conversations. But today, no one is talking. That would be way too convenient!

I make my coffee and settle in on the loveseat in the living room. My favorite non-ergonomic writing spot. Velcro-puppy claims her rightful spot next to me.

Indecision joins too.

Should I open that finished children’s book (the one that I hadn’t planned to write) and work on edits?

How about Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please the sequel? Am I feeling like a rhyming qween this morning?

Oooh, maybe I’ll work on my romance novel?

Side note- Total rookie mistake but I not-so-accidentally wrote the second novel of my four-book series before writing the first novel. Whoops!

The second novel is talking. No! That one is done. It’s edited. It’s waiting on book one! Let’s write book one!

Moon rhymes with spoon! DUH! Of course moon rhymes with spoon! It’s a nursery rhyme ya dummy!

I finally click into book one of my romance series and I’m ready to write. I navigate to where I left off and place my hands on the keys, just as the door to my daughter’s room opens and small feet start padding down the hallway.

I tried, I lie.
Goodbye!

Damnit.

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The Real Truth behind my upcoming Paris WW2 novel ‘SISTERS AT WAR’ by Jina Bacarr

May 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as #MeToo

my gorgeous cover for ‘Sisters at War’ up for pre-order on Amazon

I never would have predicted when I sent my editor my latest novel SISTERS AT WAR on Tuesday (my heroine is a victim of sexual violence in Paris during WW2), that fellow writer E. Jean Carroll would win her sexual abuse and defamation case in Federal Court on the same day.

Bravo to E. Jean for her courage and fortitude in pursuing justice for women everywhere. I remember when we crossed paths back in the day. She was vivacious, charming, and gracious, taking time to give advice to this young writer. (I saved her business card… I’ve got it somewhere.)

And in our writing careers, we both faced unwanted sexual advances from men in power.

Let me explain.

I’ve had several experiences that formed me as a young woman… unfortunately, some were unpleasant sexual encounters and like so many women of my generation, I kept silent.

Until now.

What happened to me formed the character of my heroine in SISTERS AT WAR who is raped and assaulted by an SS officer and the effect it has on her and her sister. Guilt, damage to her self-esteem, loss of confidence, and a rift between the two sisters when she believes her to be a collaborator. I’ve done some hard thinking about whether or not to discuss the events in my life that still give me chills. To give credence to my heroine, I feel I owe it to my readers to let them know I speak from experience.

In this first post, we’ll go back in time to my early writing days. I had a few breaks in the biz and wrote scripts for various shows from children’s to daytime TV and dialogue for primetime TV. I worked with some great male writers who respected me… and my work. I have forty-three TV and cable writing credits. And three produced one-act plays in Malibu.

Then I interviewed for my dream job: assistant producer. I went for the interview and it went well… until the company executive groped my breasts. I was shocked. I ran straight to the agent who sent me for the interview and told her what happened. The agent told me to ignore it and take the job. (This was before the ‘Me Too’ movement.’

Oh, my…

I said no. Then the exec called me and to his credit, he apologized and offered me the job, assuring me it wouldn’t happen a second time. Still, I didn’t feel good about the situation, that my worth as a woman and as a writer was devalued.

Again, I said no.

To this day, I wonder what would have happened if I’d ‘looked the other way’ and taken the job, but I couldn’t live with myself if I did. In the end, I walked away with my dignity intact.

And that’s more important to me than any showbiz ‘break’.

In the months leading up to the September 25^th release date of SISTERS AT WAR, I will discuss sexual assault encounters that I experienced in Paris, Italy, and Copenhagen… and a two-part account about the night I was kidnapped and assaulted when I was in graduate school.

Yes, the details remain vivid. Because you don’t forget.

Thank you for listening.

Jina

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Catching up

May 10, 2023 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Writing tagged as catching up

You may have noticed…or not, that I’ve been somewhat absent this year. It’s been a year of dramatic change, which isn’t over yet, and we’re now ten months into our year of Milo. Milo being our two-year-old grandson, that we unexpectedly stayed in California to spend time with. You should know that every time I say his name, or write it, I smile. Yes, I’m smiling now.

I thought I’d get at least some writing done this year, you know, in the early morning hours, or maybe late at night, like I did when our three boys were young, but it hasn’t worked like. Well, I did write one short story #DumpsterFireLove, while recovering from my tummy tuck (yes, I did this) in October, and Love & Mud Puddles, a Christmas romcom, was released in November, but beyond that, while my intentions were good, these months have truly been all about Milo (smiling). And nothing could have made me happier.

***So what if it’s raining, it’s time to go to the park!***

And nothing could have been better for me!

Writer’s can’t just sit behind their desk conjuring words out of thin air, we have to experience life in order to write about it. Spending time with a toddler again, seeing his sense of wonder at every new thing…which is nearly everything, because, well, he’s two, has brought back my own sense of wonder. His joy when he sees purple flowers, a big yellow school bus, or a pinecone has reminded me to see the things that are right in front of me, and his little arms around my neck, nose kisses, and sweet pats on the back have softened my heart, and reminded me what the world should be. What I want it to be for him.

I’ve had new experiences apart from Milo (smiling). Preparing for a move to what feels like a whole new world, the Arizona desert, a personal transformation that is not yet complete, and a year of living in an apartment…which I had only done for one year previously, the year I was eighteen.

Our little house on the prairie. — ***Our little house on the prairie***

My last day taking care of Milo, at least regularly, will be May 25^th. I’ll be having one more surgery, (two knee replacements and a tummy tuck over the last 3 years so far) one I’ve wanted for a long time, then after recovery, Hunky Hubby will be retiring, and we’ll be off to Arizona where I’ll be settling into a new life, writing, and living for video chats and occasional visits with Milo (teary eyed smiling).

What will I be writing? I plan on finishing…at long last…my 1920’s novel, and maybe writing a little Route 66 romcom series. In the meantime, I’m treasuring these last days with Milo, purple flowers and pinecones (we collect them).

Would love to catch up with all of you! What have I missed this year? Tell me in the comments…or message me!

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What Do I Do with AI? by Kitty Bucholtz

May 9, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as artificial intelligence, brainstorming, Kitty Bucholtz, poetry, songs, writing tools

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been on our radar for years, and on our fiction radar for decades. But since OpenAI opened its doors for anyone and everyone to try out ChatGPT six months ago, it seems AI has exploded across the world and across industries.

If you haven’t played with it yet, you might be wondering — what can an author do with it anyway? (Besides ask it to write a book for you, which would actually take about as much work as writing it yourself to come up with something really good and not generic-sounding.) Turns out, there are lots of things.

Back cover copy — My husband’s first book just released (yay!) and he used ChatGPT to help him write better back cover copy. He entered what he’d written himself and then asked for help to make it stronger.
Your book description on the sales page — Same guy, same book. He then asked the AI to read the book descriptions of a couple competitive authors on Amazon and rewrite his book description to sound more like the ones on those sales pages.
Brainstorming plot holes and writer’s block — I used ChatGPT to find out what a lawyer (the hero in my current chick lit) might do in this or that situation. I asked it to give me three ideas of what might happen after this or that event. I asked it for ten more ideas, then I asked for more details on one of them. Suddenly, my block was gone and I knew what I wanted to write next.
Fictional poetry or song lyrics — Since we can’t legally use more than a small number of words in poetry and songs (it’s easier for me to just say “we can’t use it” and be done with it), what can you do if you’re not a poet? Give ChatGPT some guidelines and ask it to write x lines of poetry for you in this or that style. Voila!
Actual poetry to give to someone — Say, in your spouse’s anniversary card! John and I just celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary a few days ago and I was gobsmacked at the short but lovely poem he’d written inside. I asked him if he’d written it or just found someone’s poem and written it in. When he paused, not answering either way, I started laughing. “Did you use ChatGPT?!” He looked away, trying to hide a smile. “Maybe a little. But then *I* made it better!”

The free version of ChatGPT can do a lot, but don’t expect it to “get it right” on the first try. You need to understand how to ask it questions to get the best answers. And you need to know enough about the topic to know when it got something a little (or a lot) wrong, or when its answer is just too generic to be useful. The newer paid version is already miles ahead of the free one, but you still need to understand how to ask your questions.

I’m going to be showing my group coaching clients how to use the free ChatGPT for brainstorming, how it’s different from “Googling” something, and the specific and helpful ways it can make your writing life easier. And more fun!

If you’ve used it, what do you feel it has done well or poorly? If you haven’t used it, what makes you want to try it or makes you shy away from it?

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A Bone to Pick

April 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing

Claire was lost in her thoughts when Mason crunched on something in the weeds.

“No.” Claire tugged at the leash, trying to pull the Lab back to her side. “What have you got?”

The dog kept his head down, not allowing her to reach the object, and growled.

“Mason? Give it,” she commanded. But still the dog worried the thing.

Whatever it was, it couldn’t be alive, she decided. Most likely a bone, but you never knew with a dog. She didn’t want a mess back home, when the object Mason had disagreed with him.

“Let’s go.” Claire tried again to separate the dog from his newfound fetish. Mason lifted his head and shook it, then responded to the pull of the leash. He wagged his tail as if to say, Aren’t you proud?

Protruding from either side of his jaws was a length of deer leg, stripped mostly of fur and skin. A strong whiff of decay floated up, making Claire scrunch up her nose.

The trail through the woods behind her house often crossed paths with the narrow routes made by white-tailed deer. It wasn’t unusual for Mason to flush out a doe or even pounce on a fawn hidden in a clump of wild grasses.

“No,” Claire said. “You can’t bring it.”

The dog pranced around her, and each time she tried to snag one end of the leg, he moved away from her.

Giving up, she turned toward home, and the dog followed, still grinning in that canine way with his prize in his mouth.

It was a lot like her brother, Duane, and his endless stories about their childhood, unearthing a past she had done her best to bury. A past now thankfully down to the bones and a little skin. The meat—the core of what had happened—had rotted away, as long as she didn’t go looking for it.

Duane knew only the good side of their father. And with the funeral in two days, she would steel herself to listen to the well-wishers and keep her mouth shut. Let her brother do all the eulogizing. She’d told him she didn’t like talking in front of a crowd, and he’d believed her.

Back at the porch steps, Claire pulled her house keys from her coat pocket and bent to unclip Mason’s leash from his collar. The dog dropped the deer leg into the flower bed and looked up at her with a whimper.

“Good dog,” she said, and dipped into another coat pocket for a biscuit. “We’ll leave it out here.” Mason trotted onto the porch with her, eyeing her hand for another treat.

If only discarding the past were that simple, she thought. Still, she could try.