Paths by Sally Paradysz @A_SliceofOrange
October 13, 2017 by Sally Paradysz in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group, Writing tagged as journey, life, Paths, writing
Paths
I love paths. We have one that goes to the field for our tractor, but the best ones are those I’ve made to my writing/meditation cabin, and the one I use to walk to the field. These two I’ve lined with rocks and as I stroll by I’m always amazed by the large roots that grow above ground. Different and yet so eye catching. It took a long while to clear the brush away, find and place the stones alongside, and then try to keep them clear enough to follow over the years.
Special attention paid to the little things on my land makes a huge difference to me. These are the points of life that mark my growth as I go forward. Time spent in nature with love and opportunity all encompassed into this one small three-acre-place that I call home.
God has given us a world full of hope for everything and everyone. We are all unfinished people, moving forward at the rate of speed we are meant to travel. And as we wander on our different paths, finding and following our own heart’s desires, let us take time to be thankful for what we have right now. It can all change in a moment, and then this opportunity will be behind us….
Sal
Sally Paradysz writes from a book-lined cabin in the woods beside the home she built from scratch. She is an ordained minister of the Assembly of the Word, founded in 1975. For two decades, she has provided spiritual counseling and ministerial assistance. Sally has completed undergraduate and graduate courses in business and journalism. She took courses at NOVA, and served as a hotline, hospital, and police interview volunteer in Bucks County, PA. She is definitely owned by her two Maine Coon cats, Kiva and Kodi.
You can like Sal on Facebook, or read her monthly column, From a Cabin in the Woods, here on A Slice of Orange, or on her personal blog, Sally Paradysz.
Am I really that shallow? by Denise M. Colby @denisemcolby
October 12, 2017 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as characterization, GMC, writing
Am I really that shallow?
I always considered myself a deep person. I can be passionate and caring and I cry at sappy stories. I’m emphatic and wear all my emotions on my sleeve. I love deep conversations. And I never ever wanted to consider myself shallow. Shallow meant to me, someone who didn’t care or only thought of themselves.
But in the writing world, shallow could mean your writing is weak, not detailed, without substance. Our characters need to be selfish or see the world through specific lenses or they wouldn’t be very interesting. We need details in all parts of story—setting so the reader can feel like they are there—and conflict or there would be no plot.
I noticed when I first started writing, my characters weren’t very defined. I had a difficult time figuring out who they would be and what they would do and when I did come up with something the details were vague. Everyone sounded the same. And because of that, I didn’t know where to go in my story and thus, I didn’t write very many words.
Why was that? What was it that prevented me from creating a funny, engaging story? Why did my characters for lack of a better word—lack character? In my head the ideas seemed ideal, but when I put words down on the page none of it worked.
That’s when I realized I was shallow in my writing. The thought actually made me laugh. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And then I realized I had to do something about it.
To write an engaging story, I have to write things that I personally wouldn’t say or do.
See, in real life I try to think the best of people. To not take offense or react. To be positive, and ignore the rest. Give people the benefit of the doubt. To not look deep into a person’s motivation, but try to accept people for who they are and not judge.
But if I wrote my characters the way I want to be, it wouldn’t make a very interesting book. Most likely, it would be pretty boring. (Hmm, that makes me I wonder—does that make me boring too? Oh don’t answer that…..I digress.).
Goals, Motivation and Conflict
It became clear I couldn’t write my characters this way. I had to come up with events and situations in their past to add depth, to create reasons why they acted the way they did. To think of bad, horrible things. To put into words bad, horrible things. Give them words they would say, and reactions to the people and setting around them. Gasp, maybe even have one of their parents not be so great at parenting. Or double gasp—someone has to die.
Oh but it’s so negative. I don’t like to think in the negative.
So I fought with myself a bit until I realized that bad situations happen and that is how we grow. I may not like it or give it much thought, but these things do happen and it’s important to have them happen in our manuscripts.
If you’re new to writing you’ll learn these three words come up quite regularly in classes and writing workshops. Everything seems to go back to defining the GMC for each character and every writer will tell you they have to figure out what their characters GMC’s are before they can complete a book. It matters, so spend time figuring this out. I know for me I found it difficult to decide. I wanted my heroine to be this, but also this, and also this. But then she was an ‘every person’ and not unique. And it made me so confused, I didn’t know how she would respond to any situation I put her in. So, as I learned to narrow the GMC’s down, it became easier to pinpoint exactly how my character would react. Which in turn made it easier to write.
So, the answer to my question—Am I really that shallow? Yes, Yes I was. And since recognizing that, I’ve been able to learn more about GMC and how to go deeper in my writing, which in turn has helped me move closer to my goal of becoming a published author.
Hugs & Blessings,
Denise
Although new to the writing fiction world, Denise Colby has over 20+ years experience in marketing, creating different forms of content and copy for promotional materials. Taking the lessons learned from creating her own author brand Denise M. Colby, Denise enjoys sharing her combined knowledge with other authors.
If you are interested in a marketing evaluation and would like help in developing a strategy for your author brand you can find out more here http://denisemcolby.com/marketing-for-authors/
Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work and School Day and don’t forget the mocha latte by Jina Bacarr
October 11, 2017 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as author, latte, novels, princess, royal, teddy bear, Teddy Bear Work Day, writing
Writers write.
Teddy bears cuddle.
Who is in more need of a cuddle than a writer staring at the empty page?
So on Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work and School Day, grab those wonderful teddies and sit them next to your computer. Then watch the words fly onto the page as they whisper into your ear. Helping you write that love scene with more oomph…or googling research for you.
But if your teddy bears are like mine, they don’t work for peanuts.
Nope. It’s got to be double lattes. Pumpkin spice and a salted caramel mocha.
Who am I to argue? I think I’ll join them…delicious.
Happy writing!
~Jina
PS — I’m working on a new Royals of Monterra Kindle Worlds for Christmas called Royal Noel.
Here’s a video with my current Monterra novels available on Amazon:
The Royals of Monterra — 4 books! from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
Royals of Monterra series:
Twisted Tiaras:
Book 1: Royal Dare: It ain’t easy getting clean . . . even for a princess.
Nothing Found
Book 2: Royal Bride: Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love?
Nothing Found
Book 3: Royal Kiss: Even a goody two shoes princess can get lost down the rabbit hole.
Nothing Found
———–
Fairy Tales & Magic:
Royal Magic: The magic is in his kiss . . . a Philly girl falls in love with a royal magician.
Nothing Found
Never Give In
October 9, 2017 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz
Once again, I’m in the middle of having no idea how my life will go in the near future. John’s job in New Zealand is over, and we are waiting to find out where we will live next. He’s interviewed all over the world, from Seattle to Stockholm, so we could end up anywhere. Meanwhile, we’re living out of four suitcases and guest room-hopping in Southern California.
Does that sound romantic? One of my friends said it did with a smile and a sigh. Consider it more deeply. I can’t make plans. I have no place to call home. I don’t have a recipe box or my usual kitchen appliances to cook what I’m used to eating. I don’t know how many groceries to buy because I don’t know if I’ll have to give them away soon if I buy too much. (We gave away over $500 of groceries when John got his last job because we didn’t know we’d be moving out of the country.) I can’t even buy many gifts because some would be too big to move, or would have the wrong type of electricity if we moved out of the country again.
Of course there are lots of positives as well! I’ve lived in other countries and seen beautiful lands and made amazing friends all over the world. I’ve seen my home country from different perspectives, which has helped me to understand the world a little better. I’ve eaten different foods and participated in different activities that I never would’ve known about.
But running a business as you constantly pack and unpack and move and move again is very difficult. A single move may cause you to have to pause your work temporarily, or work only on a laptop for a few weeks. But I’ve moved three times in the last year. (Hear my ginormous sigh.) When your life gets uprooted often enough, you may consider quitting and doing something else that you hope won’t be so difficult.
When I started writing this, I temporarily named the article, “Never Give Up, Never Surrender” because I love the movie Galaxy Quest. But I remembered a zippered pouch my husband gave me with a Winston Churchill quote on it, “Never, never, never give up” so I did a little research to share that with you as well.
What he actually said was:
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
Any of us can use those words to strengthen ourselves against what pushes at us, what seems to be attacking us. Never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Sound advice.
But it was another section of Churchill’s speech that made me decide to write this for you. Listen to this:
You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination.
He doesn’t say more on this, but segues into the “never give in” part of his speech. [You can read the text of the speech here (with two added paragraphs that aren’t in the audio) or listen to it here.] But it made me think. Yes, we imaginative, creative types see so many possibilities in the world. We see kind people and angry people and imagine them to be life-givers and destroyers. We see beauty and ugliness and we imagine them to be fleeting and forever.
We can create a new future just with our imaginations. But what will we choose to create? Something life-giving or something destructive?
Today, I’m tired. Bone tired. Soul tired. I don’t know how to have the strength to get through the next few months. But I don’t have to get through the next few months. I don’t have to decide now whether I believe the near future will be a blessing or a curse. I only have to decide what to do and how to feel now. In today’s box.
In today’s box, I only have to post this blog, go to church, and move to another friend’s guest room. In today’s box, I only have to buy groceries for the next few days. In today’s box, I only have to try to relax and enjoy a Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow I will figure out what is in the new “today’s box.”
Even Jesus preached this wisdom when He said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
I suspect that an upcoming “today’s box” will include looking for a substitute teaching job, something that can be started and stopped with a moment’s notice. Will I give in to the impulse to quit trying to make this writing business work? It’s tempting.
But I can use my imagination to see the world being a better place when people read my fun, encouraging, uplifting stories. I can imagine other writers being inspired by me to not quit when they listen to my podcast, read my nonfiction books and articles, and listen to me teach them what I know.
And I can imagine myself choosing each day to believe more in the good than the bad. I can believe more that we can make the world a better place, not allowing my imagination to see the world sucking the life out of me.
We have more power than we realize. We must use it. To encourage ourselves, to encourage others, to choose not to quit trying to make the world a little brighter because of what we do and who we are.
Decide with me today – never give in.
Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. She writes romantic comedy and superhero urban fantasy, often with an inspirational element woven in. WRITE NOW! Workshop, her website where she teaches and offers advice on self-publishing and time management, is under renovation. Look for the new website near the end of 2017!
Murder By Magic, an Ebook by Meriam Wilhelm @meriamwilhelm
October 8, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as Cozy mystery, Meriam Wilhelm, Murder by Magic, New Moon Beach, WitchesWe are please to announce Murder by Magic, a new book in Meriam Wilhelm’s Witches of New Moon Beach series.
Murder by Magic is the sixth book Meriam has set in the fictional California town of New Moon Beach. However, there is a twist in this tale, Murder by Magic is a cozy mystery featuring Ola Mae Masters and, of course, magic. We hope you enjoy the book.
MURDER BY MAGIC
The word outsider describes Ola Mae Masters to a T.
The word outsider describes Ola Mae Masters to a T.
Orphaned at seven, raised by nuns, and tortured by an ability to read minds and see the dead, Ola Mae wanted nothing more than to find a place she could call home. Hoping for the best, she landed in New Moon Beach, opened a bookstore and settled into her new life.
But all was not as it seemed. Fate had delivered Ola Mae, into a cauldron filled with far too many shocks and surprises. Not the least of which was that she wasn’t really an orphan, but part of the powerful family of witches who had settled in her town.
Opening their arms to their sister, they help her hone her witchy powers just in time because a dark evil has come to New Moon Beach that will engulf Ola Mae in a maze of murder, magic, and mayhem that only she can control. With the support of her new family, her emerging supernatural skills, and the guidance of a handsome, magically gifted man Ola Mae must navigate a maze of death and destruction to save New Moon Beach and the man she loves.
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