Where Do I Read? (Kate O'Hara)

Almost anywhere is a good spot for a good read. My first choice is my cozy bed. I can read until my eyes get tired and doze off dreaming about the characters in the story. I read anytime and anyplace I have to wait: doctor’s office, dentist, DMV, etc.  It makes the wait seem shorter and keeps my brain alert. Reading is something I do every day if I can.

While I do like a real hardbound book with real print when I’m reading in bed, I hate carrying one around when I leave home. I don’t like the small print in paperbacks either. I have adopted Kindle as my reading app and love it! I carry a Kindle Fire in my briefcase on trips out of town. I can adjust the brightness to fit nearly any surrounding and change the font size to suit my eyes. For jaunts about town, I read from the Kindle app on my phone. It’s so handy and has nearly all the features of my larger Kindle.

I do some proofing and beta-reads for other authors. I use to do these on the computer, but now send the files to my Kindle. It’s so easy to tap the screen and make a note to check later. That way I’m not stuck at the computer and can proof anywhere. My only complaint is Kindle doesn’t have a means to print the notes after I’ve finished. I have to either make the corrections on the .doc copy or send a list of changes in an email. I have talked to Amazon and suggested adding that feature to future apps, but they aren’t quick to change something which obviously works well for most users.

Wherever you read, enjoy yourself. Reading changes lives, opinions, outlooks and hearts. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Kate

Where Is My Favorite Reading Place? (Z. Minor)

I read wherever I can balance a book on my lap or in my hand. I do have a Kindle which I kind of like – more because of the purchase price of the books. If I am traveling I don’t have to cart along a box of books. In truth I don’t like to read a story on a computer either.

When I read my own novels I usually print them out. I can write comments on the paper and later go to my office, in the basement, and make any necessary changes.

An actually printed book is my preference of reading material. I like the feel of the cover in my hands and the actually touching of the pages. If it is a research book and it belongs to me I sometimes will write in the margins or on the blank pages in the back or front of the book. When I find an interesting historical tidbits, usually when I am doing specific research for one of my stories, I will sometimes write a heading for the type of information and the page number when the details can be found. That way I don’t have to scour the entire book looking for the information a second time.  I find it very hard to go backward in a Kindle book looking for information be it a novel or research material.

If a book is well written the story carries me to the time and place of the novel. So it matters not where I am actually reading. Most often I read in our small library/TV room. I sit in a recliner, which is a fairly comfortable chair. We do need to buy some new chairs as we have worn out the ones we are currently using.

Most often, I will read and kind of watch a T.V. show at the same time. I usually can follow the show on the T.V. while I read. Of course it depends on the type of book/show. Sometimes I only read when the commercials come on- however on some T.V. stations the ads seem to run longer than the actual shows.

I love to read so I always find time to do so no matter where I am.

 Z. Minor

Author of Historical Romantic & Contemporary Suspense Novels.

My Favorite Place To Read (Katherine Pritchett)

      Where is my favorite place to read? Well, lately, it’s been airplane seats (especially during a 26-hour travel day, with an overnight spent in the Dallas airport). It’s one place that there is not much else I should be doing. At home, I read anywhere I don’t have to watch where I’m going or handle power tools. My recliner is pretty comfy, though it occasionally lulls me into dozing as I’m reading. I read in bed a lot, too, often waking with a book on my face. I read at the kitchen table while eating my lunch. Sometimes I read on the couch with my feet up, Wimpy Dog snuggled beside me. However, the loveseat is pretty small for the both of us, and his moaning and groaning trying to get me to move over when there is no room disturbs my focus on the words. He also drools. Or maybe I did. Sometimes I sit on my front porch and read with my coffee on Saturday mornings on those rare days when I don’t have a full day of yard work or a meeting to attend. I read when I’m watching my grandson, while he’s napping (after I’ve had mine!). My granddaughters read in a hammock slung between their deck and a nice tree, shaded in all but early morning. I didn’t try it out on my last trip, though, daunted by a foot of snow and air temps hovering just at one degree.

               Still, I don’t read as many novels as I’d like. When I start to read a novel, unless it is truly horrible, I can’t stop. I’m an addict. I have to have more. Besides cuddling in my favorite places, I’ve tried reading while vacuuming, riding the exercise bike, working out on the elliptical, while loading laundry or dishes, while cooking, at stoplights, in restaurants. I look forward to work travel, because it often means I have a room to myself and can read myself to sleep instead of putting in another hour working via email. Usually, whatever else I’m trying to do suffers as I read, but I don’t care, because I’m so immersed in the world on the page that when I do try to come out, I’m disoriented, one foot still in that world. And it keeps trying to pull me back. While I conduct other tasks, my mind is pondering the foreshadowing in the novel, wondering what twist will come next, feeling the characters’ emotions more than my own.

                Therefore, I stick to magazines, as I can sometimes force myself to stop with one article (or two) or the monthly excerpts our local critique group brings to share. Otherwise, my house is adrift in the fur Wimpy Dog sheds daily, I run out of clean dishes and clothes, I sleep through the alarm, skip meetings, and my yard is knee high. To function in my life, I must try to control my addiction. But I have two flights coming up in May, and four books set aside for reading on them…

My Writer's Toolbox (Melissa Robbins)

      Every person wanting to improve his or her craft must have the right tools. A painter needs the right brushes to paint his masterpiece and yes I spend $6.99 a piece on the really nice markers at the craft store. There is a difference between coloring with those than the Crayola ones. The same applies to writers. Let’s open my writer’s toolbox and find out what helps me.

  

   My library (looking rather tidied up at the moment): Of course it fits in my toolbox. My box is bigger on the inside. ;0) The library is my favorite room in the house which makes it ideal to create stories. Along with my desk and computer, my library shelves are full of books to fuel my creativity and for research purposes. Don’t forget the comfortable chair for reading. Since I burned up the laptop, my husband insisted that our next PC be a professional computer, one designed for staying on for long periods of time. I LOVE it.

   My plotting board: Also in the library, it’s on the right just out of the picture. I would be lost without it. Scenes are on cards and I pinned them to my bulletin board. I know what scenes I have to write and where I’m going, like a road map.

   The Internet opened so many doorways into worlds that some people would never experience. One day, I hit the jackpot. Some wonderful souls imputed for a digital diary ALL the incidents in Northeast England during World War Two. I know when the blackout times were for each day. What areas were hit. Damage reports. Times when the sirens went on and off. Everything.

    Photographs: I collected photographs for people, uniform and clothing references. What houses looked like in the 40’s. Speaking of tools, there are photographs for items that we just don’t use anymore with technology. My fourteen year old boy can’t just throw a shirt in the front loading washer, not that he would do that if he could.

   My notebooks: I need a place to put all the items I found for my stories. My toolbox may be ever expanding, but my brain can only remember so much. The leather bound ones are my favorite. I write ideas and scenes in them. Stuff in photographs of people, planes, and houses, maps, and sketches I’ve drawn. They are novel scrapbooks.

    Music: I can’t write in silence. I HAVE to have music playing softly in the background. When I sit down at my computer to start writing, I click on Itunes, Word, and Excel in that order. Lately, I play soundtracks like Transformers 4: Age of Extinction and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Both epic soundtracks, the songs inspire me and my characters. Some songs are soft when my hero is contemplating the world and other songs when he and his mates are taking on the bad guys. Drago’s Coming is my favorite one from HTTYD2. It’s a “let’s ban to together and kick some villain butt” song. With its mournful pipes and trumpet, Stoick’s Ship makes a great song for a fallen comrade.

   That’s just some of the items in my writer’s toolbox. Do you have any like these in yours?

Do-It-Yourself...Writing Retreat, That Is (Penny Rader)

http://bit.ly/NRyHS9

I wasn't able to attend the Romance Writers of America national conference last week in Anaheim, but I sure wish I could’ve been there.

So…I poked around the internet for tips on creating my own writing retreat and thought I’d share a few tidbits.  I hope you’ll click on the links and read the full posts.

Create Your Own Mini-Writing Retreat by Kathryn Haueisen Cashen

• Rethink your definition of a retreat.
• Commit to yourself.
• Create a portable writing kit.
• Set a goal for each retreat.
• Start small.
• Take a bigger leap.
• Get creative.

The DIY Writer’s Retreat by Jason Theodor

• Book vacation time.
• Find a remote place to stay.
• Remove distractions.
• Stock good, simple food.
• Organized files.
• Comfortable writing space.
• Physical space/mental space.
• Natural sleep.
• Obligation-free companionship.
• Accountability.
• Momentum.

http://bit.ly/MY7QmC

DIY Writing Retreat by Kelli Russell Agodon

Notes from the author:

• Do the longer assignments earlier in the day.
• If you need to generate material to do a poem (say a word list, images from childhood, etc.) do this BEFORE you get there.
• Have assignments for the end of the day that have more structure so when your brain conks out, you still have something to draw from.

...keep an open mind. We each brought new exercises, some we'd never tried before. We did not know if they would work or what would happen. Some exercises produced fantastic first drafts for all of us that we will continue to work on, others fell flat. We did not base our success on what we had written, but on the fact that we had tried something new and were all there together.

How to Create Your Own Writing Retreat by Midge Raymond

• Just do it.
• Gather your fellow writers together
• Clear the decks.
• Create your space.
• Stay offline.
• Give yourself guidelines.
• Afterward, assess the pros and cons, the highs and lows
• Schedule retreats often

Retreat Between the Pages with Elizabeth Ayres

Elizabeth Ayres, author, writing teacher, and founder of the Elizabeth Ayres Center for Creative Writing has paved the way for writers to take a retreat from everyday life with her book Writing the Wave: Inspired Rides for Aspiring Writers . For the price of the book and a cup of coffee, a writer can use Writing the Wave as a weekly retreat to stimulate creativity and learn, or re-learn, the fundamentals of writing.

Taking a Personal DIY Writer’s Retreat by Joan Whetzel
…the personal writer’s retreat is centered on writing, either concentrated working on writing in progress, concentrating on improving current writing skills, or adding new skills or techniques to the writer’s tool box. It can be combined with a personal retreat, where the writer recharges his or her batteries, either by sleeping more, taking naps, going to a restful location, exploring other creative outlets, eating better, exercising, or even taking a partial or complete break from writing – whatever it takes to refill the writer’s creative juices so he or she can get back to the business of writing with a fresh – or refreshed – perspective.


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http://bit.ly/Q7DJfe

Are you inspired? Going to plan your own writing retreat? If you need a book or two with writing prompts to get you going, I've listed several of my favorites in a post I wrote a couple years ago, Need a Jump Start?  

If memory serves, WARA has another retreat planned for early October.

If you’ve already planned your writing retreats, please share what worked and what didn’t.