I’LL TAKE FAVORITE AUTHOR FOR $800, ALEX by Reese Mobley

Ever stroll up to the ooey-gooey donut counter, lean in real close, glance ever so slightly to the left and to the right? Wipe the drool from the corners of your mouth so it doesn’t puddle at your feet. All in the name of scoring the one pastry with the most generous donation of rainbow sprinkles, chocolate frosting so rich it looks like it was spread by the angels above or sugar-coated donuts so plump with filling you could use them for pillows. Then you straighten up to meet the eyes of the lucky clerk who most assuredly goes home every night smelling of chocolate, vanilla and decadent cream or fruit filling and for one brief moment you wish you were them. Then the man in the suit behind you pokes you to hurry the decision process along.

But you can’t choose because you can only have one.

Well, that’s how I feel about choosing a favorite author. These days there are so many choices. Reading compliments my moods. There are times when a girl just wants to be swept off her feet with a good old fashioned love story. For that I turn to LaVyrle Spencer. If I’m craving a quick laugh and even quicker read I turn to Janet Evanovich. For family dramas with that emotional punch, no one beats Kristin Hannah. If you like the kind of book that tugs at your heartstrings, drains your tear-ducts dry and leaves you spent, well, no one beats Jodi Piccoult. Need a fix with a mix of humor, family and love then Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Jenny Crusie are your suppliers.

I could go on forever about the writers I like, but choose a favorite? I don’t think so. It would be easier to choose a jelly donut and we all know how well that goes.

Hugs,

Reese

Fears Come In All Sizes And Types

I thought long and hard and missed my day yesterday to blog due to farm hell. But now we're finished with harvest and everyone can go back to their own corner, I'm ready to proceed.

What I was thinking about was the horror of election time. Characters are shredded, points are made, and the electorate would like to put ear muffs on the kids.

However, over the years I've been growing ever more aware of things around us not being as I thought they were. Imagine that. As my eyes have been opened and the area behind my ears dried out, I realized that a lot of people don't vote. Then I kept my ears open and discovered that unlike what the news-people will tell you, that it isn't voter apathy that keeps people from voting, but fear; fear of the unknown, fear of making a fool of oneself, and fear of making a mistake. So, I started talking to people, one on one, why they didn't vote--exactly why. Many didn't know how or who to ask. Many didn't know how to decide. Many felt too stupid. I realized that what we needed to help us conquer our fear is a little basic information:

Let us start with how to vote.

To register to vote:

Go to your local driver's license renewal location or your county clerk's office.

You can register as a party member (Democrat, Republican, Communist, whatever your pleasure) or

You can register as an Independent, meaning you're registered to vote, but not declaring a party. If you don't declare a party, you can't vote in their primary--just the general and special elections.

Now you're registered. What next? Call your county clerk, tell them where you live, and ask where the poll will be set up for you. Usually, you are informed by mail. A poll is a place to vote. It can be a school, a government building, or the living room of someone's house.

On voting day, go to the poll, between the hours of 7 AM to 7 PM (hours may change to more but never less) and vote. Some areas allow early voting. Again, call your county clerk and ask if it exists in your local area and how to go about it. There may even be mail-in options.

How to vote? The machines, papers, or whatever necessary to do the job changes regularly. There is always an explanation at the polls on how to use the equipment and someone there to answer any questions or demonstrate them. It is very ok to ask. Ask several times if you need to. Like I said, the equipment changes regularly enough that even a season voter has to ask questions.

What to vote? Ballots or explanation pages are set on tables so that you can read and understand them before actually entering the voting area. They are there to be read by anyone.

How to decide what to vote:

You decide that too. If, when you get into the room, face to face with the ballot, and all of it makes no sense, then finish it without making marks and turn it into the poll lady as if you did. No one will look at it. They can't by law. We have secret ballot in this country. It really is secret. No one sees it except to count from it. Your name is never on a ballot unless you're running for office!

Are you too stupid to vote?

No! You may not be comfortable choosing a president. Fine, don't vote that section. You might not be comfortable voting on a judge position. There is nothing that says a voter has to vote on every issue or even every race on a ballot. If you have a strong opinion on whether your neighborhood needs a new swimming pool and that is one of the issues, then vote your yes or no vote! If you have a little time before voting day and want more information, then look a question up. For example; this November we vote on whether we want to change our wording in our state constitution to clarify our right to bear arms in the state of Kansas. On this one, if you believe it to be an independent, a personal right, then vote yes. If you believe it to be a militia or military right, vote no. Oddly, this has been unclear in our state since before the first world war ended in 1918! You are also free to NOT VOTE on this issue even though you might on others. There are other issues on your ballot that might not be on mine in a different district. Ballots are individualized for each district depending upon the needs of those people (electorate). Some things on the ballot are the same for all Kansans. One would be the choice of president. The governor, state attorney general, state treasurer and many more are open for voting on when the terms of the individual offices are up or someone has left office.

Other voter items are on local school board members, mayors, city councilmen, and even sometimes whether to put in a stop light at a specific location. Don't keep yourself from making local decisions that make a difference in your every day world, because you wish to stay out of the state and federal decision making.

Does your vote count? Every vote counts. I've had to count them. We strung them on a huge curved needle with a heavy string attached to it and a button on the other. As each ballot was counted and looked at by six people, the ballot was strung on the string to keep from accidently counting a ballot twice. The people counting votes are from several parties, no party is left alone with ballots. Ballots are never left with only one person in attendance.

CAUTION: No one is allowed within a certain distance of a polling area to influence you to vote a certain specific way. This is illegal in most states. Report it.

A weird little question: Do you know how long/big the constitution of the United States really is? It will fit in your shirt pocket with room for an ipod and takes a half hour to an hour to read.

I hope this little bit of information helps dispel the biggest fear of the season--our electoral process. If you think this info doesn't fit with a writerly life, think again. What the government does sways the mood of the people. As the mood of the people goes, so goes their money. As the money of the people go, we writers want them to buy what we sell. What romance writers sell is hope. If the people prosper, they buy retail. If the people do not prosper, they go to the library. We need the people to prosper, vote accordingly.

Consistency? What's that?

Consistency is what makes the security of life. If we sit back and think about it, all around we have evidence that security is an illusion. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Well, Yuk! Who likes that? No one. Not forever. Not even thrill seekers, those living the very edge of adrenaline, want to be in the dark about where a good meal and a great bed can be found.

But, as writers, we deal with fantasy, imagination, not reality. Is consistency important to us? Will it advance a plot? Will it carve itself into the characters of our work? Will it kill the urgency of our mental adventure?

No.

Why not?

Because there is a deep human need for consistency even to the point of foolishness. We don't like wishy-washy thought processes--even though many of us are mired in them regularly. We don't like not knowing where our car is, that's why we have habits of always parking in the same place--if we can. We don't like our spouses coming home with wild ideas of what togetherness is all about--unless they are consistently exploring it and we're used to those explorations!

What will we do about this consistency issue? Cater to it, ya dunderheads. Oops, my pirate story is interrupting me. Did it pop you out of your need for consistency in this explanation? Well, so too do little inconsistencies in your story. Experienced writers are able to automatically edit these as they write. The rest of us may have to go back and re-read our story to edit them out.

What are we to look for?

1. Are the characters staying consistent in their physical abilities and actions?

2. Are the characters staying consistent in their mental talk? Their speech?

3. Is everyone staying consistent in their time period, their world, their relationships?

4. Are all of the secondary portions of the story staying consistent? The friends? The accouterments? The food? Weather?

Having looked for all of the above and fixed them, what do we do next? We make sure and solid that in catering to the desire for consistency, we make sure the style of our story fits the genre we're writing in? Why? Because a romance reader wants to read romance. An adventure reader wants to read adventure. A western reader wants to read westerns. What's a romance supposed to consistently have in it? A pair un-united that becomes united. Depending upon the sub-genre, the pair can be human or different species, but they must become united. That's a deal breaker. They must live happily ever after. That too is a deal breaker. There must be a sense of unity by reason of passion--the passion can be expressed or unexpressed, but it must be present in the room or the next, with the door closed or the next scene that exists only in the reader's mind--but it must be there.

The plot. What must it be to be consistent? Ah, but here is where we get to play. A plot is the sticky stuff we put our characters in. Consistency here is making sure that the type of sub-genre stays within certain unspoken guidelines. When experienced personnel in the writer's world you're trying to enter tell a writer to read within the publishing line they hope to sell to, this is where the unspoken guidelines come into play. Readers want consistency to the point they are stubbornly obsessive about reading stories like ones they've enjoyed reading before. About the only time they'll jump to another author is when their favorite author isn't keeping up with their reading speed and they need another book.

The value of consistency is a following of readers. The value of a following of readers is the warm breath of admiration. And who couldn't use more of that? The value of admiration also adds to the value of a writer to a publisher who rewards the writer with cold hard cash allowing a writer to keep themselves in shelter as they craft the next magical tale to warm a heart.

A savvy writer could then conclude that catering to the soul deep human need for security guaranteed by consistency is the very reason we exist and are encouraged to write. Since the security of consistency is so important, we should make sure the type of story we want to write is true to ourselves--we'll be doing consistent stories a looooonnnng time if our readers like what we do. The reward of the value of consistency in our writing and being true to our own stories is a long writing career. Be consistent. Be secure. Be happy.

What would we tell?

The purpose of this blog, when we began it, was for a couple of good reasons. However, they escaped me early on. What were we to accomplish? I forgot. I began to think it was more about what would we tell an aspiring writer.

I wanted to explain that the road ahead may look confusing, but it is about telling a story in your own words in your own way.

I wanted to reassure a new writer that it is the story that is important to readers, not the picture on the inside cover. (At least not until that writer has beguiled away many an hour with words from that author.) So don’t fret the small stuff.

I wanted to inform all unpublished writers who come our way that there are more ways than you can count to sabotage your future in this profession. From limited writing output because we’re so busy, to being such a perfectionist that we keep reworking the material. Either way, nothin’s being published.

I wanted to teach. That didn’t happen, but it was because I’m not such great shakes myself at some things. Grammar. It can be such a problem that writers would prefer to not use some words rather than fight to learn to use them. What could be so awful? Lie. Lye. Lay. Laid. Lain. Figuring out where and how to use them can be a nightmare for some of us. To, two, and too can be too much to bear, or is it bare?

I wanted to expose writers to the magic of the moment as the story unfolds from their fingers.

I wanted to encourage new writers to expose their hearts and efforts so that they could receive admirations for their work. Later comes other good things—like cash, but first some honest admiration sooths the wrinkles from a writer’s inner self worth.

Did we succeed in educating, supporting, and assisting new writers up the path a little farther? I’m not sure that we did as well as we wished. But I am sure that those who came went away a little richer for the experience.

Above all I wanted to entice writers to…

Come. Join us. We won’t bite.

Education: How much is enough?

Many people think writers have more education than other people. Well, yes, they do. But the real question is what and where did they receive their education? The 'what' comes in handy to craft the stories. The 'where'? It is everywhere.

When writing begins, the crafting starts.

Crafting a story begins with an idea. Then we put the words on the page. The words may be planned and tidy or messy and sloppy. The parts of a sentence may be all neat and orderly or slapdashedly placed with fragments and words misspelled. It doesn't make any difference. The important part is the story. The education with words will come, either in the beginning or by the end.

If one is educated in words prior to writing, then one might be able to craft phrases that are lilting and heartfelt, colorful and imaginative, maybe even correct in their grammer. That is the eyes, skin, and hair of a story. There is also the way a story moves, breathes, and sighs to contend with. Quite often those with minor word educations can toss the characters around like smitten beauty queens languishing in a pirate's berth or men of action throwing the reigns to the ground as they dismount with sword at side, never realizing that throwing yourself off a horse with a sword on your belt might cause a little difficulty as it gets caught in the saddle or jabs a horse's parts. See, now that poor writer has to figure out how to get their hero to the ground on his feet and not jab a portion of their horse's anatomy while dodging their steeds sidestepping hooves. Education strikes again. This time about horses, swords, and getting on or off a horse. Do you know why horses are mounted from the left side? To avoid the issue just described. A left-handed swordsman would need to give it go from the right side. A writer of such a story would need to familiarize (another word for educate) himself about horses, riding, swords, and how to use them.

How about education in fire arms? There was once an entry for a writing contest that had a huge hole blown in a door because someone inside the store was shooting at a raccoon that had mysteriously managed to be in the store. A huge hole blown in a wooden door might look great in a movie, but it can't really happen. Any door strong enough to be on hinges isn't delicate enough to have a huge hole blown in it by a shot gun. Shot guns shoot shot. Shot is usually pellets. The largest pellets are usually the size around as a little finger. There might be nine of those in a shotgun shell. How could you make a hole in a door large enough to step through with only that? So what is the real lesson--veracity. The stories have to have believability.

How about education in reading theory? One is the suspended disbelief theory. That theory teaches us that when a reader picks up a piece of fiction to read that they are ready to suspend disbelief (not toss the book down) long enough to have a false belief in a story. This suspension of disbelief happens most notably in fantasy, science fiction, and historicals. Those types of books have to make enough logical sense for the reader to maintain their fiction as believable. A writer will need to be educated about logic.

A writer will need to be educated on how to do research. Most of us didn't wake up one morning knowing how to do it.

If a writer didn't know about grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the beginning of their writing careers, they will certainly need that education by the end. They are the blueprint markings that make sense of a story.

It is possible to be overly formally educated with words. Often the problem is that words that come to the paper are too stilted to make fine reading. This kind of thing happens because writing a novel is messier. They are not like essays or instructions for how to put hair dye on your hair. The writing has to make entertaining sense or pack emotional impact for the reader. A novel that reads like an essay might put a novel reader to sleep. An ad for hair dye might be exciting, might have a little mystery, it might even have a satisfactory ending, but the length--ah, too short.

Quite often those of higher schooling get a little snobbish about who can write and who cannot. Quite often those of little formal schooling get caught in a tailspin of despair thinking they don't have what it takes to write. Everyone and anyone may write a fantastic, well loved story. The education, which can come from anywhere at anytime, combined with desire, and drive is that which is needed to craft a fantastic, well loved story.

The Story of the Dresses

Penny is a writer with WARA. While answering one of her comments on our blog, I wanted to share the story of the dresses. I decided the story of the dresses is so important that it would be my next blog. I hope you all enjoy them.

Here’s what Penny had to say:

Penny Rader has left a new comment on your post "Where'd THAT come from?":

"...writing talent, ability, and desire are not the stuff of knowing, it is the stuff of exploration."

Wow. Thanks for this, Nina. I'm not one of those people who knew from birth that she wanted to write. I am one of those people who freaks herself out and lets fear get in her way because most of the time I just don't know what to write, or I'm afraid it will be stupid and no one will like it or "get" it. I do get an excited thrill when a scene, or at least part of a scene, pops into my head. I just wish it would happen more often, with more regularity.

Penny and all of us who have fears concerning what people think about what we do and how we do it. You may have a few fears. I have gobs of them. But let me share two stories that give me confidence. (Both are true.)

My dress: It was really long, belted, with a rounded neckline and rounded bodice and had rounded poofie three-quarter sleeves. It was a two-piece dress. The skirt’s fullness was quarter circle to my knees with two more extremely full flounces below that—extending to the bottom hem near my feet. Each flounce made it even larger in circumference at the bottom. It was light in weight made from sheery cotton gauze with muted blue flowers and gray-green leaves. I had to make a slip that went under it (not quite as full as the skirt) or face indecent exposure charges.

I also made the dress. When I moved, it flared. I was chunky to put it lightly--in today's world, Size 20. One memorable night I wore it square dancing at a singles dance club in Denver. I was on top of the world, I loved that dress, so much, but I wasn’t asked to dance every dance. Then, intermission came. The band put on a recorded western swing tune that still plays in my head. It was some sort of waltzy thing, but FAST! The bandleader/caller asked me for a dance--right then. I took the challenge and swept onto the floor--empty except for him and me. He danced me in wide, fast, sweeping circles that took up most of the room. Following his commanding lead, I somehow never missed a step. The other people, dancers and band, clapped when we finished the last dress-flaring turn as the music stopped. He bowed, thanked me for the dance, and I never saw him again. That was one of the best three minutes of my life. My mom, sister, and friends had insisted the dress made me look like a barrel. Didn't matter. I loved the way it moved. If I had not made that dress and had been too afraid of what other's thought to wear it, I would have missed one of the most exciting dances of my life--I'm sure I was asked to dance because of that dress. He wanted to dance with IT! But, if I'd not have been a good enough dancer, we would both have cratered and our mutual enjoyment would have been much less. The dress finally got a couple of tears in it and I had to burn it to keep myself from wearing it. I ended up dancing quite a lot in that dress….

Dress Number 2: (A friend’s)

Black velvet sheath, short length, spaghetti straps. My friend had no business in that dress! It accentuated some not-so-positive portions of her chunky self. However, in that dress, that she made, she felt ever sooooo sexy. With one little twitch, a strap fell. You can't believe how much conversation she encountered because of a fallen strap. It did not look cheap, believe it or not. I think it was because she glowed in that dress, It became, not a dress, but a part of her woman's mystery. That's what the guy's responded to.

So, you see, Penny and everyone, whenever I get to listening too much to whatever someone else says about something I'm passionate about, I remember the dresses.

What you do should please YOU! Then opportunity will arise. Ya gotta be pleased with the dress before you can dance.

JUST DO IT

I’d like to think about the voices in our heads. I’m not talking about characters, but the voices that tell us about our capabilities. The voices can sound something like this: You can’t write. You can write part of a book but you can’t write the whole thing. It was a fluke, you did it once, but you can’t do it again. It’s going to dry up, and you won’t be able to write another thing. You didn’t win that contest so they think you can’t write. You didn’t even place in the contest. You got a rejection slip (or ___ rejection slips); you’ll never get published. You can’t diagram a sentence, why do you think you can write? Only your friends and family say you can write…they have to say that. See, you haven’t written in (fill in the length of time)…you’re not a writer. Or, better stick with what you’ve got, you’ll never make it with another publisher/genre/etc.

There seems to be a simple, effective answer to all of the above. It is to write. Just do it. Inigo DeLeon is credited with having said that the only cure for writer’s block is writer‘s cramp. It is true also for quieting the negative criticisms in your head. How can you be productive if you are busy thinking of reasons that you can’t write? The answer is to write about anything. It starts the creative juices flowing.

Try this: Next time you’re stumped,or want to quiet the negative voices, write a paragraph about the old woman that lives in the tumbledown cottage set back off the road. The front stoop is crooked, the house is a wreck, but the yard is magnificent. Every conceivable flower grows there. What is she like? Who is she? How do you know her? Why is there a gravestone out back behind her cottage? Start writing about her and your creative ideas will start to feed on one another, bursting forth into other areas, including your current story. Creative ideas are like rabbits. Give them the slightest opportunity and they become prolific. (By the way, I'd love to read your stories about the old woman...)

It doesn’t matter what anyone has ever said to you about your writing. If you are reading this blog, you have an interest in writing. KEEP WRITING. Just do it. Make yourself sit down and write. Something. Anything. Write a 'to do' list, if that’s all you can come up with for the moment. Just put your fingers on the keyboard, or pen to paper, and DO THE PHYSICAL ACT OF WRITING. Your mind will engage and start to produce. The physical act of writing leads to inspiration. Tell all the voices to shut up and write. Just do it.

Positive voices help us be productive, yet they can have a negative backlash. Remember the Rocky movies? Rocky won because he had, “The eye of the tiger,” a fierce desire (and need) to win. Sometimes positive voices take away the eye of the tiger. We can become complacent, or too comfortable, and thus, less productive. Or we can think we did it once but can’t do it again. Rocky lost the eye of the tiger and had to regain it before he could win again. Firmly put all the voices out of your head and just write…with determination. Just do it.

It doesn’t matter who has given negative feedback, whether it’s an editor, published writer, neighbor, friend, family member, teacher, or another aspiring author. Each person is entitled to their opinion. But they are just opinions. Many famous authors received a ridiculous amount of rejection slips before being published. Rejection can lead to better writing (see the last link below). Just because you are getting negative feedback from one or a few sources doesn’t mean you’re not a writer and not a good one. Just write and rewrite. Now, if every single source ever tells you that you can’t write, perhaps you should reconsider. But if there was one opinion, ever, anywhere, that gave you positive feedback (and I’m guessing there was or you wouldn’t be reading this), you have an audience out there that wants to read what you’re writing. Or, to put it another way, from the last link that follows, “If you like what you write, someone else will too.”

The voices can drive you crazy if you listen to them or worry about what they are saying. Tell them to shut up. There are also voices of emotion. You cannot wait until you FEEL like writing. It’s great when feelings prompt you to write. But what about when they keep you from writing? Ignore those feelings right along with the voices. And, there are voices of duty. Yes, you have a life to live, but these voices will stop you from ever writing if you let them. If you’re not ready to write on your current project, write something else. But write.

When asked for his single-best, most-important, can’t-live-without writing tip, John Grisham replied:
Write at least one page every day, without fail. If you’re trying to write a book, and you’re not writing at least one page a day, then the book is not going to get written.
(http://www.inkygirl.com/john-grisham-first-novel-rejected-28-times-advises-writers-to-aim-for-a-page-a-day/ )

Sit down in a chair with pen & paper or keyborad. Now, write. JUST DO IT.

http://httpwww.helium.com/items/1444307-how-to-use-rejection-slips-to-improve-your-writing