new year, new writing

img_2251It’s hard to believe we are ten days into the new year already. With a new year always comes new expectations, and as a writer it’s hard not to set that bar high with goals and aspirations for the next twelve months.

After all, it’s a new year- with no mistakes in it.

Yet.

Maybe you want to make up for what you didn’t do last year. Maybe you want to be more consistent with your blog, your marketing, your WIP, your planning, your pantsing– maybe all of the above. Whatever the case, remember to give yourself some breathing room. Just because it’s a new year does not mean everything is going to change over night.

After Christmas and before New Year’s Eve, I sat down and planned out my blogging for the next three months. I have high hopes for sticking to it, and doing the same thing in March before my plans are up.

I know I can do it. The question is will I make the time to do it.

With the blogging I planned out my timelines for my current projects. One by Valentine’s Day, the other by June. Both projects need editing and, well, one needs to be completely finished. Once again, I know I can do it. The question is will I make the time to do it.

If y’all have any advice as to how to stick to goals and timelines, by all means toss them my way. But since I’m usually in the position to share, I thought I’d put before you what normally keeps me going.

STAY CALM & SEIZE/MAKE TIME

Even just ten minutes a day of writing means that I’ve done something. Or an hour a week. Or thirty minutes one evening. I don’t have to sit down and force myself to write every day (although I know some authors do, and I am thoroughly impressed but this). I do have a life outside my writing life, and have a lot going on, at that, in that other whole side of things. But I also know I’ll be more than disappointed in myself if I don’t do my best to reach these goals. And the best way to do that- is to stay calm, and seize the time that’s before me, and make time when it’s not 100% there.

BEND BUT DO NOT BREAK

Life happens. Plot holes happen. Murphy strikes and things are lost. I must allow myself to be flexible to these things so I do not break. Because if I am rigid and think that everything has to happen a certain way, I most certainly will break. We must bend with the outside world that has nothing and everything to do with our writing, but we must not let it break us– because then our writing would never make it.

BE THANKFUL, HUMBLE, & PROUD

Be thankful for all that you have already, especially when you don’t meet your goals. This is something I struggle with no and again, but something that is constantly on my mind and heart. I must be thankful, because without my friends, family, jobs, other activities, support– I wouldn’t be able to chase the author dream of mine.

Be humble in every way possible. Accept help if people offer it, so that you might apply it to your writing whenever possible. Do not brag about accomplishments or things that seem like big achievements or success, because nearly all of those things can be lost at some point.

Be proud. It is possible to be proud and humble at the same time. Be proud of what you accomplish. Be proud of your failures. Be proud of your dreams. These things help make up who you are, and you have worked so very hard for them. Keep them close to your heart. They, along with all the support and love in your life, will help you continue to believe in yourself.

This was a bit sappy, I know. But it’s January, am I right? I’ll sharpen up as the months pass by, promise!

blue tide review & giveaway!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Jenna-Lynne Duncan’s new book, BLUE TIDE– released January 9 (next Monday)! While I am honestly not usually a solely romance fan, this book had so much more to offer than swooning over the pirates. Here is what Goodreads has to say about it:

Seventeen-year-old refugee Lux plots her escape from the island where her family is stranded, denying that her home was lost in the Floods. Lux is determined to get her old life back by any means possible. But before her feet even leave the sand, she’s taken hostage by a vengeance-driven pirate nearly as young as she is.

Her capture is the key to his freedom…

Captain Draven’s scarf veils more than his face. Underneath, he struggles between morality and survival. When Lux sees deeper into his motivations, she’s torn. She can commit mutiny to escape to a home that may no longer exist, or she can try to help Draven escape the clutches of the person responsible for the deaths of half the world. Staying would mean entrusting her life to a pirate. Helping Draven would mean losing her heart to one.

I am not offering any spoilers, but this book did a wonderful job of pulling me in right off the bat. With the Middle Eastern influence and dystopian background underlying it all, I could not back away until I was done (which I luckily had a sick day to do just that!).

While there were some moments that made me roll my eyes every now and again at Lux, the MC, I loved the supporting characters that were a part of her life. I wished for more of Lilou, Ahmend, and Leif– so perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to get a second book? The ending left me aching for more Draven as well, but I won’t say more than that!

One last thing I really wanted more of was the history of the floods. While Armodeous seemed to elaborate on some of this, I wanted more details of what happened during the catastrophe that brought all the characters to where they were when we met them. I wanted to feel the disaster as much as I felt the pain Lux associated with the loss of her previous life.

That being said, if you don’t follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Twitter, now is the time! I am hosting a GIVEAWAY for this very book- a copy of BLUE TIDE (digital or paperback) that will be ordered/sent your way on its release day of JANUARY 9th! To enter, check out my other pages for more details.

Good luck, and happy reading!

 

a reflection on reading & writing in 2016

2016 has been full of many challenges, personal and otherwise. But I’m not here to reflect on what many are calling the worst year ever through the large scope. I’m here to focus on a few smaller things in the thick of it all.

This year I felt like I really got on track with my reading and writing again. I didn’t meet every goal, and certainly didn’t accomplish everything I set out to do– but it was a beautiful year nonetheless.

Take a moment to step away from the craziness of the outside world, and focus in on your little bubble. If you did any of these things, you deserve an extra glass of champagne (or sparkling cider in my case), or a few extra chocolate covered strawberries– or whatever you use to celebrate the new year, get extra.

YOU WROTE

It doesn’t matter if you only wrote a sentence, a page, a chapter, or a whole book. YOU WROTE. Give yourself some serious pats on the back. This is more than so many do. We probably can’t count how many times we’ve heard, “I’ve always wanted to write, BUT–” or, “I have this great book idea, BUT–”

You didn’t give in to that BUT. You made it a priority to get something down on paper (per say).

YOU READ

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t finish the book yet. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t make it past page one. You picked out a book and decided you were going to read it. Despite all the other distractions in life. Despite that to-do list that could be clogging up your brain. You decided to take the time and READ.

“How do you find time to read?”

“I want to read, I just don’t have the time!”

These might seem legitimate when they’re being said, but the only way you HAVE time, is to MAKE time. You decided that reading was a priority, and you sacrificed something else that might not have been necessary to the HERE and NOW (or some dirty dishes, or dusting, or whatever) and chose, instead, to take time to do something that is important to you.

And reading IS important. Just as important as writing. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

YOU CREATED SOMETHING

An article. A Lego castle. A painting. A story. A poem. A new recipe. An old recipe. A work project.

Whatever it was, you created something. You took something out of nothing, or something old, and made it brand spanking new and all your OWN.

THAT IS AMAZING.

YOU FAILED

 

You cannot fail at anything unless you TRY. If you failed at something, that means you took the first step and tried.

You queried a bunch of agents and got rejected. You created something that ended up not working out. You literally took a test and didn’t do your best.

Failure is a beautiful part of life. It is what makes us human, what makes us risk-takers, what makes us artists. There is no life, no art, no beauty without failure.

Remember that.

 

Despite all the bad, look on 2016 with love. You’re still here, still breathing, still fighting– and you can only hope that 2017 will end just as well.

 

HAPPY (almost) NEW YEAR!

 

Also, on a more personal note: thank you for following and encouraging and being here for me. This blog was a new project of 2016, and I can’t wait to see it continue to grow in 2017. God bless.

trackback thursday: birth of the american civil rights movement

rosa_parks_bookingOn December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back section of the bus.

Because she sat down and refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, Parks was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring blacks to relinquish seats to whites when the bus was full. African Americans were also supposed to sit at the back of the bus, which Parks refused to do.

Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott, by African Americans and others involved in the Civil Rights Movement, of the Montgomery bus system. It also led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation.

Parks and her husband were active in the Montgomery Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While working as a tailor’s assistant, Mrs. Parks served as chapter secretary. Later, she advised the NAACP Youth Council. Denied the right to vote on at least two occasions because of her race, Rosa Parks also worked with the Voters League to prepare blacks to register to vote.

Rosa Parks became known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” honored with awards around the world.

 

staying positive/thankful in the midst of rejections

Being a writer is hard.

Pretty sure we’ve talked about that before, but it’s never a subject that you can read too much.

Since Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the US of A, I thought it would be nice to remind you that you’re awesome. That you have so much to be thankful for as a writer. And that you can only go up from where you are.

If you don’t believe me, check out THIS ARTICLE that shares several authors who faced terrible rejections. If you’ll notice, all their names are recognizable now.

Don’t know how to stay positive? Hitting a rough patch with your writing, your publishing, your editing? Not to worry!

 

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A WRITING PARTNER

Having a friend/colleague/writing buddy who can always help your mood is important. Writers need writers to get by, to learn, to keep themselves pumped. I would be nowhere without the other amazing writers in my life. I’m pretty sure I would have given up at least ten times if I hadn’t been convinced otherwise.

You need people who understand what you’re going through. If you’re having a hard time connecting with other writers, there are some awesome groups through Facebook, blogging, and Twitter. The internet is your friend with this!

 

JUST KEEP WRITING

Maybe you got a bad review, or your 19th rejection from querying, or your book was shelved due to not being picked up. It’s a really rough gig, one that might only get harder before it gets better. But that shouldn’t keep you from doing what you love.

Writing is in your blood. You’ve finished a novel (or twelve), you’ve entered those contests, you’ve put yourself OUT THERE.

Now is NOT the time to stop. No time is. Never stop because you think you’ve failed– because the only time you will fail is when you lose faith in yourself.

 

YOU’VE WRITTEN A BOOK

If you’re writing or have written a book you are steps ahead of those who always say:

“I have this wonderful idea for a book, but I haven’t started it.”

“I’ve always wanted to write a book but never had the time.”

“I wanted to be a writer, but I had to do other things instead.”

“Some day I’ll have the time to sit down and write my novel.”

There are so many more, but those are the first four that come to mind. To me, I’m sorry to say, those are excuses. Nobody HAS the time to be a writer, but we MAKE and FIND the time because we ARE writers.

Am I right?!

So, you are a WRITER. And in the midst of the crazy world that is totally against us, you can be THANKFUL for that– and for your fellow writers.

 

trackback thursday: first presidential library

unknownNovember 19, 1939: construction of the first presidential library began.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone next to his home in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt actually donated the land, but public donations funded the library building which was dedicated on June 30, 1941.

When President FDR first proposed the idea of building a library to house his papers and memorabilia, some thought he was just interested in constructing a monument to himself. FDR, however, saw the library as a way to preserve and provide public access to the records of his presidency. He had an “open government” attitude, believing that the people of the USA were entitled to a good look at how their government was working, even at the executive level.

Seems like we should go back to the “good ‘ole days” sometimes, huh? But then, who knows if they were were the good ‘ole days.

The library contains not only FDR’s collections of personal and family papers, but manuscripts related to his career at the state and national level, pictures, sound and motion picture recordings, books, and more. It even has his vast collection of ship models, prints and paintings, gifts from the American people, and family items.

At the cornerstone laying ceremony for the library, Roosevelt said:

“Of the papers which will come to rest here I personally attach less importance to the documents of those who have occupied high public or private office, than I do the spontaneous letters which have come to me and my family and my associates from men, from women, and from children in every part of the United States, telling me of their conditions and problems, and giving me their opinions.”

Talk about a pretty cool guy, am I right?

Have you visited it before? If you’re in the neighborhood, you should check it out– here’s the LINK to the library’s website.

 

the rose & the dagger book review

img_0975The Rose & The Dagger is Renne Ahdieh sequel to The Wrath & The Dawn. I went through this book as quickly as I did the first, though I must admit there were slower places in this one, where the first one kept me intrigued and desiring more and more.

Not saying this one didn’t do that, juuuust saying that there were a few places that we were in character’s heads for a little too long for my taste. More action would have been nice to break it up a bit, though I understand why the thoughts were necessary.

Here’s what Goodreads has to say about it:

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

 

I loved the new characters we got to see in this book, as well as the old. Being introduced to Shazi’s sister was a definite plus for me, since I have two sisters of my own and understood the struggle Shazi had with that relationship and the secrets she had to protect.

However, with new characters meant that I was taken away from my two favorites for longer periods. While it was necessary to the story, and it helped tie some loose ends, I thought that there could be a little more between Shazi and Khalid to help bring their relationship even more to life in this second book.

Over all, Ahdieh did her story justice, and I was sucked in the second book as quickly as I was with the first. I would recommend these books to anyone who loves One Thousand and One Nights. I’m really looking forward to Ahdieh’s next project, which is said to focus around the legend of Mulan.

trackback thursday: howard hughes’ “spruce goose”

history_hughes_on_spruce_goose_speech_sf_still_624x352On November 2, 1947, the first and only flight of Howard Hughes’ “Spruce Goose” flying boat  took place in Long Beach Harbor, CA.

This flying boat few about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. It wasn’t exactly like The Jolly Roger with pixie dust, but it can still be called a success.

This flying boat weighed 200-tons, made of plywood, and had eight-engines. It was the world’s largest airplane, designed/built/flown by Hughes.

Oh, and it cost a whopping $25 million to make.

Later this flying boat became a tourist attraction alongside the Queen Mary ship at Long Beach, and has since been moved to Oregon.

Also known as the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the Spruce Goose is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history.

Want to see for yourself? Just head to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

You can also see the picture above and check out the video below of the one and only epic flight!

 

face the fear & write what scares you

More often than not, we find ourselves facing something that scares us. And I don’t mean something that’s “spooky” or “gives us the chills”– I mean scares us.

Passing-out-poop-in-our-pants-regurgitate-kind-of-fear.

It can be so different for everyone, but I think there’s something to be said about that fear in writers. Writers can stop writing something because they fear what others might think, or fear the rejection, or fear the work that must go into the project. With some writers, this just gives them the spooks. But with many, it scares them.

Run-from-the-movie-theatre-fear.

I am not a person who likes to be scared. I consider myself of average courage. There are times when I imagine my Mama-Bear instincts can kick in, and if you’re on the other side of that you better watch out. But over all, I am not one of the fiercest of my kind.

However, I am fierce where it counts the most to me: I’m protective of and fight for those I love, I stand for the beliefs that are nearest and dearest to my heart, and I fight for the dreams that matter the most to me.

This is my definition of brave. This is my brave.

I know my limits, and I’ve come to realize that I don’t have to push certain limits. I don’t have to try to sit through a scary movie to prove myself. I know that if I do, I will have endless nightmares and become paranoid for who knows how long. I don’t have to do that.

I don’t have to ride a roller coaster to prove to someone that I’ve done it before and, nope, I still don’t like them. I don’t understand the point. I don’t need that sort of “rush.” I don’t have to do that.

I don’t have to stick it out with toxic relationships. I don’t have to worry about people who have brought me down time and time again because they don’t care about me, truly. I don’t have to do that.

Whether those are limits, boundaries, or both– those are only three examples.

But the fear I referred to earlier– the fear of writing something extraordinary only to see it critiqued as awful, or to “fail” with it somehow– that’s a fear I have to chase. If I didn’t, I would never have become a writer.

My first book took me almost ten years to write. And that’s the first novel I TRULY finished. Then when I sat down to work on it again, it changed completely. All those years of work basically went down the drain.

I. Was. Terrified.

The last thing I wanted to do is fail.

In fact, I’m one of those people that is scared of failing. Sometimes I don’t do things because I don’t know how and don’t want to look stupid in front of others. Yep, I’m one of those. I’m not entirely proud of it, and I’m always working on it, but it’s who I’ve always been.

Writing this book, though… I couldn’t not face it. It had to be written. If I walked away from it then, after working on it for ten years, when I was even closer to making it its best– that WOULD have been failure.

I’m not trying to call you a failure at all, dear reader. What I’m trying to say, is there is always going to be a project, a manuscript, a contest, a step in the writing/querying/editing/publishing process that scares the living daylights out of you. The only way you’re going to succeed, though, is if you push through.

Maybe you’ll “fail” in the way you fear the most. Maybe your book won’t be a success. Maybe the agent will say no. Maybe the editor will cut that favorite chapter. Maybe the publisher will reject it.

But, as Claire says in Elizabethtown:

So you failed. Alright you really failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You failed. You think I care about that? I do understand. You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to fail big and stick around. Make them wonder why you’re still smiling.

Writing is all about having courage. Courage to say what you really want to say. Courage to take the time to get those words out of your system. Courage to go through editing. Courage to let others read what you’ve written. Courage to self-publish. Courage to query. Courage to be published.

Courage. Be courageous and face your fear, whatever it is, and write through it.

Write what scares you.

And I don’t mean scares you like Stephen King (unless that’s your style, of course) or scares you like whatever scary movie made you cry like a baby (is that just me?)–I mean scares you because it could be something REALLY great. It could be your beautiful fiasco.

That FEAR could end up leading you to achieve your DREAM.

So go face it.

 

trackback thursday: the end of the revolutionary war

1024px-surrender_of_lord_cornwallis
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, 1820

On October 19, 1781, the British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington in Yorktown, Virginia.

The Siege of Yorktown, otherwise known as the Battle of Yorktown, was a decisive win for the continental troops, assisted by the French (commanded by Comte de Rochambeau). The beginnings of this win began as early as 1780, when the first French soldiers landed in Rhode Island. The French and American armies then united north of New York City during the summer of 1781.

I could go into all the battle history, but ultimately that would get super long and detailed and I might lose some of you (myself included).

So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

As The British band played The World Turned Upside Down (because they weren’t bitter or anything), they marched out in formation and surrounded to the Americans. How many were there? I’m glad you asked– more than 7,000 British and Hessian troops.

The war between Britain and its American colonies was ended. Now we no longer shout, “God save the queen!” since we pretty much can’t shout “God save” anything without someone else shouting, “OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”

See what I did there?

Anyway.

The final peace treaty was signed in Paris on September 3, 1783. Yep– about two years later. Talk about beating around the bush to give us our FREEDOM.

I’m sure they had their reasons.

‘Merica.