Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

My Book News & Advocate for the Writing Community ©

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Update on My New Creative Space

June 1, 2023
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It has been some time since I mentioned my newer creative space, so I thought I would share the latest stage. With so many projects on the go – freelance and personal – I have not had much time to organize my new study. However, I do have my writing desk and creative table in place now.

There is still more organizing of the storage space to do and a few shelves to put up.

You may notice I have a few interesting items on the writing desk upper shelf. These are an eclectic mix of mementos. The black and grey plushy is called Snork and was bought for me by my Mother, she’d asked what she could get for me and Snork was it. Yep, not jewellery, but a plushy. There is also a Tigger – to cut a long story short, an old school pal and I love Tigger and were nicknamed Big Tig and Little Tig. And a little sprout plushy (leaf not showing).

There is a Groot – you know I love him, various crystals and rocks for protection, inspiration and most are purple, my favourite colour. There is a little bunny floating on a leaf, a wren (favourite bird), a china bunny, which was a surprise find in an antique store. It is actually a replica of one my Mother had. Rocks from road trips, print of the Writers Museum in Edinburgh,

On the other desk is the on-going model I will get to at some point! It is a little bookstore.

What items do you have in your creative space and why?

Wordsmith’s Creative Thursday – Creative versus Freelance Writing

March 17, 2022
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Photo by Andrea Davis on Pexels.com

When I initially, made the decision to branch out into freelance writing after a couple of paid gigs, I had no idea how it would affect my writing style. Obviously, it was interesting, but also gave it me another avenue to learn my writing skill.

When I write creatively, I am in control of what happens, where the story leads when I write and ultimately when I finish. However, with freelance projects I quickly learned to accommodate another person’s viewpoint, requirements and adhere to a deadline. Fulfilling another person’s vision for their project is about asking questions – lots of questions and then reiterating them to ensure you are both on the same wavelength. Among my past projects, I have written new bio’s, edited manuscripts, created blog and social media posts, written articles and information leaflets, mentoring and ghost written a hybrid marketing book to name a few.

Through this business I have gain experience and knowledge from each project, which allows me to hone my skill. I have also gained valuable insights into other styles of writing, which in turn have assisted me in my creative writing. You may think that cannot be the case, but all writing teaches us something. It can be as simple as writing to a deadline or writing to a specific style or tone to align with current literature or media. It also gives me great backstories for future characters, who work in environments I am writing and learning about so a win-win situation.

Have you broaden your writing into freelance? What has your experience been like?

You can find my freelance website, testimonials etc. here:

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – How Do You Choose Your Next Writing Project?

July 2, 2020
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With the final editing revisions sent to my publisher, I am thinking about my next story. As with many authors there is a never ending project pile. So how do you to choose the next one?

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

There are several scenarios:

1. You have submitted one part of a series – your choice is reasonable clear – write the next book in the series. This can depend on when the manuscript has to be finished obviously but readers want the next one pretty quickly.

2. You are committed to writing a story for an anthology. Ensure you make the deadline.

3. A new idea has ‘popped’ into your head – it is always tempting to write the newest and brightest. However, can it wait? Maybe ask is it reflecting a current topic? Would it be best to get it published sooner rather than later?

4. You have several unfinished manuscripts pending. (This is my current quandary.) How do you choose?

The above options do give us guidance but if you are not committed to a deadline then what options are open to you?

a) Write the titles out and pick one out of a hat.

b) Ask your readers on social media to choose by voting.

c) Gauge the current ‘popular’ genre and write accordingly.

I have opted for b) and received a flurry of votes on Facebook and twitter, which was a pleasant surprise indeed.

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The choices were – A western romance or a suspense novel. The suspense won! So I will delve into The Giving Thief for this year and into next.

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Photo by bongkarn thanyakij on Pexels.com

Other News

I have gained a new freelance client for August. So I am looking forward to working with this author on her novel from August onward.

My steampunk novel, The Commodore’s Gift is now with my publisher and set for a September 2020 launch. Unsure at this point what that will actually look like or compose of but we will see.

Take care and stay well.

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Goal Planning

January 2, 2020
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Firstly, a Happy New Year to you all. I hope the writing gods are kind to you in 2020 and inspire you to write many new stories.

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It is customary to make goals or resolutions with the arrival of a new year, some will be accomplished others not, but no matter what, we can help ourselves by planning. There are several way to do this, such as:

  1. Making a goal board
  2. Using a planner
  3. Writing out each goal on your calendar so you have a deadline
  4. Work with a group of friends to encourage each other to stay on track
  5. Or even a mixture of some or all of the above!

As you can see from the image, I have four different ‘planning’ tools – I always use the same fridge calendar, where dates are entered for all my ‘writing’ related items such as conferences, meetings and events etc. This year I am attending a new event, When Words Collide and traveling to  new parts of Alberta and British Columbia on writing road trips.

The weekly notepad with the lovely floral background now has my facebook/twitter group schedule so we all post the same subject each day enabling us to share and comment. The smaller notebook has freelance projects listed in it with details, contact information and deadlines. I also have a new ‘word of the day’ desk calendar, which I will use to inspire my Muse.

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What do you use to keep yourself on track with your writing life?

My Author Online Interview

November 21, 2019
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I had so much fun doing this interview…nice to be on the other side of an interview for  a change 🙂

https://onlineforauthors.org/mandy-eve-barnett/

Mandy Eve-Barnett is a multi-genre author writing children’s, young adult and adult books. Every story has a basis of love, magic, and mystery. Mandy currently lives in Alberta, Canada but is originally from England. Her background is diverse and gives her rich experience to utilize in her writing. She has been a nursing professional, a business owner, and a sort after administration expert. She has traveled throughout Europe, parts of America and Canada and was born in Africa.

Mandy joined a writers group about 10 years ago and has not looked back. She shares about reading her first piece of writing to the group “I thought okay, I have to write something. So I write this very short piece and it had a twist at the end. So, you know, I was really nervous, but I read it and the room went quiet. I’m thinking, “NO OH!?” I’m never coming back again, it was obviously dreadful and they absolutely hated it. Then everyone went, Wow! They just loved it and that was the hook for me to have a reaction to something I’d written just was absolutely thrilling. I’m just thinking I have to do it again.”

Mandy is passionate about writing to the point of obsession and she succeeded in becoming a published author in record time. With eight books published since 2011 and one more launching in September 2020, she indulges her Muse in creative as well as freelance writing. Her venture into freelance writing has been successful in creating projects as diverse as social media posts, promotional literature, and professional biographies, to ghostwriting a marketing book. She also regularly contributes to the Never Been Better page in the Sherwood Park newspaper, has been published in several anthologies and collaborated in creating a ‘how to begin writing your memoir’s’ guide book for seniors.

Mandy regularly blogs and she encourages support and networking of all writers as a writing community advocate. She is also prolific on social media in a multitude of platforms. As the current Secretary of The Writers Foundation of Strathcona County and past President of the Arts & Culture Council of Strathcona County, she lives her creative life to the fullest.

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Thanks to Online for Authors for the opportunity.

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