I was thrilled to be interviewed by a New York radio station for their The Author’s Lounge show with Author Hezzy and co-host Goddess Love. It was a fun filled chat about writing, inspiration, books and themes. My interview starts at 54.52 on the timeline.
Are there questions you would have asked and I didn’t answer? Please put them in the comment box and I will reply directly to you.
In other news I am continuing with my bookstore model kit, but it is a slow process cutting, folding and gluing tiny book sets! This is going to be a long haul!
I was also Author of the Day – Global Girls Online Book Club here: on 27th January, which was a lot of fun. The winner of my contest is in Australia so the Rython novella’s will be traveling across the world.
Jejune – definition: 1. naive and simplistic 2. lacking interest or liveliness; dull
I attended this event yesterday and from the start it was a struggle. Firstly, my friend, Linda’s car would not start so I drove to her rescue with jump leads at hand. Normally, this would be a quick and easy task but the temperature yesterday morning was -22 with the wind chill so standing around ankle deep in snow while the car’s battery charged was not fun to say the least. Once it did start we headed to the Dream Write Publishing office to collect books and promotional items for the event. En route coffee and sandwiches were purchased to restore our bodies somewhat. We were lucky enough to find a heated underground parkade – extremely welcome in the circumstances. After trudging over icy paths with our heavy supplies to the venue, we were able to set up and at last relax.
Fourteen authors were present for the book sale and we happily networked with each other. Some were familiar faces while others were new. Book summaries were told and purchases made and silent auction items bid upon. Although the ‘traffic’ was not as anticipated, I don’t think it was a lack of interest but rather a reluctance to venture out in severe weather. This was the first Authors for Altruism event. One the organizers will learn from and improve for next year.
Yes, we authors, are an intrepid breed. Even one book sale is worth the effort. Our story will please the reader and hopefully they will relay that fact to others. Here are some photographs of my table set up. Rumble, as always, was in attendance along with his print book Rumble’s First Scare, bookmarks and coloring pages. I made the ‘glob’ table covering by the way.
My fantasy, The Rython Kingdom was displayed in print form as well as postcards for the e-book version, as well as bookmarks I made with beads attached and a glowing orb (shiny things attract customers, I find).
I displayed a pre-order form for my children’s chapter book, Ockleberries to the Rescue and displayed proof copies for people to see. Again I had two animal ornaments that glittered and changed color. http://www.dreamwritepublishing.ca/
The other books shared on the adjoining table with Linda, another member of the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County, were :
We were lucky to have two news station reporters arrive (luckily not at the same time!) who took photographs, footage and interviewed the organizers. All in all it was a good day and I will certainly participate next year. I even brought home supper – a silent auction item of an Italian meal with a bottle of wine and napkins included.
What promotional items do you use for your events?
The famed troubadour, Guillem, attends the king’s court to recite a marvelous tale but his suspicions are raised by a strange servant. With the help of a wizened old woman and her beautiful granddaughter, Guillem attempts to outwit a witch to save the kingdom from murder and mayhem. He then finds himself part of a ritual for life everlasting with the entrancing and mysterious Juliana.
Tribulation – definition: a severe trial or period of suffering
To thoroughly engage our readers our characters have to face or overcome trials of one sort or another. This is the core of our stories.
In my novel, Life in Slake Patch, my POV character, Evan had a difficult dilemma. Whether to choose between upholding the matriarchy laws and suffer separation from his lover, side with the rebellious Tribe or somehow find a compromise.
With my reincarnation romance, The Twesome Loop, my 18th century character, Gabriella wanted to escape from her cruel but wealthy husband. She would have to risk destitution with her young son or follow her heart with her husband’s younger brother, Arthur. Within the modern era of the same novel, Melissa could suffer years of neglect from her conniving husband as he spent her inheritance or forge a new life for herself in Italy.
And my fantasy, The Rython Kingdom, sees a troubadour become instrumental in the battle against a vengeful witch, along side a beautiful but mysterious young woman, who has her own agenda.
Care to share some of your stories core tribulations?
Parched – definition : to wilt and dry out from heat.
Another descriptive word, which does the job of a long expositional sentence defining the landscape. But let’s look at it another way. What if we are ‘parched’ for ideas?
We have all stopped short in the midst of a scene unable to see where it is going or sat down to begin a new story and drawn a blank. Hesitation is the killer of ideas, in my opinion. Instead of worrying at which point to begin – just write what comes, the refining can come later. If seeing the words on the screen distract you and your inner editor wants to revise try this trick. Cover the screen with a tea towel or another piece of cloth! Sounds strange I know but it works. You can type what comes into your mind without the distraction. Obviously this trick doesn’t really help when you are writing in a notebook! I’m still working on that one.
Another ‘mind refresher’ is to look out of your window and write what you see in as much detail as you can.
Nuggets of ideas are transient at best so don’t lose them agonizing about how to incorporate or formulate them. Let it flow until you come to a natural halt. These small ideas may fill up note books or ‘idea’ folders on your computer, just keep them. At some stage they will come into their own as a scene, a short story or even the basis of a novel. I have scrolled through mine from time to time and not remembered writing some of them. It is like discovering old friends.
This is true for prompts as well, which I have found to be exceptionally helpful (and fun) when my mind is parched. Looking back on ‘scribbles’ is a great way to reignite your writing flow as well as a great source of character profiles and scenes. I have developed a whole novella from several prompts (The Rython Kingdom) and my children’s book Rumble’s First Scare was created from one prompt.
One resource I use is the featured book, Writing Prompt Journey http://www.dreamwritepublishing.ca/retail/books/writing-prompt-journey-road-your-creativity This excellent book is a compilation of prompts with several responses from other writers after each. You can either respond to the prompt and then read the other interpretations or visa versa. I find it very interesting to see how another writer uses the same prompt and how it sparked a entirely different idea in their mind to mine.
Of course the internet is also full of writing prompts and exercises but it requires quite a period of time trolling through them all. Another resource I use often is http://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com where there is a prompt put up every Saturday on the calendar.
You may have your own favorites, which is perfectly fine but may be try something new occasionally, you never know where it may lead.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 