The Organized Writer

There's a great satisfaction that comes from completing a novel synopsis. I recently wrote the synopsis for the second book in my Bad Luck Cat Mystery series. The story, suspects, and plot points flowed well, and I felt proud of myself. I've written Chapters 1 and 2 and have a plan for Chapter 3. Then I made the mistake of looking at the piles of paper in my office space.

Instead of sitting down to write the next chapter, I went straight into organizing mode. Because who can be creative when surrounded by such a mess? Is this a writing avoidance technique? Maybe just a little bit.

 

So now I can find what I need when I need it. I have crisp new folders for my research, character names, notes, drafts, editor and agent correspondence, you name it. I have a place for everything and everything's in its place – tablets, sticky notes, pens, toner, paper, clips, notebooks to hold the chapter drafts.

I'm awaiting editor comments on book one which has just been given an official title by Berkley – Black Cat Crossing, A Bad Luck Cat Mystery – coming in September 2015. In the meantime, I'll get moving on book two now that I'm organized. My characters are ready and waiting. My victim's days are numbered.  Alice,  my personal "good luck cat," supervises while I write, and she's threatened to crack the whip to keep me on the right path.

Mystery author Kay Finch is currently writing her new Bad Luck Cat Mystery series set in the Texas Hill Country to be published by Berkley beginning in 2015. Her Klutter Killer mystery, Relative Chaos, features a professional organizer who finds a dead body in a hoarder's garage. Kay lives in a Houston, Texas suburb with her husband, two rescue dogs and a cat. Visit her web site at www.kayfinch.com.

Soaking in Oxford, then Home Again, Home Again

I recently made a trip to England. A few years ago, my only son went to graduate school in Wales, met his future wife there, and later got a job with Osprey Press in Oxford. Two months ago, he and his wife welcomed a new member to the family, a baby daughter, so of course we had head over there to meet her. We had a great visit, enjoyed being with them, and delighted in getting to hold and cuddle the new grandchild.

Oxford, U.K.

Oxford is an interesting place to visit. Millions of tourists can’t be wrong—and they’re not. Despite the crowds of tour groups and visitors that pack the city in summer, it’s fun just to walk the streets and soak in the history, but there’s also the wonderful Ashmolean Museum, the Sheldonian Theatre, the Museum of Science, the Children’s Story Museum, and all the various colleges, some of which are open for tours at various times. For a writer, there’s all sorts of inspiration.

As a bonus, there are a number of interesting things in fairly easy driving.  This time we did Stonehenge, which is a ninety-minute or so drive from Oxford, and Highclere Castle, better known to TV viewers as Downton Abbey.

Highclere Castle from the back seen through the
wildflower meadow

We had lunch at a lovely pub on the Thames, the Sunday roast at one of the nicest inn/restaurants in Oxford, and high tea.  I’ve become a fan of scones with clotted cream. Fortunately, we did a lot of walking or I would probably have gained a lot more weight than the three pounds I added while there. Despite its reputation for bad weather, we only had one really rainy day of the ten days we spent there. The rest of the time it was darn near perfect. Sunny and warm, but not hot.

I did a series of blog posts on the trip and my observations and commentary on various things we did and experienced. The first of the series is here: http://kmccullough.com/kblog/heading-for-england-day-one/   (They’re not all posted yet. I’ll be putting up a few more in days to come.)

It was a great trip and I enjoyed every minute of it. Getting to hug and cuddle my delightful new grand-daughter was the most wonderful feature of the trip, but I’m always fascinated at experiencing the similarities and differences of the culture when I travel.

Still, there’s nothing like coming home. No matter how much I enjoy the travels, it’s good to sleep in my own bed, fix my favorite foods, drink my own coffee, and settle into my own armchair for reading.

Why I Tweet

Where to Start

If you're Twitter savvy this blog post is not for you. There are still many people out there who just don't get the whole Twitter thing. The first thing they need to do is create a Twitter account. 

There are lots of reasons people use Twitter. I'm not a celebrity junkie so I don't follow any stars, but that could be a reason you might want to Tweet. Do you like to hear the news as soon as it happens?  Do you have a book or product you want to promote? Do you want to help your friends promote a product or book? Once you follow someone you can just click retweet and their tweet will retweet to your followers. 

Tweets

The best part of a Tweet is that it is short and sweet. Each Tweet is limited to 140 characters including punctuation and spaces. Twitter will automatically shorten any link you include. As you Tweet, the number of characters you have left appears next to the Tweet button. Did you bake a cake, review a book, or have a cover reveal? Tweet the info and include a link if you want to. No need to try and condense the entire recipe into 140 characters just add the link.:) You can pre-schedule Tweets just like you do a blog. You can also pay Tweeting companies to put your Tweets out there. I've never done this so I can't say if it works or not. Many of my writing groups are very supportive and we retweet often. Here's one of my Tweets from this morning.

Zelda Benjamin @benjaminzelda · 8h

#Fashion is not necessarily about labels. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0L1HAO  #kindle #romance

Followers

In the search box put in a name or email of someone you're interested in following. Start with mine if you'd like. My Twitter name is benjaminzelda. If you want to mention me in a tweet you would type @benjaminzelda. People will follow you, but you don't have to follow them back.

Hashtags

Words preceded by a # sign are hashtags. They are used to categorize keywords and topics. Chocolate Couture is a story that has a fashion component. I want people with a kindle, romance readers, and anyone interested in fashion to check out my book.  Step out of your comfort level and use different hashtags.

Analytical Dashboard

This is something new. Twitter is allowing you to see your Twitter activity. Don't panic if you're just getting acquainted with Twitter. You don't have to do this.  It's not on your Twitter page. You have to go to analytics.twitter.com to find the info.

What I like about this feature is that I can check to see if certain hashtags are engaged more than others. I can correlate the number of impressions and engagements with the sales number of my Montlake books on my Author Central page. Do weekends get more impressions and engagements than weekdays? Does the time of day that I Tweet make a difference?

Read Tweets to see what engages you. Which hashtags get your attention? I've found that starting my Tweet with a quote related to the subject of the book I'm promoting gets more engagement than just Tweeting the link.

Happy Tweeting.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate.

Zelda

It's Fall!

by Jean C. Gordon

Do you what September is? September is National Chicken Month. Thank you Little Gray, Yellow, Brown, and Yellow Spot for posing.

It's also the beginning of Fall, my favorite season. My birthday is in September. Our wedding anniversary is in September. It’s still warm in the Northeast, but not sweltering hot as August often is. We have the beautiful fall foliage. And school starts. I was enough of a geek that I always looked forward to going back to school.

Which brings me to a question: Does the season a book is set in influence your book choices? Aside from holiday-month books — I love holiday books — I never gave much thought to the season in which a book was set, either in my reading or my writing, until ninth book, Small-Town Mom. And the season only came to my attention when we were at the cover stage. The story takes place in the dead of a frigid Adirondack Mountains winter. But the book came out in June, and initially, the cover had no snow and looked like spring, not winter. The dusting of snow was added to bring it into season.

With the books I've written since then, I've thought about when it will be published and tried to mesh the story's season with the publication season (or close). And, just for fun, I checked the seasons my books are set in. Four are set in the fall, one in the winter, and the rest in the summer.

Blooming Friendships

By Sandra Wilkins

          Finding friends can be a tricky business.  You have to dip your toes into those murky waters of the unknown and decide if it’s safe to jump in.  You have to see if the other person has your type of warped sense of humor or you have to decide if they’re the more serious type.  After much splashing about, I’ve found that the creative types—writers, musicians, and artists—are more prone to see the world the way I do.  But, that certainly doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate other types of people.  The world would be a dull place if that was the case.  I believe the more friends you have, the prettier life is. 

          Writing and home educating my daughters are solitary endeavors.  Sure, there are those occasional outings so I can hawk my wares or “socialize” my kids so they won’t be too weird, but basically I’m at it on my own.  Research, creativity, writing and teaching are all pretty much up to me. 

          Friends and a helpful spouse can lighten your burdens or bring humor into your life.  I think that’s why all of the stories I’ve written center around friendships.  A true friend is there for the good times and the bad.  For example, I’m an excellent listener, but sometimes I need to express myself, too.  A good friend should be able to do both.

          It was only after several years of solitude and a bout with depression that I realized how lonely I was.  Thankfully someone suggested I reach out for help and another person listened and joked with me in the following years when I needed it most.  I trust they know how much I appreciate them.  I also hope I have been able to return the favor to them.  My life is so different now.  Joy, sunshine, and optimism are back in my vocabulary even when the occasional gray day slides past. 

          Robin Williams’ tragic death struck me particularly hard.  I didn’t know the man, but I admired his brilliance.  His light will no longer shine for the rest of us.  The ripple of anyone’s death is felt by more people than the deceased could ever imagine—whether they are famous or not. 

          If you suspect someone you know is hurting beyond those blue days, befriend them.  Ask them if they need to talk.  It’s amazing how verbalizing and getting all those dark thoughts out of your head can brighten your life.  If it seems like they’re in a deep dungeon they can’t climb out of, encourage them to seek professional help.  It really does lift that midnight cloak off of a person’s soul.  Depression doesn’t have to be a permanent situation.  Most importantly, if you are the person who just can’t get past the profound sadness, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  You’ve been on your own long enough.    

          My desire is that we can help each other to stand upright, side by side, and support one another in friendship—whether it’s with old or new acquaintances.  So, instead of letting the weeds of indifference or jealousy choke out the beauty in a field of wildflowers, let’s all bloom together.  The gorgeous hues and shapes can open in their own unique way.  After all, it’s more spectacular together.

            Sandra Wilkins is busy writing another series while home educating her two daughters.  Ada’s Heart, Rose’s Hope and Gwen’s Honor are her first three published wholesome historical romances.  Go to www.sandrawilkins.com to find out more about her and her books.  

What I Did on Summer Vacation...in 1972

posted by Jayne Ormerod

The “educational” tag is SO over rated.  Especially when it comes to summer vacations.  My parents (a self-employed business man and an elementary school teacher) made it their mission to make sure we learned something over the summer break.  So while my friends were water skiing on Lake Michigan or riding donkeys down to bottom of the Grand Canyon or hanging out with Mickey & Minnie, my family was marching through the Smithsonian in DC or traipsing along the Freedom Trail in Boston or sitting/snoozing through historical lectures in the City of Brotherly Love. 

Did I have VA-CAY Envy?  You bet I did!

But here’s a little secret I never told anyone…there was one “educational” vacation I enjoyed very much--the one to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1972. The beauty of the “living museum” in Colonial Williamsburg allows visitors to experience what life in the 1600s America was like by doing some of the tasks required for existence 400 years ago.  For example, my sister and I carded wool then spun it into yarn, used a printing press to make our own little newspaper, watched blacksmiths pound iron into hooks, and enjoyed horse-drawn carriage rides along the cobble stone streets.  (There’s something SO soothing about the sound of hooves clacking against the stone in measured cadence. Be still my heart.) Oh yeah, and we got put in "jail."  (In Colonial times, people would throw garbage--and worse--at people sentenced to time in the stocks.  Fortunately this was not part of my experience!) 

My one complaint?  The heat!  Southern summers are not for the faint of heart!  And those poor women who had to wear those heavy hoop-skirts and caps!  How did they do that?  I was practically melting myself, and I had on a sleeveless shirt, shorts and (as any well-dressed kid in the 70s had…) white Keds.

What I needed was a dip in the ocean.  I’d seen the signs for Virginia Beach.  Beach meant ocean.  Ah,  cool, refreshing water.

I asked.  I begged.  I got down on one knee and pleaded, “Please, please PLEASE!  Let’s go to the beach and cool off!  Please! Please! Please!”

“It’s four hours away,” my parents said. “That would make for a much longer drive home, too. It would take two days then Dad would have to take another day off work.”

I accepted that, as young children of the 70s did, not because I respected my elders but because I didn’t have the World Wide Web at my finger tips to prove otherwise. 

Fast forward twenty years when my military husband and I made the move from San Diego, CA to Norfolk, VA via Ohio.  That equated to nine days on the road, driving and eating fast food, with a three day layover in Ohio to visit family.  On our way south to Virginia we stopped at the Williamsburg exit to fill up on gas.  My parent’s voices echoed in my head, “Four hours away.”  At that point I honestly didn’t have four more hours of travel in me.  I suggested to my husband we find a hotel for the night.

“Why?” he asked.  “We’re only an hour away.”

<<insert sound of screeching record here…>>

“An hour?” I asked.

“Yup,” he said.

Needless to say, my first phone call to my parents once we got settled in our new home (this was in the days before cell phones, or trust me, the call would have been made there and then!)  “Hey Mom and Dad, did you know that Virginia Beach is less than an hour’s drive from colonial Williamsburg?”

Silence.

They’d known.

And then it occurred to me, Virginia Beach may have been fun and refreshing, but it did not push the “educational” button.

After living in the Coastal Virginia area on and off for the past 30 years and spending hours bike riding on the boardwalk or picnicking on the beach, licking an ice cream cone while watching tourists frolic at the water’s edge, I’ve learned that there’s something about being near that water is good for what’ ails ya.  The light is different, the sound of the crashing waves is relaxing, the smell of the salt water is refreshing.  It restores one’s soul.  I feel better after a day at the beach.  Probably not smarter, but then as I’ve said before, that “educational” tag  is SO overrated. 

Are Your Windows the Windows to Your Soul?

by Victoria M. Johnson

I used to take my windows for granted. They were just the square glass fixtures in every room of our house. Sometimes I even remembered to give them a good scrub to help maintain their luster. But recently a neighbor friend came over for coffee and she remarked about the nice "view" from the living room windows. 

"You have the same view," I said. She lived next door, after all.

"But it's brighter and more cheerful from in here," she replied, glancing out wistfully at the rows of garbage cans we all put out for collection the next day.

She clearly was seeing something different than what I was seeing. I pressed for an explanation. "What's different about it?"

"Your windows are much larger, I think. And your flowers frame the bottom so nicely. Maybe the sun hits your house at a different angle or something," she said.

None of those perceptions were true. Our windows were the same size. She had blooming flowers under her windows, too. And the sun certainly didn't shine brighter on our house. After my neighbor left, I thought about her windows in her living room.

Hers had blinds that she sometimes kept shut and she had lovely, but heavy, curtains that hung at each side of her windows. I suppose those choices would make them appear smaller and would block sunshine from coming in. They hindered her looking out and I wondered if they also affected her mood.

It occurred to me that perhaps our windows are doing more than we realize. 

Is it possible we're unknowingly blaring out to the whole world our temperament, our personalities, and quirks? Are we also influencing our personalities? Let me know if you think I'm way off base. But first, take a look below and see if any of these "windows" fit you.

This European window has no barriers to the outside world. Everything and anything comes in: sunrays, scents and noise, insects; and things going on inside may be seen or heard out. I imagine a free spirit would adore these windows.

These windows let the sun shine in. They're ideal for looking out at nature, children playing in the yard, and seeing what's beyond the walls of your house. A woman comfortable with others looking back, seeing a bit of her inner world would like these windows.

This room looks most like my neighbor's. It's elegant and formal with inviting windowseats. But not much is visible unless you're sitting in the windowseat. This arrangement encourages a contemplative personality to sit and think.

You knew this was coming. Cat ladies, you know who you are, a home isn't a home without a cat lounging in your window. The window stays closed for practical reasons but you take pleasure in seeing your companion enjoying the weather and goings-on outside. 

Okay, let's face it, some people put up a brick wall both figuratively and literally. Would you say this house belongs to someone who wants to be left alone or someone who's busy and rarely home? I suppose it depends on if these blinds are ever opened. Either way if I were the neighbor I wouldn't stop over for a cup of coffee unless specifically invited.

Did I mention the ambience of my friend's living room fit her personality? She's private, formal, and reflective, among many other nice traits. What are your windows saying about you?

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma, (A 2012 Bookseller’s Best double finalist).  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Pinterest and Twitter.