 I have nothing interesting to say. No reason to blog today (hey, an unintended rhyme...lets keep it going) and since my brain has gone astray, I thought it might be fun to play WHATCHA THINKING?
Me first: I wish there was a tub of ice-cream in my house. I want to eat some frozen chocolate real bad. I know it would help with the creative process and get me out of my writing funk. And if it doesn't, well...it would be nice trying. Now I'm thinking I'm going to get my car keys and go get me some. Now you. What's on your mind? (It will be fun to see in the comments just how bizarre, crazy, serious, uptight, funny, and dull we all might be).
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 I NEVER ask my husband for plot or writing ideas. He's not a writer. He's hardly even a reader. I don't even want him reading MY stuff. It's just better that way. It works for us.
Anyway, desperate times call for desperate measures. I knew going in that asking him for help was probably not going to go well (past experience has dictated this...he thought radioactive zombie chickens would be a cool addition to my zombie western novel. Ummm....no). I've tried bouncing ideas off of him before only to have him say something like, "Yeah. Uh-huh. Sounds good. What's for dinner?" But I'm at a place in the second book of the zombie west series where something BIG is about to happen. Something awesome. Something amazing. Something explosive. Except....I have no idea what it is. I'm completely and utterly stuck. My creative muse gave me the bird and took off for the hills (she's cruel like that), and I've been left on my own to make some action happen. Well... it's not happening. Just a lot of blank pages and a little annoying blinking cursor that mocks my efforts. So I turned to my husband in a weak moment and broke down my plot for him and where each of my characters stood. He listened and then he started blasting off ideas, "How about this? Or how about that?" His ideas weren't so bad. It actually shocked me how good some of them actually were. I think I might actually use some of them. Weird. What happened to my husband? Who is this imposter? "See," he said. "I'm helpful. You don't always have to trash my ideas. They're not as bad as you think." I nodded. He was right. I needed to give him more credit. "Now," he continued. "If a rope could drop from the sky and your heroine is lifted to safety by helicopter THAT would be a great ending. Just like the movies." And there you have it. THAT'S my husband for ya. It was all good until THAT moment. A helicopter? My novel is set in the late 1800's in the wild west. Nice. Anyway, his help really got me thinking and now I might be onto writing that awesome, exciting scene that has been kicking my behind for months now. And no, there will be no helicopters...though I could see how he might think that was cool. Who helps you brainstorm ideas? How do you get past a bout of writers block or lack of creative inspiration? Is your spouse helpful in your writing process? Tell me all about it, I'd love to know.  I've written a zombie western book, you may have heard of it (or not--but you have now...hee,hee,hee), WANTED: Dead or Undead, and so far so good. Readers seem to enjoy the genre mashup and positive reviews have been rolling in (YES!). I took a gamble and wrote a story that was so different from anything I've ever written before and I'm so glad I did. It was one of the funnest stories I've ever written (book two in the series is proving mighty fun too). But my heart really belongs to my contemporary pieces. There's no zombies or vampires or paranormal anything, just stories about real characters (well, as real as a fictional character can get) dealing with real types of life issues. The emotional ups and downs Desert Rice put me through will make this book one of my favorites--I love these characters. My hope is that readers will too. The only way for me to know that is to put it out there in the world and see what kind of response it receives. So, this is what I propose... I'd like to give you (yes you) an advanced copy in the ebook format of your choosing. The official release date is August 15th, and I'd like to get some reviews and feedback up on sites likes Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble around that time. Just leave a comment below and let me know which ebook format you would prefer (fill out the comment form with your email--no one will see that but me). That would give you about 3 1/2 weeks to read the book before the GIVEAWAY! (Yippe! A Giveaway!). 
THEN between August 13th and August 17th put your honest review up on Amazon, Goodreads, and where ever else you get the hankering to, and come back to my blog during that week for a chance to win a variety of Amazon Gift Cards (anywhere from $50 all the way down to $10--lots of opportunities to win. I'm trying to spread the joy).
You get a free book for your Kindle or Nook or iPad or other ereader AND a chance to win a gift card. All that is required from you is a little bit of your time. So leave a comment below to get your copy of Desert Rice. Between now and then, I will figure out how to work Rafflecopter (I haven't a clue) so when you come back the 13th of August it will be all geared up and ready to go. Thanks everyone! I appreciate your help. I really hope you'll enjoy the book (fingers crossed).  Once upon a time there lived a little writer who we shall call Little Writer. She was cute and total adorable (she's awesome) and loved to type at her laptop--clicky, clickty, clack. "I'm a writer! I'm a writer! La,la,la,la,la." Happy times ruled all the land, and those that dwelled within her shared kingdom were full of joy and expressed themselves through interpretive dance (see video below). But then one day, a dark cloud rolled in over the kingdom and writers block...mixed with a bit of procrastination (and a love for facebook and twitter, but who's counting?) ...settled in all the land. Instead of gleefully writing, the Little Writer found herself pinning this and pinning that on Pinterest (so cool) and watching episode after episode of MY NAME IS EARL (it's freakin' hilarious).  Writing on the laptop started to disappear and after awhile the kingdom became a sad and unhappy place (when mama ain't happy, no one is happy). So the Little Writer had a marvelous idea, "Why not just have the writing elves write and edit my next novel for me? My deadline is approaching and I still have 15 more seasons of MY NAME IS EARL to watch. What an awesome idea!" The Little Writer placed her laptop on her desk, dusted off the keyboards, and left the power on. Writing elves are attracted to blinking little lights. It's true.  Oh yeah...that's my kinda elf! No wonder the Little Writer couldn't sleep. Oh, the anticipation was too much! The Little Writer could hardly sleep. Elves loved to create things (shoes, toys for children, Keebler cookies...). She couldn't wait to wake in the morning, find a polished and well edited manuscript all ready to hand over to her anxious editor. Perfect! Deadlines would be met and the kingdom would once again be bubbly and happy again. So the Little Writer closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep dreaming of editing and writing elves with their wee little fingers tapping keys one after another and creating a marvelous work of wonder with the Little Writer's name taking all the glory (glory the writing elves want to freely give her...and a plate of cookies, if they have time).  But when the Little Writer woke in the morning and ran to her laptop...nothing had happened. Not one single word had been typed. What was this madness? Why had the writing elves failed to produce the novel of Little Writer's dreams? Because writing elves DON'T exist, duh? *commence eye rolling* Little Writer had to learn it the hard way---Twix is for kids. Wait? What? No, to produce a novel-worthy manuscript and to keep editors from wanting to punch in you in the nose when you push out a deadline, then the only thing that can be done is called BICHOK (Butt In Chair, Hands on Keyboard). There is no way around it. So guess what Little Writer did today? She put her butt in the chair and placed her hands on the keyboard and edited and wrote all day long. She did do a little Pinterest too, but who can blame her. That crap is cool :) (Sorry, this post went a little strange, but my daughter asked me if I wished there was such things as writing elves and I couldn't think about anything else...because yes, yes I do wish writing elves existed...and shoe elves...and Keebler elves...and that hunky elf from Lord of the Rings--rrawrrr!).  I will not name names, but the picture to your left is an actual picture of the offending lodge. As you are all quite aware, my laptop and the ability to access the internet at will is like my Lord of The Rings Precious...PRECIOUS (*See video below* I react pretty much this exact way). So when I arrived at this lodge, tucked into the majestic mountainside near Yosemite National Park, I reached for my welcome packet, searching for the free WIFI code and low and behold...NOT FREE!! There would be a daily usage fee should I choose to access it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm willing to pay for internet when I must, but my beef occurs when I'm already paying a pretty penny to stay at the hotel/lodge anyway. This was no cheap stay. So give me free internet. Screw the shower cap. Even Motel 6 offers free internet. Come on!  So after settling down from my near panic attack and realizing that I won't implode from internet access denial, I learned to actually enjoy my family vacation. Yeah, really. Maybe THE LODGE (that's what we'll call it to protect its identity) was actually onto something--force people to stop using the internet and start interacting with their family (I was planning to interact with my family...just not as much). I hiked. I went on open-air tram rides. I even went swimming with my kids in the pool (yeah, the one in the picture PLUS the inside pool as well). I allowed my children to nearly drown me. I was an EXCELLENT parent. I even took really long naps on my big comfy lodge bed. Had I been able to access the internet, I wouldn't have done half those things. I'd be busy trying to get my novel ready for the August 15th release. I would be writing blog posts and checking email--all while sitting at the pool side. Relaxing without my laptop perched on my legs is something I'm not used to doing. All in all I had an excellent time and my kids got their mom--not the writer--for vacation. How about you? Do you freak out a little when denied internet access? How do you cope?  I wrote a book that has a beginning, a middle, and an end (something I always had struggled to do; I have lots of books with no endings--lots). I worked really hard and got an agent. Then I lost an agent. Then I started over from the bottom. I kept going. I then signed on with a publisher and published a book this past March. The reviews that are coming in are AWESOME and it thrills me to no end when a fan tells me that they loved the book and can't wait for the next in the series. It gives me such an amazing feeling--I can ride that high for days.  But then someone will come along and ask about book sales (ugh) or ask if I'm going to be the next Stephanie Meyer (UGH!! Stop asking me that). If THAT is the definition of success, then I'm a huge failure and probably always will be. Heck, a good 99.9999% of us authors/writers will be considered failures, and that sucks! Is that really what success is?  If so, that totally blows. I have no chance of achieving success with that kind of bar placed so high (Yes, Meyers set the bar. Kind of amazing, huh?).
So now what? Give up? Keep going despite knowing I'm a loser in the eyes of those who rate my success based on some INSANE definition of what a successful author is? An author has to be crazy to keep writing and writing and writing knowing they'll never be considered successful. Well, guess what...I'm crazy. AND, since I don't like the so-called definition of a successful author, I reject it. So there :P When did the world decide that only the extraordinary are considered successful? Because here's the thing...the world has far more average and ordinary people than extraordinary ones. It's true. Take a look around you. Unless you're Donald Trump or JLO, I'm pretty certain the people who are in the same room with you have average (yet wonderful) lives. Those glamorous-rich folks are few and far between, and success measured by this definition is highly unlikely for most of us. Sorry to burst your bubble. Who wants to live their lives trying to measure their success based on that? Not me. I've decided that for me (feel free to decide this for yourself as well -- the more the merrier) that my ordinary is going to be considered extraordinary. TA-DA! POOF! And it is done. I don't have bucket loads of money coming in from the sales of my book, but that's okay. That's not how I'm measuring my success anyway. People from around the world are reading my book -- Ireland, England, France, Croatia, Australia, Canada, South America -- SUCCESS. Readers are enjoying what I've written -- SUCCESS. I'm publishing more books (one next month and another in November, and they have endings too) -- SUCCESS. I love what I do -- HUGE SUCCESS. Katrina Kenison, author of “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” (Grand Central Publishing, 2009). “Ordinary has a bad rap, and so does settling — there is the idea is that we should always want more,” she said. “But there’s a beauty in cultivating an appreciation for what we already have.” We need to rethink the definition of success and stretch its boundaries a little to include more people. Wouldn't that be better than excluding a world of ordinary, but awesome individuals? I think so. Maybe I don't have everything the world has to offer, as far as being an author is concerned, but no way am I going to discount what I have achieved and consider myself a failure for not having reached the top rung on the ladder. I'm grateful for the rung I'm clinging to. Am I going to be the next Stephanie Meyer? Nope. I'm Angela Scott, YA Author to the few, and I'm perfectly fine with that. In fact, it's pretty extraordinary when you think about it. |
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