The buzz word in publishing these days is platform. Accepted wisdom (or rumor) is that an author cannot sell without one. I find this debatable, but I will call it plausible. The problem with this idea is that it suggests that platform is the most important part of publishing. It is not.
The writing is.
The story is.
School has started and I am back to work as well. I took a bit of a break there at the end to snatch some time with my son. It was a long summer of working in odd hours around my son’s schedule because I am one of those stay-at-home-working-moms who writes around my family. It’s the best of both worlds. Yes, it’s easier on camp days or when he’s in school, but I would never give up my time with him. It is what makes working late at night (after bedtime) or sneaking in a bit of writing time while he’s distracted by Minecraft (thank you, Notch!).
That is all done now though. Labor Day has passed and I find myself back behind the desk during normal hours. It is heaven. Pure heaven.
Twenty tips to strengthen your research and add more depth to your stories. Research is the key to details that bring your writing to life.
Reading is my hobby, my passion and my obsession. I am not afraid to admit that I collect (hoard) books and have more than 7,000 books in my house. They are in every room, in every corner. My husband fears for the structural integrity of our floors on higher levels. He is not wrong to do so. Books are heavy.
I cannot stop buying them. Each one offers such possibilities. Will they become a friend or a mentor? Will they disappoint, but teach me why that is? Will they linger on my shelves for years waiting for me to open them knowing I may never catch up with my stack of books to read.
My library is a source of pride, happiness and anticipation. It feeds me and sustains me. It gives me comfort.
I am an addict.
A book addict.
When I can’t read, I turn to audio books. I love to listen while I use the treadmill or go on long solo road trips. For those short jaunts about town, I turn to audio short stories.
The great news is that there are plenty of places to get audio files for free, here are some of my favorite:
My father was a master storyteller. Not by trade, but by personality. He couldn’t help himself. He refused to accept an average life and instead turned simple trips intro grand adventures. It was far better to live large.
“If everything goes according to plan, you have no good stories to tell.”
This is my motto in life and writing. Stories (and life) happen in the detours. Embrace them. Look for opportunities to explore and have an adventure.
You heard me. I listen to people talking whenever and wherever I can. I tell myself I am just collecting examples of dialogue, but that is not always the case and I am not ashamed to say it. Sometimes I know that what I am hearing will never make it into a story, but it often piques my interest and gets me thinking, which is why I do it.
I grew up on a military base, or more accurately many military bases. It was my childhood and life. Even today my idea of home is anyplace filled with military uniforms and flags. Home is not a place, but a community—one I miss a great deal. I did, however, learn a lot growing up in that world. One of them was the value of cadence.
I am an introvert and I have the test results to prove it. Three sets of test results in all. That’s how many times I have the Myers-Briggs test and each time I have scored a consistent 49 (on a scale of 1-50) as an Introvert. It’s a fairly extreme condition, I’m afraid.
Essentially, I am a hermit. A writer who loves words, books, movies, fictional worlds, music and quiet. Blessed quiet. I crave it. I need it to stay sane.
We live on stories. They feed us. They inform us. We collect and share them along the way and in turn they make us who we are.
As an avid reader, I hesitate to name the books that changed my life. I know I will leave something out…something obvious. But I am going to give this a go anyway.
Here are some of the books that taught me how to live:
Probably the most famous stage direction in theatrical history is William Shakespeare’s note to Antigonus in The Winter’s Tale to “exit, pursued by bear.” How does that relate to fiction?