An Author's Spring Office Cleaning - Part 1

My second book has a new title, The Hermit in the Hemlocks: A Ghost Story. It still takes place in the Adirondacks but I want to make it appealing to a larger audience so I'v given it a new title.

I'm also giving my office a much needed facelift. Running three businesses out of a 12x9 foot space isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm very grateful for the space, though. It has a window!

I'm throwing junk away first. I'm on my fourth garbage bag full. 33-gallon sized bags! Boy, does this feel good. It's a lot messier and unorganized than I thought but I've come across a few surprises.

I've found a lot of information from the publication, book signings, author's fairs, marketing, publicity and so forth with my first book, Adirondack Nightmare. Tears gushed down my cheeks as I sorted through everything. I had no idea of the magnitude of ongoing support I had throughout this process. I'd like to thank some of those people now as I reread their letters, articles, emails and as I look at the photos they were kind enough to send to me. There's no order to this list...just going through the "keeper" pile on my desk!

Thank you Janet Duprey, Assemblywoman of the 114th District of the State of New York for your kind note.

Thanks, Frances Fairchild of the Chazy Public Library !

Thanks to the Momot Elementary School PTO for our first school presentation!



I have barely begun to thank those friends who have helped and supported me along the way. You have given me the inspiration to continue with a second book and to continue cleaning this office! I'll be posting more thanks next.

Take care.

Adirondack Center For Writing & North Country Public Radio

The Adirondack Center for Writing and North Country Public Radio invite your submissions for the next biennial Writing Contest.

The categories for the 2007/2008 Contest are:

Short Story

Humor

The first-prize winner in each genre and age group will receive $300, and will have their work posted on both the Adirondack Center for Writing and North Country Public Radio websites! Runners-up will receive $150, and have their work posted on the two websites!

Who is Eligible?
Anyone living in the Adirondack Park and/or in the NCPR listening area who is twelve years of age or older. The submissions will be divided into two age groups (12-20 and 21+) for each of the genres listed above. Published as well as unpublished writers are welcome to enter the contest as long as the work submitted is unpublished.

Submission Guidelines
Entries must be between 500 and 2,500 words, double spaced. All manuscripts must be typed and submitted on paper. Include a cover letter with your name, telephone number, complete mailing address, in which age group you belong (12-20 or 21+), and to which genre you are submitting. Number all pages, and include the title of your work on each page.

*NOTE: Your name should only appear on the cover letter, not on the manuscript, only the title should appear on the upper right hand corner of each page of your piece.

Send three copies of each submission to
The Adirondack Center for Writing
PO Box 265, Paul Smith's College
Paul Smiths, NY 12970

Entries must be received by April 11, 2008. Submissions will not be returned but everyone will receive a decision letter.

For information on the judges, visit the Adirondack Center's Web site here.

Good luck and take care.

Self-Publishing With Amazon's Booksurge Or Else!

Well well well. Amazon's selling policies may be getting quite interesting. It appears that they have "notified publishers who print books on demand that they will have to use its on-demand printing facilities if they want their books directly sold on Amazon's Web site". That's a direct quote from The Wall Street Journal and several other credible news sources.

This reminds me of the video rental industry. Blockbuster's exclusive deal with the Weinstein company shut out, or tried to, independent video store retailers from renting Weinstein DVD's. It didn't work but monopolies do exist in business.



Looks like Amazon's throwing their muscle and threatening POD (print on demand) publishers. Some observers feel Amazon is targeting subsidy publishers. It could be as that's a very lucrative business. (Personally, I feel subsidy press is a big rip-off for most publishers but I guess it has its place in the publishing world.)Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

It is true that BookSurge does not offer distribution through any channel other
than Amazon.com. That's pretty limiting. It looks like Amazon's new business model is simple: Print your POD books with Booksurge if you want them to be sold by Amazon on Amazon.com. If you have another POD source, Amazon will not sell your book.

It'll be interesting to see if this works for Amazon. I bet not but time will tell.

Take care.

Adirondack Literary Award

The Adirondack Center For Writing is having its annual Adirondack Literary Award. Please enter! Here is the official press release:

February 19, 2008

For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Nathalie Thill
Executive Director
Adirondack Center for Writing
326-6278
acwevents@gmail.com


Call for submissions for Adirondack Literary Award!

The Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) is accepting submissions to its annual Adirondack Literary Award. This award recognizes books published in 2007 by regional authors and/or books written about the region. Awards for best works of nonfiction, memoir, fiction, poetry, children's literature, and photography will be decided by a panel of judges for each genre. We will also offer the popular People's Choice award for best overall book regardless of genre, voted for by ACW members. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in June.

If you would like to have a book considered for this award, please send two copies of it to:
Adirondack Center for Writing
PO Box 265
Paul Smith's College
Paul Smiths, NY 12970

Books must have been published in 2007. The deadline for book submissions is March 11, 2008. All books submitted for consideration will be displayed at the Awards ceremony.

For more information, please contact ACW at 518-327-6278 or go to our web site, www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org, there you will also find a list of past winners. Good Luck!

About the Adirondack Center for Writing
The Adirondack Center for Writing is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting literature and providing educational opportunities and support to both aspiring and established writers in the Adirondack region. They provide workshops, conferences, and readings throughout the year in locations all around the Adirondack Park.

See, I made the text green for Adirondacks. You know, the mountains? Oh well. I strongly support the center and hope you will, too. I'm not sure if I'm going to submit Adirondack Nightmare or not. I think it will be a waste of everyone's time. It was a good first effort but, an award winner? I don't think so!

Take care.

How Many Rewrites?

I had a nice post all typed a few days ago, went to submit it and Blogger was down. I'll try again!

I've got ten chapters done and am doing another rewrite. I'm taking out unnecessary words. Too many adverbs and adjectives. Too much redundancy. I'm not worrying about word count anymore, now it's quality of writing and the flow of the story. I am writing the purpose of each chapter in my notes. This has been very helpful to me. It keeps me on track with the storyline.

I think I'm going to stop after this rewrite and write the last chapter before I tackle more of the middle of the book. I like the beginning chapters. It's the middle I'm getting a little wishy washy with.

What has helped me tremendiously is Stephen King's book, On Writing. His "memoir of the craft" is dead on. I've read and reread it several times. This last time really hit home for me. I realized I was writing just to get words down. It was necessary for me as I had become so frozen with my writing but now it's time to clean it up, delete, and rewrite. Thank you, Mr. King.

How many rewrites is this? I've lost count. Let's say twelve, that sounds about right.

I'm Starting From Scratch

Okay, now that I've had a rest (yeah, right) I've decided to start over with Reggie's Ghost. I had a prologue written and asked two kids to read it.

They both said it was sad, so sad. I asked them if they would want to finish
reading the book after reading the prologue and one of them said, "Well, does
it have a happy ending? I might want to if it has a happy ending."

I'm rewriting the prologue. I'm creating more intimate and detailed character
sketches and I am slowing down. I need to learn to stop imposing impossible deadlines on myself which I've created. Sometimes I'm a friggin' bonehead. I do this over and over and over again. Pavlov's dog here. Bark.



But no more Pavlov's dog for me! I'm changing my ways! I've listened to The Secret audiobook and watched the DVD! Over and over and over again...LOL!

Take care.

Prologues Are Hard To Write!

The sequel to Adirondack Nightmare is still in the works. I have written a short prologue because there's quite a leap in time from the first book to this sequel.

Well, writing a prologue is much more difficult than I thought! I needed to introduce the protagonist, Reggie, and give readers a feel for the type of young woman she is.

I also made sure to let the reader know that a significant moment was happening in Reggie's life. It was difficult for me to squeeze in just enough about Reggie so readers would get a sense of how Reggie's feeling about this big change.

Another main character, or two, had to be introduced. Very briefly. As a teaser of sorts.

I'm hoping readers will have questions in their minds after reading the prologue, get their curiosity peaked. Here's part of it:

Reggie was sitting in her purple and pink bedroom, tortured by her family’s upcoming move. She was wearing her favorite sweater, belt, sneakers and hair band. They were all pink, her favorite color. The stylish outfit normally put her in a cheerful mood, but not today. Reggie’s mind was racing from one thought to another as she looked around her beloved room. It was a total mess due to the endless job of packing her precious belongings.

Reggie looked down at a picture of her mom in an almost-full moving box. The funeral for Reggie’s mom was long over. The horrifying feelings of losing her beautiful, fun-loving mother to Cancer were coming back. Reggie was becoming overwhelmed. She needed to sort things out in her head.

It seems like my heart is always going to be broken, Reggie thought as she pulled her pillow to her chest. How could Dad remarry so soon? I just started sixth grade, why do we have to move now?

Middle of prologue here. Then the end:

“Reggie? Reggie, come on down and finish your breakfast,” Mr. Durant yelled up the stairs. “I’ve got work to do and your food is getting cold.”

“Be right there, Dad,” Reggie answered. She got off her bed, put her pillow down, wiped the tears from her face and looked at her mother’s picture in the box. With a heavy sigh, Reggie blew her mother's picture a kiss. With a determined step, she walked out of her bedroom and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Take care.

Adirondack Nightmare is Back in Borders in Plattsburgh!

The day before yesterday my mother-in-law, Gerrie, called to tell me our local Borders no longer carried "Adirondack Nightmare". Well, I thought, this just can't be!

I wondered what would be the best way to tackle the situation without offending the manager. So, I faxed a very professional-looking letter to their home office.

This morning I got a phone call from them. They ordered 12 copies directly from me, without going through my distributor! Never give up hope!

Thank you, Borders!

Just for the heck of it, here's Tiki, editing my book.



Okay, here's Tiki again, helping me make photocopies:



Take care.

Is Your Book In Libraries?

I found something that's pretty cool. It's a web site which shows where (or if) your book is in libraries. Here's the link:

http://worldcat.org/advancedsearch

Put in your isbn, and press enter. That's it. You can also put in different zip codes if you'd like.



Adirondack Nightmare is in two libraries: one in California and one in Nebraska. I'm in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York! What the heck? Is it me or is that weird?

Hey, two libraries is better than none, right?

Take care.

Adirondack Nightmare Sequel is on it's way!

An update on the sequel to Adirondack Nightmare! I have hired a book cover designer and will be sure to post her info here once the cover's approved and completed.

I also hired a professional photographer to take photos of my daughter, Amanda, to use on the cover. She is so much like Reggie (the protagonist). I will also post the photographer's info here once we have an approved and completed photo.

The working title of the sequel is:
Reggie's Ghost
Another Adirondack Ghost Story

I left out the word "nightmare" on purpose. I had some negative feedback with using that word from several people.

I'm working on Chapter 7 now. I'd say the book is about 20 - 30% done. The writing part, I mean. Once this NaNoWriMo project is done - I'm at 37550 words - I'll be able to hammer out the sequel. I've had some good feedback on it this far.

Okay, back to work. There's no rest for the weary. Take care.

An Author's Threat - Be Warned

As I'm slowly destroying every last brain cell I have with my NaNoWriMo project, I want to warn everyone out there...



...be nice to me or I'll put you in my next novel!

Take care.

NaNoWriMo May Be The Death Of Me NOT!

As I sit here, daring to take a minute or two from my NaNoWriMo task, I'm analyzing my situation. Just as the protagonist, Mandy, is analyzing hers in my 30-day novel.

I am at 12,910 words write now (get it? "write"? Oh, no, I'm losing it.) and I should be at 16670 (1667 words a day for 30 days). I am wearing a pedometer which I purchased a few days ago, determined to get to 10,000 steps a day. The most I've reached was 6,000. Why am I doing this to myself? How can I possibly step 10,000 steps a day AND write 1667 words a day AND still join in the rest of the human race AND continue life AND my regular job AND be a mom AND wife AND host Thanksgiving dinner? I don't have a clue.

The pedometer is now in second place. The words come first. My hair is greasy, I will take a shower today, I promise. The kitchen is clean. I am going to catch up on my word count today. No matter what. That AND the laundry.

No more conjunctions. I think I need a character who stutters. I now love adjectives and will use them as much as humanly possible.

Wish me luck. I need it. Take care.

Suicide is Painful - Writing Will Go On

I sit here, after a sleepless night, wondering if I should post this on my blog. For some reason, something is telling me to do it, to get it off my chest and to move on. I've had a hard week. About a week ago I received two phone calls on the same day: 1)My first cousin had died and; 2)A great friend since high school (he was my junior prom date and he introduced me to my current husband of 18 years) committed suicide. He lived near Schenectady, New York and his funeral was yesterday. I will miss him forever, he was such a funny, kind person. My cousin has been cremated and we will come together as a family in the spring. Enough said. I think I do feel better.

This past week I was in a fog, trying hard to keep up with my regular job. My housework wasn't so great, well, it never usually is, but it was even worse than usual. I don't remember what I made for dinners. I know one night I used the crock pot, what a great cooking tool that is. Friday we ordered pizza. The kids are still doing well which is what matters most to me anyway.

Another thing that begain on November 1st was/is my involvement with NaNoWriMo. I joined earlier in the year when things weren't quite so hectic. NaNoWriMo is the abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month. Here, I'm going to take this directly from Wikipedia:

"NaNoWriMo is a creative writing project originating in the United States in which each participant attempts to write a 50,000 word novel in a single month. Despite the name, the project is now international in scope. Nearly 80,000 participants registered in 2006, with almost 13,000 winners verifying their novels as meeting the goal. The cumulative word total for all participants in 2006 was 982,564,701."

It boils down to 1667 words per day. I'm okay up to now as I've got 5018 words in. No plot, some characters, and it's my first attempt at writing a teen chick lit book. Piece of cake. Yeah, write. I'll keep typing away and see what comes up. It helps to avoid contractions as that adds to the word count, LOL.

I'd like to finish Chapter 7 and 8 of the Adirondack Nightmare sequel. Then I think I need to devote a day to a bulleted outline to kind of keep myself on track. We'll see how the day goes. I was going to try to put some pics in this blog but I guess I'm not up to it.

It's sunny and beautiful out, a perfect Adirondack autumn day. Take care.

Adirondack Nightmare Goes To Glens Falls New York!

Now that I finally have internet access again, I'm able to share some photos of our trip through the Adirondacks from just south of Plattsburgh, New York, to Glens Falls, New York and the HUGELY popular Chronicle Authors Fair. I think there were 130 attendees or something like that. It was a blast and, yes, we sold books.

Take care!

Aaron Shepard's Writing For Children Book

Ok, here's a shameless plug for a FANTASTIC book. It's Aaron Shepard's The Business of Writing For Children book.



This book is vital to any author contemplating writing a children's book. It speaks the blunt truth...the writing part is only a tiny piece of the pie. It's also a business and a very difficult one, to put it mildly.

When you buy it, read it from beginning to end. It's an easy read, about 100 pages, and a nice, large font.

Aaron Shepard also has a fantastic web site for authors, please take time to visit it here. I've been reading a lot lately, trying to develop my writing style, and I know a great book when I read one. This is a great book.

Take care.

Goosebumps or Grossbumps?

I'm on Chapter 5 of the sequel to my first book, Adirondack Nightmare: A Spooky Tale in the North Country. This sequel is much longer and won't leave readers hanging as much as the first one did. My apologies for that, I rushed and was psyched to get it to print. A common mistake for first-time authors. So, I learned a valuable lesson. Quality!

I will write a very nice prologue in this second book to get readers up to speed as time has moved very quickly for William Durant. Here's his daughter, Reggie, the protagonist in my second book.



Well, Reggie has a step-brother who likes to read the "Goosebumps" series of books. I'd like to put this in the book but a question has come up. Do I need to get permission to use that word? If so, it might take forever and a day so, instead, should I use "Grossbumps" with the implication of, well, you know.

I kind of like the idea of Grossbumps because it cracks me up. We'll see what happens when I call the R.L. Stine folks. I'll let ya know.

Take care.

Writing With Depression

I have so much I could blog, post, write, contribute and just can't get myself to do it. I'm suffering from depression. Like a dummy, I let my anti-depression medication expire. I felt I could keep it under control with vitamins and the like. I've tried it before, without success. Why would I try it again? That's part of the cycle of depression. I should have known better but I wanted to be strong without the medicine. Duh.



My husband's been wonderfully supportive and I'm now back on the meds. In a few days I'll be my old self, catch up on some work and have fun writing again. I'll probably even smile, be goofy and such.

Take care. I know I will :-)

The Chronicle (Glens Falls NY) Book Fair

The Chronicle Book Fair In Glens Falls, NY will be held at the Queensbury Hotel on the corner of Ridge and Maple Streets in downtown Glens Falls. It is on Sunday, October 14, from 11a.m. until 4p.m. Almost 120 authors will be there, including yours truly!



Come early for "coffee with the authors". Their restaurant will be open and they'll also have a "grab and go" self-serve soup and sandwich vendor on site.

I hope to meet you there! Take care. PS I'm nervous!

Win a Publishing Contract With Court TV

I'm busy writing my second children's ghost story but thought some of you might be into this.

Court TV is looking for the next big crime writer. If anyone is interested
here's the link:

http://courttv.gather.com/



Good luck! By the way, the second book is coming along great. If anyone would like a peak at the first chapter, let me know. I'd love your comments/suggestions.

Take care.

Author's Den is No Nightmare!

I've found this great site for authors. It's called Author's Den.

It's a great FREE marketing tool and I just love it! Here's
a link to
my entry. The site boasts "Home to 50,000+ authors. Visited by
1,000,000 people monthly." I don't know if that's true or not but
did I mention that it's free?
LOL

You can upload photos, have url links and more.

Take care.