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Showing posts from April, 2014

Let's Talk Thursday: Episode 4

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Source:  http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/ Hello Awesome Visitors! Let's talk for a minute. Disclaimer:  Before we go on, I want to let you know on these topics, I'm no expert.  I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others. Let's get to it. There are some writers who dream of  having an agent, publisher and/or both.  Yet, you're in a catch 22.  An agent won't represent you if your manuscript isn't worth a damn.  Quite a few publishers won't even give your manuscript a glance if you don't have an agent.  It's like all is out of your control. There are a few where you can submit to them unsolicited.  I'm not talking about vanity presses.  You shouldn't even deal with those to begin with.  Publishers who say they are looking for well written original works. I think that phrase should be reworded because not every publisher is true to his word.  One of my close writer friend is going through a nightmare.  Like

Let's Talk Thursday, Episode 3

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Hello Awesome Visitors! Let's talk for a minute. Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to let you know on these topics, I'm no expert.  I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others. Now let's get to it. Is piracy really an act of flattery? I saw this one post where someone said he had gotten pirated.  It didn't seem to bother him.  He saw it as publicity and a way to get more of his work out there.  He even joked that maybe the thieves would post a review on Amazon and Gooodreads. Piracy (in short) is: the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc. (Source dictionary.com) Then, there's the other side.  As an author, you work very hard to get your work out there.  You set it at a price point you think is relatively affordable.  Yet, even if you sell your work for as cheap as ninety-nine cents, there are folks who are getting it and offering it for

Let's Talk Thursday: Episode 2

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Hello Awesome Visitors, Let's talk for a minute. Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to let  you know on these topics, I'm no expert.  I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others. Now let's get to it. When it comes to office products, Microsoft is the most well known and the most used platform.  Back in the day when you got a computer, the whole suite would come for free. Then as time went on, the amount you received started to decrease.  Now, you only get a thirty day trial and then it's time to pay for the software. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so expensive .  A girl is on a budget. Then other alternatives popped up.  One that has risen in popularity is Open Office.  The greatest thing is that it's free. Although it is friendly for the pocketbook, it has become costly in terms of my writing progress. One incident occurred about a couple of weeks ago.  I was finalizing work for inclusion in a short story collecti

Sunday Speak on Characters

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Hello everyone, and Happy Sunday! For my Sunday Speak, I'd like to talk about Characters. As you become more familiar with my works, it won't take long to discover my characters aren't always "cookie cutter."  I'm not saying I don't believe in a person's ability to do the right thing consistently.  However, at times, one doesn't know what he will do until the situation is present. Simmer Sweet (a short story) Available FREE on Smashwords Excerpt Sometimes pursuing one's wants and needs is at risk of jeopardy to another's livelihood.  For Kesha, one of the major characters in "Simmer Sweet", she is aware that Teresa is engaged to a man.  Yet she had to come clean with her feelings no matter what the cost.   Would you have done the same thing?  Would you have remained silent?   Delectable Things (a novelette) FREE for a limited time on Smashwords ! Excerpt We can also put ourselves in predicame

Let's Talk Thursday

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Hello Awesome Visitors, Let's talk for a minute. Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to let you know on these topics, I'm no expert.  I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others. Now let's get to it. Why are people in such a hurry to get to their own houses?  Is the house going to develop wheels and disappear before getting there?   I'm not talking about if the house is on fire, the wife about to give labor, or to get there so one doesn't have to pay the babysitter for an extra hour. I simply speak on the commute from one's job (or just anywhere) to get to one's home.   Must you go fifteen past the speed minute when everyone else around you is already going ten past it? Do you feel justified in not using your small mirrors and cut into the lane without giving a shit if another car is there? Must you treat your big SUV as a monster truck and be right behind a smaller's car ass?  As a matter of fact, that&

A Revitalized Muse

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Hi there! I didn't think I would be blogging yet here I am.  Actually, I never really "blogged" here before.  I would just post certain things I wrote and then be on my way.  For a long time my writings were few and far between.  Recently, a Microshort I wrote (entitled "Kona") got selected to be in the "Winds of Change" issue for All Authors Magazine .  I was very excited about it but thought that would be the end of my writing spark. A fellow writer really liked my story and asked if I could write three stories for her short story collection, Continuous Drips .  It meant a lot that she would ask me to be a part of it.  At the same time I was quite nervous.  What if the stories I wrote didn't do the collection justice?   The main thing she did was encourage me to be myself and not to over think.  Once I did it all spilled forth with little effort.  Out of the three requested, I have completed one. I did write two other stories