Improvements!

If you haven't checked in on the IWSG blog lately you need to do that. For the last month, you're read some of the tidbits I've learned at the writing conference I attended in May. I can't begin to share the many things I learned and the amount of networking I did with other writers. More of the good stuff will be shared at IWSG later this summer.

If you can attend a writers' conference, I highly recommend it. You'll come away filled with energy and ready to park yourself at your keyboard. And now, thanks to the work of L. Diane Wolfe and others on the IWSG staff had put together a new page listing conferences near and far. There might be one near you. Some are genre specific but many are for all writers, poets, short story authors as well as novelists and non-fiction writers. Think of all the things you can than share with the rest of us.

Also, don't forget to check in on the contest page on IWSG. So many novelists I know have gotten an agent or editor interested in their book by entering a contest. And it is a great thing to use in a promotion if you've won a contest once your book is published. You might be interested in something on that page.

Hopefully, everyone has recovered from the Sunday season finale of Game of Thrones. A few story lines are similar to the book and a few have deviated. I'm pretty sure the next season will come around before the next book comes out. So all the characters are pretty much in trouble and we'll have to see if they survive. There are a few decent characters on the show so I  hope at least a few survive the hiatus.

Summertime TV fare I'm enjoying or looking forward to: Hannibal, Defiance and Haven are back on or will be. I also like TNT's Murder in the First. I'll probably try The Dome again and check out a few new shows on SyFy channel. I'm also going to see Jurassic World sometime this week. Looks like fun.

Have you attended a conference or entered a contest recently? How much did GoT finale shock you? Any TV you're enjoying this summer?

Turn the Heat Up

It's hot outside in Pennsylvania. High humidity and temperatures 90 degrees or more for this week. I love this weather though I know a lot of people aren't fans of this time of year. You'll find me doing my walking and jogging in the middle to late afternoon or perhaps mowing the grass. But I also understand the dangers of indulging in my love of the heat.

My daughter in Oman loving
the heat

The most common health risk this time of year when working or playing outside is heat exhaustion. High humidity makes it difficult for a human body to cool itself by sweating as it usually would. So a heat index at 90 or above means your body is really struggling to deal with the heat. Ways to take care of yourself:
Avoid the hottest part of the day to exercise and do work. ( I admit to seldom following the advice.)
Drink lots of water. Staying hydrated is every important for avoiding heat illnesses.
Use the shade if you must be outside.
If you or another feel nauseous, faint, immediately try to cool off with wet cloths, a cool shower and by drinking lots of cold liquid( without caffeine or alcohol)
Confusion or someone who doesn't c respond to efforts to cool down means a medical emergency.
If you or another stops sweating, this is another sign of an emergency.
More details at WebMD

I'm also turning the heat up in my current WIP. Raising the stakes so my protagonists have to face their fears and figure out what it is they really want. I heard a really good speaker at a conference where the subject was theme and premise. We did a couple of exercises that helped us narrow out them to just a few words. My theme for most of my space opera romances if that 'humans want to live free.' Humanity will rise against oppression. Eventually.

Do you know the central theme of your novel? Do you like the heat or hate it? Have you ever suffered or come close to heat exhaustion or helped someone who has?

Drafting

I'm having more fun with this first draft than I usually do with such a beast. The sprint journal is helping me keep my ideas in front of me and in order. I love my characters so I'm excited to sit at the keyboard and write their story every day. Also, with everyone out of the house, I have a lot of time alone to work on my writing.

I recently read an interview with Patrick Rothfuss. You may remember I posted about one of his books during the A to Z titled The Name of the Wind. His second novel, The Wise Man's Fear was

also a great novel. That novel was published in 2011 so it's over four years I've been waiting for the next one in the series. Not as bad as George RR Martin but I'm getting a little impatient. That is until I read Patrick's interview.

Despite the amazing success of his novels, Patrick Rothfuss is a family man first. He also uses his blog for charity fundraising. He does a lot of touring and spending time with his fans. Book #3 is int he works but he seems like such a regular guy with his priorities in order. And he mentioned in the interview that he does 'hundreds' of rewrites for each book. Is that impressive or crazy? But his writing is quality so his process works for him.

Another thing Patrick mentioned in his interview is how his degree as a chemical engineer influences his writing. If you've read his books, you understand what he is saying. I find my science background creeps into my writing too. He also makes the point that writers come from very diverse backgrounds and levels of experience. Not all writers have degrees in journalism or creative writing.

Ridley Pearson mentioned at the recent conference I attended that he does a minimum of four rewrites but eight is not an unusual number. I usually do three drafts before I send anything to my publisher though some books have suffered more rewrites than that.

On a personal note, I won't be posting this Friday as my husband and I celebrate our 33rd anniversary. He'll probably buy me flowers and a gift card to a bookstore. He told me he needs some new socks. LOL. I love that man. A quiet dinner out together will be celebration enough for us. We're so content.

"In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." Robert Frost

Can you imagine doing 100 rewrites on one of your books? Does your degree or day job creep into your writing? Do you feel like your priorities are in order?

Why You Walk Away?

I've set a goal for myself in completing my latest WIP but I'm falling behind. Hours when I should be pounding out new words and getting that sloppy first draft done, I find myself walking away to do other things. Read those tempting books on my TBR pile, wile away times on social media, weed the flower beds. do some cleaning and other things productive and not. I shouldn't be doing that.

Why do I walk away? Probably for the same reasons lots of people walk away from lots of things. I put the writing aside when it gets hard. It's hard when I get stuck in a scene. When I don't know how to move from this plot point to the next one. When the dialogue doesn't feel right. When I know the emotions in a scene are very important and I can't find the correct words. All those things that make writing good prose difficult. Sometimes those things even cause a writer to abandon a story.

How do I fight that urge to avoid the difficult parts? I've learned a couple techniques. When that feeling of it being too difficult comes over me, I make myself stay at my computer and write for just five more minutes. Or just one more paragraph. Sometimes that alone is enough to get me past the hard part or see a way through it. Another I've started using is called a Sprint Journal. We have a guest on IWSG later in the summer who will explain what that is. If I do end up leaving my writing chair, one of my other options for finding a way past the hard part is doing something mindless while I try to think my way through. A walk with my music. mowing the grass, weeding, cleaning, baking, those many things where my hands work and mind can mull over the problem.

"Creativity is the cessation of stupidity." Edwin H. Land

"Don't think about making art, just get it done." Andy Warhol

Before on this blog, you've heard me lament the loss of Borders bookstores. The BAM that took its place just doesn't measure up. My daughter, who is studying in Oman for the first half of the summer, sent me this picture. Needless to say, she's having a great time in that faraway land. Why has Borders survived there and abandoned us here in the US of A?

What makes you walk away from your writing? How do you keep going when the words are hard to get down? Did you know Borders lives on in parts of the world?

Good Habits and Already Home

I posted on this blog a few months ago that it takes about 3 weeks at a certain behavior to make it a habit. As a former health teacher, I appreciate that good habits have to be worked at. I try to walk or jog at least one hour 5 or 6 days per week. I floss nightly and go to the dentist every 6 months. Later today, I'll be visiting the dermatologist for my yearly checkup.

I've probably mentioned on her a few times that I grew up on a family farm. That meant hours and hours in the sun for all those years. And I played sports through high school and college. More sun. After college, at the old age of 21, I started my career as a PE teacher, coach and then watching my own children play sports. Lots and lots of sun. So for almost twenty years now, I go visit the dermatologist. Use that sun screen, everyone, please. And visit that dermatologist anytime you're not sure if something is as it should be. That's my summertime lecture.

Another habit I've picked up over the years is writing at night. 10 pm to midnight are my best hours. I wish I could change that but I haven't managed it yet.

In other real news. Heather M. Gardner's book Already Home: A Macquire's Corner Novel is available to day. Find it on:

Amazon  B&N  Kobo

Coffee shop owner Maggie Maguire doesn’t trust the new police chief her father hired to protect Maguire’s Corner. He’s a stranger, cold, bossy and annoyingly handsome. But, Maggie’s witnessed a serious crime and now someone’s trying to kill her. The man that aggravates her most might be the only one that can help her. 
Police Chief Jack Munro likes his new job and his new town, and unfortunately he also likes the stubborn but beautiful town sweetheart. His self-imposed hands-off Maggie policy is about to be put to the ultimate test when he must keep her close to protect her while he tracks down a ruthless killer. 
Determined to ignore Jack’s charms, Maggie attempts to help him unravel the mystery but when their lives hang in the balance she must decide how much she’s willing to risk to save the man she suddenly can’t resist. 

Writers' meeting tomorrow so I'm pretty excited about that. Then some time writing and reading on the front porch.

What are your plans for the weekend? Do you always use sun screen? What good health habit do you practice? Are you going to check out Heather's book?

IWSG: June Already

It's the first Wednesday of the month and time for Insecure Writer's Support Group when writers from all over the world join in the blog hop started by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. Please share your insecurity of the moment or if you have none, share what is going so well that you're riding the high wave. And please tell us how you got there. This is a hop so find the list of participants on the IWSG site. If you haven't already, sign up and join us.

During the next few months, I have a previously published book being released by a new publisher. The new publisher is actually my long time romance publisher where my romances have enjoyed modest success. However, this previously published book isn't a romance. It's an epic fantasy, the first book in that genre that my publisher has taken on.

Like many authors who work with small presses, I've gotten to know the people running the business. When my publisher heard about the two presses going out of business who had contracted my epic fantasies, she offered to take on my books and make them the first in a new line. She's taking a chance on my books, on me. I'm feeling the pressure. Will this pay off for her? Do I deserve her Susan Kelley writing fantasy as Susan Gourley,as a way to draw my romance following to the new books but still distinguish them as a different genre. I'm very nervous about the entire endeavor.

trust? She's created an awesome cover and came up with the idea to use my romance name on the cover,

In other news, I recently read an article in Writers Digest where the author of the piece on promotion talked about hiring a marketing firm, especially if you're a new author. This is where it gets amusing. She suggests planning a 2-3 month campaign at minimum and expecting a reputable marketing firm to ask for a monthly retainer fee of $3,000-7,000. LOL. Even an author signing with a traditional publisher would need a big signing advance to come up with that. Am I wrong to wonder to whom this article was directed?

Some wisdom to get me through the final edits of my next romance novel.

"Be curious, not judgmental." Walt Whitman

"Three, helping one another, bear the burden of six." German proverb

I'm hoping for a few family members to help me finish up some major landscaping projects so I'm going to throw the German proverb at them.

Don't forget to visit others on the list at IWSG.  What writing venture made you nervous lately? Do you spend thousands of dollars per month on marketing? Can I borrow some of that?

5 Blunders: A List by Heidi Hormel

It is my pleasure today to turn my blog over to Heidi Hormel. She is just as entertaining in person and in her writing as she is in this blog post. Enjoy!

List. My Kingdom for a List.

I’m a guilty list lover so for that reason, I thought I’d share my list (in no particular order) of the Five Blunders I regularly spy with my editorial eye (I know this now opens me up for everyone checking my books for these).

The Classics: Its for it’s and their for there or even they’re. But what about rode and road or to/too/two. English is riddled with homophones (words that sound the same but do not mean the same thing). The contractions are easy to figure out. It’s or its easy? Can you say it is? If so, then it’s it’s.

Available now

Quote Marks Run Amok: Just as air quotes are over used and have become their own joke, placing quotes around a word does not emphasize it. That’s what italics, bold, and all caps are for. Quote marks around a word, unless it is a direct quote, is to show a word is being used in a NEW and DIFFERENT way.

Semicolons: Nope. When used to connect two thoughts, it’s just better to break the sentence into two rather than use the semicolon. By the way, semicolons prove nothing except you’ve had a grammar class somewhere along the way. They do not class up a story.

Buzz Wordery: Get thee to a nunnery. (I’m on a Shakespeare roll today.) No paradigm shifting or thinking outside the box or even freemiums. The only way to go is to use language that was NOT created by marketers, public relations folk, or corporate communicators. These linguistic tidbits may even be worse than clichés—and you know to not use those, right?!

Commas: Writers either hate commas and only use them when placed there by an editor OR put commas everywhere, like the bling of the English language. There are hard and fast rules about comma usage, but their use can also be very nuanced and less black and white (cliché alert). Figure out your style and comma accordingly (and, yes, I purposely verbed a noun—and just did it again). I won’t get into the Oxford comma which has been known to cause armed conflicts among Wordies.

Coming in August

Bonus Item—For proofreading help, checkout Word’s text to speech function. It has made my proofreading 50 times* better (*Not scientifically proven).

Finally, remember spellcheck and all of those other nifty tools are not editors. An editor is the person who makes a story its best because she (or he) understands the unwritten rules of language, the expectations of readers, and the voice of the writer. Ain’t no machine can do that.

A former innkeeper and radio talk show host, Heidi Hormel has always been a writer. She spent years as a small-town newspaper reporter and as a PR flunky before settling happily into penning romances with a wink and a wiggle. Her first two (published) novels are from Harlequin American Romance: THE SURGEON AND THE COWGIRL (Book #1, out June 1) and THE CONVENIENT COWBOY (Book #2, out Aug. 4). Visit her online: HeidiHormel.net; Facebook, Heidi Hormel, Author; Twitter, @HeidiHormel; and follow her on Goodreads, Heidi Hormel.

Heidi hit some of my favorites. I had an editor once who wanted to change my sentence structure and use semicolons all over the place. Does it drive you crazy to see the homophones mixed up so often? Do you let buzz words sneak into your writing? Love or hate commas?

Don't forget, this Wednesday is the monthly posting for IWSG. Are you ready to share something this month?