Tag: writing (Page 12 of 14)

Meet Rick Taliaferro Author of Cascades

May 17, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Let’s all wish Rick Taliaferro a happy book b-day as he celebrates the publication of his contemporary YA novel Cascades (see my Goodreviews review here) by guest posting on the blog today. Welcome, Rick!

alt “Technology’s great when it works.”

We know this phrase, usually muttered when technology is not working. But, here’s one case where it did work, usually very reliably and consistently. And I have the feeling that it’s more the general case than an isolated, personal case.

In the past several months, I’ve been thinking up ways to publicize my newly available teen/YA novel, Cascades, in addition to studying and emulating what other writers are doing to promote their publications.

A really great idea that I had was to streak a well-attended public event here in the Raleigh area, wearing just a t-shirt or carrying a sign with quick details about my novel. A friend could video-record it and post it to YouTube. Then I’d sit back and wait for the post–and sales of my novel–to go viral.

My wife thought otherwise.

“How about if I could get Justin Bieber to read it and tweet about it?” I suggested.

“Uh-huh, sure.”

Another idea that I had was to pitch the following proposal to local media here in the Raleigh metropolitan area. In a nutshell: “Local author gets first novel published, and credits current technology as helping in that achievement.” I haven’t heard from any one of the media yet, and perhaps won’t; they might rightly view my proposal as a self-serving attempt to get free publicity. Which it is. But I think there’s a broader general interest element to the proposal, which goes beyond an author’s desire to sell books, and which applies to writers today, especially aspiring writers.

So, in lieu of an appearance in local TV, radio, and newspapers, here’s what I would have covered in the hoped-for interview. And these observations are not original, nor new (some of you might call them ancient history by now), and don’t cover various other recent consumer-tech advances of which I’m an ignoramus and which you’ll notice by their conspicuous absence. But perhaps we can generalize the specific devices noted here and extrapolate their positive effect to other technological advances in this post-Guttenberg-paradigm that we’re in. I’m inviting readers of this guest blog to fill in the consumer-tech gaps that I’ve left, and note the positive effect technology has had on their writing efforts–as soon as they stop guffawing that I haven’t used them, yet.

Naturally, it’s possible that technology exerts a negative influence on one’s endeavors, such as writing, but let’s save that topic for another blog. By coincidence, there’s a thought-provoking article on this topic in the “Related articles” links below.

Alright, the technological devices which contributed to my getting published are email, the Internet, and perhaps most importantly, the e-reader, as described here. Again, please jump in with your thoughts and arguments.

Email has improved the communications between authors and editors/publishers. The quality of the communication still depends on careful wordsmithing, but turnaround time in submitting and receiving responses has become more efficient. For sure, online journals can still take several months in which to respond to a submission, but the advent of email has enabled a more efficient submission-and-response apparatus. You’re no longer tasked with putting pages and SASEs in an envelope and posting it; neither is the editor when responding. The transmission of your submission is nearly instantaneous, as is the response (that is, the transmission after the writer or editor gets around to processing the email and clicking Send). And, though some journals still take months to respond, I think email, by its instantaneousness, has encouraged a faster response time. At Bartleby Snopes where I’m an associate editor, our usually met target for responding to submissions is 3-5 days, and usually quicker than that, even with requested feedback. Part of this response rate is because of email.

Internet. Several characteristics of the Internet are serving the aspirations of writers.
- Publishing opportunities. With the increased use of the World Wide Web (WWW) — thanks to Tim Berners-Lee — came an increased number of publishing opportunities. (Probably also an increase in the competition, too, but undoubtedly an increase in opportunities.) Imagine the number of small literary magazines, of varying quality, before the WWW, and then exponentiate that number (by what factor, I don’t know, but you get the point) after the invention of the WWW. Anyone can start an online journal, more efficiently and very cheaply relative to paper-based and paper-mail-based journals. As a result, many talented and astute editors have founded such journals, to the benefit of readers who enjoy fiction and the writers of that fiction. (I’m one of those writers. My first story publication was online.) To use the example of Bartleby Snopes again, we publish eight stories a month, opening up 96 publishing opportunities for story writers and readers during a year. This number doesn’t take into account our special projects such as our annual Dialogue-Only Contest and our recent Post-Experimental Project.
- Exposure. Another salient feature of Internet-based journals is the greater exposure afforded to the writer whose work appears online. To save space in this blog, I refer you to Jason Sanford’s essay on this characteristic, “How to Expose New Writers: Online Versus Print Magazines,” below in the “Related articles” section. (By the way, if the links are problematic, let me know, and I can provide PDFs of the linked-to articles.)
- In addition to publishing opportunities and exposure, the underlying code that provides part of the WWW infrastructure can also provide opportunities for creative experiments in narrative form and structure. For example, in the use of linking, and forward and backward referencing. There’s lots of examples of this. My short story, “Keynote Address,” attempts to use HTML coding in several narrative places to tell the story (in one example, the story links to a description of what is generally regarded as the early example of hypertext fiction, “Afternoon”). I think the point I’m trying to make here is that with HTML, there are new opportunities for narrative form and structure, so that we can produce works that are more than just a traditional, paper-based story in an online medium. There are technical features of HTML that can serve story-telling.
E-readers. The advent of e-reader technology combines and extends several of the characteristics discussed above. But I think the most salient characteristic is the lower publishing costs. In the same way that a journal editor can easily and relatively cheaply start an online journal, so can a publisher of e-books and print-on-demand books. The costs for such an enterprise are higher than a small journal, of course, but much cheaper than traditional paper book publishers. With cheaper production costs and a greater number of publishers, come greater opportunities for book writers. (Here again, my first published novel is an e-book.)

So, in reading over this blog, it appears that the primary benefit of recent technological developments is an increase in opportunities for aspiring writers. That’s true in my writing efforts. I can’t say whether I’d have been published in the olden days. Maybe, but chances were against it. However, I can say that I am getting published now, and technology gets some of the credit.

As this blog started with a common observation about technology, I’ll end it with a more general folkism that also applies to technology: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” As helpful and facilitating as technology can be in a particular project, writers still need to persevere, accept rejection and, if possible, learn from it, and above all to keep writing. That’s old school advice that’s timeless. You combine that counsel with technology, and you’ll get published.

Okay, it’s your turn to fill in the gaps. That’s right, please add your experiences with cellphones, Facebook, Twitter. All that.

Here are links to just several of numerous articles that provide interesting points and counterpoints to the discussion of technology in the context of writing endeavors. The last article has a broader thesis, but is relevant to the discussion.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/11/22/202564/in-the-age-of-twitter-the-short.html

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/sorry_the_short_story_boom_is_bogus/

http://www.storysouth.com/TheSite/winter2002/fictionafterword.html

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/12/jaron_lanier_the_internet_destroyed_the_middle_class/

Cascades blurb:

When Karen dumps Greg, he tries to keep the relationship going with a simple plan: become the kind of guy she wants. He needs to prove he’s decisive and can take initiative, qualities she admires. Not to mention he needs to read Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls for a class presentation. Middle-aged Victor arrives at the local hangout, a dam called The Cascades, giving Greg the means to succeed in the plan. Victor has a romance problem of his own, as well as a drinking problem. Greg attempts to help Victor sober up and reunite with his estranged wife, all in hopes of winning back Karen. Then tragedy strikes at The Cascades, and Greg is left to question love, the value of a life, and how he will ever finish his book presentation.

Buy Cascades at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, and other ebook retailers.

About the Author:

Rick Taliaferro is a freelance writer and editor (www.textposit.com) and an associate editor at the renowned online literary journal, Bartleby Snopes (www.bartlebysnopes.com). In his spare time, he spends one hour or one page or 200 words per day on fiction. He has published short stories and is currently rewriting the first draft of a new novel. Cascades is his first published novel. He hopes you enjoy it.

Highlights from SCBWI Conferences

May 2, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Tomorrow I’m off to the New England SCBWI conference! YAY! It’s my first conference in over a year, so I’m very much looking forward to it…but it is also my first weekend away from The Boy, so it’ll be hard to leave. We’ll both be fine, though. (That’s what I keep telling myself anyway!)

I’ve been going to SCBWI conferences for quite a few years now and have gathered a plethora of great tips. I’ll certainly be sharing my favorite nuggets about this conference, but in the meantime, here are some highlights from past conferences I’ve attended.

Take the time and make the space for your writing dreams. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
A vital aspect to nurturing talent is to accept and validate your need to create. Honor, cherish, and celebrate it. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
There are no secure boxes. Do whatever you want to do, and do it wildly, purely, uncensored, even regrettable. Do it as hard as you can. ~Donna Jo Napoli
Never give up because you might be on the one yard line, and you just don’t know it. ~Donna Gephart
Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home. ~M.T. Anderson
Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will. ~Gennifer Choldenko
As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back. ~E.B. Lewis
In a roller-coaster ride you know exactly where you’re going, end up where you began, and you can a buy a ticket to go on again and have almost the same exact experience; it’s thrilling, but it’s not a journey. A journey takes you where you’ve never been before; it’s pretty scary and the dangers are real. ~Sandy Asher
All stories are based in truth somewhere. Pay attention to those stories and write them down. ~Judy Schachner
Use your very guts to spill out your very best. ~Susan Patron

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. With the likes of Nova Ren Suma, Kate Messner, Sharon Creech, and many other authors, agents, and editors presenting at the conference, I know I will have an awesome weekend.

Meet Kris Rutherford author of Nothin’ But Net

April 19, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Today reluctant reader turned writer Kris Rutherford shares a little bit about his writing process. You can read my review of his middle grade sports story Nothin’ But Net over on Goodreads. Welcome, Kris, and happy book b-day!

alt Can a Reluctant Reader be a Decent Writer?

by Kris Rutherford

First, let me get out one shocking fact. I don’t read much. Never have. Yep. There it is. It’s been said by many that any writer has to “read, read, read” to be successful. Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m successful, but I have published several articles, two fiction books, and I have a contract for a non-fiction book in hand. But, I don’t read a whole lot more than the sports page and internet news. Sure, I like to peruse books on subjects I’m interested in, but “peruse” is the key word. Read them cover-to-cover? Seldom. And, fiction? Blechhh. I don’t have the time or energy.

So, how did someone who has spent little time reading and, I swear, never “curled up with a book,” end up as a youth sports fiction writer? Well, my dad was an English professor, so when I was a kid, a bit of reading was compulsory. But, I wasn’t about to read something in which I had no interest. A novel based on a movie I had already seen was always a great option, but the novel had to be written after the movie, not the other way around. I didn’t want anybody to ruin a great movie by changing it up on me. Plus, I liked the option of skipping over the boring parts. Aside from these classic works of fiction, though, my interest was in sports. In fact, I had few interests beyond sports. I watched them incessantly, regardless of the game or season. Curling intrigued me as much as football. I’d even watch sports on the French language channel beamed into Southern Maine from Quebec, despite the fact my knowledge of French went no further than Huckleberry Finn’s “Polly-voo-franzee” (I saw the Disney version of Huckleberry Finn sometime in the mid-70s at the local drive-in, and I admit I did read—or maybe skim—the book for ninth-grade English. Personally, I found Twain’s version a little disappointing). Regardless, my young life revolved around sports—watching and playing (with limited ability and even less success).

As far as youth sports fiction is concerned, I chose to read it for two reasons: 1) I was interested in the subject matter; and 2) Even the longest work seldom exceeded 200 pages (for purely psychological reasons, I preferred to read of less than 100 pages, but I made exceptions in the case of sports). My influences were probably the same as most sports-minded kids of the 70s—Matt Christopher and Alfred Slote. I loved Christopher’s play-by-play narrative and the wide variety of sports he covered. “The Kid Who Only Hit Homers” and “Return of the Home Run Kid” remain favorites to this day. But, for me, nothing could top Alfred Slote. “Hang Tough, Paul Mather” has to be my favorite book of all-time. The main character is a Little League baseball pitcher battling leukemia but refusing to give up his favorite sport despite the risks involved. At the time I read the book, I was having some weird medical issues of my own, so maybe I thought Paul and I had something in common. Slote’s masterpiece still resonates to this day, and I even reread it on occasion some 35 years later. “My Father, The Coach” is probably my second favorite Alfred Slote work.

When I come up with an idea for sports fiction, I usually try to pluck some small memory from the back of my mind and build on it. From the perspective of a sports nut who had limited athletic ability, my main characters are typically athletically-challenged or have a flaw in their game. In my first novel, “Batting Ninth” (Enslow Publishers), the main character was a great fielder but a lousy hitter. In “Nothin’ But Net,” Blake Creekmore is about as unathletic as they come. But, his best friend is the school’s top athlete. Their rather awkward relationship and lack of common interest forms the basis for the story.

I also like to include an adult or two in each story, at least one of whom is not a great role model. My pet peeve growing up was overbearing baseball parents. In fact, in college my original intention was to become a city parks and recreation director in order to fix everything wrong with youth sports, which, in my opinion, focused generally on the adults. I soon found, however, that many of the adults who run youth sports don’t want them fixed. Local youth sports associations have become adult hobbies. As one journalist wrote many years ago, “Youth sports teach kids games adults play.” I love to weave the stereotypical “little league parent” or coach into my plots. Call it an outlet for my frustration.

Finally, as far as my writing process is concerned, I may break, or at least fracture, the mold most writers follow. When I sit down at the computer, I hold my sliver of a childhood memory and a general idea of my theme and how I want the book to end. But, everything between the first and last paragraph is an open slate. I seldom outline, don’t think too much about supporting characters until I find a need for them, and choose plot direction and subplots on the fly. For me, this process has generally been successful. While I do “revise, revise, revise” (as opposed to “read, read, read”), my initial plot usually holds up. I’ve become used to limited word counts—Lord knows I was a fan of them as a kid—and I keep these counts in mind as I’m writing. If I see a subplot consuming too many words, I hit the delete button and redirect toward the final target. My revisions normally focus on flow and, of course, mechanics.

Oh, and I only write in the first person. I’m a conversational writer. I find third-person extremely awkward and a hindrance to my sense of humor, cynicism, and sarcasm. But, I assure you there is not a touch of sarcasm in what I’ve written here. I’m not a reader, and I never have been. I’m a writer. Kind of weird, huh?

Nothin’ But Net blurb:

Blake Creekmore just cost his middle-school basketball team its shot at the district championship—and he’s not even on the team. Blake would much rather be at a Boy Scout meeting than any sporting event. He convinces his best friend Dustin, the school’s star athlete, to join him in an afternoon on the lake, where tragedy strikes. Dustin is injured and lost for the season, and Blake bears the blame of the team, the coach, and his classmates.

Battling his guilt, Blake seeks refuge in the activity he knows
best—bass fishing and enjoying the outdoors. With the support of his father, a local bait shop owner, and a most unlikely character, Blake learns the importance of friendship and what it takes to be a member of a team. And, in the process, he unwittingly teaches his classmates a few lessons about life and the environment as well.

Nothin’ But Net is available on the MuseItUp bookstore and Amazon.

About the Author:

Kris Rutherford has been a recreation and natural resources management professional for nearly 25 years and has been involved in youth sports as a player, volunteer, coach, and administrator his entire life. He holds a Master of Agriculture from Colorado State University and majored in Recreation Administration at Arkansas Tech University.

Nothin’ But Net is Kris’ third published book. He has also authored the youth sports novel Batting Ninth and a non-fiction work, Homeseekers, Parasites, and the Texas Midland: The Texas League in Paris, 1896-1904. In addition, he has published a number of articles in professional Recreation and Parks and Municipal Government journals.

Kris has held positions with Arkansas State Parks and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and currently serves as Grants Officer for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. He lives in Maumelle, Arkansas, with his wife and three children. For more about Kris and his books visit his website.ague in Paris, 1896-1904. In addition, he has published a number of articles in professional Recreation and Parks and Municipal Government journals.

Meet Tammy Lowe Author of The Acadian Secret

April 10, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Please welcome fellow Muser Tammy Lowe and her tween adventure The Acadian Secret to the blog today.

Thanks for having me on your blog Katie.

What made you want to become a writer?

Oh, this will no doubt illustrate what a dork I am.

As a kid, I loved to read books and watch shows like Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. I loved anything set in the “olden days”.

When I was about ten years old, I began to wonder about time travel. My biggest wish was that I’d end up back in the pioneer era. I wanted to go and hang out with spoiled Nellie Olsen. I don’t remember why I wished for Nellie over Laura Ingalls, but I think it had something to do with the fact that her parents owned the candy shop.

I had it all figured out. I didn’t want to live in the 18th or 19th century; I’d miss my family too much. And I can’t live without modern comforts. I wanted the freedom to travel back and forth through time.

My wish to time travel was so strong; I even dressed the part, as much as I could, without raising anyone’s suspicions. I wore dresses to school every day, when all my friends wore jeans and t-shirts. I had to be prepared just in case it worked and I was whisked through time. That summer, I even begged my mom to buy me a bonnet. She did. I wore that white bonnet everywhere. If I ended up in Walnut Grove or Avonlea, I was prepared.

By the sixth grade I was old enough to realize that time travel probably wasn’t going to be a reality for me, so I decided when I grew up, I’d write a story about a girl who could travel back and forth through time.

What books had the most influence on you while you were growing up?

I remember reading Judy Blume books under the blankets with a flashlight, well past my bedtime. I felt like such an adult as I read, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.

So many authors influenced me when I was a young girl, from Roald Dahl and L.M. Montgomery to Stephen King and Sidney Sheldon.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring two books and one movie, what would you bring?

Easy question! My two books would be Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre. The movie would be The Sound of Music.

And, if you weren’t peeking…I’d try and sneak in a copy of The Hunger Games too.

What is your favorite part of the writing process? What is your least favorite part?

The first draft is my least favourite part of the writing process. I find it hard trying to get the ideas out of my head and onto the page. I love to go back and polish it up in the editing stages.

What is the single best piece of advice you have for aspiring authors?

When you “think” you are finished your novel, put it away for at least six weeks and forget about it. When the time comes to take it out again, sit back and re-read the entire manuscript. Take notes. You will see a million mistakes and plot holes. Everything that isn’t working will jump out at you. It will be a cringe-worthy read, but you’ll be glad you put it away instead of sending it out.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I’d love to be able to time travel.

And fly.

And have an invisibility cloak.

And…oh, just one? *grin*

What is something funny/weird/exceptional about yourself that you don’t normally share with others in an interview?

In a scene out of a rom-com, I was on a date with my boyfriend (who is now my husband). One summer afternoon, he took me out on his boat and down the Niagara River. We stopped for a romantic little lunch on the patio of a restaurant overlooking the water.

He tied his boat up to the dock, held out his hand and helped me climb out. We walked up to the patio, took a seat, and ordered lunch. Everything was perfect.

Little did we know there was police surveillance on the fancy boat we had parked next to.

And little did we know police thought WE had just walked off of that boat.

So, we are enjoying lunch, when I clue in that all around us, something is going on. I watch unmarked police cars pull up. They are looking at the boats. They are looking up at us. I then go into full panic mode as I realize they are doing a stake-out on us!

The way we were seated, I was watching it all unfold, but my boyfriend had his back to it. Not seeing what was going on, he of course thinks I’m completely off my rocker.

Crazy new girlfriend alert!

So, I have to convince him that this is all true. I’m not nuts and he needs to go and fix the situation. I’m shaking like a leaf and in tears. My boyfriend walks down to where the police officers are and returns about five minutes later.

Yup. I was right. They were doing a stake-out on us, thinking we arrived on the other boat.

We finished our meal and left. We have been married for twenty years now, but that was probably our most memorable lunch date.

The Acadian Secret blurb:

Elisabeth London is keeping her new friends a secret from her parents. Not only do they live on the other side of the world in the Scottish Highlands, they lived more than three hundred and fifty years ago. Her mom and dad would never allow her to go gallivanting about seventeenth century Scotland. They won’t even let her go to the mall by herself yet.

Twelve-year-old Elisabeth is old enough to know there is no such thing as magic, but when her quartz crystal necklace has the power to transport her back and forth in time, she no longer knows what to think. The only thing she is certain of is that she loves spending carefree days with Quinton, the mischievous nephew of a highland warrior, and sassy little Fiona, a farmer’s daughter.

However, Elisabeth’s adventures take a deadly turn when she is charged with witchcraft. At a time and place in history when witch-hunts were common, those found guilty were executed, children included. Elisabeth must race to find her way back home, while trying to stay one step ahead of the witch-hunter determined to see her burned at the stake.

A little more about the author:

When she isn’t writing, you will either find Tammy Lowe surrounded by little children and covered in glitter and glue, or on some grand adventure: inside an Egyptian pyramid, twirling on an Alp or climbing the Great Wall of China. She’s part Mary Poppins, part Indiana Jones.

Tammy lives in Cambridge, Ontario with her husband and their teenage son. Find her at www.tammylowe.com and her book at the MuseItUp bookstore.

Meet Stacey Marie Brown Author of Darkness of Light

March 25, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m over on the Muse blog contributing to the March theme of writing pet peeves with a post about e-books I ran on this blog last year. While I’m off ranting, please welcome Stacey Marie Brown, author of the new adult novel Darkness of Light, as she gets candid about her writing process.

No Pants Required

by Stacey Marie Brown

The writing process—every writer has one, if not several, for the different types of writing they do. There is the Type-A personality out there who would look at my “process” as more of a “hot mess” rather than an actual method. At closer inspection, though, even I have one.

I learned quickly that, if I was truly serious about writing, I had to leave my house. Yes, I said leave the house—I just heard an outcry of pajama-clad authors around the world rejecting this scenario. Leaving the house means having to get dressed. The horror! I know that half the point of being an author is the fact you can stay in your pajamas and fluffy slippers all day. It’s the little things like hearing the doorbell ring and having no pants on that gets the author’s blood moving. My UPS man is convinced I’m a hermit who doesn’t own any real clothes besides my favourite penguin flannel bottoms my mother made me. I know guys—shocker—this girl is still single. But, some days this is my life, especially if I’m focusing on the marketing aspect of my job. Two o’clock comes around and I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet. Ah, yes, the glamorous life of a writer.

If I want to concentrate on writing, I found being home consists of very little writing and more of my money being spent buying books on Amazon. I am vastly creative on finding distractions. I mean, seriously, how many times do I need to pee in 20 minutes? I certainly don’t go that much when I’m out at a café. And, how many times have I sat at my computer to write when I decide I have to clean my desk. Now, I hate to clean and find every excuse not to do it; but, suddenly, when I should be writing, it MUST be taken care of NOW.

The Internet is the biggest seductress. She is an alluring temptress who could put a Siren out of a job. She certainly has led me down the endless labyrinth of diversion. The hours an author spends “researching” a day, especially on topics that probably have them on some FBI watch list, is astronomical. The Internet is another vice that, for me, must be left at home. Every once in a while, when I really need to know something to carry on a scene, I will break my rule. This is one part of my process, however, I actually try to stick to. I have to—the internet is just so sparkly!

Carrying around a notebook is not really a process but more of a must for a writer. Ideas come at the most inconvenient times: showering, right before falling asleep, driving, or standing in line at the post office. My mind loves doing this. It finds it funny to mess with me. It comes up with those brilliant ideas that only flutter there for a moment before vanishing from my memory forever. If I don’t write it down right then . . . well, tough. I will spend the rest of the day driving myself crazy trying to remember that mind-blowing, hilarious comment my character was going to say. Evil, evil brain.

All writers have different ways in which their characters speak to them. Some authors say they have full control over their characters and what they’re going to say. I’d like to say I was the one in control of the voices in my head. I’m not. Mine seem to have a mind of their own and usually tell me how a scene is going to come out. I’ve gone into a scene wanting the outcome to be one way and, by the end of my writing session, they have taken it in a completely different way. Most of the time they make it better. Maybe it is my acting background that allows me let my “actors” improvise. As their director, I allow them to play out a scene organically, and if I have to pull them back, I do. Most of the time I just let them go. The characters have their own way of speaking each with their own little quirks. I see them playing out the scenes in my head like a movie. This, I’m sure to an outsider, makes me look nuts. Years of having these voices argue in your head . . . is there a writer out there hasn’t become a little nuts?

A new author first feels every word they compose across the page is literary gold and cannot be cut or the entire novel will suddenly make no sense. The truth is that barely half of the words in your first or even fourth draft will make it into the actual novel. This was a hard lesson for me, like being thrown into a gladiator pit. You fight valiantly and brutally for every scene and character and then some editor comes along and mercilessly guts your novel. I felt like giving a funeral to those I had to kill off or cut from existence.

When writing for yourself you can keep every tedious detail intact. But, if you want the story to be published and enjoyed by others, you need to understand that your editor and B-readers are only trying to make your story better. They are not saying you suck, well, at least not directly to your face. Once I let go and got over this, cutting and editing was easier for me. Then I became obsessed with changing, editing, and cutting. I could have continued to work on my book for the next two years, altering and re-writing every line.

There comes a time, though, you have to let go and put it out into the world. And that is like standing naked on burning coals in front of millions of people. Scary, exhilarating, can hurt like hell, and you’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Darkness of Light blurb:

Freak. Witch. Crazy. Schizo.

Ember Brycin has been called them all. She’s always known she’s different. No one has ever called her normal, even under the best circumstances. Bizarre and inexplicable things continually happen to her, and having two different colored eyes, strange hair, and an unusual tattoo only contributes to the gossip about her.

When the latest school explosion lands her in a facility for trouble teens, she meets Eli Dragen, who’s hot as hell and darkly mysterious. Their connection is full of passion, danger, and secrets. Secrets that will not only change her life, but what and who she is—leading her down a path she never imagined possible.

Between Light and Dark, Ember finds a world where truth and knowledge are power and no one can be trusted. But her survival depends on finding out the truth about herself. In her pursuit, she is forced between love and destiny and good and evil, even when the differences between them aren’t always clear. At worst, she will incite a war that could destroy both worlds. At best, she will not only lose her heart but her life and everyone she loves. Once the truth is out, however, there will be no going back. And she’ll definitely wish she could.

Darkness of Light is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and iBooks.

About the Author:

I work by day as an Interior/Set Designer and by night as a writer of paranormal fantasy, adventure, and literary fiction. I grew up in Northern California, but have traveled and lived around the world before coming back and settling in San Francisco. Even at an early age I was creating stories and making up intricate fantasies. I acted in Los Angeles for many years before moving abroad, living in England, Australia, Caribbean, and New Zealand. I came back to San Francisco and went to school for Interior Design. During that time I never stopped writing, moving back to San Francisco brought it to the forefront, and this time it would not be ignored. It’s my passion and my love. When I am not writing, I’m usually out hiking, spending time with friends, traveling, listening to music, or designing.

For more about Stacey and her book visit her website, Facebook author page, and Facebook book page.