I'm Back!!!

Ok, got a little off my path, but now I'm back. I have been learning a lot about marketing my first novel, signing up on the social sites and online book clubs. Some seem better than others, but the exposure is always good. I discovered goodreads.com which is good for recommending books, and though you cannot really push your book, you do get author recognition. Librarything.com is another great place where you can show author status. I have offered 20 ebook versions of Again in exchange for reviews on Amazon and Librarything. So far the response has been great. I will also be participating in an author chat mid-August on Librarything.com to answer questions about the book as well. I have been talking up the book with friends and neighbors and have made some sales there as well. My local library will be putting it on the shelf in a couple of weeks. Even my local lakeside grocery store sold a couple of copies!

David Wisehart has started a blog on Kindle authors and has been interviewing a lot of us. Great stuff to check out! Here is the link to my interview, but please take the time to visit the other authors as well!

http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-diana-murdock.html

Well, the marketing of Again is an ongoing process, but I will be back to writing my second novel, a young adult paranormal. I have also started the outline phase of women's fiction I am co-authoring with a close friend of mine.

Great stuff coming up. Stay tuned!!

Now on Sale

After three weeks of re-editing Forever Yours (with the help of Kathleen Mulroy), I changed the title to Again. The novel reads a lot better.

It is now available on Kindle and Smashwords. Sample chapters are available in both places. Please click on the links below and check it out!

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16367
Kindle version: http://www.amazon.com/Again-ebook/dp/B003PPD93M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1276121385&sr=1-1

Now, on to my YA Novel!

Rules Are Only Guidelines In My Book

Following rules. Everyone is supposed to do it. It keeps things organized and flowing in the same direction. Rules keep everything standardized and people in line. But someone has to enforce the rules and with that comes power. The power to condemn or praise, to send someone to the head of the line or stick them in the way back where the sun don't shine. Granted there is a place for rules in the world. Most people actually like rules. Makes them feel secure. Makes them blend into the crowd and go unnoticed. That's cool. I can appreciate that, but hiding in the shadows will never allow you to reach your full potential. Not unlike a seedling trying to grow. Oh, it might grow a bit, but not like the one who gets put out in the full sunlight, fully exposed to the world.

That's how I felt the other week. I broke the rules and got caught by one of those who had power over me. I got pulled over for failing to use my turn signal. Good grief. The policeman had it all wrong. No one, and I mean no one, in my world of Idaho uses their turn signal. I'm always looking now, trying to illustrate the injustice of it all. Anyway, all that aside, there I was, singled out because I broke the rules. I was noticed. I was in the spotlight for the time it took for him to write me up.

So I got to thinking about all of this following the rules thing. After months of writing query letters, getting rejections, studying successful letters, rewriting my query, getting a lot of no responses from the powers that be, I realized I was in a crowd of a bunch of nobodies (nobodies only because we haven't yet been discovered) that are being lead through the whole road to publishing process. Do this and you'll get this and if you don't follow the rules of the query process exactly, you go to the back of the line, deep in the shadows (that's where most of us go, because it is said that once you get the big "R" from an agent, you aren't supposed to query them again on the same project). So how do you stand out? Simple. Break the rules. Do something with your novel or letter that is going to get you noticed. Don't embarrass yourself by any means, but do the unexpected. I'm still plodding along the traditional route, but starting now to think of ways to deviate from the crowd. Do the renegade thing. I believe in my writing and I will shine. I'll keep you posted on the outcome...

In the meantime, my young adult novel is shaping up really well. I'll share some of that when it gels a little more...

You Have To "Scene" It To Believe It

Ok, so I know my whole story on my young adult paranormal. I have the characters, the setting, the major events, the beginning and the end. My journey thus far has been a lot of fun. I gave up trying to go from beginning to end. My mind just doesn't seem to work that way. I have a long-winded file filled with scenes, jumping around the pages like a Mexican jumping bean. My latest free-flowing thought process involves just dialogue. I put my characters in a setting with a general purpose and let them talk. It's amazing what comes out of their mouths. I've read about this way of writing, but even in my first novel, it didn't flow as fast as it is this time around. I figure when my characters are done talking, done putting their two cents in the pot, that is when I will start connecting the dots. I'm not in a rush anymore and I would venture to guess that is probably the biggest reason why my characters are willing to share their lives with me...Seth, Dani, Justin, Dirk, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

A Little Help From My Friends

When left to one's own devices, it's easy to go astray or just not go anywhere at all. Too many distractions or not enough stimulation or motivation. Thus the computer screen stays blank or not turned on at all, or the pad of paper is left to gather dust. Ah, but the laundry is done, the house is clean, and the car has been washed.

If you want to be a writer, act like one. One way is to start a writing group, and that is what my writing friends and I did. What a huge difference. We meet twice a month and when we meet we share our stories and ideas and agree the next time we meet, we bring something to the table to discuss, namely another chapter, paragraph, or even an idea. This holds us all accountable and keeps us motivated to produce. I get all jazzed to show my group what I have done, and in the process get instant feedback on my work, be it praise, criticism, or the discovery of plot problems. What a great place for honest feedback. What this group offers me goes beyond what I first envisioned. Yeah, it goes way beyond. Our vortex of success.

Even A Scattered Mind Can Put It All Together

I prefer wide-base coffee cups to the ones that taper to a slim bottom for the simple reason that my movements tend to be quick and the chances of knocking the cup over increases (and with it sitting next my keyboard 99% of the time, I don' t like taking chances). These quick movements are much like the way my brain functions. Type A+++. Too much multitasking has splintered my mind and while that can come in handy, containing my thoughts can be a challenge. My friend calls it "monkey brain," an affliction she has diagnosed herself with. Note to self: Ask her what the heck IS "monkey brain?"

Anyway, back to my fragmented mind. When writing, I know the beginning and end. I know the conflicts my characters will experience, but to go from point A to point B is not a path I find easy to take. It's too organized for me. Throughout the day I think of scenes and character comments and write them down in my notebook. They are hardly in chronological order, but are just things I can see my characters saying and doing. From there I can put it all together like a puzzle. Only then can I get my mind to relax so I can step back and see it as a whole, fill in the gaps, and add depth to everything.

I find it easier to just write, write, write, no matter how it looks on paper. It may or may not make sense, but I just try to get the general idea down. I look at it like regurgitating my thoughts on the page and then when I am done, I'll go back in and clean it up. So often I will stare at my screen and before I know it, an hour has passed without so much as a sentence typed, all because I was trying to get it to sound right or I was searching for the perfect word. What a complete waste of my valuable time. It's much more gratifying to have written pages of scribble for an hour than to walk away not having anything to show for it. The act of writing a story makes you feel like a writer, and when you feel like a writer, you are a writer, plain and simple.

Just the Beginning

There weren't many, but somehow I snatched enough moments from my over-booked life to finish my first novel, a historical/contemporary romance, Forever Yours. Over the eight years it took to write it, I learned quite a few lessons. Unfortunately I didn't realize them until the last couple of years, but better late than never.

Probably the most important is to schedule time for writing every day. Every seasoned writer will tell you this. It is like taking a part of your paycheck and putting it away. Time is money. Your writing is an investment in yourself. This was something I failed to do and it tacked on way too many years from beginning to end.

I was so excited, though, that my first inclination was to let everyone and anyone read what I wrote and I found out I should have been more selective. I think it is a good idea to narrow the list down to those who are actually eager to read your work, although even then it doesn't mean that they will. Someone who is familiar with the genre and who can be brutally honest is someone I would seek out. A placating "That's really good" may serve to stroke the ego, but isn't really helpful - at least for me anyway. Makes me wonder if they really did like my writing or if they are saying that just to be nice. That is not to say that sharing your work with friends and family shouldn't be done. It just depends on why you are doing it.

Stand firm in your vision. Other people's opinions are just that. Opinions. Weed through them and embrace the ones that resonate with you and either toss the others out or pack them away to revisit later.

Finishing my novel, albeit later than sooner, has given birth to a new level of boldness and creative flow. At first, when I had typed the last few words of my novel, there was a feeling of let down, like now what? But after a week or so of having a pity party, a voice inside my head (couldn't tell you which one because there are, in fact, many) started rattling off story ideas, both new ones and ones that I had stashed away until I finished my first novel. Key word here. My FINISHED novel. I did it once and I could and would do it again and again. Actually I have no choice. I love the written word. Period.

After the enormous task of editing Forever Yours multiple times and sending out query letters, I shifted my focus to all the other story ideas I had while I waited to hear (or not) from potential agents. I went to my writing notebook and found all the little notes and scribbled ideas of future books and dug in. Labeling four different notebooks with working titles of my soon-to-be novels made it easy to keep my outlines and ideas in order. So far I have a young adult paranormal, young adult fantasy, young adult science fiction, and a women's fiction (co-writing with a writing buddy of mine) simmering and ready to go. I have a few other novel ideas, but those will have to wait in line.

So here I go. The process starts once again. I can't wait. I still have to steal moments, but for the most part, I readily give them to myself, handing them over with a smile that just won't quit.