Upcoming Book

It's not titled yet, but I am writing a book I consider a YA and NA because the protagonist is 16 when the book begins, but closer to 20 when it ends. Right away, readers will find out, Josette Hansen, is battling leukemia. The book follows Jo's life, her ups and downs, and her mistakes.

This book is also a LGBT read because Jo figures out she's bisexual when a young woman comes into her life. It's a drama. Just a drama. Some might say contemporary. It's not set in the future (maybe a year or two). It's not fantasy where faeries come and heal her. Not paranormal where a bite from a vampire will heal her.

It's just drama. I hope that someone out there will read it. I hope someone will enjoy it. It started as a dream and developed into a long novel. I'm not done yet and it's at 108k words. Will that matter at the end? Will people shun the book because it's "too long?" I, personally, don't care how long a book is as long as it's good and holds my attention.

Anyway, I just wanted to update y'all about this book. I hope you will get to know Jo, Maverick, Ellie, Selena, Breeze, and all the supporting characters.

Character Traits

People, especially reviewers, like to tear authors apart for overused traits. For example when we write about our characters biting on their lips or twirling their hair, readers say it’s overdone or boring or whatever. BUT… when I look at myself and other people in real life, what do I see? I bite on my lip when I’m nervous all the time. I see others twirling their hair or biting their nails. So maybe characters are written with those traits because authors themselves have them or know people who have them. If I wrote a character who always hopped up and down on one foot when nervous—just so she would have a more unique trait—would anyone believe that? Or would the character be more believable if they bit on their lip or twirled their hair? 

It's might be overused or overdone, but I'm going to keep writing characters who twirl their hair, bit on their lip, shuffle their weight, or tap their fingers because that's what people do. You don't have to like it, but please think about how odd it would be to read about a character who did absurd things just so readers wouldn't gripe about the same old character traits.

My writing tip? Don't worry about character traits or faults being overdone. Readers should focus on the character overall and the storyline. If it's a good storyline, then who cares if a character twirls her hair or pulls it? Bites on her lip or jumps on her feet? Let the author be and just enjoy the story.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Popular saying. What does it mean?

"Beauty cannot be judged objectively, for what one person finds beautiful or admirable may not appeal to another."

"The perception of beauty is subjective."

In short, what I find beautiful, you may not.

Why am I blogging about this today? Every once in a while I'll read some of the reviews people have left for my books. A couple say something along the lines of why is this character beautiful or why don't authors write about ugly characters?

I write in first person (only one of my books is NOT in first person). When that character describes someone, they might say, "She was beautiful." "He was gorgeous." And so on. It only means that my character found this other person attractive. It doesn't necessarily mean he/she is the hottest person who has ever lived. I might not think the person is attractive. You might not. But the character whose POV it's in, does.

I urge readers to remember this when reading books. What the author or character perceives as being beautiful, others may not.

Writer Wednesday - Stories That Take On Their Own Lives

What do you do when you have a story that goes in a different direction than you planned?

I have a story about a girl, her best friend, and a boy. I envisioned the girl and the boy being together...but the story pulled me in another direction--in fact I stopped writing because I didn't want to write it the way it was heading.

It's not my normal teen book. I guess this would be called emerging adult? It's a story of friendship and love and of course a medical crisis. But, the characters are in their early twenties instead of teens. I have no idea if there's an audience for this or not. It's half written and I think I'd like to try and finish it, but I need to drop my plan for it and let the story take on a life of its own and I feel bad for my characters. LOL!

It would also be my first solo book that would be in third person. Mesmerized is written in third person, but I cowrote that with another author. I like writing in first person. It feels more natural to me.

Anyway...what do you do when your story goes another way? Follow it? Or guide it back to where you want it?

Someday

I'm sitting on the balcony of a condo type place in sunny Florida, writing my next book. This is paradise - except for the occasional wasp that keeps flying nearby and scaring the crap out of me.

My husband works for a company that has a conference every year - usually in a nice vacation type spot. This year, it's San Destin, Florida. It's a huge resort area on the Emerald Coast. I was here a few years ago for a wedding and loved it. We came back to Destin, but not back to this particular resort. And now here we are. This has to be one of my favorite places on Earth - at least so far. Granted, I don't travel much and haven't been to Europe or any other continent :)

This is my dream. To own a small vacation home/condo on the Emerald coast. I can only hope that one day I sell enough books to pay of my debt and make this dream come true. Not just for me, but for the kids too. They love it here.

Ocean air, sparkling water, sunny skies. Who could ask for more?

Update

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much this summer. I've been focused on getting the first draft of my 6th book done and I just finished today! It's just shy of 64,000 words which means that after edits, it should be near 70,000. I closed it out and will set it aside for about a month. In that time, I'll work on book #5 which needs it's first edit.

Finding out we're pregnant again has also slowed me down a bit. The fatigue and the nauseousness has made staying up late and writing pretty rare. Hopefully the second trimester will bring some relief.

I'd like to get at least book #5 and #6 out before Christmas. If I'm lucky, book #7 - the sequel to The Ultimate Sacrifice will be out too.

New Book Ending

I'm working on this one book that I originally wrote way back in high school. The characters were bugging me a few months ago, so I took out the book. It was horrible. Really bad. But, the storyline was good, the characters were good. It just needed a lot of tweaking.

Basically, I grabbed the character's names and personalities and wrote a whole new story, keeping some of the same story. But, now I'm getting to a part where I could go a few different ways with it.

I could keep the original type of ending - happy, predictable.

I could make the ending sad and not so predictable.

I could make the ending not what I wanted, but probably more realistic. Happy, yet not happy.

I read so many people get tired of predictable, happy endings. But, how many readers are like that? Most? Some? Only a few?

And I LIKE the happy endings. So, should I just write what I would want to happen even if it's predictable and happy?

I'm sure I'll write whatever comes to me at the second I get to that crossroads. But, right now, I'm kind of conflicted about what to do.

Character Description

I recently read a blog about describing your character's appearance. It made me think about how I write.

When I introduce a character, I try to describe them.

But, then, I don't usually describe them anymore. Especially if they're not the main characters.

One of the things I dislike is when an author constantly reminds you of what the characters look like. Repeating what color eyes or hair a character has, no matter how many different ways you can say it gets boring! Yes, we know he has blue eyes because you've told us 100 times. And oh the cold skin, can't forget that. He had cold skin in the beginning of the series, he still has cold skin at the end. WOW, who would have thought?

How much do you notice you neighbor? Spouse? Someone you pass in the store? Best friend?

Other than my children and my husband, I couldn't tell you what color eyes anyone I know has. Unless maybe they were SO different, I couldn't help but notice. If a neighbor changes something about their hair, I'd notice that.

So, readers - how much do you like reading descriptions of the characters? Is there something specific you like to know? What their hair looks like in that scene? What they're wearing that day? Or does it not matter after the first major description?

How about you writers? How much description do you put in?

Writing Is For Me

Did you ever get that crazy 'is this really worth it' feeling? Sometimes I get depressed - I admit it. It's hard doing this all myself. Maybe I expect too much? I know I'm just starting out. It's only been a few months... no, it's been longer than that, in July it'll be one year since I put my first book out there for the world to read.

I do get sales. Usually about two a day. Some days I get nothing and there have been days where I have had six sales. So, it's not like I'm not getting anything. But, then I read about people selling 100 a day. It blows my mind. To sell that many every day would be awesome! How do I get to that point? I know I don't always write about easy things. I don't always write about what people want to read, but I do think that there are many people out there who would like my books if they gave them a chance. My husband has convinced me to write a paranormal and a vampire book. I'm only 30,000 words into the vampire one. I'm kind of stuck in the middle, so I figured I'd take a few days to think.

I put my books out there to a bunch of book bloggers, so far the feedback has been positive. Although, I'm trying to prepare myself for that bad review that will ultimately come. I can't please everybody. But, I'm sure when it does come, I'll pull the covers up over my head and decide never to write again... for about a minute. LOL!

I keep reminding myself that the reason I write is for me. I love these stories. I want to see them get written. I want to read them. Selling them is just a perk :) So, I will keep writing as long as characters keep yelling in my head - and hopefully someday I will see sales as high as 100 a day!

Writing and Facebook

Hello blog readers! Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful May weekend. Of course, it might not be beautiful everywhere.

I have been concentrating on a new story idea. I'm trying to break into the paranormal world that is so "in" these days. It's been hard trying to come up with ideas for something other than normal teenage drama. But, it's fun at the same time. I look forward to doing both paranormal as well as the regular drama.

For those of you who are authors, I belong to a Facebook group for indie authors. They are a wonderful group of people. Please join us.

My weekly update will be up soon!

Up and Down

The beginning of April started out good. I had a good number of sales. But, the second part of April hasn't been so good. Maybe it's spring break? Maybe people are busy with Easter? It's definitely been slower. I'm okay with that though. I know it's a roller-coaster ride.

It wouldn't be so bad if I could break my habit of checking KDP or Pubit 3-4 times a day. I'm obsessed with clicking on the link to see if any more sales popped up. It's hard to stay away from that, when I'm already on the computer writing, editing, or promoting. It's sooooo easy to just open another tab and click on the bookmark.

Sigh.

I'm trying to focus on editing the rest of my 4th book. I might have another scene or two to add before sending it off for reviews. FOCUS - Talia - FOCUS!

Happy Endings

I am one of those people who loves a happy ending. I recently had a few people tell me they don't like happy endings in books because it's not what happens in real life.

Yes, well, we are talking about fiction books and not real life. Which kind of makes me contradict myself. Here I am, writing 'real life' stories and I like giving my characters happy endings. Hmmm.

I don't know what it is, but when I come to the end of reading a book, I want closure. Now, I know this isn't possible in series, lots of them will leave you hanging. But, many books can be closed properly. I like to know what happens.

My first two books have endings that show what happens in the future. That is what those characters needed.

My third book will not have the same kind of ending. But, it is still a 'closure' type of ending.

My fourth book, I think I'll leave open. It will have enough closure for my liking, but will leave it open for a sequel or for reader's minds to wander.

I'm not sure what I'll do after that. I think each character needs their story told until they are happy. Whether it's leaving it open or having an epilogue of some sort. I'm just the writer. The characters are the ones in charge.

What do you think about endings? Should the end of a book have closure? What about happy endings? Should we not write them because they don't always happen in real life?

Questions for Writers #4

Last week, I asked whether you like it noisy or quiet when you write. Many of you said you listen to some sort of music. So, here's the next question:

Do you have a playlist for your books? How many songs are on it? Do they fit the story? Or are they songs you enjoyed while writing? Do you post the playlist somewhere?

I do have a playlist for my books. Sometimes it's only one or two songs, and other times it's many more. Mostly, they are songs I think fit the characters or the story line, but sometimes it's just a song that I think these characters would like.

Questions for Writers

What do you do when you have a bunch of story ideas in your head?

Do you grab one and run with it?

Do you jot all your ideas down?

What happens if you're working on one story and another one is pestering you to be written? Do you stop and write it? Or do you continue on with the current one?

If you write a bunch of them, do you find it hard to keep in character?

I have at least 5 really good ideas in my head right now. But, I can't seem to concentrate on just one. I keep flipping between them, writing whatever is coming to me at the moment. It's exhilarating at times, confusing at other times. I'm excited by all of these new possible books, I find myself wishing I could write faster or that there was more time in the day. Maybe one day, one or the other will happen :)

Does Tagging Work?

In the past couple of days, I have joined a few tagging lists. You put your book on the list to be tagged and reciprocate by tagging other peoples books. Most of the time the tags are already up there, so all you have to do is click on the little boxes next to the words "agreeing" with them. In theory, this is supposed to help people searching for these words find your book and hopefully buy it.

So, my question is does it work?

Before I started tagging, I had a few tags with 2 people agreeing with it. Now, I have about 28 people agreeing with some tags. I'm curious to see if my sales will go up at all in the next few days. Stay tuned for an update!

And let me know your thoughts on tagging - has it worked for you?

Times To Write

Finding time to write can be difficult sometimes. I'm not a morning person, so writing in the morning is pretty much OUT. Late morning and afternoon can work sometimes, other times, there's too much happening with the kids. Forget after school and dinner time, too chaotic. That leaves night. I like writing at night. I can put the kids to bed, put on a show or music and let the words flow.

But, there are nights when I'm tired, nights when I'm physically exhausted, nights where I get the kids to bed too late and I don't have the UMPH to write. That sucks. I need to be able to get my creative juices flowing and get these books done.

I'm currently working on book #3 and I'm trying to get the timeline down. I have most of the story written, but it needs some fluff in the middle. I can't write anything more until I pin down the times. So, that's my plan today. Get off the blog and do the timeline! On a piece of paper so I can see it laid out.

Book Reviews

I've gotten excellent reviews on Natalie's Story so far. But, there are only a few. I could really use anyone who has read the book to write a review on Amazon. Doesn't have to be a lot of words, just be honest.

First Payment

I got an email last night - I almost missed it - my mailbox thought it might be spam. It was from Amazon and basically said my first payment is coming in. Took a few seconds to register, but soon I was elated! This means I've sold enough books to get a payment, even if the payment is small! Who would have thought? Even though this is very different than an agent picking the book and selling it to publishers and stores, it's still a wonderful feeling!!

I've sold 21 books so far. I can't wait to hit 25... and maybe 50... and I really, really hope someday 100!!

Writing on the Brain

I think of writing all the time. Ideas flow through my brain. Some I write down, some I don't. Some I kick myself later for forgetting. I wish I had some sort of program that took the ideas flowing through my brain, turn them into words, and type them out. Or maybe a voice program where I could just talk out ideas and the computer automatically types out everything I say.

So many of my ideas slip away and don't make it onto paper or computer. I need to work on that. Every idea is important. Even blogging - sometimes I think of something really awesome to blog about and then POOF! it's gone.

I think about the first story I ever wrote. It was about a couple of kids living on their own, I think it was shortly after reading The Boxcar Children. I was probably 10? I named one character Calliope, not sure what the other one was. As time went on, I wrote more and more edgy YA. Runaways, addicts, abuse, anything I could think of that would shock people. Why write this stuff? Why shock people? Because I thought there wasn't enough. I was a teenager with issues. If I wasn't going through some of this stuff, then I knew someone who was. And being a teen who liked to read, I wanted to read about it, but there wasn't much of anything about it.

No one dared.

Now it seems like lots of authors have dared. There are more and more stories out there considered edgy YA. Have I waited too long? I'm in my 30s now, can I still write YA? I think so. It might not be as crass as it once was, but some of it will still be edgy.

My first book, Natalie's Story, is about a 17 year old girl who falls in love with the wrong boy. He gets violent with her. She forgives and it happens again and again. Then to cope with things, she starts drinking and doesn't want to stop. It touches on abuse, pregnancy, and addiction.

My next book, Teagan's Story, is about a teenager with Epilepsy. I love Lurlene McDaniel. She's a wonderful author. She writes a lot about teens dealing with medical issues. I often read her books growing up and loved her stories. I wanted to branch out to other disorders or illnesses that aren't written about as often. Teagan, who has been home schooled because of her uncontrolled seizures, finds herself in public school when her parents unexpectedly die. This book is about how she deals with Epilepsy on a daily basis.

And coming up? Caelyn's Story. Another medical YA novel. She needs a heart transplant.

I have so many ideas... if I only knew people were interested.

Now is your chance! Leave a comment here. Join my Facebook fan page. Leave a review on Amazon. Help me get recognized! Be a part of it, I won't forget!

Writing Book #3

I've been working on my 3rd book and I've decided that I need to do something different with the beginning. Except I'm not sure what. I've already rewritten it twice now, but it's still not right. So, I've been sitting in front of a blank piece of lined paper for a couple days. The lines call to me. They want me to fill them up. They need words on them. I've even put my pen down on them a few times. I get ideas, but I just don't like the ideas. I feel like I can do better.

My husband has found me deep in thought a few times. He keeps thinking that something is wrong, but I'm just brainstorming.

Hopefully, I'll come up with the perfect beginning to my story soon.