Happy Mom's Day!

Happy Mothers Day!

And IMO, there should be lots of Mother's Days!Not just the one. Thanks to all the moms of the world.

A Successful Week to Celebrate!

Okay, here's the fun part that writers often don't do. And the fun part that we need to do. It's the part that fills up the well for our writing. We all slog along and struggle with the work and then wince at the myriad rejections. So we all need to celebrate our successes! Here's mine this week, with thanks to members of the writing community for all their help and support towards these successes.

First: thanks to Aubrie of Flutey Words, who mentioned the market on her blog, I sold a short story to the anthology Fangtales.

Second: thanks to Su Halfwerk of Vivid Sentiments, who mentioned this wonderful promo market, Munaty Cooking, my incredibly delicious recipe is just released in their May issue. Writers if you like to cook, submit one of your recipes!

Third: The contract for my short story "Blood Tells" arrived for it's reprint in Big Pulp's June paper edition.

Fourth: My article, "Kiss a Garden" will be released in June's edition of Treasure Valley Family Magazine, both online and print.

AND LAST (does the big happy dance): I sold my mystery novel STARKE NAKED DEAD to L&L Dreamspell! Yay! It will be released in 2012, I can hardly wait! L&L Dreamspell also published my short story in their anthology Dreamspell Nighmares and it's been a pleasure working with them and I'm looking forward to doing that again.

And a big thanks to my friend and fantastic editor, Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words for her great help in getting the novel edited for submission! It worked!

So there you have it, my celebration. What do you have to celebrate? It can be a tiny success, writing a new paragraph on your w.i.p., for example. But celebrating creates success!

Next up: Nowadays, all writers must market, even before they submit. I've been doing this for a while, so I'll compile some tips and easy ideas and how to create an author page on Amazon.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Some virtual flowers for everyone. And did you know chocolate is good for you? Everyone enjoy a chocolate egg today!

Life Changes Fast and What to Do or Not Do

Cleo and I and Bruce and Puck

Cleo passed away a little over a year ago and now we have a new dog, Puck, who was not a dog when we got him a little less than a year ago.Life changes fast! Since I'm a writer, my head is spinning from the whole world of publishing changing every moment now. How do I keep up? How do I decide what's next for my books? What would be best to do? Every day I see blog posts about this and apps and other wild stuff for promoting and social networking. What's Tweepi? What's Amazon vine? What's....Aargh! When do I write?

And yet, I love this new world too, and want to KEEP UP! I love my new e-reader! I love the ease of e-books, except for one small problem, reading in the bath tub by candlelight...ah well. Now I have plenty to read. So when do I write?!

After asking myself this question several times and realized the answer is simple: Content is King! Write first and foremost. If I don't have product, I won't have anything to sell. So I'm working to avoid the incredible time suck of the electronic world (although, as I now get e-mail on my phone, it can be hard) and write first!

Readers, are you having the same problem and if so what are you doing about it?

Don't Niche Me Out

Yes the title is ungrammatical, but apt, as is the poster for the next signing of "An Eclectic Collage" next Saturday in Eagle, Idaho.I'm one of the contributors to "An Eclectic Collage" with both an article on exercise and several recipes.The Collage contains, well a collage of writing: short stories, poetry, articles and yes, recipes!

Which brings up the reason for this post. There's been a lot of e-talk about writers needing niches in this new world to succeed. Why? Because a niche becomes a brand which becomes the impetus for traffic to your publications. Of course, that seems to make sense. But I resist it. Why? See above. I'm one of those writers who are the definition of "eclectic." I like to write almost anything (even a little bit of bad poetry from time to time) and while I'm sorta/kinda in the genre (mystery, horror, fantasy) camp, some of my best short stories have been literary.

It feels like a niche would cut off some of my writing arms, to my dismay. Doesn't "niche" mean restricted to a small space? Or does it? Perhaps it just means that I'm a writer obsessed with dead things and bright shiny objects (many long stories, and short ones too, although not so much in my articles and recipes) and that's my niche. Now all I need to do is let readers know, right? Or?

What do you think? Is a niche like a brand or completely different? Is it a good thing...or maybe too constricting ala the writers who are forced to write books in the same series...forever. Or just another tool to get your words to the readers?

And those of you who live close to Eagle, hope to see you Saturday!

An interview with Fiona Dodwell

Welcome to my blog, writer Fiona Dodwell, author of The Banishing, released this month from Damnation Books here. 

Fiona's great answers to my questions about the creative process of writing follow. Be sure to check out her blog and website. 

You say on your blog that you starting writing at age 11, what was the impetus for starting at an early age?
It is true that I began writing at an early age. I think it's because I surrounded myself with books that I loved from the first moment I learned to read. Books were a passion of mine, and as a child it was my escapism, to get lost in a good book. Reading so much at an early age in turn inspired me to try writing myself, and even when I was still in primary school, I received some very positive and encouraging feedback about my creative writing - I think that is what spurred me on to create poems, short stories and novels over the years. As a teenager I entered fiction contests (some I won, others I wasn't so lucky) but it all gave me a good grounding in writing and helped me find my voice.

Has your preferred genre always been horror, and if so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, I fell in love with horror right from the start and my passion for it has simply grown over the years. I have read other styles and genres, but I always find myself returning to horror. I certainly only ever write horror because it's what I love the most, and, like anything in life, if you love something, you want to be a part of it.
I think I love horror so much because I love the element of suspense, mystery and fear. It's a dark cocktail and I am addicted to it. I read, watch, write and breathe horror!

Like many writers, you seem to be interested in a wide variety of different subjects. Did you pick psychology, theater and theology, or did they pick you and if so, how?
I am quite an inquisitive person by nature, I am always striving to learn, cultivate, experience. I have been interested in so many things over the years - from acting to studying sea life, so you see, it's just who I am to learn and explore these worlds. I don't think I consciously chose to study particular things, I just notice something that grabs my attention and see where it leads me. Often, it will help plant ideas for stories in my mind, which is always helpful.

Do you believe it is a necessity for a writer to study/experience far and wide in order to write? Or is it more an individual thing--a writer can find plenty within a simple life to write about?
I think it might help to experience and study different areas - the more we learn, the more we can explore these things in our writing - however I don't think it's always a necessity. I believe we each learn from everything in our every day life. It doesn't have to be a significant event, sometimes we can learn from watching people on the train next to us, or talking to a manager at work, or even chatting online to friends... learning comes in all shapes and sizes, it's not restricted to academic studies, in my opinion. A writer can learn something valuable even popping into town to shop... it's being part of everyday life that influences us, when all is said and done.

Please tell my readers something about how you work as a writer and creative person.
I try not to plan my novels rigidly. I like to find a tiny seed of an idea, have a very general outline of what I want to happen in my mind, and then write freely as the inspiration comes. Some writers cannot work this way, but our methods vary because we are individuals - what works well for one might be useless to another. I loosely plan plots, events and characters and then let the story come alive in its own way. That's where the magic truly happens as an author: when you see your story come alive and take off on its own journey.


And what's up next for you, Fiona, in your writing career?
I am writing my third novel at the moment, called The Shift. It's another dark horror story, but it's early days so I don't want to give anything away. I'm also working on a novella called The Governess. My second novel, Obsession, is currently being considered for publication.

Thank you, Fiona! Readers, any questions for our guest?

Film Cautionary Tale

Photos of Bruce and me at the recent shoot for my short film ENCORE. These were taken by Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words, thanks Kathy!

Recent shoot? On February 20?! And there lies the crux of this post. When I say "short film" I mean a page and a half of script, two characters, one location and silent--no dialog. A simple, easy, really short film. We even kept the cast and crew to a bare necessary minimum. So I kept a running tab of how long it will take start to finish for this film.

Around a 100 hours.

What?! How could that be possible? Why would it take that long? Simple. The process of making a film is long and complicated, with many different elements and myriad details. All of which take time and effort.

What's the cautionary part of this tale? My realization that this time sink is true of all creative projects, whether filming or art or writing or jewelry making or...And my realization that all creative people always underestimate the time it takes to create, start to finish. Why? Because it's so much fun! We're doing what we love to do!

The caution: remember it will take more time, effort and energy to create. Don't beat yourself up about it, just recognize it and try (try) to put a little wriggle room in your projects.

Do any of my readers not have this problem? Do any of my readers have some solutions to this problem?