Life of Lois

My Thoe Quest

2012-02-29T08:40:00.000-08:00

Meagan Fox and her "Thoe" just like mine.

Sitting on my mother’s green polyester couch one evening when company was over, I couldn’t stop staring at my thumbs. They were different—not only from other people’s, but from each other as well. My right hand sported a long, sleek digit that had the grace of Audrey Hepburn. The thumb on my left hand was short, fat, and stubby—strangely similar to the shape of Danny DeVito.

It didn’t matter how much I squeezed, smashed or pulled on my left thumb, it just wouldn’t take the shape of the right one. I was young enough not to be disturbed by this particular oversight of nature. The children of the visiting family looked bored as the grown ups talked endlessly about who knows what. That's when I got the idea.

“Do you want to see something cool?” I asked them.

The older one shrugged his shoulders, but the younger girl was glad for a distraction.

“Sure,” she said.

I stuck my thumbs in the air, hitchhiker style. They both “oohhed” and “aahhed” at my deformity, and secretly I was pleased at my ability to break the ice.

However, the older I got the more sensitive I became about my ugly thumb. I covered up my insecurity with humor. In junior high orchestra, when the kids teased me about its size, I joined right in—drawing eyes on the stubby little guy so it resembled the alien from the popular 80s hit movie E.T.

I remember the pang of embarrassment I felt when getting fake fingernails for the first time. The nail artist had to excuse herself to go and find something in the back room that would be “large enough” to cover up my monstrosity. I never went back.

By high school, my thumb had evolved from what I once viewed as a conversation starter to an unpleasant blot on my physical appearance that constantly reminded me of my imperfection and self-doubt.

In college, I was at a meeting when one of the guys noticed my thumb and became rather excited. He yelled, “Oh my gosh! She’s got one!”

“Whose got what?” others asked.

“Her.” He pointed right at me. “She has one.”

“One what?” I questioned, knowing full well to what he was referring.

“You’ve got a thoe.”

A thoe? And then it hit me—a thumb that looked like a toe . . . a thoe. My abnormality finally had a name—a real name. It was like when Pinocchio realized he'd finally become a real boy, except it was totally the opposite because I felt horrible.

“Yeah,” he continued. “I saw a display on thoes at the Smithsonian one summer. I can’t believe I get to see one for real. Does it feel funky?”

“It feels like a short, fat thumb,” I responded.
While the meeting continued, I sat in my chair boiling with anger. My feelings reduced to a simmer and then finally cooled down. Considering everything I could have been born with, a thoe wasn’t that bad. It moved, gripped, and scratched just as good as any other thumb. In fact, I was actually better than most people at opening up a tight lid on a jar of mayonnaise.

I made a choice. I would not only accept my strangely shaped digit, but I would give it as much time in the spotlight as it deserved. Ever since that day my thumb has become my Sampson's hair—a symbol of my strength.

To celebrate my new perspective, I decided to go on a thoe quest. I quickly began finding others who also had thoes. There was a professor of physics in Washington, D.C., a fellow journalism student at college, and even a famous model/movie star. One day I literally jumped out of my chair when an attractive man with with two big thumbs walked into the office where I worked. Imagine his luck! When I pointed out his good fortune, he shyly tucked his thoes back into his hands and half grimaced, half smiled. I realized he didn’t know he was speaking to a fellow thoe-ian, so I popped mine out to put him at ease. Six months later we were married.

Looking back, I can’t imagine my life without my one thoe or his set. A chilling thought came to me one day while contemplating my life. What if I had never embraced my physical imperfection? What if I had continued to feel shy, inadequate, and embarrassed by it? I would never have found my best friend.

The lessons I have learned from my thoe continue to amaze me. One day while finishing the dishes, I watched my four-year-old daughter become very upset with the picture she was drawing. I walked over to see what the problem was and saw she was about to tear a delightful picture of a princess to pieces.

“I hate my picture,” she sobbed.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because she doesn’t look good. She’s goofy,” was her reply.

“What’s so goofy about her?”

“Look at her arms. One is shorter and fatter than the other. It’s ugly.”

Happily I looked down at my old short and stubby friend. I knew it was about to help me once again.

“Am I ugly?” I questioned my preschooler.

“No. You’re my mommy” she answered.

The familiar phrase from years past spilled out, “Do you want to see something cool?” I then showed her my precious thoe.

Life had come full circle.

Nixing Neuropathy

2012-02-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how quickly one's wishes and dreams can change. For the last two years, every time I saw a shooting star or blew out my birthday candles, I had the same wish: Get my book published.

Three weeks ago that changed overnight. I went to bed and my thighs started to burn. It was the strangest thing. For the last three months a small spot on the back of my arm would burn occasionally, but with my thighs it was all over. It was hard to sleep with the strange sensations my body was having, and with my churning mind and stomach about what was going on.

That experience lead me to the neurologist who said I had peripheral neuropathy. I'd never even heard of it. So far, I haven't been able to get much help from the doctors. They've been good listeners, it's just a slow process to find out what might be going wrong.

If there's one thing that sends me into "freak out" mode, it's having a health condition that I have absolutely no control over. My hope, prayer, and dream now is that this neuropathy will go away. Publishing great, but peace of mind is so precious.

It's not that I don't like writing anymore. In fact, it's one of the things that takes me mind off of what is going on. It's one of my blessings.

If any of you have or know someone who has gotten neuropathy (not diabetes related) AND who has been able to get better, I'd love a shout out. There are so many depressing stories on the internet. I've had to stop looking online.

Here's to birthday wishes. I know what mine is this year.

Lois

My Writing Group made the News

2012-02-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

   So this is a brag post. I belong to the most amazing writing group ever. Last year we decided to put on a writing conference for teens in our area. We call it the Teen Author Boot Camp.

   It totally took off. We were flabbergasted. (Is that a real word?)

   This year we did it again, and the response has been even better. I just got on the internet and saw the we made the Salt LakeTribune.

If any of my followers have teens who are aspiring authors, check out our website: http://www.teenauthorbootcamp.com/. Brandon Mull is our Keynote and we have a line up of a bunch of other awesome writers including: Jeff Savage, Bethany Wiggins, Tyler Whiteside, Elizabeth Mueller, Kristen Chandler, Frank Cole, Elana Johnson, and, of course, my writers group, two of whom just got agents this last month!!!!

Stress & Anxiety: My unwanted companions

2012-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

On this blog, I usually talk about my fiction writing. Today I thought I’d post about why I co-wrote the book Be Still: Stress and Anxiety Management for Latter-day Saints. Even if you’re not a Mormon, you may find a little of yourself in my story.

While going to school for my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I had an exaggerated sense of my competence. I thought that with an all-night cram session, I could get through anything with flying colors. But marriage, motherhood, and real life changed all that.

I remember the exact moment I realized I had a problem. I was a pregnant mother of a toddler, teaching part-time at a local university and writing freelance on the side. I was very active in my local community and did quite a bit of volunteer work at church. None of this was a problem.

Then one night, after taking some cold medication, I couldn’t fall asleep until the early morning hours. I was jittery, sweaty, and felt nervous. When I woke up an hour or two later I figured I had had a strange reaction to the medication, and I plowed through the day as usual.

A few weeks later, I had the same experience, this time after taking no medication at all. It just happened. Again I couldn’t fall asleep until the early morning hours. But this time I thought about it all the next day, and that night I felt nervous about going to bed. I kept telling myself, “You’ve always slept great before; you are so busy during the day you’ll probably just collapse; everything is fine.”

But I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t fall asleep all night. Instead, I stayed up all night trying to figure out why in my perfect world I had created I couldn’t do something as simple as sleep.

That thought haunted me throughout the next several sleepless nights. I finally admitted to myself that something was wrong. However, certainly this was something modern medicine could fix the next day at a visit to the doctor. The doctor prescribed some sleeping pills. I came home pleased that the solution had been so simple... that was until the pills didn’t work. I still didn’t sleep.

So, I went back to the doctor. He told me I was stressed and had anxiety and should relax. But I couldn’t figure out how. A few more sleepless nights and I was completely defeated. I decided that not only was I not perfect, I was the biggest failure in the world.

My thoughts of failure persisted for quite a while. It took me years to discover that my battle had everything to do with a false aspiration of perfectionism and very little to do with sleep.

Co-authoring a self-help book on better managing stress and anxiety with psychologist Victoria Anderson was one of the best things I ever did. But here’s my confession as an author: Even though I wrote a book about it, that doesn’t mean I’ve mastered it. My unwanted companions still rear their ugly heads in my life from time to time. When they do, the good news is I have a great book to read. :)

P.S. Currently, Be Still is available as an e-book. The paperback version is out of print; however, you can get it from other resellers, but they have jacked the price way up. For those interested, I'm preparing a new paperback version. It should be ready for sale in May of 2012.

The Quill Pen - A book review

2012-01-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

The Quill Pen
by Michelle Isenhoff
(Available for $2.99 at Amazon and Smashwords)

BACK COVER:

If you owned a pen that wrote the future, would you use it? What if the consequences spread like ripples in a pond? What if they raged out of control? What if the pen demanded tribute...in blood?

Thirteen-year-old Micah has found such a pen. One that’s ensnared him in a curse dating back to the Golden Age of Sail. One that has devastated two families and now threatens his whole town. But how can Micah destroy the pen when it offers him the future he dreams of?

LIFE OF LOIS REVIEW:

Set in a quaint port town, The Quill Pen by Michelle Isenhoff describes a time when life seemed slower, more simple. But was it really?

Hardly.

Thirteen-year-old Micah is an adventurer at heart. He longs for the freedom of the open air and sky found in the uncharted Western states. Micah’s father, however, is a born business man interested in one thing: making money. The two get along with each other as well as . . . well, as well as peanut butter and mayonnaise go together. Which, as most middle grade kids would agree, is NOT very good at all.

Add to the mix a batch of quirky neighbors, a pen that writes in blood, and a mysterious curse, and you’ve got the makings for a sandwich full of unique flavor and spice.

When Micah finds a quill pen that can be used to write the future, he is tempted to use it to stop his father from sending him away to attend a boy’s boarding school. However, each time he employs the pen, even for the simplest tasks like taking inventory of his father’s store, bad things happen. Regardless the consequences, the lure of the pen is too much for Micah. Near the end of the book, when he learns burning the quill would undo a curse placed decades earlier on his best friend’s father, Micah still can’t force himself to destroy the power the pen holds—that is until his arch enemy steals it from him.

This story is written with enough action to easily satisfy the demands of its intended audience: 8-12 boys and girls, as well as hold the attention of most adults. It contains wonderful imagery, similes, and metaphors. Granted, some of these will be lost on the book’s younger audience, but for those adults who pick it up it will be a treat.

Be forewarned, this is not a “reluctant reader” middle grade book. It is similar in theme and style to one of my favorite books, Tuck Everlasting. The Quill Pen expands on some of life’s universal themes: courage to face one’s fears, the destructiveness of unbridled power, and the joy of growing old with those you love. Treatment of these topics is scattered from cover to cover in a subtle way—for the most part. My one complaint (and I only have one) is that when Micah’s best friend, Gabby, talks about these themes, her character seems overly mature. To me, she didn’t come off sounding “kid enough.” Maybe I’m jaded, but it was hard for me to imagine a teenage girl being that wise and to imagine a teenage boy being nice enough to listen to her.

However, that was only one weakness in an overall amazing display of characterization that made the book come alive, such as Widow Parsons, whose past holds a tragic secret; and Sanjay Ramesh, a retired sailor whom the town shuns because of the color of his skin.

I appreciated the author using language appropriate for the book’s middle grade audience. There is no swearing or inappropriate jargon. And while there is violence (gun shots and fist fights), it is nothing gory or offensive. As for intrigue and suspense? There is plenty of both which is why I highly recommend this book to those in the market for a well-written middle grade fantasy.

CONCLUSION:

The pacing, writing, characterization, and editing found in The Quill Pen, an indie-published e-book by Michelle Isenhoff, are extremely well done. The book would absolutely hold its own against current middle grade books being released by the big six traditional publishers.

Contest for Book Reviews

2012-01-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for me. I published my young adult e-book CYCLES and ever since then I’ve been searching the internet for bloggers who do book reviews. WOW! There are more of them than I ever imagined, and my, do they work hard.

In an effort to say thanks to those book bloggers who review my e-book, I came up with an idea to do a drawing. The prize is an i-home (worth $50) and a $25 itunes card. I’ll do the drawing once I get 50 book reviews or on Feb. 29th (leap day)—whichever come first.

The response has been great, and best of all the reviews I’ve gotten so far have been really honest. I’m taking what I’m learning and using it in the book’s sequel.

If any of you want to do a review on your blog, please email me at loisdbrown@digis.com and I’ll get a you free copy of CYCLES.

Did I make a good choice?

2011-12-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a week since I published my young adult ebook mystery/thriller, and I just changed its cover. (The result of some advice from trusted friends.) Here is the latest look. I'll post the new cover first and then the old one below. Do you think I did the right thing?

My Debut Novel is . . . CYCLES

2011-12-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

So . . . I skipped a few posts about starting my new publishing company. But, despite my ineptness at being a regular blogger, I’m doing smashingly well at publishing.

In fact, just this week I e-published my debut novel CYCLES. I like to call it a Young Adult Thriller without the gore or bad language. (In other words, you shouldn’t worry about your teen reading it.)The e-book is available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble PubIt. The hard copy will be available first of February 2012.

A little about the book. I started CYCLES in 2008. Crazy to think it has been that long. How did it start? I’m hesitant to admit it, but it was a dream. (I know, I know. That’s how Stephanie Myer and a bunch of other authors have gotten their ideas too. Nothing too original there.)

At the time, I had just been diagnosed with having Simple Partial Seizures. These kinds of seizures don’t affect motor skills, but they can affect all of your five senses (hence their other name: sensory seizures.) Mine created an odd mesh of symptoms, the most disconcerting of which was MASSIVE déjà vu. For those who are saying to themselves, “huh?” take a minute to read this article about the different types of seizures.

Now, when I say déjà vu, I don’t just mean a fleeting, “Oh, that was cool. It just felt like I’ve been here before.” No, when I had déjà vu as part of my seizures, time slowed to a crawl and everything around me faded in and out. It was like I had lived that moment a thousand times before in a different life.

Needless to say, it was weird. Period. Like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

Back to CYCLES. I went to bed one night thinking about my recent trip to the neurologist. In my sleep, I had a vivid dream where there was a girl who had frightening feelings of having already experienced things before but in another lifetime. It wasn’t like reincarnation—the same soul come back to earth to live as someone or something else. Instead, it was like her life just kept repeating itself and she had moments where these “other-life” memories were intensely strong.

I woke up and knew I was going to write a book about it, so I did. Three years later, it’s done. Voila. (That makes it sound much easier than it was, but I won’t go into the blood, sweat, and tears.)

I have to admit, I’m nervous to “put it out there.” Like anything in life, some people are going to like it and some will hate it. Part of being an author is learning to just keep at it (and to grow a thick skin).

CYCLES if the first book in a series. SPACES, its sequel, will be released in 2012.

Pay Me Money, Please

2011-11-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I'm doing the chicken before the egg here, but I figured now was as good a time as any to set up my accounts with PayPal and Amazon.

PayPal is super easy to set up for a sole proprietorship, and you don't even need to have made one sell before getting your account. Oh, and by the way, it's free. (Always a good thing.)

An Amazon sales account is also free, but I believe (I may be wrong) you have to have some books ready to sell before it lets you enter a bank account. (I already have some e-short stories selling so I was fine.)

How it works:

If you upload e-books onto Smashwords, it will distribute it to a bunch of other places (like Barnes and Nobles, Sony, etc.) Smashwords likes to pay you through a PayPal account. You can get a paper check in the mail but there is a fee for that service.

Now, the way to get money out of PayPal and to your bank account takes a little work. This is how to do it:

1) Log into your PayPal account.
2) You will see a menu item called "Withdraw." Click it.
3) Next click on "Transfer to a Bank Account"
4) If you've never transferred money to a bank account before, it will ask you for some information like the name of the banking institution, account #, routing #, etc.
5) Finally, they will send 1 cent to the bank account to make sure it is going to the correct place. Once you confirm it is, you are set.

Heads up: This process takes a few days, so start it early if you need your money.

Amazon also charges you a fee to pay you using a real check; however direct deposit is free. Unlike Smashwords, Amazon has you give your financial banking information directly to them, avoiding the whole PayPal step. Again, you'll need your acount number information.

Remember, neither of these accounts (my PayPal or my bank account) are connected to my personal life. They are both business accounts. This will help me keep track of income versus expenses better. It also feels more secure that my personal information isn't out there--at least not as much.

Kind of a bleh post, but talk to any accountant and you'll see why they suffer from boring personality disorder. (Okay, I'm so sorry, I know a lot of very nice and very fun accountants and I apologize to them for overgeneralizing.)

(This is part of a series on my blog called Eating a Whale--My Self-pub story.)

Let's Get Official

2011-11-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

   To me, coming up with ideas is fun. Doing market research is even funner. Signing up for a business liscense is not. It sounds as exciting as organizing the pieces in my son's lego bin into piles of similar colors. Acutally, it sounds worse than that.

   But, it's one of those things you have to do to be official. I took Levanter Publishing to the next step by registering it with my state. It's a sole proprietorship, which means: I'm the one in charge, I have no full time employees, and I don't have to have a Federal EIN number but can use my Social Securtiy number as identification instead. (I still will get an EIN, but I'm taking this one bite at a time--remember?)

   At Utah's OneStop Business Registration, applying one time registers you with the:

   1) Utah State Tax Commission
   2) Utah Labor Commission
   3) Utah Department of Commerce
   4) Utah Department of Workforce Services
   5) Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

   Pretty impressive since the process was all online and was done in about thirty minutes. Don't let the gibberish legalese scare you off. Most of it's not really applicable (like the stuff about disposing of toxic chemical waste--unless they were referring to my dinner I burned since I got carried away finishing a chapter on my latest young adult book.)

   A few tips: DBA stands for "Do Business As," and it's what you'll most likely be signing up as. You'll need to know this when you go to set up a bank account for your business, which is what I did next.

   All I had to do get a Levanter Publishing bank account, was bring in the State Sales Tax License that my dear old state of Utah sent me a few days after registering. The time with the friendly gentlemen at the bank actually took longer than signing up for the business--but it wasn't too bad.

   I was required to show proof of the business and open the account with $125. That was it. They printed a debit card right at the bank with the name "Levanter Publishing" on the front. Checks are coming in the mail.

   The cost for these two steps was pricey considering my budget.

   Cost: About $50 at OneStop Registration and $37 at the bank ($25 for bank fee and $12 checks).

   Stay tuned for the next installment later in the week: Website on a Budget.

(This is part of a series on my blog called Eating a Whale--My Self-pub story.)

A Business Name--Have you noticed all the good ones are gone?

2011-10-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

(This is part of a series on my blog called Eating a Whale--My Self-pub story.)

I know people who have literally have spent months, even years, coming up with a name for their business. I decided I had thirty minutes. That's just the way I do things.

First off, I wanted it very clear that the company I was creating was a publishing company, so I knew my name would be BLANK Publishing. That was easy enough. (I didn't want "Press" because in the age of e-publishing that seemed old fashioned like a printing press. Make sense? Well, it did to me.)

Now came the task of filling in the blank. I thought of all of the obvious ideas:

1- My last name
2 - My maiden name
3 - My husband's first name
4 - My husband's mother's last name
5- My mother's brother's aunt's last name
6 - You get the point

Each time I googled one of these names with the word "publishing" there was already a company with that name. At this point, I decided NOT to go with the whole relative name thing. Instead, I pulled out my 21-year-old copy of Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

I closed my eyes, let the pages fall open, and pointed with my finger.

"xerophthalmia"

Hmm. Xerophthalmia Publishing.

Nope.

So I tempted fate and tried it again. The fifth time was the charm.

Levanter \lƏ-vant-Ər\ n. a strong easterly Mediterranean wind.

That was it.

Levanter Publishing.

I had five minutes left of my allotted thirty to find out if http://www.levanter.com/ was available and if Levanter Publishing was an available name for a business in the state of Utah.

A quick trip online to GoDaddy.com and to One Stop Utah Business Registration told me I was good to go.

Whew. Step one, done. Cost: Zero so far.

Eating a Whale--My Self-pub Story

2011-10-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

   This is a new series on my blog, and it's my story about self-publishing. I've decided to do more than self-publish, however. I'm creating my own little publishing company. The word "little" is deceptive. Despite the fact that it will be small, the amount of work involved feels HUGE! (Hence the Shel Silverstein picture of Melinda Mae eating her whale one bite at a time.)

   I'll be regularly blogging about the steps I take and the progress I make in this little venture of mine. My entries will be short most of the time (at least I hope so). I will try and give as many good tips as I can to my readers who are interested in doing something similar. Besides, it's the details that makes things interesting.

   Oh, have a I said I plan to do this ON A BUDGET? Cause I am. My challenge is to fund my business in five ways:

   1) any money I make (and have made) on Amazon and Smashwords from previously e-pubbed books (so far that is $150).

   2) substitute teaching about once a week. I like doing this because I see my kids, and it's great undercover research for my middle grade and young adult books. I only make $55/day, so this only amounts to $220 a month minus taxes. Not much.

   3) by selling unneeded stuff around the house through classified ads. (I have a baby jogging stroller. Anyone interested?)

   4) any loose change I find doing the laundry. :)

   5) a start-up loan of $1,000.

   My desire is to see if anyone (even someone with practically no budget) can start a publishing business and make it work.

   Okay, that's it. Should be easy, right?

A few disclaimers:

   1) I'm a great writer (haha) but a messy typist. That means there will be typos on this blog. I don't want to take a ton of time perfecting these posts. I want to get the info out and get on to my many tasks. Forgive me.

   2) I have many friends who are helping me with this project. I will give them fake names to protect their online identity. Maybe they don't care, but I would hate to cause grief by not doing it. That said, dear friends, just because I give you a fake name, don't think I love you any less. :)

   Tomorrow it begins with: Choosing a Name for My Publishing Business

What do eyes, hearts, lungs, and mouths have in common?

2011-09-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

In writing, they are all overused to show a character's emotional response to what is happening. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then as writers we have about 1,000 times more work to do than photographers. Right? (Depressing, I know.)

Many of us (especially me) try to take short cuts when describing our characters' feelings. We often use common body parts we feel are involved in an emotional response. While this works some of the time, it can get old. In your opionin, which one is better:

        Mike was sad when he saw the sick dog

        or

        Mike's mouth turn downward at the sight of the sick dog

Neither is all that good. The first tells the reader what Mike feels, the other uses a physical cliche to show the reader what Mike feels. A better option would be to get inside the character's thoughts so the reader can figure out what Mike feels. For example:

         The dog's skin hung loosely around its shrunken frame. Mike knew all too well what was next for the poor creature. He'd seen it often while working at the animal shelter.

There are two great blogs I dredged up that address this subject. The first is from Mary at Kidlit.com. The second is at a new blog I found called Book Binge.

"Enjoy," she said as her heart fluttered and eyes sparkled. "Thanks for stopping by my blog."

Stupid Little Authors, Don’t They Know Their Place?

2011-09-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Stupid Little Authors, Don’t They Know Their Place?

Best Way to Learn is Practice

2011-09-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying I'm no artist. However, with the world of ebooks, I feel it's good for an author to learn cover design. I'm writing a YA Historical Romance called SINS OF DOCKETVILLE. For my break from writing (which I do too often), I messed around with a cover for the book using an istockphoto. After about twenty minutes, this is what I came up with.

Out of curisosity, where do you other indie authors like to find your cover art?

Does Project Wonderful Increase E-book Sales?

2011-08-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

Sadly, not for me. Here are the facts:

Over the last month, I used Project Wonderful, a penny advertiser, to try and increase my e-book sales.

I decided to focus on one e-book in particular, a science fiction short story called AN UNCOMMON COLD available on Amazon. My goal was to generate at least one sale of the book, since I had sold none of that particular title yet.

First thing was to make the ad. It was quite simple to do on Project Wonderful--mostly an image of the book cover and a quick tag line letting people know what it was.

Next, I invested $5 in Project Wonderful (the minimum amount possible.) Then I started checking out possible websites on which to advertise. I narrowed down the websites into two categories: blogs dedicated to short story writing/books and geeky video game sites.

Project Wonderful is like e-bay in that you bid for advertising space. The ad of the highest bidder is placed onto a website until a better bid comes along. I kept my bids low, about 5 cents or less per day, which landed my ads on about 6-7 blogs per day for about three and a half weeks.

Results: No sales.

My ads were on web pages that were viewed more than 1,000,000 times. Out of those million views, I had a total of 21 clicks. And, as previously mentioned, out of those clicks, no purchases.

I did find that the geeky video game sites had the most page views, but the fewest clicks. The majority of the clicks were from two authors’ blogs. Not sure what this means, except for the fact that marketing on geeky video game sites was near useless for me.

To sum up, I’m still looking for that one low-cost marketing avenue that is going to help get my e-books out of the unknown slush pile of independently published works.

Have you had any success with paid advertising?

The World's Largest Slush Pile?

2011-08-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

One e-book author recently called Smashwords the world's largest slush pile. The description made me nod my head in agreement. Smashword announces with pride that it has published 2,861,763,709 words--as of this morning.) While that number makes them feel good, it makes me feel in-discoverable (if that's a word.)

However, does this mean Smashwords is no longer an effective tool for an indie author? I don't think so.

Let me tell you what I do like about Smashwords. To begin, if you follow the instructions and get accepted into their Premium Distribution program, your book goes directly to Sony, B&N, Apple and Kobo. This saves me a ton of time going to each of those different vendors. That said, my sales through those vendors have been dismal. However, that doesn't reflect Smashwords' performance.

Smashwords does all of this for free until I make a sale and then they take a small portion. Other services (like bookbaby) require money upfront.

I especially like Smashwords for it's professional look. (Gotta be honest, I think the book pages look pretty good.) Even better is its simple coupon system. When I contact blogs and others about reviewing my book, I offer them a free copy. If I were to send them to Amazon to get my ebook, I would have to pay Amazon for a coupon to give to them and then there is the possibility that the person could use that coupon to purchase any book (not necessarily mine.) That's right. Coupons on Amazon are for a set amount, not for a certain book title.

With Smashwords, I generate a coupon for my book (for free) and then send that coupon to those blog reviewers. If they own a Kindle, ipad, Kobo, sony, etc, it doesn't matter. They can download any type of e-book format on my book page to fit their needs (including an html version.) I'm not out a penny.

Have I sold a ton of books off of Smashwords? No. Has Smashwords helped me in marketing my books? Absolutely. How much have I had to pay Smashwords to do this for me? Practically nothing. Can't beat numbers like that.

Speaking of Smashwords coupons, if you'd like to have a free copy of my latest e-book called Treasure Hunters, use the coupon code: BL25Y. You'll see just how easy it is. Hurry though. It expires soon!

End of an Era

2011-08-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

In one week I will send my youngest child off to first grade. I thought I'd be excited, but I'm not. First off, it's the end of an era--I've been a stay-at-home mom with kids since 1996. That's fifteen years. Second of all, this puts a lot of pressure on me as a writer to get more done.

Previously, I've had the excuse (and it was real) that I could only write in short snippets. Well . . . now I've got six whole hours solid. The question is: Will I be more productive? How long can I focus? Will I succomb to the temptation of Facebook and other potentional time-wasters? How long can I write without falling asleep at the computer? (I have really low iron and get to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:30 a.m. which doesn't help.)

I've decided it all comes down to goals. Plain and simple. Sometimes my writing goal is the number of words written. Sometime it's to get through a chapter. I'm not sure what is best. Maybe there is a better way; all together.

What kinds of writing goals do you find most effective?

No, This is NOT a Laffy Taffy Joke

2011-07-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

What does a cabin made for midgets, Anaazzai Indians, and an empty water bottle have in common? They were all part of a hike I recently went on that got me thinking about reclusive vs. adventurous writers.

Summertime is death to my writing. I just can’t seems to get to it with all four of my children at home. I’ve been feeling bad about it, until I realized what I CAN be doing right now: gathering fodder. (Old fashioned word alert!)

The lucky thing for me is that I write middle grade and young adult books. What better way to do research for my books than to get out and “hang” with my target audience (kids) for a couple of fun-filled summer months?

Sure, we’ve heard about amazing agoraphobic authors--J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon to name a few—who never leave the comfort of their living room, but these guys are the exception, not the rule. For the most part, I believe to be a good writer you need to get out and have an occasional near-death escapade. It really turns on the creative juices.

A few weeks ago while on vacation I unintentionally spent an entire day doing “field work” for a YA novel I’m writing set in a small “settlement” town in Arizona. Here's what happened. My family and I went on what we thought was going to be a not-so-difficult hike in the red hills of southern Utah. Ten hours later, dehydrated and exhausted, we staggered home. But, I couldn’t have been happier. I had so many great ideas for my book, the first thing I did (even before showering) was pull out a piece of paper and write.

First, I wanted to describe two of the amazing sites we found: a midget cabin and some Anaazzai ruins. For fun, I’ve included a quick video of both.

Next, I recorded how it felt to be really, really thirsty. How each time I swallowed it made me think of the tablespoon of water still left in my water bottle. How, while using the bathroom, I wondered if I should be collecting my pee for later use. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go see the movie 127 hours about the Aaron Ralston survival story.)

It will most likely take me a month or two to actually incorporate what I learned that day into my novel, but that's OK. In the end, I'm positive it will be a better book because of the time I took off writing and spent with my kids.
What kinds of “field research” have you been doing this summer?

Win POSSESSION! Super easy.

2011-06-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

My writer's group is giving away Elana Johnson's new book POSSESSION. Go follow our blog, make a comment, and check out our BIG adventure at her book signing. The original post is here:

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Possession

Win a $25 Amazon card by posting a book review

2011-06-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Shauna Kelley is sponsoring a blog contest here. All you have to do is write a review of one of your favorite books. Simple. Go check it out.

The book I'm reviewing is FRAMED by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Don't let the somewhat boring back cover write up deter you. This book is hilarious, and the audio CD reader is fabulous. Almost (if not as good) as Jim Dale in the Harry Potter audio series.

Here's the basic plot:

Dylan, the narrator of the story, is obsessed with cars and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He lives with his family in a teeny, tiny town called Manod in Wales. They own a gas station called the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel, which is located right next their home. Next to the gas station is a country road no one has used in years. It leads up the mountain to a hollowed-out slate quarry.

Massive flooding in London causes the entire contents of the National Gallery to be brought down and stored in the abandoned quarry. (An event similar to what really happened during World War II.)

Almost magically, the art brings life back to the dilapidated town. However, Dylan's little sister cannot stop her brilliant criminal mind from wanting to steal one of the paintings to help save the family's business that is nearly bankrupt.

I have to admit, this book did not start off with a bang. However, I pushed through the first few chapters and was glad I did. The author is witty, his characters are amazing, and the dialogue is hilarious. I even got my husband to listen to it who normally doesn't do fiction. (Curling up with the car manual from our Subaru Legacy is his idea of a good time.)

Frank Cottrell Boyce is also the author of the award-winning book MILLIONS.

Demystify Facebook

2011-05-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your news feed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and everyone else seems to be ignoring you?

     Don't worry, everyone still loves you and nobody has intentionally blocked you. The problem is that a large chunk of your friend/fan list can't see anything you post and here's why:

     Facebook has a news feed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people who you've recently interacted with or interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the new Facebook profile).

     So in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless your friends/fans commented on one of your posts within those few weeks or vice versa - you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

     HERE'S THE FIX: On the homepage click the "Most Recent" title on the right of the News feed, then click on the drop down arrow beside it and select "Edit Options", click on "Show Posts From" and change the setting to "All Of Your Friends and Pages" (you can also access the "Edit Options" link at the very bottom of the Facebook homepage on the right)

This is a re-post from Anne Bradshaw. Check out her blog here.

How to Submit a Joke to Readers Digest

2011-05-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Looking for a break in your writing routine? Why not submit a joke, funny story or quote to Reader's Digest? The link is here. And, just in case you're wondering, they even pay you $100 if your joke/funny story/quote is accepted. I submitted a story a while back. It didn't make it to the final cut, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

A young man was on his first date ever with a very attractive girl. They were going to take a scenic ride up the canyon in an old-fashioned train. Unfortunately, on the day of the date the young man did not feel well. While getting out of the car to open her door, he passed gas. However, a little more than gas came out. Horrified, he got back in the car and rolled down the windows despite it being cold outside.

Once they arrived at the town where they were to catch the train, the young man told his date he needed to purchase an outfit for the next day. Confused but gracious, his date followed him into Walmart. He chose a pair of pants just like those he was wearing and a sweater.

In the check out line, his date was busy looking at magazines. The young man whispered to the cashier that he really didn't want the sweater and to keep it. The cashier rang up his purchase, bagged it, and the young couple left the store, barely catching the train on time.

As the train made its slow decent into the canyon, the young man grabbed the shopping bag and excused himself. He found a tiny bathroom on the rustic train and removed his soiled pants and underwear and tossed them out the window. Next he reached into the shopping bag to retrieve the new pair of pants. To his horror, he pulled out the sweater. The cashier had mistakenly given him the wrong item of clothing.

After realizing his predicament, the young man jumped out the window of the slow-moving train and walked his way back to his car with only a sweater for pants. The couple never dated again.

Your opinion of a G- rated Ghost Story?

2011-05-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

I love to tell spooky stories.

When I was younger, I remember going to the public library and checking out books of short ghost stories just so I could tell them at girl's camp. In the tent, everyone would snuggle down deep into their sleeping bags while Lois tried to scare them (which didn't take much when you're twelve and only have a thin piece of material between you and the lurking darkness).

Here's my problem. A lot of the ghost stories these days are gross. No offense, but a ghost story does not mean a horror story. For some reason, the two genres have gotten confused. Since it's hard to find a G-rated ghost story these days, I've decided to write some.

Let me clarify, G-rated doesn't mean that Rapunzel is running in the forest, frightened by an over-sized bunny rabbit. I still like to think my stories are suspenseful and engaging, and I hope they cause a few shivers down your spine. I also a enjoy a twist at the end.

I'd love to find out what you think about my latest story, Death in the Air. I'm making it available to all of my blog followers and Facebook friends for free.

Simply go here, type in this code: RZ87Z, and download it. You can opt to read it on your computer screen (click on Online Reading HTML) or on about any e-reader device out there (including Kindle).

After you read it, be sure to leave a review. You do that by clicking on same page where you downloaded it (here), scroll down to the bottom, and click the "Review" button.

Happy hauntings!

Author Anne Bradshaw Knows How to Make Friends--3,374 of Them to Be Exact

2011-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

When I first met author Anne Bradshaw via her blog, I could tell she was a people person. Even so, it surprised me when I saw that she had more than 3,000 friends on Facebook. I’ve been on Facebook since 2007, and I’ve only got 600 friends. What's her secret?

Malcolm Gladwell, the well-known author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, believes some people are natural born “connectors.” Connectors are people who link the world together; people who have the gift for making friends and acquaintances. When Mr. Gladwell first wrote the book TIPPING POINT in year 2000, he said a connector is someone with a social network of over one hundred people. He didn’t know that within ten years, advances in online social media would increases that number by hundreds.

There is no doubt that Anne is a connector, but she’s also had to do her fair share of hard work.

First of all, she was a published author before the social media explosion. That helped.

Next, a few years back she had the idea for a book that would be a collection of other people’s inspiration stories while doing genealogy. The very concept of this book required Anne to visit many social medial sites and talk to people. The book, now published, is called TRUE MIRACLES WITH GENEALOGY: HELP FROM BEYOND THE VEIL.

According to Anne, what social media really boils down to is doing little things consistently. Every day she asks two to three people to be Facebook friends. She finds their names online from places she trusts such sites with individuals who are interested in genealogy. At this point, people now seek her on Facebook, which has made adding friends much faster.

     On her blog and on Facebook, she shares uplifting thoughts and quotes that says something in a unique and interesting way.
      Another thing that Anne is very good at is helping promote others. She is always happy to share someone's good cause. In fact, she’s happier talking about others than about herself.
      Recently she shared some important information on how to use Facebook more effectively through the "Event" option. She was amazed at how far that spread. In fact, it is still is spreading. So far it has reached approximately 5,800 people so far.

For Anne, it all boils down to trying new things, doing small things daily, and not giving up. To see what Ann is up to lately, please visit her at http://www.truemiracleswithgenealogy.com

English Author Anne Bradshaw Believes in Miracles

2011-04-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

My mother is a dreamer—not in the sense of lofty goals and high ambitions (though she has those too.) What I mean to say is that my mother’s dreams mean something. They’re not like mine, which usually consist of shattered fragments of the 40-year-old television show Star Trek.

The people in my mother’s dreams all have something in common—they’re related to her and they’re all dead.

Sound freaky? A bit paranormal? Well it’s not. My mother is into genealogy. She lives, eats, and, well . . . dreams it. Her experience is similar to the more than fifty extraordinary personal stories compiled into the heart-warming and fascinating book TRUE MIRACLES WITHGENEALOGY: HELP FROM BEYOND THE VEIL, available at Amazon and priced very reasonably. Cost is $8.99 hard copy and .99 Kindle e-book.

The book is by LDS author Anne Bradshaw, a writer, social media guru, and (as her genealogical research has revealed) a distant cousin to the English singer Phil Collins. :)

The breadth and depth of the inspiring experiences recounted in TRUE MIRACLES WITH GENEALOGY is amazing --normal people having help from ancestors who want their names and stories to be found by their progenitors.

Take for instance the story of a paralegal specialist from Georgia. Sandra never knew her father. She did not even know what his name was, and, being of African-American descent where few records exist, she feared she would never learn his true identity.

One day, however, she stumbled on two telegrams to her mother dated the day she was born. Both contained the name Taliaferro. With that name as her sounding board, she was able to uncover information about her father from census records. Unfortunately, he had already died, but she was able to connect with relatives on that side of the family that told her much about his life.

Another of my favorites from the book is about John, a business man from Australia, whose father died from cancer. Prior to his father’s death, family members spoke to their father about the importance of him helping them find the names of long lost ancestors once he had passed from this life to the next.

Years later John took his daughter with him on a business trip, during which they took a spontaneous drive to the top of Mount Wellington. On their trip they ran into an “elderly chap” who just happened to be the family historian of the “Rogers clan”—the very genealogical line John had been trying to but was having trouble with. John knew his deceased father had led him there.

To collect so many stories, Anne posted requests on various different social websites, including Facebook. Genealogists from all over the USA and from other countries responded, helping to make each story unique and surprising.

The book is available in hardback and electronically, a new medium that Anne enjoys because of the freedom it allows her to choose such things as the cover picture and the timing of the whole process. Of course, e-publishing takes more effort on the marketing end, but she says the job gets easier with time and new developments. Best of all, she feels it’s exciting to be part of something new and experimental.

In addition to her book on genealogy, Anne has five other titles under her belt: two LDS romance novels, TERRACOTTA SUMMER and its sequel CHAMOMILE WINTER; a young adult book called PLEASE, NO ZITS AND OTHER SHORT STORIES FOR LDS YOUTH; FAMOUS FAMILY NIGHTS, a book geared to LDS families; and DINGO, a teen mystery/suspense. Many of these books cost only 99 cents for a Kindle version. More information on her website.

NOTE FROM LIFE OF LOIS: My next blog will go into more detail about the social media marketing efforts of Anne. Stay tune!

Contest to win an i-tunes card is still going on!

2011-04-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

WIN ME!

Hey Bloggers. The contest to win a free i-tunes card at Writers Cubed is still going on. Check it out here.

Burnt Butter Frosting -- Warning: Writers don't make this!

2011-04-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband made me some yummy cupcakes and topped them with Burnt Butter Frosting--my favorite. Today, while I was supposed to be working, I kept sneaking into the kitchen to snitch. Finally, I broke down and just took a few with me to my computer. As I typed, I ate, and as I ate, the stickier and stickier my keyboard became. At last I gave up trying to write, poured myself a tall glass of chilled milk, and indulged. Whew. I had a hard day.

Easy Burnt Butter Frosting recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 C. butter (yes, it has to be butter NO margarine)
3-4 C. powdered sugar
2-4 Tbls. evaporated milk
1Tbl. vanilla

Instructions:
Cook butter in saucepan on stovetop until butter foams, continually stirring with a whisk. Watch VERY closely and stir as butter forms brown bits on the bottom of the pan (about 30 seconds.) This is the tricky step. If you cook it 2 seconds too long, the butter really does burn and is GROSS. You want the butter to be brown, but NOT black.

(WOW, have you noticed I'm using lost of CAPS in these instructions? It's like I'm in your kitchen yelling at you like I'm the Iron Chef or something. Weird.)

Remove butter from stovetop heat QUICKLY. (Now I'm just being silly.) Cool to room temperature and then add the other ingredients with hand mixer until smooth.

You can use this on cakes, cupcakes, and cardboard. It makes them all taste great.

New Zealand Indie author--review and interview

2011-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Does a woman ever fully heal from the loss of a child? In the short story All I Want, e-book author Shayne Parkinson beautifully and tenderly answers that very question. (Story available at Smashwords for free. Click here.)

Being a 27-year-old woman in early 1900s “with a face that had never turned heads,” was enough to convince the narrator of All I Want that she will never marry. That is until she meets Tom Barker, a man of vision, strength, and compassion. Their courtship spans over three years, interrupted by World War I and Tom's service in the military. Upon his return, they marry and anticipate the time when a baby will grace their home.

But a baby doesn't come. Years of waiting and wondering are worth it, however, when at last a child is conceived. Excitement builds as the two plan for the infant's arrival. One night, sadly, their joy turns to tragedy as described so well in one of my favorite passages from the story:

“I soon had Tom calling her Lily as well. He'd rub the small mound of my belly and ask, 'How is Lily today?' He picked through the best pieces of timber in his woodshed and began making what he called Lily's cradle. And I stitched away at tiny gowns and imagined the frocks I would make when Lily was a little older. For Sunday best, I would dress her all in white."

"White was not the colour of the winter night I woke in agony.”

The miscarriage is devastating, but the couple moves on, pretending all is well. Yet, as revealed in the short story's last line, nothing can take the place of shattered dreams.

Shayne Parkinson took some time to talk with me about her experience in the e-publishing world. Her insights are great and I wanted to share them with you.

Question: Were you hesitant to e-publish your writing?

Answer: I wasn't at all hesitant. As soon as I realized e-publishing was an option for me, I embraced it. I've never really been drawn to try traditional publishing, and for long books like mine POD is an expensive option for readers. But with e-books, it doesn't matter how long (or short) a story is.

Question: Did you write short stories before e-publishing, or is that a way to showcase your writing and interest readers in your novels?

Answer: I'd written a very few short stories. I'm mainly drawn to write novel-length works. The story "All I Want" was written for an anthology of stories by writers from twelve countries. (More about the anthology here.)

I do think the story probably has caught the attention of some readers who might have been hesitant to make the time investment of a novel by an unknown writer, and who have then gone on to read my novels, too.

Question: What do you think brings most people to your books online? (ex: catchy art work, word of mouth, social media, name brand recognition, etc.)

I think it's mostly word-of-mouth. I do have a blog and a website, but that's mainly as a way to offer something extra to readers who might want to know a little more about what's behind the books.

I've been lucky enough to receive some very generous reviews, on retailer sites and on blogs, and then there's the fine old tradition of people recommending a book to friends and acquaintances. A while ago I had a reader send me a photo of her and her co-workers, all holding up their own paper or e-reader copies of my books! That had me smiling for days.

E-pubbing my work, books that would otherwise have sat neglected on a shelf, has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me. To have readers from across the world contact me, and tell me that my tales of old-time New Zealand have touched them in some way, is very rewarding.

One thing to remember is that it can take some time for readers to find you. My books sat almost unnoticed on Smashwords for several months, then gradually interest grew, particularly when they became available at retailers like Barnes & Noble, and when they appeared on blogs. It's worth being patient!

Try and win a free $10 itunes gift card. Blog contest details here.

Win a $10 i-tunes card

2011-04-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

After some technical difficulties, my writers's group i-tunes blog contest is back up and running.

The rules are simple.

1. Go to the blog Writers Cubed, become a follower, and make a comment. That puts your name into the drawing for the i-tunes card one time.

2. Mention the contest on Facebook, your personal blog, or Twitter. Each of those things are worth two more entries into the drawing to make a total of seven entries--if you do all of them. Be sure to include the link to the Writers Cubed blog and to let us know in your comments where you've spread the good news.

The contest runs from now until April 23rd.

Here's the link in case you didn't catch it up above: http://www.writerscubed.com/blog/

Computer Problems

2011-03-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

All of you who read my last blog and stopped by the Writers Cubed blog to join the i-tune gift card contest, you may have noticed you couldn't comment. Ahhh! We've run into a big technical difficulty and we'll have to postpone the contest. But, we'll be back up and running soon!!!

Peace out!

Wolves, Boys and Other Things . . .

2011-03-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

The first time I tried Thai food, my taste buds thought they'd died and gone to heaven. To me, reading Kristen Chandler's book WOLVES, BOYS, AND OTHER THINGS THAT MIGHT KILL ME was a lot like that. I found it a delicious new flavor in the current smorgasbord of YA literature.

Don't be fooled by the title. This book has nothing to do with vampires and werewolves. Instead, it is a serious yet entertaining look at the ramifications of re-introducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park, a government program that began in the mid 1990s. (However, if you are looking a for a good paranormal read, I recommend the book PARANORMALCY.)

What could have been a dull, simply informational read is transformed by Kristen into a story that skillfully blends fact with excitement, intrigue, and, oh yes, teenage love.

It all begins when 16-year-old KJ is cajoled into writing a column about the Yellowstone wolves for her high school newspaper. She's to work side-by-side with Virgil, and expert photographer and the new kid at school. As luck would have it, he's a good-looking vegetarian whose mother is a passionate environmentalist.

As KJ learns more about the plight of the gray wolf in the United Sates, she gains an appreciation for an animal that most people in her rural community would prefer dead.

Her newspaper articles cause enough of a stir in town that the lives of those who are sympathetic to her cause are threatened. It's up to KJ to protect the wolves, keep ranchers' livestock safe, and to heal relationships gone bad.

Thanks Kristen for adding some spice to my reading list!

Kristen will be presenting a class on Dialog: Give your characters a voice that readers will love at the Teen Writers Boot Camp in Orem, Utah at the Utah Valley University campus on Saturday, April 23, 2011. The boot camps is for teens ages 13-19. Cost is $39 before April 9th. For more information, visit www.writerscubed.com

Anyone up for a query letter exchange critique?

2011-03-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm about to send out a query letter for a middle grade mystery to the agent that I really, really want to represent my work. I've had some friends and writing group partners give me feedback on my letter, but I'd love a totally new set of eyes to look it over, AND I'll return the favor. So, if you've got a query letter you'd like reviewed, either leave a comment or email me directly.

Get Yourself a Blog Education

2011-03-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

One year ago I started blogging. Since then, I have learned more than I ever would have going to school in that same amount of time.

My experience in the blog-o-sphere reminds me of an old Hassidic story.

“Heaven,” says the Rabbi, “is like sitting at a large table, surrounded by people you know, with every kind of food you love on the table. However, your elbows won’t bend.”

“Hell,” he continues, “is also like sitting at a large table, surrounded by people you know, with every kind of food you love on the table. Once again, your elbows can’t bend.”

“So what is the difference between heaven and hell?” asks the Rabbi's friend.

“In heaven,” the Rabbi answers, “the people feed each other.”

My teachers (all of you) have fed me well.

Here is my list of the top five things I've learned:

Write, write and write some more. Experiment with voice, tense, genre, humor, romance, and emotion.
I've got a fighting chance. There was a time in my life when publishing a novel seemed like an unattainable goal. Now I know it will take hard work, but it can happen.
The big three e-publishers: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble Pub it, and Smashwords.com. I've learned how to write, format, design and publish e-books.
Numbers in social media aren't as important and the relationships formed. It's the people you meet online who will support you in a publishing career, not blog follower #77.
Writing is part science, part magic.

What have you learned in Blog-Ed?

Teenagers at a mall--their thoughts on books and writing

2011-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

If you know a teenager who lives in Utah, chances are they will have an amazing time at a writers conference just for them. Register at www.writerscubed.com

Information in a nutshell:

Teen Author Boot Camp
Where: Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah
When: Saturday, April 23rd from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
(Lunch and parking voucher provided)
Who: Teens ages 13-19
Cost: Before April 9th $39, After April 9th $49

At the conference there will be more than ten different published authors teaching classes that center on creative writing skills such as: plotting, dialog, creating realistic characters, writing with voice, etc.

In conjunction with the conference is a first chapter writing contest. Every teenager can submit the first chapter or first ten pages of a book they are working on or have written. First prize is a $100 gift certificate to University Mall in Orem, Utah.

Cure teenage boredom and pass the good news along!

Calvin & Hobbs about Writing

2011-03-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

Is Your Manuscript Safe?

2011-03-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago my friend's house burned to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt. My friend is a writer, and I was so worried that she had lost all of her computer files. Thank goodness she is much smarter than me and had all of her work backed up online.

This got me thinking? Just how safe are my manuscripts? What would I do if my computer and jump drive (where I currently back up my work) was lost in a fire? I'll tell you where I would be . . . booked into a hospital psych ward from a massive mental breakdown!

The realization made me get on the ball and research the best price for on an online back-up provider and the best price on a good-quality fireproof safe.

I'm passing the information on to you, with the reminder that my friend never expected to lose her home. And for the record, I have no affiliation with any of these services or products. I'm just a savvy consumer.

By far, I found Mozy to be the provider of choice for online storage for home computer users who don't have a ton of money. I signed up on Mozy.com for 2 years of service, which gave me three months free. I also found a coupon code that gave me an extra 15 percent off the total price. The code is “BESTOFMONTH.” All in all it cost me $106 to have continuous back up for 50 GB of documents, pictures, and videos for the next 24 months. That's $4.42 a month. I did learn that videos take up a ton of storage. The videos on my computer were almost 50 GB themselves, so I also decided to purchase a fireproof safe where I could store a jump drive with my videos on it.

Researching a fireproof safe was a pain. There are so many choices. Here is what I found. You can pay anywhere from $25 to more than $1,000 on a fireproof container. The differences are size, ease of use, length of time it will survive in a fire, and temperatures it can withstand.

Like most of you (I assume), I don't have $1,000 to spend on a safe right now. In fact, I ended up paying a little more than I wanted to, but I feel I got the best deal for my money. There are two main brands: Fist Alert and Sentry. One big difference is that First Alert's warranty is for five years. Sentry's is for one year.

You can get a safe that is proven to last a half hour, one hour, or two hours in a hot fire. Something that lasts ½ hour can cost less than $100. Something that withstands fire for one hour costs from $150 to $300. If you want something that is safe for two hours, you'll spend at least $350 on up. I live in an area with lots of trees, so this was an important factor to me.

After reading the reviews, I finally decided on a First Alert .94 Cu. Ft. Waterproof Firesafe that lasts one hour in a fire--a middle of the road option. It cost me about $150 dollars at Walmart.com, and I had it shipped to my house for .97 cents. A bargain, I thought, considering it weighs 80 pounds. I plan on keeping hard copies of my most important work in it as well as a list of all the expensive items in my house—not that there are that many. :)

Dropping $250 on Mozy and a safe in one week was not easy on the budget, but it felt great after seeing how quickly a person can lose a lifetime of work and memories. One benefit is that both are potential tax write-offs for my writing business.

Moral of this blog is . . . and you've heard it before . . . back up your work and keep your important documents safe. It really doesn't take that long to do. Here's to a worry-free week!

What’s your favorite paranormal?

2011-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Vampires, werewolves, zombies, or how about mermaids?

If you can’t decide, then PARANORMALCY, a New York Times best-selling young adult novel, is right up your alley. The author, Kiersten White, skillfully weaves a swarm of different creatures together in a story that feels much more human than not.

I immediately liked PARANORMALCY's main character, Evie. She has spunk, attitude, and the talent of seeing through a parnanormal’s glamour—a beautiful exterior that hides what is really underneath. Evie’s job is to round up these monsters and have them tagged by the International Paranormal Containment Agency.

Things begin to go awry, however, when Evie learns she is being watched by the IPCA because they believe she too is a paranormal--one of unknown origin.

Add a cute boy, a devious fairy, and a mysterious ruthless killer to the plot, and you have the makings for a great story.

I finished the book and handed it to my 14-year-old daughter. She confirmed my opinion when she couldn’t put the book down to come eat dinner. Just so you know, it's not like we were having split pea soup or anything gross like that. It was a tasty meal I'd made. (grin)

A sequel is coming out soon, and I look forward to reading it.

Kiersten is going to be the keynote speaker for a teen writing conference in Utah. If you know a teen who likes to read/write books, and if you live in Utah, check it out at www.writerscubed.com.

One-stop Blog Contest Information

2011-02-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

Good morning to everyone! My weekend was great. I watched Megamind and laughed a ton with my kids (and husband). Made Texas brownies on Sunday and pretty much had a sugar overload. We took some to neighbors so we wouldn't end up not fitting out the door on Monday morning.

I surfed the blogs over the weekend and noticed there are a lot of contests going on right now. Some of them have very cool prizes. So, I've collected that information and thought I'd pass it on to you. Here you are:

At Hope Junkie, she's having a birthday and giving away books and critiques. (Should be the other way around but that's how blogging works I guess.) Contest closes on March 6, 2011. Go to a look here.

At Kore Averna she's feeling the love and is giving away a $15 amazon card if you leave a comment about your feelings on fire. Go take a look here.

The darlings at Lisa and Laura Write are giving away signed copies of their new book The Liar Society. Go here to get the details.

Hold on tight. This one is huge. Talli Roland is having a Megabookosity in March, and it's easy to sign up. Go visit her here.

This one is almost done, so be quick about visiting Carol Riggs here. It ends March 1.

At KayKay's Corner, she's got a cool blogfest that includes getting feedback on your current work in progress as well as winning a $20 gift card from amazon. See her here.

J.C. Martin has a race on her blog. You'll need to do a little bit of original writing for this one. Please visit her here.

If you're up for a challenge, at LB Diamond's blog there is a Nature of Magic writing contest. It goes all the way through the month of March. Please see it here. If you win, it's a $10 Amazon voucher.

I told you there are a lot going on. Thanks for tuning in to the Life of Lois.

Give Maggie Hogarth a Few Hours and She’ll Give You . . .

2011-02-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

. . . an enticing ebook short story complete with an original, illustrated cover. Pretty amazing, really.

It wasn’t too long ago when Maggie wouldn’t have dreamed of being able to write, illustrate and publish her work together, let alone all in the same day. The world of Kindle, Smashwords and other e-publishing sites have opened up possibilities to Indie authors and artists like never before.

Not only is this good news for Maggie, but it’s also good for her fans. They get to enjoy her work more quickly and for less money. It’s a win-win.

While epublishing can be a quick process, building up a fan base is not.

“I've been writing stories and showcasing art since fanzines were popular in the late 1980s, which means I've been growing my fan base for decades,” explains Maggie. “I’ve noticed large new groups of fans coming in from seeing my artwork at convention shows, from publishing in magazines like Strange Horizons, and from my livejournal. Social media and advertising do work, but not immediately. We'd all love to go viral, but for most people, the overnight success really does take years.”

So, for Indie authors and artists who would like to start building their fan base, what is the best thing to do?

“I think the most helpful thing is to have work available for people to sample,” she says. “I offer seven free stories through Smashwords.com, I am writing a serial available online, and I have over 3,000 pieces of art on my website. People can try a little bit of everything I do, risk-free. If they like it and can afford it, they'll pick up the backlist. If they like it and can't afford it, they'll tell other people about my work. And if they don't like it, then they leave without having resented paying for their boredom. Everyone wins.”

One thing Maggie has learned is to use her time wisely. If she’s drawing a cover of a book that will only be used on Kindle or Smashwords, she spends about an hour on it. If she’s illustrating something that will be used in print, it might take her up to thirty hours. By keeping the final outcome of her work in mind, she put into it as little or a much energy as the project deserves.

When you take a look at Ms. Hogarth’s portfolio of work, (here) you’ll see she dabbles in everything from science fiction, fantasy and romance to non-fiction articles about business and parenthood. Her artwork is exquisite and consists mostly of dragons, elves and “people in beautiful clothes.”

“Times right now are very uncertain,” she concludes. “It’s a great environment for experimentation and entrepreneurship. You can sell your work to traditional presses. You can sell them to small presses. You can sell them yourself. You can try royalty models. You can try donation models. You can try pay-to-post models. You can set your own prices.”

“Try a little bit of everything until you find something comfortable for yourself and your readers. And remember, give yourself time. You can't build an audience in a night!”
To get to know Maggie better, please visit her blog at: http://mcahogarth.blogspot.com

[LIFE OF LOIS Housekeeping: The truth behind Crusaders Challenge #1 . . . I never won a spelling bee. I did, however, win the sixth grade ping pong championship against Kristi, a super cool kid I so wanted to be like at the time. I do finger piano tunes, and I've never used bloviate and fugiline before, and hope to never again!]

One secret, a lie, and a quirk

2011-02-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

Crusade Challenge #1

Ding.

The bell in the judge’s hand echoed in the half-empty auditorium. The sixth grade spelling bee was almost over and it was down to me and Kristi Crawford—one of the cool kids.

On the front of my leg I nervously fingered the piano piece I’d been learning. Pressure was on, but I could handle it. In my twelve short years that’s one thing I’d learned about myself: I worked best with a sharp blade to my throat.

I had almost gotten out when I stumbled over the double “b” in rabbit. Good thing the judge was lenient. But I doubted they do me any favors now.

“Please spell the word ‘fuliguline.’”

A cinch! I didn’t even need to have him use it in a sentence.

“f-u-l-i-g-u-l-i-n-E."

“That’s correct.”

The tall, stylish girl next to me was sweating. I could smell it.

“Please spell the word ‘bloviate.’”

“Uhhh,” she stammered. “Could you use that in a sentence, please?”

“Certainly. The spoiled girl would often bloviate.”

My opponent’s voice shook. “b-l-o-v-e-a-t-E.”

“I’m sorry.” The judge’s face was emotionless. “That is incorrect.”

My fingers stopped playing the imaginary piano. I opened my mouth to shout but quickly closed it. Manners, I told myself.

The principal made his way toward me, holding in his hands the most gorgeous fake metal trophy I’d ever seen.

“And the winner is . . . Lois Brown.”

A few kids clapped. Some whistled. And then I fainted.

All right. Some of this is a lie, some of it is true, some of it is shows embarrassing facts about me I never wanted anyone to know. Oh well.

[Housekeeping Stuff: Unfortunately no one guessed Lois' Mystery Sound. It was the sound my office chair makes when I lower it. And, after some consideration, I've decided the mystery sound is not the right fit for bloggers, so I'm going to think of something more fun. Get stoked!]

In 1517, fifty innocent Aztec slaves were murdered. . .

2011-02-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

while hiding the personal jewelry of Montezuma. Nearly 500 years later, expert scuba diver Mike Conrad never dreamed he would meet one of them--thirty feet underwater.

CURSED GOLD, my newest ebook short story, is free if you go here at www.smashwords.com and use this coupon code: QH43R. Hurry, though. The code is only good for two weeks.

By the way, the ebook comes in all different kinds of formats (i.e. Kindle, sony reader, internet brower, pdf, etc, so even if you don't have a Kindle or a Nook, you can still read it.

On a side note, this Valentines Day my hubby gave me a Kindle and one red rose. As he gave it to me he said, "I give you this with the risk of being completely ignored the rest of this year." Sadly, he's probably right. :-)

Coming up next week I will begin doing reviews of Indie authors who publish short stories online. Some of these are fabulous writers and illustrators, and I'm excited to get to know them better.

The Blog I Never Wanted to Write

2011-02-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, one of my friend’s home burned to the ground. That same day, another friend’s husband died in an accident. They are both in my writers group.

In part jest, some have said my group must be the unluckiest bunch of people around. Others have told me to get out before it’s my turn. I don’t believe either.

What I do believe is that in life things happen for a reason. I believe before we came to earth that we chose those people with whom we would share joy, love, and yes, sorrow. I feel very blessed to have been hand picked by my two friends to be a support to them in times of trial.

And, since this is a blog about writing, I will say that grief, sadness, and pain are exceptional teachers in learning how to become great authors. What better way is there to explain those same emotions in our characters than to have felt them for ourselves? And despite the amazing publishing contract we all want, for most of us, writing is about understanding life. And life is about living. And living is about Happiness. Heartache. And, most importantly, healing.

Guess Lois' Mystery Sound and Win

2011-02-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

First off, here's wishing you all a Happy Valentines day and a big hello to any fellow crusader from Rach Writes. Now, on to business.

As a writer, I hear the same sounds everyday: my fingers typing, my office chair squeaking, and my head hitting the keyboard when I fall asleep.(grin)

One day I started thinking about the rest of you. Are these the same noises you hear too?

Thus was born my Mystery Sound Contest. Each week I will post a sound on my blog that someone who reads or writes books hears a lot. Listen to it by playing the video below and then write your best guess as to what it is in the comments section or you can send me an email at loislane@digis.net.

If you're wrong. . . I'm so sorry. BUT, if you're right then you'll win a weird, random prize. Trust me, these prizes are bizarre. That's the fun of it. If there is more than one person who is correct, I'll select a winner from the correct guesses blindfolded. The contest is open until next Monday, Feb. 28 at midnight.

WEEK #1 BIG PRIZE: Winner will receive in the mail 10 bean seeds that when planted will grow with words printed on the plant. This means you won't have to write words anymore, but you can just grow them.

BIG RULES: You have to be a follower of my blog to win! So click on the follow button right now before you forget.

BIG BONUS: If a new follower to my blog enters the contest, wins, and mentions that you were the one who referred him/her to my blog, then you will win the same prize. That's right. Two prizes will be given away.

What does this mean? This means you should facebook, blog, tweet, or at least send out a few darn emails to your friends and tell them about my blog and the contest. Be sure to tell them to mention your name (or blog name) along with their guess. Remember, you win the prize too ONLY if the person is a new follower to my blog.

Here's the sound. Clear your brain, relax a minute, and then turn the volume on your computer up.

Getting To Know You

2011-02-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick shout out to all readers, authors, bloggers, and basic human beings that if you'd like to meet new people and get more blog-o-sphere friends, check out RACH WRITES. She'd doing a blogging crusade to bring those of us with similar interests together. The link is here.

Today is a down-to-business day for me. I have a short story I must finish or whip myself with a noodle incessantly until die. I also have got to start writing a query letter which is about as fun as taking a bath with piranhas. Seriously.

Oh, I must mention that a member of my awesome writing group just found out she is one of the top twenty finalists of the 2010 Gotham Writers' YA Novel Discovery Contest. AMAZING! You can read her name (Margie Jordan) on the list here. Her blog is also fantastical and you can find it here.

Mafia Meets the Fifth Grade

2011-02-08T08:46:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a deep, down-to-earth middle grade book—one that teaches children about the real world—then stop, turn around, and run. Stay as far away from the book HASHBROWN WINTERS by Frank Cole as you can.

However, if you'd enjoy a quick escape from the doldrums of winter, then grab a cup of hot cocoa and get ready to read about Hashbrown, a fifth grader at Pordunce Elementary who signs his own death warrant after accidentally injuring Hambone Oxcart's enormous pet cockroach. If you couldn't tell by his name, Hambone is twice as big and three times as mean as any other kid in the class.

Frank Cole's debut novel is about kids. Funny kids. In the story you'll meet Cordovo Figanewty, a sixth grader turned mafia boss who has taken over the teacher's lounge, forcing them to eat in a janitorial closet. You'll also be introduced to The Oracle, a kid who was shoved into his locker seven years ago and has never come out. He lives by charging students money and/or food in exchange for his all-important knowledge.

The book begins in the middle of a paint-ball war. From the get-go I knew I was in for a treat. As the story progressed, I was impressed by the variety of characters and randomness of it all. This book is a must for right-brained thinkers. Don't expect everything (or anything) to make sense. For example, does The Oracle go to the bathroom in his locker? Eewww!

Middle-graders will enjoy the story's action and adults will find the simplistic plot reminiscent of younger days when small things were blown way out of proportion. If you liked the movie THE SANDLOT from the 1990s (one of my favorites), then you'll love this book.

Happy reading!

Cubies Are Special…Wait…What’s a Cubie?

2011-02-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

It's happened. I'm out of the closet (so to speak). My amazing writer's group is starting a blog and the first post explains what a Cubie is. Go take a look. While you're there, check out the teen writers conference we are putting on with Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. It's going to be phenomenal!!!! Seriously.

I'm going to be blogging about the conference more in the future. For now, go find out what a Cubie is. Come on. You know your curiosity is killing you.

Cubies Are Special…Wait…What’s a Cubie?

I've Got a Hankerin' for a Kindle

2011-01-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

The other day I sat by my tech savvy friend during an author's presentation. Drool came out of my mouth when, during the talk, my friend popped out her WI-FI Kindle and ordered the book that was being discussed. In less that two minutes she was thumbing through her own copy. Jealousy!!!!

As you can tell by my last post, I'm trying to get involved more into the world of e-publishing. So, imagine my excitement when I saw a blog that is giving away a Kindle. That's right a Kindle! I'm so in.

Check it out at: http://realizedreturns.com/read-my-drivel-win-a-kindle/

My E-pub Story: A How To Tale

2011-01-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

Eighty years ago paperback books were the latest and greatest invention in the world of publishing. In 2011 the new sensation is ebooks, and last week I set out to see what the fuss is all about. This is my story:

1. I started with a goal: E-publish twelve short stories in 2011. Why short stories? Several reasons.

First off, once a novel is e-published, few traditional publishers will look at it. That is not the case with short stories. Magazines typically don't care if content has been e-published before. Since I'm still holding out for a book deal on my novels, I thought I stick to what are referred to as “shorts.”

Second, I wanted to start e-publishing NOW, and that meant I didn't have time to write a novel. A short story seemed doable since they run anywhere from 1,000 to 25,000 words. Most are about three to five thousand.

Third, the indie short story market is doing well. (For those like me who were about to Google what “indie” means, it's a piece of art or writing created independently without corporate financing.) With short stories running at .99 cents a pop, they've become a quick time-filler for people with ebook readers waiting at doctor offices, auto mechanics, etc.

2. I learned where to self publish an ebook. I found there are three main websites that feed into most ebook stores. These are: Smashwords.com; Amazon.com; and Barnes and Noble's Pubit. I went to each site and created an account. This was simple—like online shopping, which I happen to be very good at.

3. I wrote a short story, which I hadn't done since high school. Keep in mind that the short stories that sell the best are typically pulp fiction—detective, mystery, horror, science fiction. I've always had a fascination with treasure hunters, so I decided I would write a collection of stories around that theme.

To be honest, the story wrote itself. I don't know if they're all going to be that easy, but hey, I'm not complaining. Attention: Unlike writing a novel or a literary magazine article, pulp fiction doesn't have to be perfect. These are quick stories to give a reader a buzz. So, I didn't worry about editing too much. In fact, I wrote it, let it sit two days, and then read through it just one more time before publishing. Yes, I'm sure there are errors, but when someone is just going to read it on a tiny screen while he waits for his tires to be rotated and then delete it or file it away forever, I didn't feel the same pressure as when writing a book.

4. Making a cover was fun, but time consuming. I'm hoping my next one won't take as long. Here's the key: your cover has to look good as a thumbnail or you might was well not bother. That means no wispy fonts, confusing art, or small type. I learned this the hard way. In Smashwords, my font with a drop shadow looked good. At Amazon, it was unreadable. There's definitely a learning curve here. Also, save it as a jpeg since that format works at all three e-publishing sites.

Photoshop is the industry standard software to make cover art, but I don't own it because it's pricey. So, I downloaded a free version of Gimp. Gimp is about as complex as Photoshop, which can be intense for some of us non-graphics arts people. I turned to YouTube for a few quick tutorials on how to make a basic cover. It worked like a charm. Later I learned that for simple covers PowerPoint works just fine. I may take this route on the next one.

I didn't want to fork out good money to buy cover art—not when I didn't know if I was going to make any money at all. Instead, I went to www.dreamstime.com for free stock photos. This website makes it super simple to download images. Other sites were a pain, wanting all sorts of information before I could use it. If any of you have other suggestions for free stock photos, pass it along in the comments.

5. Formatting the book for upload was a bit of a pain. Seriously, if I were the swearing type, this is where I would insert a ripe four-letter word. I pretty much had to get rid of all formatting and then put back in just a few necessities like tabs. Don't even think about using a fancy font or putting in double space breaks. Multiple returns are death to an ebook. Make it simple. Smashwords.com has the most stringent of formatting rules. They only accept .doc files. So if you have a newer version of MS Word, beware—you'll need to save it as an older version to get the .doc file extension. Kindle and Barnes and Nobles Pubit were a little better.

Once I had my .doc file with the story and my .jpeg file with my cover ready, I uploaded my book at the three sites. This was the fun part. It gave me a quick rush to see that I'm “out there” in the digital world.

6.The road to success for indie authors is to publish, publish, publish. Nothing is going to happen career-wise for me until I have a decent selection of work for readers to choose from. The more I e-publish, the easier it is for people to find me online. For me that means back to the keyboard.

Please take a look at the finished product at Smashwords.com. For a limited time, you can use the code AJ42S to download a copy of my short story for free: FORGOTTEN CANYON by Lois D. Brown. If you don't have an e-reader, no big deal. You can open up in an internet browser to read.

If you've had experience self-publishing an ebook, I'd love to hear about it. Also, if you'd like to use my "how to epub story" on your blog, please feel free. I just ask that you be sure to include the Smashwords' coupon code and the name of my story so your followers can download it for free too.

All For One, One For All

2011-01-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest. Every once in a while, do you look at an author who's "made it" and get a twinge of . . . oh, I don't know . . . compete hatred? Ok, so it's not that bad, but I have felt jealousy toward writers whose novels grace the walls of Barnes and Noble while mine sits in an envelope with the word rejected written on it.

Sometimes I have felt like if I don't hurry, other authors will write all of the good stories in the world and there will be none left for me. Ridiculous, I know.

Today I read a great blog about how, unlike in other fields, we have no reason to compete with other writers. Check out the original post at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com

Seriously, it gave me enough warm fuzzies to shake off my after-holidays lethargy and write something.

So here is my shout out to all of you. FEEL THE LOVE! Let's get our back ends in gear and write some great stuff this year together.

Could somone rip out my lung, please?

2010-12-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Things have been quiet on my blog. It's due to Thanksgiving traveling, Christmas decorating, and a freakin cold that is driving me insane. It's the kind that makes you want to reach into your mouth, grab a handful of lung, and just yank it out.

So, I haven't done too much on the writing sphere cause I haven't felt good. That's not to say I haven't been busy. Over the past week or so, Mother Nature has dumped a couple feet of snow where I live. Yesterday morning we had another two inches on the roads. On my way to volunteer at my kids' school, I saw that my neighbor's big old truck had slid off the driveway and one tire was hanging precariously over a ditch.

This is my specialty. You see, I drive the most uncool car for this very reason. It is a Chevrolet Astro van. Yes, you read it right--one of those overgrown shoe boxes that are as ugly as ugly comes. It's good points are that it's AWD, has an upgraded heavy duty truck transmission, a 4.3 liter engine, and brand new studded snow tires (and seats eight people--hello, carpool mom!).

Back to the snow emergency. I hop out with my tow rope in hand. (I keep one in my car during the winter for moments like these.) My neighbor hooks it to his truck and my beastly machine literally pulled his truck out of the ditch. I tap the snow from my boots, get back into the car, and make it to kindergarten to do an activity with my daughter's class.

Moral of the story? Drive classy, fast cars in the summer, but leave Utah winters to the Astro. :-)

When a Website Makes You Cry

2010-11-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

I cry at movies, reading a good book, and today, for the first time, I cried looking at a website. All right, I didn't exactly cry, but I did tear up once or twice.

It's because the website is about a group of people who are amazing, talented, and some of the best friends a person could have. It's my writers' group, and we've finally gone cyber at www.WritersCubed.com

Sappy, sappy, sappy, I know. But the truth is we have a lot of fun together even though we all have different personalities and are from completely different walks of life. The key is that we all love a good story, and we all have an unexplainable, bizarre obsession to one day see that story in print with our name on it.

Here's the thing: writers in general are a pretty odd group of people. I mean, who else in the entire world thinks their thoughts are so important that others should pay money to read them? It's not that we're cocky. It's more like we live in an alternative reality where stories reign supreme. Real life is what you trudge through before you sneak away to your laptop and furiously type the thoughts that have swirled inside your head all morning.

Writers also have a desire to see everyone else write—or at least like to read. My great aunt who lived next door to me growing up was a creative writing teacher at a large university. This was in the days when a woman with any kind of Ph. D was way out of the norm. She gave us books, talked about writing, and traveled the world to gain more fodder for her stories. My mother, a microbiologist, thought Aunt Glenna's career was useless. Writing fiction? Honestly, could there be anything more mundane and unproductive?

In the end I took after my aunt. I don't know if it was because I purposely rebelled (all six of my siblings graduated from college with degrees in either math, engineering, physics, or computer science). Or, it may have been my aunt's efforts rubbed off onto me.

Whatever the reason, I couldn't be happier. Sure, I haven't written a best seller . . . YET. That's why I love WritersCubed. They'll keep me going until that day happens.

Talk about it, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it

2010-11-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went to the "Teen Book Fest" in Provo, Utah. The keynote speaker was Scott Westerfeld, author of the series UGLIES. During his speech he answered a question that has been been floating around my mind for a while now. In fact, I've been thinking about his answer all weekend. (Typically I do absolutely no thinking on weekends, so you know what he said was profound.)

He said the difference between a really good book that sells very few copies and an average book that sells a ton is the ability of the book to make people want to "talk about it." He says if you finish a book and want to talk about it with your friends, the first think you're going to do is tell them all to read the book. They do. Now you talk about it together. It's so much fun, or your opinions vary so much from each other, that you all tell other friends to read it, so you can talk about it with them. The domino effect has begun.

So here's the next question. What is it about a book that makes people want to talk about it? I know it's not sex, because that is everywhere. It's so common it's like peanut butter and jelly at school lunch. Is it violence? Again, with video games that's old news. Perhaps it's multiple elements: a plot with a twist, a love triangle, a character that is quirky and funny, etc. It's hard to put my finger on it, but if I could, I have a feeling I could sell a lot of books.

What makes you talk about a book?

Lessons from WAR OF THE WORLDS

2010-10-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I saw a play last week about the 1938 radio production of the War of the Worlds. I feel it is a great true-life example illustrating the responsibility writers have for their words and how they use them. For those who aren't familiar with what happened, here it is in a nutshell:

In 1898, H.G. Wells published a novel called WAR OF THE WORLDS that told the story of an alien invasion of earth. Forty years later, Orson Welles (no relation) adapted the book into a radio show and played in on air for Halloween.

The first two thirds of the commercial-free, 60-minute broadcast were presented as a series of simulated "news bulletins.” Many listeners thought an actual alien invasions by Martians was happening. The show caused a panic. Some people packed their cars and headed for safety. Others holed up in their basements till morning. When the general public learned it was a fictional story presented as news, there was a backlash.

Words have power. I remember the first time I ever read MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD. I cried and cried. Even TWILIGHT evoked some interesting emotions in me. As an author, I hope my words can do the same, but I also want to do it in a responsible way.

How about you? What do you think about the power of words?

I'm in Love!

2010-10-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with a book (and no it's not one that I'm writing). However, I should be more specific. I'm in love with the audio recording of a book. It's name you ask? FRAMED by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Don't let the somewhat boring back cover deter you. This book is hilarious, and the reader is fabulous. Almost (if not as good) as Jim Dale in the Harry Potter audio series.

Here's the basic plot:

Dylan, the narrator of the story, is obsessed with cars and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He lives with his family in a teeny, tiny town called Manod in Wales. They own a gas station called the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel, which is located right next their home. Next to the gas station is a country road no one has used in years. It leads up the mountain to a hollowed-out slate quarry.

Massive flooding in London causes the entire contents of the National Gallery to be brought down and stored in the abandoned quarry. (An event similar to what really happened during World War II.)

Almost magically, the art brings life back to the dilapidated town. However, Dylan's little sister cannot stop her brilliant criminal mind from wanting to steal one of the paintings to help save the family's business that is nearly bankrupt.

I have to admit, this book did not start off with a bang. However, I pushed through the first few chapters and was glad I did. The author is witty, his characters are amazing, and the dialogue is hilarious. I even got my husband to listen to it who normally doesn't do fiction. (Curling up with the car manual from our Subaru Legacy is his idea of a good time.)

Frank Cottrell Boyce is also the author of the award-winning book MILLIONS.

Hairy biceps?

2010-10-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Do any of you have a certain phrase that you've decided you're going to put into a novel even before you've started writing it? For example, my writing group has this thing going of who can put the phrase “fear on his face” into their novel and make it sound smooth.

Well, two nights ago my son who is nine was talking about men. He is very much into telling us the differences between men and women since he is the only boy in our family (besides his dad). Anyhow, he said, “That guy is such a man, he even has hairy biceps.”

Hairy biceps? I had no idea there was such a thing. I know some pretty hairy guys, but none of them have hair on their biceps. Do you know any? But I digress.

At the moment my son said it, I knew this was the phrase I had to include in my next novel. I have no idea how, but it will be there.

Of course, the real question for all of you psychologists is why did I fall in love with this combination of the words “hairy” and “biceps.” I'm not sure. Maybe it was the visual image of some guy who thinks he's cool strutting down the street in his short sleeve shirt with tufts of dark hair spilling out onto his arm, or maybe it was the time I spent living in France as a child where no one shaves (anywhere) and going swimming can be a seriously traumatic experience.

Whatever the reason, look for it in about five years when my best-selling third novel comes out. I can just see it now. Instead of teenage girls worshiping the image of a sparkling vampire, they will all be looking for a man with hairy biceps. So cool.

5 Things Every School Should Ban

2010-09-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of blogging this week about banned books (thanks to it being National Banned Book Week, of course.) That said, I feel some things in our school system are not deserving their fair share of publicity. These are my five top things every school should ban:

1. Bring your pet to school day. Really? Seems to me teachers are begging for a crappy day with this one. (Literally.) I have seen horses, large pit bulls, and just about everything else show up in class. My son's mini frog he bought at the State Fair for 50 cents never seems to measure up.

2. Fridays' Wear your School Colors. I do a lot of laundry. Daily even. However, that does not mean I'm going to have a clean blue shirt for each of my kids to wear on Friday mornings. When I do dress them in something like red (just an example) they miss the treat, and I'm the bad guy. Perhaps I should never wash my children's blue t-shirts and by the end of the year all of their teachers would cancel the day on their own accord.

3. Mom homework. When I say mom homework I mostly mean the "Get to know me" posters that I have to make every year for each of my kids. I am not a scrapbooker or an artist and mine always come out looking like a first grader did them. Why not just have a child bring a baby picture and his/her favorite toy. For pity sakes, everyone knows what he looks like right now. They see him every day.

4. All book order items that have accompanying toys. Dear Scholastic: I love your books, but your toys suck. I know this first hand because I've had to buy many a cheap toy from your book orders and they fall apart before my kids walk home from the bus stop with them. A crying fit usually ensues, and I give my lecture on why book order toys are junk, which my kids prompty forget by the next book order.

And last but not least ...

5. The cafeteria's country fried steak. Need I say more?

Myth Buster

2010-09-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

Like other fiction writers, I love writing. And like other fiction writers, I'd love to be paid for it someday. However, over the past two years of going to writing conferences and getting rejected a number times on my first manuscript I was starting to buy into the myth that breaking into the world of writing is futile.

Just the other day I came across a great blog entry from a writer who I had never heard of named Dean Wesley Smith. This is the best part. He's not a big and name and he's not one of the lucky few to write a best-seller. He's just a writer who does what he likes and makes money on it.

It was so encouraging I'd like to share it will all of you. Happy writing!

www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=607

P.S. I can't figure out how to make my "insert link" feature to work, so you'll have to get there the old fashioned way by cutting and pasting the URL. Anyone have a tip on getting links to embed? I'm still pretty new at this.

Answer: Kyrie by Mr. Mister (1985)

2010-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Wendy is the winner of the brainiac award! She was just a little off on the name of the group. To give me a little inspiration for my middle grade mystery set in 1985, I've been listening to "The best of the 80s" CD. It totally cracks me up. It's like I'm in the gym at a stag dance all over again.

For those of you (like me) who tried to sing the lyrics to this song but never really knew what they were saying, this is what I've learned about it. First off, the lyrics are:

"Kýrie, eléison, down the road that I must travel. Kýrie, eléison, through the darkness of the night"

Literally translated from Greek, Kýrie means "Lord" and eléison means "mercy." The phrase Kýrie eléison is typically a prayer that asks "Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy." According to Richard Page who wrote the song, the whole thing is a prayer to God.

One thing I've noticed about music from the 80s is that there were so many one-time wonders. In other words, groups that had one hit song or one popular album and then nothing else. This was pretty much the case for Mr. Mister.

Keep posted for more guessing games. Thanks for playing!

Betcha Can't Name This Tune

2010-09-09T09:16:00.001-07:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'm writing a new book. It's a humorous middle grade mystery. Throughout the next few weeks, I'm going to divulge little bits of information about it. For example, to find out the year my book is set in, listen to the song below. Then without cheating (i.e. looking it up on Google) guess its name, group and release date. Let's see how smart y'all are. I'll post the answer in a few days.

THE CASTLE CORONA: Simply Simple

2010-09-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

If I had only one word to describe THE CASTLE CORONA by Sharon Creech it would be "simple." It is a simple story, with a simple message, with simple characters, and a simple plot. That doesn't mean I didn't like it. In fact, I think it is a great book for the right age group. Children as young as seven would enjoy it if they are good readers. I think it would also work for reluctant readers as old as twelve, both boy and girl. For boys, however, you'll have to hide the book cover because it looks very girly. The story, however, is not.

The book is described as a "good-hearted, gently comic fairy tale." And that's exactly what it is. There is a King, a Queen, two princes, and a princess. Add two orphaned children who find a mysterious pouch with Castle Corona's symbol on it and you've got a story.

One of the book's most enjoyable aspects is its varied points of view. You get inside the heads of many of the quirky characters without feeling yanked around by the author. The main weaknesses is that the ending is pretty obvious from nearly the beginning of the book. However, younger children often like that because it makes them feel clever.

Other good books by Sharon Creech are: THE WANDERER, WALK TWO MOONS, AND GRANNY TORRELLI MAKES SOUP

MOCKINGJAY is {sigh} a disappointment—Spoiler Alert!

2010-08-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

I did not want to write this kind of review. I wanted to sit down and announce that MOCKINGJAY is all that I hoped it would be—a brilliant conclusion to an intense, inspiring trilogy. But it isn't. {sigh again} Yes, it is great writing and full vivid images (a little too much so). But (and it is a BIG but) the story fizzled and most of the main characters morphed into. . . bizarre people I felt I didn't know at all.

However, let's start with the positive:

I liked how the rebellion was not clean cut. The rebels did not represent complete good, and the capitol didn't represent complete evil. I felt this gave the plot an underlying complexity that was intriguing.

I thought the scene where Finnick tells the camera how he was treated after being a victor was powerful and moving.

I enjoyed the scenes where Katniss actually got out and did something like shooting arrows at the helicopters that are trying to bomb the hospital and, well, hmmm, I guess the only other proactive thing she does is lead an attack to break into Snow's mansion. However, this is a futile attempt and in my opinion is one of the book's main weaknesses.

My overall problem with the book is the characters. Where did Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Finnick and others disappear to? I recognize Collins wanted to show the tragedy of war on the human psyche, but she way overdid it and in doing so didn't stay true to her characters.

Also, many parts of the book are unbelievable. I know this is a dystopian novel, but near the end the Capitol's defense system sounded to far fetched. For example: a government that can outfit it's city with apparently thousands of “pods” that do just about everything from melting human flesh with a bright light to ripping open the ground like an earthquake, certainly could have figured out a way to attack district 13 with more than just regular old bombs. Hello?

By the end of the book I wanted to go back and count how many times Katniss wakes up in a hospital. At least six or seven. She's has her leg ripped apart, is mentally unstable, suicidal, shot, burned, starved, put in solitary confinement, and the list goes on and on. I understand this is war, but not every violent thing has to happen one person. It feels a little ridiculous.

The climax never happens. At the end of the book Katniss and a few remaining soldiers are literally feet away from getting into Snow's house when the action stops. Katniss wakes up (again) in a hospital and the whole take-over of the Capitol is done.

I feel Collins betrays her reader by killing off nearly every important character in order for her to preach the obvious moral of the book which is war is evil. Killing Prim was the ultimate betrayal since keeping her alive is the main premise of the whole series. It just felt wrong. I see the need for there to be death in a book about war, but it seemed by the end she was killing characters left and right. It took the impact out of the book.

Like I said, Collins is a great writer and has a gift with language, plot and pace. I am impressed with what she has done in her career. I don't think this book ruins her obvious talent. I just wish it could have been different . . . a lot different.

It's coming!!!

2010-08-21T06:49:00.001-07:00

Great news. Yesterday I got an email from our good friend Amazon. They informed me a book I bought months ago is on its way. Why the wait?

It's MOCKING JAY by Suzanne Collins. I pre-ordered it (something I never do) because I am just that excited to read it. So, it's on it's way and my kids start school next week. It's like the stars have aligned themselves into perfect order just for me.

If I don't blog for a while (not that I'm ever very regular) you'll know what I'm doing. Happy reading to me.

A Fabulous Read Aloud

2010-08-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I loved the last book I listened to on CD. It is a perfect read-a-loud with the kids: it's funny, short, and has some action. Warning: most of it is totally unbelievable. Don't expect a realistic mystery.

So . . . here's the title of the book: THE CASE OF THE CASE OF THE MISTAKEN IDENTITY by Mac Barnett. The audio book is read by Arte Johnson who used to be on the television show "Laugh In." (But don't let that deter you. He does a great job.)

As for the plot . . . hmmm . . . Just read it.

I had a dream I got an agent

2010-08-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed an agent called me and said, "Do you want to make some money with me?" Seriously. I have no idea if any agent would ever really say that, but I'm taking it as a sign. Why not? The only problem is, I can't remember the agent's name. It was something like Gilray? Adelay?ARGGGHHH. I can't rememer. Just when the contract was in my hand.

One weird thing is that the agent asked me if I could create an original card game to go with the book. Hmmm. Not sure where that came from. Anyhow, the whole thing gave me a little energy toward writing, which I totally need right now.

By the way, I haven't blogged about any writing contests in a while, but I just saw one that looks really fun. Great prizes. http://fictiongroupie.blogspot.com/2010/08/contest-entry-form.html

New book trailer of CYCLES just released!

2010-08-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

Even though you won't find a copy of the book CYCLES in bookstores quite yet, the book trailer is out and ready to go viral. :-)

My kids and a few of the neighbors helped me put this together. We had a good time recording the audio and video; picking out the music and pictures; and posting it.

For those who are confused and who haven't read all of my blogs (tsk, tsk), I wrote a young adult urban fantasy called CYCLES that I'm trying to get published. While I wait for the perfect publisher to snap it up (oh yes, it will happen) I decided to have a little fun.

Enjoy!

THE ROAR is nothing to shout about

2010-07-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if I have become too picky. The last YA novel I read entitled THE ROAR by Emma Clayton has almost 400 reviews on "Goodreads" with an average rating of 3.95 out of 5. That is above average right? To me, however, it was anything but average. In fact, it was downright disapointing. Yikes! I said it. Now let me tell you why. First, here's the plot:

Two twins, Mika and Ellie, live with the rest of civilization behind a solid concrete wall built to keep out all animals that are infected with some sort of plague. A year before the book begins, Ellie disappears and is presumed dead by everyone except her brother. Society is split into several classes (the rich and the poor), with the lower class becoming more and more frustrated with their lot in life. The government begins a program called "The Youth Development Program" which, unknown to the population but obvious to anyone reading the book, is a covert attempt to train children to become soldiers. Basically, this book is 400 pages of back story to what I assume in book two will be the actual war.

I thought the premise sounded interesting. So what went wrong? I found five things in particular:

#1 - This is a dystopian novel, but that doesn't mean that every adult is completely stupid. So many things were simply unbelievable or blatantly obvious.

#2 - World building gone astray. The author did a good job creating some unique aspects to her futuristic world (like most food was made out of flavored mold), but then she didn't stick to her own rules. Very frustrating.

#3 - Metaphors. In a world where no one has seen any sort of animal, grass, tree, or flower for decades, there were way too many metaphors that dealt with those subjects. How would someone who has never seen or touched an animal before know that carpet felt like cat hair?

#4 - Near the end of the book, the author wrote herself into a corner. She fixes it by all of a sudden making her two main characters telepathic. What the heck? If she'd mentioned that in the beginning she could have deleted the first 200 pages.

#5 - No climax. Building, building, building, building, building and then . . . the book ends.

There you have it. Nit picky or not, this is one book that I wouldn't rush out to buy.

I'm pregnant with a new book

2010-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

In the past, each time I've found out that I was pregnant I got a huge rush of excitement. Is it a boy or a girl? Will the baby look like me or my husband? What will the name be? Then, after the initial celebration, fear would set in. Will the baby be healthy? Can I handle another child? Am I ever going to sleep again?

I've been working for the last year and a half on my first fiction novel. I have rewritten it at least six times, and about a month ago I finally decided it was time to move on.

At first, I was giddy at the thought of something new. It was like expecting a baby. What would the title be? Would it be a mystery or a fantasy? Who is the main character? That lasted about a week. When I sat down to actually start writing, I got scared. What if my first book was the only good idea I'll ever have? What if I'm a one-time wonder? Can I form a logical plot, or was the last time a fluke?

I've decided I'm simply pregnant with a new book. There will be good days and bad. I'm not sure what the outcome will be, but the possibilities are exciting and frightening at the same time. The one thing I'm sure of is that there is no going back. What's done is done. I've got the writing bug and it's here to stay. I just hope the book's delivery won't be quite as painful as a baby's. :-)

Stay gold, Ponyboy

2010-06-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided to return to the classics and I picked up THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton, a book I hadn't read in more than 25 years. The emotional pull of the book was just as good as the first time I read it, though the writing seemed repetitive and a little strained in parts. However, when you consider that the author was 15 years old when she started writing it and 18 when the book was published, it's pretty amazing.

In the book, a group of lower-class kids (called Greasers) try and establish their self-worth by constantly getting in fights with the Socs (short for Socials) who are bored, spoiled, personality-free rich kids. While the book is based on some pretty huge generalizations, it still works for me. The inner dialogue of Ponyboy is slightly too wise for his age and socioeconomic situation; yet, the relationships he has with the other Greaser characters makes up for it.

As with almost everyone else who reads the book, one of my favorite lines is "Stay gold, Ponyboy," taken from the poem by Robert Frost where he concludes that nothing good stays the way it is. To me, this line summarized why I enjoy reading Middle Grade and Young Adult books so much. MG and YA literature seems "gold" to me--not so convoluted with excess description, mindless dialogue, and boring themes.

What are your memories of THE OUTSIDERS or any of the other books by S.E. Hinton, like RUMBLE FISH and TEX?

The kiss of the bloody red pen

2010-06-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

What color of pen do you use when you sit down to edit someone's writing? You might be interested to know that you may be more unfairly critical of others' work if you choose a red pen vs. a blue one. It's true.

I'm talking about a study that came out in May of the European Journal of Social Psychology that suggests the use of red pens may make teachers more likely to spot errors on tests and to be more critical (even unjustly so) when grading essays. All I know is there must have been an overabundance of red pens at the high school I went to.

Bottom line. At the beginning of each school year, buy your children's teachers an enormous number of blue, black and green pens along with a case of diet Coke and some Advil. Your kids may start pulling good grades, and it will all be thanks to you.

Shooting Statistics

2010-06-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday night one of my kid's friends who knew I'd written a book asked, "So, where can I buy that book your wrote?"

I told her that I hadn't gotten it published yet, and she was amazed. "But didn't you finish it in October?"

Oh how I wish I had her blissful understanding of the publishing business, but I've queried enough agents to know that it just ain't so. At least not most of the time. After almost 60 queries for my YA novel CYCLES, I've had six agents ask to read a partial. Sure, I'm still waiting on 21 to answer me, but if you do the math that means more than 30 have said no thanks.

I was feeling blue until some great friends and writing buddies sent along some encouragement. One reminded me, "In basketball, you'll always miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

So, I'm back on board. I'm going to regroup, hopefully make some changes to make my story to make it even better, and I'm just going to keep trying. The good thing is I have a lifetime to get it right.

By the way, since most of my readers love middle grade books like I do, I'm posting a link to a blog contest that is giving away 9 books for free. Good luck.

http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2010/06/our-first-post-and-our-first-giveaway/

Summer = Library Fun

2010-05-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, summer was synonymous for library reading programs. You know the kind, when the librarian writes your name down in a spiral bound notebook and hands you a piece of card stock with the picture of a map on it that tells you the books you have to read in order to win your free ice cream cone from McDonalds come August.

I loved it! I think I went through the library's entire collection of Nancy Drew one summer getting to the end of my reading goal. Each week my mom would take me to the library where I would report to the librarian everything I'd read and she'd sign me off--one step closer to the ultimate prize.

To be honest, I don't actually remember any of the prizes. However, a few months ago while I was shopping, a woman walked by me and I couldn't believe it. The librarian from my childhood stood in front of me! I hadn't seen her in twenty-five years, yet I recognized her immediately. The weirdest part was all the happy, warm fuzzies I felt for this person who had no idea who I was. I went home feeling at least a year younger.

So, here's my thank you to all librarians who start their library's reading program this next week. You have no idea the influence you may have on some nerdy kid who loves to read. Keep up the good work.

I'm all mixed up

2010-05-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

So, I sat down to write all of the remarkable kid books I read as a kid when I realized something very odd about myself: when I was a teenager I read adult books, and now that I'm an adult, I read books for teenagers. What is up with that? I guess we always want what we can't have.

So, here were some of the favorites when I was about twelve (the early 80s).

*Any and all Agatha Christie books

* Edgar Allan Poe short stories

*LITTLE WOMEN

*Sherlock Holmes adventures

* WRINKLE IN TIME (this is a kid's book)

* C.S. Lewis NARNIA Series

* Laura Ingalls Wilder books

* Biographies on Helen Keller (her life still fascinates me)

* Judy Blume books including her "contraband" book ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME MARGARET (at least it was contraband at my school)

How about y'all? What did you read when you were about twelve?

Blogging: The new Las Vegas

2010-05-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else noticed that blogging has become more about gaming than actually blogging. Well . . . why not? This is a quick post about another contest out there, but stay tuned for a real blog next time when I give book recommendations from the 70s.

Oh yeah, here's the latest contest I saw.

http://circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com/

Book Shredder's Review of Fablehaven

2010-05-19T19:09:00.001-07:00

Since it's impossible for even the most veracious reader to read all of the books out there, I've asked for the help of Book Shredder, an 8-year-old boy who would read all day if his mom would let him. Recently, he finished FABLEHAVEN. I've heard so much about this book and its author. I asked him to give us a plot summary and review, but since he's a slow typer (hey you can't be brilliant at everything) it's an audio review. Enjoy this review of Brandon Mull's FABLEHAVEN.

My entry in the fictiongroupie blog

2010-05-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in a blogfest at http://fictiongroupie.blogspot.com/ where I have to post a portion of my manuscript that shows dialogue moving the story forward. I've chosen an excerpt from my YA urban fantasy CYCLES. This is when 13-year-old Renee is going to find a woman she thinks may be related to her:

Within minutes of Renee's phone call the car arrived. The cabby raised an inquisitive dark eye as he swiped Renee's credit card and looked at the address she handed him.

“Do you got some old crazy grandma or somethin' there? That place ain't where kids want to hang out, if you know what I mean.” Pink bubble gum hung out of his mouth as he spoke. There was a handwritten sign swinging from the rear view mirror that read, “No smoking please . . . I'm kicking the habit.”

“No,” said Renee, trying to sound intelligent.

“Gotcha. You know, that's where they send all of the looneys who just don't belong no where else. I hear most of them women just sit and look out the window all day. Don't that sound creepy to you? So watcha ya going for?”

“I've got a school project to do. Something for my honors health class. I'm just visiting the place for the afternoon,” she said.

The cab driver shrugged. “I'd better hurry then. Afternoon's almost over.” He blew another bubble and popped it. Smack!

Fifteen minutes later the streets turned narrow and windy. The cab driver didn't slow his speed, and Renee found herself gripping the back seat. Finally the road turned into a dead end near a forest of tall trees that stood as guards to a dilapidated orange-brick building. The flower beds near the front had long since dried up. The letters HEMU were partially hidden behind a wild-looking vine that had snaked its way up the front of the edifice. The letter E hung askew.

“What does H. E. M. U. stand for?” Renee enunciated each letter as she pointed to the metal letters.

“A long time back people stopped calling it that. Now we just say Hemu.”

“An acronym?” Renee said.

“Guess that's what you call it. Anyways, I guess its real name wasn't good enough for them government fellows. Some kind of bull . . .” he stopped himself. “Sorry. I forgot who I was talkin' to.”

“So what did the place used to be called?” With her index finger Renee fiddled with a large snag on the polyester seat cover.

“Hospice for the Elderly and Mentally Unfit. I 'member it cause when I was a kid my great grandma started talking to lamps. They put her up here 'til she died.” With hardly a break in his words the driver continued, “You gonna stay here a while? I can always come back.”

“If you don't mind sticking close by, I'd like that.” Renee's curiosity about Helen Eves dwindled the longer she looked at the building before her. Everything about it felt wrong. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to get back into the cab and go home. But where was home? The Beaumonts? Whatever hid behind the door that loomed in front of her may be the only way to find out who she really was.

“You bet, kid. Just call me on this number when you're finished.” The cab driver handed her a business card smeared with nacho cheese . . . or worse.

“Thanks,” Renee said as she carefully slid it into her pocket, trying not to touch the greasy orange smudge. “I'll call.”

“Sure thing.” The cabbie waved as he drove away.

Every kid's dream

2010-05-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today I lived the dream of every child who has ever read Anna Dewdney's LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA picture book. I got up close and personal with about twenty of the most stubborn, stinky and ratty looking llamas you can imagine. They are cared for at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.

My 4-year-old even got on the back of one llama and rode it while I held the leash (or whatever it is called) and dragged the animal around. I was sure I was going to get spit on and kicked, but all went well. There was only one very large sneeze from the beast that coated my arm from the wrist to the elbow.

My experience this morning gave me more respect for Anna Dewdney, especially if she had to do any field work while writing the book. Yuck. I couldn't even imagine combing the hair of a llama let alone trying to dress it in pajamas. :-)

By the way, I've been finding lost of fun contests for authors, and I'll post them on my blog occasionally for anyone else who is interested. The lastest one I've found is at: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/2010/05/contest-whoo-hoo.html

Til next time!

To "series" or not to "series"

2010-05-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

I read the most pathetic book the other day. Seriously. I was dumbfounded that it was ever published. But here's the thing, I knew the author is a talented writer because I've read a number of books he has written and they are very good. So what happened to this one you ask? Well, it was the third book in a trilogy that I believe never should have been a series. Sometimes it's best to stop at one.

I'm talking about the middle grade THINGS NOT SEEN series by Andrew Clements. The first book in the series is about a blind girl who meets a boy that she doesn't know has become invisible. Since she's blind it's all the same to her. Anyhow, when she finally learns his secret, the two teenagers figure out what happened to turn him invisible (spoiler: it has something to do with an electric blanket) and they are able to turn him back. It's an interesting read for a middle grader. In fact, several of my children read this in 5th grade and they really liked it.

The problem with the other two books, THINGS HOPED FOR and THINGS THAT ARE, is that the real story was done in book one. Finished. Complete. No need for more. Honestly, the third book, THINGS THAT ARE, was practically a monologue from the blind girl about her life. And the book's slight attempt at romance is so weak I had to laugh out loud.

So why did Andrew Clements write them? Was it because he loved the first story and didn't want to let it go? Could be. Maybe it was because the first book sold well and there was money to be made. I have no idea. What I do know is that as a reader, if an author disappoints me with a poorly done series, it gives me a sour taste in my mouth for his/her later books.

Despite what my rantings may sound like, I really do like a good series. More importantly, so do most kids. We hate to say goodbye to characters we love. So how do you know when to keep going and when to stop? It's a fine line, but an important one.

How about all of you? Are there any series that you hated/loved? Let me know.

Reading about the Renaissance is easier than living it

2010-05-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

I spent most of last weekend at Utah's Renaissance Faire held 20 miles north of Salt Lake City in a city I'd never heard of before called Marriott-Slatersville. For hours I walked in and out of vendor booths that sold everything from chain mail armor made from hundreds of soda can tabs to authentic tarot cards. (By the way, I did learn I'm going to have three husbands—one of whom is going to rich. Yes!)

I felt like I was a character from a group of middle grade and young adult books written by Karen Cushman that were all set in medieval times: CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY, MATILDA BONE, and THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE. As an adult, I found the books interesting, though I never thought they should have been categorized as middle grade. None-the-less, as I watched the hoards of adults and teenagers waltzing into the fairgrounds dressed in their nun costumes and low-cut, tight-fitting bodice dresses, I was struck with the images that Cushman had created so well in her books.

After the weekend, however, one question continues to loom in my mind. Why would anyone who has lived with indoor plumbing ever want to return to Renaissance times? I seriously have no idea.

Another point I want to make, and then I'll be done because I know this is getting long, is that the whole chivalry thing is overrated. Take for instance jousting. Saturday afternoon I eagerly watched two grown men on horses try and jab long wooden poles into metal plates attached to their armor over their heart. Even in this controlled environment, after just a few jousts one of of the pseudo knights slouched over in his saddle moaning. Needless to say, the tournament quickly came to an end.

My children and I were no more than three feet away from the injured man as his assistant tried to remove the man's armor to see what the problem was. Incredibly, a shard of wood (about 1 inch in diameter and I don't know how long) had somehow sneaked its way in between the upper and lower arm pieces of his armor. It had lodged itself into the bicep of the want-to-be medieval hero. Once again I asked myself, who would have wanted to live during the Renaissance?

Good thing Karen Cushman wrote about the Renaissance so I can learn about it from the comfort of my bubble bath. Living during the Renaissance would stink! (Literally.)

Answer to the question

2010-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, I would rather meet . . . neither. However, I would like to meet Stephanie Meyers' book agent (Jodi Reamer). See, here's the thing. Mr. Lautner probably looks better on the movie screen than in real life and I'd be horribly disappointed (besides I assume he'd have his shirt on during our meeting). And as for Ms. Meyers, I can't help thinking that while she must have had something to do with her success, she's done her bit and is no longer going to be of much help to me. But, if I met her agent, maybe, just maybe, she would see my brilliance and sign me up to be her client then and there. (Just a wild fantasy, of course.)

This brings me to what I've been doing with my life as of late. I wrote a book (for kids in junior high) and I've been trying to convince someone in the publishing world that it is amazing and needs to be in print. On the same day I go from thinking that it really might happen to laughing at myself for even trying. Last week, however, I had a thought that has stuck with me. Here it is:

I'm going to quit pinning about wanting my book published because it will be (eventually) and then at that point my fun hobby of writing will become a job and we all know that ruins everything. So, for the time being, I'm an unpublished fiction author who really enjoys writing. Still, if you happen to know an agent, I wouldn't mind an introduction.

Cheers!

Who would you rather meet?

2010-04-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I was thinking about how my sense of who is popular and who is not is skewed since I'm a writer. For example, in my mind Suzzane Collins (author of HUNGER GAMES) is a celebrity, while most of my friends would ask "Who is that?"

So here is my question for you. If you could have a 30-minute interview with either Stephenie Meyer or Taylor Lautner, who would you choose? I'll tell you my answer tomorrow.

What is up with the name Lois?

2010-04-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how many great authors have the first name of Lois? Why is that? Of course, I'm not complaining or anything since my name is Lois and I'd like to be a really great author. But on to more deep and interesting things.

I just finished MESSENGER by Lois Lowry. It is the third story in a collection--not really a series--of books about a future time on earth. In these three books--THE GIVER, GATHERING BLUE, and MESSENGER, Lois uses a similar, mysterious, forbidding voice. While I would have to say that MESSENGER is the weakest of the three, they are all excellent. One unique aspect to MESSENGER is that it is one of the few books I've read where the main antagonist is nature. In this case, it is the forest, sort of like Hemingway's ocean.

That said, another interesting think about Lois is that her writing is so varied. Not only is she the author of these dystopian novels, but she's also the author of a historical fiction book set during WWII called NUMBER THE STARS. Add to that the humorous ANASTASIA series and an off-the-wall chapter book called SEE YOU AROUND, SAM, and you have an author who can pretty much write anything.

By the way, the last book I mentioned (SEE YOU AROUND, SAM) is a great laugh-out-loud family read. It's about a little boy who decides to run away after his mother won't let him wear his plastic fang teeth he got at school into the house.

Do you have any favorites by Lowry? I'd love to hear.

P.S. Coming soon . . . a review of another "Lois" author: Lois Duncan.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

2010-04-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

To begin, I have to thank my writer's group for getting me started blogging. This post is dedicated to them. I've heard that every personality in the entire world can be found in author A. A. Milnes' Winnie the Pooh. So, I thought I'd give it a try with my writers group so you all can get to know them too. There are nine of us.

Ted is Owl--especially of late as he stays up all night doing who knows what.

Amy is Kanga--mother of seven children (I believe) and full of compassion.

Tasha is Roo--only because she is still shy about telling people she is an author, which she is and a very good one.

Jennifer is Christopher Robin--though she refuses to admit it, she's our fearless leader and is the reason we all got together in the first place.

James is Winnie the Pooh--as one of only two guys in this group, James has no idea how adorable he is.

Jo is Tigger--full of enthusiasm and striped hair. What more need I say.

Margie is Gopher(in the Disney movie)--balancing a full-time job and pumping out an entire novel in less than a year could only be done by someone as hard working as her.

Renee is Piglet--generally timid in her disposition, Renee is determined to conquer fears and come out on top. Go Renee!

And as for me . . . I'm Rabbit--a little odd and annoying, I love making a plan (even though it often goes awry) and I stick to the rules.

By the way, we're missing one character . . . Eeyore. Funny how that happened. All I can say is that A. A. Milne was a genius!