Tag: writing

Monday Poetry

Thursday Tea Party

Hello lovelies! I am enjoying a rare morning treat. Hot apple Cider topped with a wee bit of Irish butter and honey. What do you enjoy as a morning treat?

Quite a bit has been happening over here…I indulged and spent the money to get me a decent laptop, It’s an Acer Aspire 3. I am still trying to get the settings the way I want. I have been without a proper computer for many years. I will want to upgrade the memory, as it is too slow for a couple of the games I want. I will also have to get a few accessories to make it do everything I want to do…but it has already been a boon to my writing.

Understand…I get into a slump every year, usually between thanksgiving and my birthday. This year was especially bad, I went from writing a daily poem and some other word count in whatever other story I was working on to managing nothing more than my blog for the whole of February. To be honest that became problematic with a biweekly poetry post going out. I was starting to feel concerned about the lack of inspiration/motivation.

Don’t get me wrong…it isn’t exactly writer’s block…I have more ideas than I will ever be able to write…it is more of exhaustion. I usually am sick during the winter months, and when I am not I am cold and irritable. So I end up not wanting to do anything.

Well, yesterday while I was setting the new laptop up…I ended up writing. It was only a poem and about 750 words in Serena’s Kingdoms of Sin. Yes…my slump time was nearly over anyway…but it is nice to be writing again. There are so many new things in the works. Plans for future anthologies, plans for future books… but if I am not writing those plans go limp. No one likes their plans to go limp…..

So, I name my computers. It has been a habit for me..This laptop is Athena. I am hoping that she will be my companion in gaming and creativity. Do you name your computer? If so what name does yours have? I look forward to the adventures in writing, gaming, and creativity I will be exploring.

Now, If you will excuse me, Today is my boyfriend’s birthday. He and I have been together 24 years in may….he has been my muse and my nemesis depending upon the day…but he is always my rock. So today is his. (I snuck this post in while he was killing zombies in 7 days to die. ) Hope it is a good day for you as well.

Tips and tricks

Coffee delayed

Normally I share these the same day they are posted, but yesterday there was a technology snafu… So here’s my post for coffee house writers from this week… I hope that you enjoy!

Monday Poetry

Originality

Ok… There’s a saying… Something like everything old is new again. So I have been told on a few occasions that my ideas for stories were already done.

My response is always yes but it was not done by me. Original content doesn’t always have to be new ideas, some times it is a new look at an old idea.

Now, be aware, I am by no means suggesting plagurism… Write the story in your own words. Your voice is what will make it original.

The banana in the picture above is original… It’s different. But it is still a banana. Serena rewrote the story of Peter Pan. She put a horror twist on the story… Her novella The Death of Neverland is nothing like the original Peter Pan. It is a dark exploration of the worst of humanity. Did it start with an old idea? Yes, it certainly did. We pull from the fount of our experience… We create from what we know. The stories from our childhood reflect in the stories we tell. No two humans have the exact same well to draw from.

Fan fiction is an often disputed art form. The first idea was put into the world as accepted cannon… But then a fan saw the way to take it in a new direction. I personally have read some amazing stories on fan fiction boards. Does that invalidate the story? No, far from it. It merely means that the author found inspiration in something that someone else wrote.

Don’t let the ones who are contrary about your inspiration dissuade you from writing. The story you want to write is original… After all, you have not written it yet.

Ugh Thursday

I realize how much this year I have bowed out due to illness… And I am so sorry. Between my own sinus ick, and worrying about my girl Cyndi having pneumonia, and just general life stuff… I am worn out.

On an up note… I have 3 books less to fight with as they are out. I am working on entries for an anthology that I have been accepted for… I have one more book that I am working with for layout. I have an audiobook that I am trying to record by the weekend (game weekend for me so I have to be ready to run my guys through adventures as well).

We, in my house, are still in the process of doing some remodel. So I am definitely dealing with chaos here. So even though this is not a normal tea party… It is still an update. Just as chaotic as my life currently.

I submitted to Indie Blu Publishing’s call for submissions for their anthology for the chronically ill.(not the name but y’all know what I mean.)

The anthology that I referred to earlier is one that is being put out by coffee house writers. I will be sharing more information as I know more.

Faery Footprints and Dylan and the Pet Zombie and Beauty’s Tears are all available to purchase. The deadline for Through the Sunshine is coming up quickly (January 31). I am working on a surprise anthology for Fae Corps… More details as I get it done.

This year is already shaping up to be a busy one. I know that I usually do a link post on the first Saturday but I was releasing those and I wanted to wait for their links. So I will be doing that post this Saturday. Definitely keep an eye here because I have quite a few projects in the works.

I do hope that this finds all of you well, the sick has been getting around lately. I am probably not going to be posting tomorrow as I am worn thin. Please forgive me this. And I thank you for reading and supporting me throughout all of my journey.

Release Day Inspiration Without a Home

My memoir is live. I thought I would give you a sneak peek. The first story…

My first memories are good ones, as not many are. I was perhaps four? We lived in a town in the hills of West Virginia. Renick in Greenbriar county.
This was a small place, a single store, and it doubled as a laundry, and the gas station. I believe that the post office was in that building, but I am not sure. Children don’t notice such things, and I was so very young. It was Mama and I. We lived with a kind old couple on a farm. I called them Grandma and granddad. I loved them, and I believe that they loved me.
Mama was in high school, and I used to go with. The sewing teacher babysat me while Mama learned.
The memory has been expanded on, as the story was to cute for words. Well I often ran around the yard at the farm while Mama did homework. The day in question, I was doing the exploring that I was prone to do. I came across an old car and I opened the door.
I know, nowadays children are not given so much space for exploring…. But this was like 1979…it was a sheer miracle that most of my generation survived. Still as soon as the door opened, I discovered that the vehicle was a huge yellow jacket nest. So I screamed and ran home. (From a few feet away). One of the insects attached itself to my face, stinging as I ran. I remember clearly the fear. I was terrified.
Mama gathered me up and tended the sting. That is the end of the memory, but I have gotten the rest of the story from my mom. According to her, when I was asked about why I was stung I promptly informed her that it was because I had ran into a Japanese bee. She asked me how I knew it was a Japanese bee, and with the logic that only a child has, I told her that before it stung me it said “Ah So”…

Who am I

Writers gather their characters from various places. Some look at people in their own life, some try to create ones opposite of the people they know.

By nature, a writer is a people watcher. It helps to get descriptions and ideas.

Personally, I think that people watching should start with the mirror. Who am I? Look into your own personality traits, character flaws, desires, and fears. That gives you an idea of how to write a character. Practice describing you. Do a “character” sheet for you. In an attempt to show you what I mean… Here is a character sheet for me.

Name : Patricia Lynn Harris

Nickname /preferred name: Patti

Eyes: Chocolate Brown

Hair: natural dark brown /nearly black though she often colors it in shades of purple. Wears it between short and slightly more than shoulder length.

Height 5’2

Weight 290

Body shape pear

{Here is where you decide how in depth you want the sheet to be}

Birthplace – _________

Home – ____________

{Obviously I don’t feel personally I need those}

Strengths: Intelligence, flexibility, resilience, creativity

Flaws: Lazy, chronically ill, sloppy, physical weakness

Fears: severely claustrophobic, mildly Agoraphobia, Acrophobia

Personal descriptors: pacifist, feminist, pansexual, ptsd

Abilities : program in c#, draw, write, paint, resin, jewelry design, digital art, cover design, crotchet, needlepoint, networking, computer literacy, storytelling, sewing, piano, teaching, editing, publishing

Yeah, this is all very dry information. It gives you a skeleton to work with. Then you can take it and create an image of your character. Here’s what I see…

She was not your typical shut in. Patti was creative, and used that creativity to test her boundaries. Her dark eyes sparkled as she made the characters come alive. Running her hand through the lavender hair, she grumbled her frustration about the story not coming easy.

Though she had other projects awaiting her attention, this story was pulling at her. The self imposed deadline gave a reason to avoid doing the housework that she so wanted to avoid.

See how a few dry facts turn into a short and interesting scene? Do that with you and see what you can do. Then expand until you have a good character collection to work from. It will make character development second nature. (Also remember… Villains are characters, too)

Friday Writing

So, I have been writing my whole life. I was also a bit of a club joiner in high school. I worked on the school newspaper and the literary magazine. Since then, I have found places to submit my writing and work with other writers. That has included doing resumes.

I know resumes are scary. But they are useful… So I decided that I would touch on resume writing today. Templates are found easily for resume writing. Really though, you can do one without a template. It is a bit of common sense.

Start with your name and address at the top corner. This is how the employer can contact you. It should be name, address, and phone number…but nowadays you should probably also include your email address.

Next section is experience. List between 3-10 years of employment. If you have spaces of unemployment, explain it. Were you in school? The entry for each employer should list the address, phone number, job title and description, and how long you were there.

Follow this with skills. This is a section that you can get creative with how you describe what you are capable of. It’s like the meme says.

This is the section for this. You have leeway in how you describe what you are capable of, just make sure that you only describe things that you are actually capable of doing. Lying on the resume might look good in the beginning, but it will catch up to you.

Next is education. You have college? List it, put the school, address, phone number, your major and whatever degree you received. Don’t have college? List your high school and any extra courses that you may have taken at any technical school.

Lastly, list any awards you have. Any other thing that you feel is pertaining to the job you are aiming for. I recommend keeping a digital copy that you can adjust as needed.

So does this help any? Any questions?