You can get either The Mach Band Region or Silent Scream free on Kindle.  Here's the links!

This is an older blog from my Wordpress site geared toward writers.  As someone who wrote twenty-four or twenty-five novels before self-publishing, I figured this post might help others put things into perspective.


I don't think there is a writer who has ever escaped criticism.  It's part of the packaged deal that comes with wanting to have people read what you write.  Yes, some comments can be downright hurtful and hateful, and writers typically do one of three things after getting a negative review.  They stop writing, they freeze up with writer's block until they can get some distance and perspective on the review, or they keep writing.

First of all, quitting shouldn't be an option, not if this is something you want to do.  That said, it may take a lot of work to make the dream happen.  It doesn't mean it won't happen.  It all depends on how hard you are willing to push yourself to get there.  The longer I write, the more I realize that a writing career isn't built on talent so much as it is tenacity.   We all make mistakes.  The trick is to learn from those mistakes.  And even when you do learn, you have to remember that you won't make everyone happy.  If you look at the authors who have very successful careers, you will find that they didn't please everyone either.  The best you can do is write a book that is solid and worthy of praise and then choose to accept that it will not always measure up to other people's standards.  Accepting this ahead of time will save you lots of head-banging.

Some writers freeze when rejection hits.  I've had this happen.  You can call the aftermath writer's block or self-doubt, or whatever you want.  The simple fact of the matter is that you have to work through all the negative to find the positive.   It may not be easy, but I don't know of much that is worth a lot that is easy.  Besides, you can get criticized for just standing around if you happen to stand in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I agree with Mahatma Gandhi when he said "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." 

Some writers, usually the experienced ones,  just keep writing, knowing that both rejection and praise will come.  The trick is to keep both of them in perspective.  Rejection is one person's opinion.  So is praise.  Neither of them affect the opinion that should matter--the voice inside that tells you to always be true to the story and always write it the best you can.

When it comes right down to it, there is a choice in how you accept what people say about your craft.  No, the choice isn't about whether or not a person can say what he or she wants to about  your book.  It's not even a matter of if they should say it.    The only thing you control about criticism is how you handle it.  You can't stop it and you can't rationalize it away.  All you can do is accept your role in this is to write and to enjoy that writing.  Isn't that the whole purpose?

All right.  Here's your chance.  If you own a Kindle and you've been eyeing Scattered Ashes, you can get it free today and tomorrow.

Here's the link:  http://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Ashes-ebook/dp/B006RQRQGW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327260878&sr=1-1.

Happy reading!

One of my favorite things to do is read.  Granted, I admit that I don't read as much as I used to, buI still love it.  So, as we leave 2011 behind, I thought I'd list some of my favorite books I'd read this year, and this is in no particular order, and if I were pressed for a favorite, it would be Jordan Dane's In the Arms of Stone Angels.

1.  One Day--David Nichols
2.  Hawkes Harbor--S.E. Hinton
3.  The Gods of Dream--Daniel Arenson
4.  Switched--Amanda Hocking
5.  Before I Die--Jenny Downham
6.  Mermaid--Carolyn turgeon
7.  Tempered Hearts--Pam Thibodeaux
8.  Halo--Alexandra Adornetto
9.  Hades--Alexandra Adornetto
10.  In the Arms of Stone Angels
11.  Prom & Prejuedice--Elizabeth Eilberg

In looking at the novels, I'd like to release in 2012, I have seven particular projects in mind, and of those seven, I have already completed the first draft of these four:

The other three novels are in various stages of completion:

I guess I'll see how far I get with each project.  Here's hoping for a wonderful year!

In planning what novels I'm going to be working on releasing this year, I looked back to see what I released in 2011.  Here's the breakdown:  five novels, one multi-novel set, one short story/poetry collection, and one straight poetry collection.  Not bad for twelve months.  I guess it helps that I'd written twenty-four novels before jumping into independent publishing.

Here's the covers of my 2011 releases and tomorrow I'll blog about what I'm hoping 2012 holds for my readers.

I'm giving away two print copies of Scattered Ashes over at Goodreads.  You can enter here.

Twenty-two-year-old Jordan Carroway has a plan--marry his best friend, Alyssa and start a family. A month before the wedding, he meets Nicole O'Roarke during a physical education class. Nicole--the woman who tips his canoe, steps on a cactus, and makes him laugh. They fall madly in love, though neither confess it as they both feel the weight of responsibility. Jordan ultimately keeps his promise and marries Alyssa. Nicole also returns to her life, not realizing that love left its mark, and it's not through with either of them.


BUY KINDLE COPY HERE

BUY NOOK COPY HERE

November is almost here, and that means my life is about to get very crazy.  No, I'm not talking about teaching--that part of my life is always crazy.  I'm talking NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  I'm going to spend the thirty days of November completing 50,000 towards a novel.  For most of the month, I had a poll up on my website which allowed readers to vote on three different novels for me to work on.  The one with the  most votes turned out to be Witness, an edgy YA issues novel.  Here's the blurb and the cover, and if you click on the image, it'll take you to the Facebook fan page for Witness where I'll be posting my progress throughout November. 

What happens when you witness the unthinkable?

For two years, sixteen-year-old Cee Cee Montgomery has had a crush on David Johnson, and she’s been waiting for him to notice her, and he does—at a party that Cee Cee wasn’t supposed to be at.  She even promised her best friend, Stacy Eddings, that she wouldn’t be there.  But she is.  She’s there when David is stabbed and no one calls for help.  She’s one of the silent witnesses who bears the guilt of his death, and it’s tearing her apart. 

Stacy is a silent witness of a different sort.  He’s been in love with Cee Cee since he met her, but she never saw past David, and while he doesn’t know she went to that party, he does realize that something is wrong, that sometimes, no matter how painful, the truth has to come out.

I figure it's about time for a post about my writing progress since things have been so hectic.  So here it comes.

Right now I'm on the downhill slide of finishing my current work-in-progress.  It's a science fiction/women's fiction novel titled Surrogate.  At present, I'm probably just at about 20,000 words from completing it, and I'm really hoping to have the first draft off to the editor by November 1st for a late December/early January release.

I also have the edits back on a paranormal romance called A Willing Sacrifice.  This time around, I'm looking at changes in the story, so I didn't want to start on that until I finish Surrogate.  Unfortunately, November is also looming, and that means NaNoWriMo is coming up faster than I expected.  For those of you who aren't familiar with NaNoWriMo, it's an annual event in November where writers try to complete a work of 50,000 words in 30 days.  Last year I did finish over 50,000 words of Skunks, Trunks, & Pedro.  This year, I'm toying between two projects:  Dreamwalker Abattoir, Dreamer, and Witness.  So, here's where you, my readers, come in to help me figure out what November is going to be about.  I'm putting up a poll on the home page with these two choices.  Help me figure out which novel you really want to read first, and I'll write it.  Of course, you do have to vote here, because I'm a lousy mind reader, and at the end of October, I'll look at the poll, and that will be my next novel.

I'm going to put up links to the two different novel pages to look at the choices.  And if you like the cover art for Witness and Dreamer, you really should check out Claudia McKinney (otherwise known by her company name:  Phatpuppy Art.  Her page is at http://phatpuppyart.com/.  You won't be sorry.  Just don't blame me if you never want  to leave her page....