To Patreon or Not to Patreon?

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I struggled a lot with the idea of putting up a Patreon link.  It felt a lot like I was begging for money, which I’m not.  At the Writer’s Digest panel with Michael La Ronn, he said it like this, “By providing this option you are helping your readers to help you.”  With that being said I am going to have a Patreon link (www.patreon.com/diaryofahalfcrazywriter) on my home page for the next month.  If anyone pledges to become a patron, I will leave it up.  If no one does, I will take it down, knowing that at least I tried.

I have put into motion most of Michael’s suggestions and am hoping to have the site in much better shape by the end of the week.  One of his suggestions involved making a video about myself for the newly created About page.  As a extroverted introvert this idea, of course, horrified me.  I’m going to do it though because I am serious about creating as open a website experience as possible.  If there’s anything you would like to know about me, leave a comment below and I will see if I can add it to the video.

I also reached out to my agent, Alyssa, to find out just how long I should wait to hear from the publishing company before I start to get worried.  She assured me that, should they agree to take on my book, there is a lot that happens prior to them making the actual offer and that she will reach out to them if she doesn’t hear anything in 3 months.  So that means i have 2 1/2 months where I need to figure out how to chill.

Bye for now!

UPDATE: I am aware the patreon button is not working.  I have reached out to them to see what’s up.  In the meantime, if you want to donate, go to the website listed above.

Writer’s Digest IndieLab and UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Happy 1st Day of Halloween!

I had an amazing weekend with Annie in Cincinnati.  The weather was gorgeous, the panelists were well informed in their subjects, and the hotel was probably the nicest one I’ve ever stayed in.

The first panel, hosted by Michael LaRonn was great for a number of reasons.  He really gave me in depth information about the best way to engage an audience.  He also provided me with an in-depth review of my website, including suggestions as to how I can improve.

With that being said, over the next couple of days (unless I can do it all today) the site will be going through many changes as I follow his recommended alterations.  The good news is the most important part (the blog posts) do not need to be changed as he said they are great!

I also spoke frequently (we kept bumping into each other) to Amy Gibson, a marketing specialist.  She laughed when I told her one of my comparable authors was Jim Butcher because he’s her cousin!  Small world.

My ultimate goal is to go to the main Writer’s Digest conference in New York in 2019 so I’m going to start saving now and hope that my book is published by then so it can be featured in the New Authors collection that they put on display every year.

Bye for now!

Who’s on first? Wait…what? And WD Conference!

So I’ve run into a funny little problem when it comes to my second book.  Because I’ve decided to split it in two, I am now referring to it as my second book’s first book, and other equally nonsensical things.  I’ve decided to settle on ‘the first part of my second book’ as that is the description that is the simplest and is closest to being accurate.

As I transition back to Seer and put Hindsight on the back burner I find myself typing the wrong Main Character name.  Often.  Instead of ‘Cassie’ I keep typing ‘Nona’.  My brain doesn’t want to make the transition, lol.

In other news, I’m road-tripping with Annie to the Writer’s Digest IndieLab conference in Cincinnati this Friday!  It’s not the main WD conference, which already took place earlier this year in NYC, but it is still pretty big and I’m really excited!  My plan is to go to that one next year 🙂  I hope to take away from it a knowledge on how to better market myself, how best to navigate the publishing world, and hopefully some great tidbits on how to be a better writer.

I would also like to gain some valuable connections in the writing industry or just get the chance to meet some of my readers, so if you are going to be there keep an eye out.  I would love to meet you!

Bye for now!

The Lantern Festival…and Other Ways I’ve found to relive Disney Movies

This Saturday I went to the Lantern Festival in Clio, Michigan.  For anyone wondering: yes, it’s exactly like Tangled.thumbnail

https://www.thelanternfest.com/home

The event travels across the country so you too have the chance to witness the magic that I experienced with my friends this weekend.  The picture doesn’t come close to doing it justice.  On my lantern I wrote many things: ‘Hi Mom!’, Yearly resolutions, and my top three wishes.  There’s something cathartic about watching one’s hopes and dreams take flight.  If not this specific event, I would highly recommend this type of event to anyone.  It’s great for people of all ages.

Mulan: Play ‘I’ll make a man out of you’ at the gym and sing along

Beauty and the Beast: Play the soundtrack while organizing my bookshelves

Little mermaid: Sing Part of your world while agonizing over how much stuff you have.  “Look at [all] this stuff (isn’t it neat)”

Sleeping Beauty: Sleeping till noon on the weekend (don’t judge me)

In book related news, I broke Seer down into it’s two parts to start working on Book 1.  I have 34k words already and I’m trying to look it like that, rather than ‘I still need 50k words’.  Glass half full, and all that.  I already have some ideas as to how I’m going to expand the story, adding characters and story arcs that will serve to answer previously unanswered questions.

I’m also using this time to take a step away from Hindsight.  Hopefully, by the time I’m done with Seer Book 2 I will have a new perspective on how I can double my total word count.  I’m re-reading books with a similar story arc like Alex Verus and Dresden Files for examples.  A writer’s job is never finished.

Bye for now!

Stand-Alone, Duology or Trilogy?

So my agent has heard from a publisher who is interested in seeing my full manuscript!  I don’t want to say who because I don’t want to jinx it but I’m excited.  I also have to find a way to bench that excitement because it could take 1-3 months to hear whether or not they want to make a formal offer and because I am SO patient, that’ll be no problem.

That’s the news on my first book.  Now on to my second book.  My agent had a lot of critiques and constructive criticism which is fantastic.  The only way to improve is by knowing what I’m doing wrong.  She also mentioned that she thought this book would be good on its own, as a two book series, or even as a trilogy!  I don’t know if I have it in me to stretch it out to be a trilogy, especially since one of her main critiques was that I need to work on my pacing.  My writing was described more as ‘lazy-river’ which sounds like a nice way of saying boring.  I’m hoping that’s not what she meant but, either way, I’m going to have to really dig in if I want to make this book(s) live up to its potential!

I’ve certainly noticed a trend within the YA fiction genre.  Trilogies are very ‘in’ right now.  That being said, I think, if anything, it’s going to be one really long book, or two books of a reasonable length.  I’m putting my current Work in Progress, Hindsight, on the back-burner so I can devote all my attention to Seer.

Bye for now!

So Sleepy and Audience Participation

This month (September) is the month of busy weekends.

  • 9/8: Renaissance Festival
  • 9/15: Pentatonix Concert
  • 9/22: Lantern Festival
  • 9/28-30: Writers Digest Indie Lab Conference

I’m tired just looking at that list, lol.  But I get to spend each weekend doing fun stuff with the peeps I love, and can you ask for a better month than that?  If you don’t know who Pentatonix are go and Youtube them right now.

I’ll wait.

Just kidding.  But seriously though, they are an amazing acapella group that has been around for seven years and they don’t just have stunning voices, from the amount of positive energy they let loose on that stage, I am going to make the assumption that they also are stunning human beings with great personalities.  Granted, I am basing this exclusively on the way I saw them joke around with each other on stage but I’d like to think I’m pretty good at reading people.

https://www.youtube.com/user/PTXofficial

The day after I slept in.  Like, Sleeping Beauty has nothing on me.  I got to celebrate my birthday again with all my family and round out my week of Birthday celebrations.

In writing related news, I FINALLY hit 20k on my latest work in progress.  Now just 60k to go.  No problem.  Gotta keep reminding myself that writing a book can take a while and I need to be patient with myself.

Now I need some help from you.  Yes, YOU!  I have this idea that may or may not be terrible.  Because the Main Character of my newest book (potentially a series) owns a bar, I want the chapter titles to be alcohol related puns.  Examples include: Any Port in a Storm, Bloody Mary, and The Daiquiri you Know.  If you can think of others please comment with them.  You might see your suggestion in my book!

Bye for now!

I think I can…I think I can…

Some days writing is like a flowing river, some times you have to pump the water from a well. Today I’m using a frigging Divining Rod trying to find my writing talent in the desert that is my brain.  Lowering my daily word count from 1k to 500 has given me a (false) sense of accomplishment so at least there’s that.  I’ve sent my Work in Progress to Annie to read.  The story’s only half finished but hopefully she’ll be able to identify what is missing from my work that has left it with such a pitiful word count.

I’ve been studying some of my favorite books, trying to identify how many major plot points, sub-plot points, and filler scenes are involved in helping a book achieve Novel length.  You wouldn’t think I’d have to do this, considering the fact that I’ve already written two books.  But the fact is, my second book could probably be split in two if I really worked at it.  It’s just action after action without those little pauses that allow a Main Character to reflect.  I’m not great at that stuff.  I’m less about the quiet pauses and more about moving the plot forward.

My Dad says I should just turn Hindsight into a novella.  This may be unfair of me to say but I don’t like novellas.  They get me as invested as a full length book, and then end too soon.  Also, if I want to accomplish my goal which is to have Hindsight be the first in a series, I need it to be a full length novel.

My first book took a year and a half and I’ve only been working on this one for a month, so I’m not too worried.  If I try to force it too much I’ll just have to trash the whole thing and that would be too depressing to even consider.  It’ll work itself out eventually.

Bye for now!

28

Tomorrow I turn 28.  It feels weird.  Like I might finally have to start calling myself an adult.  I pay taxes, I go to work every day and I have my own place.  That’s being an adult, right?  I really love my birthday, it’s one of my favorite days of the year.  I don’t know why, as I rarely do anything special on that specific day.  Usually celebrations fall on the weekend before or after.

But there’s something special about having a day to celebrate another successful journey around the sun.  I’ve made it.  I got through all the hardship and all the struggle of the past year and successfully landed at the age of 28.  Sometimes I feel like 28 is a long time, sometimes like no time has passed at all.  The months when I am happier go by so much faster and those months are growing in number.

It isn’t even about the presents, though those are always nice, it’s about celebrating with the people I love, who love me in turn.  It’s basically a celebration of the fact that I am surrounded by people who care about me.  Sometimes it’s hard to remember that.  I have a list of daily affirmations that I go through to help remind myself that I am an important part of several people’s lives.  Ten years ago seems like an eternity.  Back then, I thought I was grown up, that I knew all there was to know.  I was still just a baby.  I think, in part, I’m still a little bit of a baby.  So many experiences are out there waiting for me and I have so much more living left to do.

As far as Birthday posts are concerned this one got a little abstract but it’s what I’m feeling and my goal is always to be truthful on this blog.

Happy (almost) Birthday to me and

Bye for now!

Ye Olde Friday Feeling

One of the biggest lies I tell myself is, “I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it in the morning.”  That’s how the topic for today’s blog post vanished into the vast abyss that is my subconscious.

After having dinner with an old co-worker she mentioned the fact that she’d never been to RenFest (the renaissance festival) and asked if I was going this year.  I hadn’t been planning on it.  This month is beyond crazy for me and this coming weekend is the only one I had free to clean and organize my condo.  But I love RenFest in a way that cannot be described with words.

Maybe a pterodactyl shriek…but certainly not words.

So of course I’m going.  I pulled my medieval dress out of storage along with my corset and will be getting up super hella early tomorrow to do my hair and makeup.  I take RenFest seriously.  Then this coming week I get to celebrate my BIRTHDAY!

I love my birthday.  It is like my anti-thanksgiving, in that, I enjoy it.

Hopefully whatever topic I originally picked for today will rise to the surface and I can share it Monday.

Until then,

Bye for now!

The orphan trope, and some of my favorite books

Let me say it for the people in the back, a main character does not need to be an orphan.  A lot of the time, main character’s engage in behavior that normal, loving parents would find to be concerning.  They might even go so far as to forbid such activities that a “chosen one” is bound to engage in.  One of the easiest ways to eliminate this problem is by killing off the parents.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of books where the death of the parents furthers the plot (Harry Potter) but please for the love of god stop killing these MCs parents just because you are eliminating an obstacle or trying to provide the MC with a “tragic backstory”.

Ok, end of rant.

I have an alphabetized library that spans 5 bookcases.  That being said, choosing a favorite book is the equivalent of being asked to choose a favorite child.  Here are some of the books/series that I have either re-read more than five times or I love so much that they automatically earned a spot in my top 10 (in no particular order):

  1. Harry Potter Series – because I am a human being with a soul
  2. Alex Verus series – If you like contemporary magic books
  3. Ready Player One – This book is honest, funny, and has plot twists that left me screaming at my phone (I listened to it on audiobook)
  4. The Faerie Wars series – a series of 5 books that i have easily read through over 10 times.  It is a contemporary magic series that takes place in this, and another dimension.  British humor also runs rampant through this book
  5. So you want to be a Wizard series – I’m ashamed to say, I haven’t read the most recent book in this series.  I bought it months ago and keep putting it off.  That is because something happens in book 5 that almost made me toss the whole series and i don’t want to relive it.  But you should totally check it out!
  6. The Hobbit – I love the LOTR movies but boy are they long winded.  If you want a fun, quick adventure story look no further than The Hobbit
  7. The Mortal Instruments Series – occasionally there’s a little too much love-triangling but overall it is a quality series with realistic characters coping with the realities of living in a supernatural world
  8. The Mistborn Trilogy – these are heavy books dealing with heavy subjects and the ending is happy(?) but it’s a series I love and think you will too
  9. Anything by Neil Gaiman – really.  anything at all
  10. Dune – Sequels, Prequels, and the Original 4, I love Dune.  One of my favorite memories is reading dune on a beach, digging my toes into the sand.  If you enjoy good books then Dune is the series for you!

These are just the books that I could think of.  I’m sure that, had I been looking at my books when I was writing this, I might have added different tomes to this list.  But as these were the ones that came to mind, these are the ones that went in the post.  I highly recommend reading each and every one of these books.

Post your favorite series in the comments!

Bye for now!