Practicing Being Brave

by J.M. Phillippe

Last night I had the great joy of helping take over Creative Colloquy in Tacoma, Washington's monthly open mic night with fellow Blue Zephyr Press authors Bethany Maines and Karen Harris Tully in order to celebrate the release of our newest collaborative effort, Galactic Dreams Volume 2.

I struggle a lot with public speaking. I have a theory that people tend to be better at either prepared presentations -- creating a script and practicing it over and over again until they get it just right -- or spontaneous presentations -- getting the gist of an idea down in your head and then winging in more of an improvisation way. I developed this theory after taking an improv class in my 20s. It took a little while, but then I felt super comfortable getting up in front of others and making things up. But in that class we also had to prepare and perform a monologue. I had spent weeks being able to throw ideas out in front of this class of people and feeling comfortable with the idea of failing. But preparing something ahead of time gave me time to get nervous. Really nervous.

I thought of this again as I sat in the room waiting for my turn to read from my newest book, The Glitter of Gold. I had practiced reading it a few times. I know I have a tendency to talk fast (and read fast) due to years of being told that, so I had to sit and continue to take slow deep breaths to try to calm myself down.

And then I got up, and I started read. I'd like to say that I magically felt better and the words just flowed. Instead I kept losing my place on the page as I looked up at the crowd (something I was told was better than just keeping my head down and reading) and stumbling over words I'd read perfectly several times before. I found myself spontaneously rewriting sentences as I read, skipping words or changing the order for the sake of my poor twisted tongue, and I could feel sweat pooling on my upper lip.

I was fortunate enough to have family and friends come and support me, and I switched from face to face in the crowd, looking for a lifeline, and trying not to speed up as I got closer to the end of my prepared section.

When it was over, I was very happy to drop the paper down to my side, take my applause, say thank you, and get off the stage. It did not feel like a graceful exit.

And then my cousin told me later how proud he was of how brave I was -- not just for reading in public, but for writing and putting my words out there for others to see. I of course started to tear up.

Both improvisation and presentation take bravery, and perhaps doing the one you are least comfortable with takes the most.

In the end, like anything else, they both take practice. Being brave takes practice.

And last night, my fellow authors and all the folks who participated in the open mic got a chance to practice being brave.

***

J.M. Phillippe is the author of the novels Perfect Likeness, Aurora One, The Christmas Spirit, and The Glitter of Gold and the short stories The Sight and Plane Signals. She has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City. She works as a clinical social worker in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free time binge-watching quality TV, drinking cider with amazing friends, and learning the art of radical self-acceptance, one day at a time.
 

Can Writing Motivate Writing?

by Paula Gail Benson

When your day job requires extensive writing, can the well run dry? Do you come home from work and avoid the computer or laptop, just ready to let the words flow over you from the closest television or other viewing or listening device? Do you wake reserving your word skills for the workplace rather than spending an early morning hour on a fiction project before heading to the office?

As a legislative attorney, I’m constantly working with language. It’s always fascinating to try to explain a concept with brevity, clarity, and comprehensiveness. Like working on a puzzle, it’s usually a matter of figuring out how to put the pieces together to create a picture everyone can see, appreciate, and understand.

However, after a full day of writing and rewriting, sometimes it’s difficult to convince myself that I need to put in a few more hours at home, even if it’s on a project I’m truly devoted to completing. I convince myself I need a break. And, once I give myself permission to relax (to be ready for what tomorrow brings), then it’s easy to keep depending upon that rest period.

So, I began thinking about how to use my work writing to energize my fiction writing.

Last year, I started “bullet journaling” to organize my schedule and keep notes. I wrote a message about it here at The Stiletto Gang. The official website was established by Ryder Carroll, who now has a book called The Bullet Journal Method. Because bullet journaling is adaptable to each practitioner, the ways to set up a journal may differ. I have used my bullet journal not only to track appointments, work projects, and daily accomplishments (like a mini-diary), but also for fiction. With everything in one easy to carry notebook, I can capture ideas, phrases, bits of dialogue, and other things I want to remember to explore in a story. For example, at dinner one night, I had an incredible view overlooking the city. I wanted to capture what I was seeing and wrote a description while I waited for the meal. Now, I have the words to remember the image I found so intriguing. Maybe I’ll use it in a story or maybe it’s just for my benefit, but it exercised those writing muscles and that is always a good thing. Having the bullet journal made the writing possible.

The hand-written aspect of the bullet journal allows me to “think on the page” in a different way from typing. In addition, because the bullet journals I use have a “dot grid,” I’m not restricted by lined pages. I can write at an angle if I want or use drawings to help illustrate what I mean. (I wonder if I should try drawing legislative concepts?)

Another “exercise” I’ve found myself using lately is to retell familiar stories from a single character’s perspective. In particular, I’ve worked on a series of fairy tales, starting with the prince’s viewpoint, then progressing to secondary characters, and finally villains. I write examples on my personal blog, where I limit each entry to 100 words (a drabble), forcing myself to make every word count and meaningful, just like with writing legislation. It’s been a good motivator, allowing me to focus on character traits and motivations rather than plot. For one group (the villains), I used rhyme, another variation from my day job.

What I’ve concluded is that filling that blank page, whether with a to do list or a story idea, helps lead to more writing. In the bullet journal, I give myself the freedom to let thoughts lead me. Sometimes, the road is a dead end. At other times, it’s a great adventure. That’s the life of a fiction writer with a writing day job!

Taking a Deep Breath by Debra H. Goldstein

Have you ever lost a week? Been so busy that the days run together? Watched time fly, but felt good as you ticked off each item from your to-do list?

That’s been me this past two months. Between baby showers (yes, we have a new family member coming next month), book babies (One Taste Too Many was published in January 2019, proofs had to go in on Two Bites Too Many, and I am days away from submitting Three Treats Too Many), promoting One Taste Too Many, and getting stuck in airports (24 hours to make a 7 hour trip was the winner), I’ve simply been turning the calendar pages and doing the next task on my list.

For me, it all came to a stop last week. I forgot to post Clicking Our Heels (it was in draft rather than scheduled because of one last change being made), tried to post on the first Monday of the month (which is Linda’s day and on which she already had a marvelous post about Dark Sister: Poems, her nominated book and the awards ceremony she was going to), had my traveling plans from Vancouver extended as previously noted, barely promoted a signing I did in Atlanta two hours after the wedding brunch, and with a day to spare finished and submitted to my agent the draft of my third book in the Sarah Blair series.

Whoa! It was time to take a deep breath. I did. And like a plane coming through the clouds on a day after a heavy rainstorm, everything below me cleared (in the South that means the land was as red as Margaret Mitchell wrote about). There still are many tasks to take care of, but they’ve fallen into place. I’m even reading a book for fun. Best yet, I’m smiling.

How about you? Do you ever plan too much? Ever get overwhelmed without realizing you are in that state? If so, let me know how you handle things because you’re now in my world. 

Sequel-itis

by Bethany Maines

Recently, I was discussing series and sequels with another writer.  The general question was how to connect an overarching story to an individual story.  If the books plotline makes sense how do I add in the greater plotline without frustrating the reader with not enough answers, or annoying them with too many threads that don’t pertain to the current story?  As we hashed through how to accomplish this we agreed that previous generations of writer’s didn’t have as much expectation to connect their sequels or series.

No one expected any of Jane Austen’s characters to pop up in her other books or link to each other to create an “Austen Universe.”  Hercule Poirot went on mystery after mystery, but his character didn’t evolve enormously and there was no evil mastermind to hunt book after book.  Even in the pulp era, Tarzan went on adventure after adventure, making incremental progress in his character development, until eventually we just had the Son of Tarzan because there was nothing else left.

The idea of a long running story arc seems more specifically tied to television and serial movies.  And with the rise of streaming television and binge-watching it seems more prevalent than ever.  When I can watch an entire seasons worth of TV at once I don’t have to worry that questions won’t get answered or miss the little clues from three weeks ago.  The advent of streaming television has made it easier for TV writers to include a “Big Bad” for the season or to have episodes that don’t include a “villain of the week.”  But novels don’t have the luxury of releasing all at once.  It’s very difficult to hoard up enough material to release like that for one thing.  And most writers can’t write at a pace that would produce quality sequels in a short span of time. But it seems clear that desire for that kind of material is there.

My Shark Santoyo Crime Series is an experiment in this over-arching story line and as we lead up to the release of Shark’s Hunt (#3) on April 23^rd I find myself wondering if readers will enjoy the progression.  I’m excited to have the next “episode” out in the hands of readers.  Hopefully, they stick around for part four.

Pre-order on Amazon now - Shark's Hunt

***

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Horse and Buggy Redux

By AB Plum

A rep from the National Transportation Safety Board recently exhorted the California legislature to pass a law banning all cellphone use while driving. Yes, this included hands-free usage while behind the wheel.

Yaaaay!

Ha-ha.

Such a law will pass when cows give chocolate milk.

Or when we find gold coins in the street.

Or when parents stop giving their kids phones at age 3 (and younger).

Or when couples go to dinner and actually talk to each other without their cells on the table.

Or when non-emergency workers leave their phones in a room other than the bedroom.

Or when pedestrians cross streets looking around them versus texting on their cells.

Do I sound like a Luddite?

Guilty.

But … I realize how unenforceable such a law would be. At the same time, I wonder if stronger restrictions are possible with teenage drivers? All the multi-tasking myths aside, driving requires concentration. Talking on a phone is distracting. Ergo, chances of accidents go up.

Of course teenagers counter with the irrefutable argument, "our reflexes are better than old people's reflexes, so if they can use a hands-free cell, why can't we?

The discussion will go on and on. Legislators will avoid taking action because they're politicians. Twenty years from now, babies will be born clutching cell phones in their hands—an electronic umbilical cord which won't get cut at delivery.

Did our great-great-great-great grandparents debate the pros and cons of reading the newspaper while driving their horse-drawn buggies?

What about you? Are you a hands-free driver? Do you ride with a teenage driver who chats on her phone while navigating traffic?

*************

AB Plum gives her cellphone number to her husband, children, brother, and best friend. They know better than to call her on it because she rarely carries it—especially in her car. An unrepentant Luddite, she lives and writes in the heart of Silicon Valley. She's considering writing a Sci-Fi novella about a society without cellphones.

Her latest mystery novel, All Things Considered, releases on April 25. "How does an insomniac sleep through two bullets that killed her rock-star lover?" Preorder here and solve the mystery. 

I often offer bonuses to readers of my newsletter. If you're interested in these exclusives, sign up here. 

The Book-Awards Game of Chance

by Linda Rodriguez

Next week at this time I will be on my way to Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Book Awards. My newest book, Dark Sister, is a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in Poetry. Needless to say, I am both delighted and excited.

Dark Sister is truly a book of my heart, focused on my family and my ancestors, and since it was published right as I went down hard with this shattered right shoulder and destroyed rotator cuff and continued with severe illness this past winter, I have not been able to do what I would have wanted to do to promote this book. It essentially was just dropped on the world without much notice, and that has broken my heart. Consequently, seeing it get this kind of recognition from the knowledgeable judges of a major award is wonderful. There are so many fine books published every year that it becomes pretty much a throw of the dice whether or not your book will have a chance at awards recognition. I have to admit I have been much luckier in this regard than most people, for which I am truly grateful.

One of the happiest elements of this situation is that two dear friends of mine are also finalists for this book award in other categories. Sara Sue Hoklotubbe is a finalist in fiction for her fourth Sadie Walela mystery novel, Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch, a terrific mystery that I had the pleasure of blurbing. Traci Sorell is a finalist for her beautiful and ALA-award-winning bilingual Cherokee-English children's book, We Are Grateful/Otsaheliga. We think it may be the first time that there have been three Cherokee finalists for this book award.

Next week, I will be traveling down to the award ceremony with lots of anticipation and trembling. The other finalists have very high-quality books and simply being included among them is a terrific honor. Whatever the final outcome of the ceremony, I intend to be celebrating in a huge way with my friends and the new acquaintances I will make that evening. That this ceremony takes place in Oklahoma where I have many friends and relations is simply the icing on the cake. I intend to have one heck of a good time, with a much-anticipated visit afterwards to Tahlequah where I spent many summers with my beloved grandmother as a child.

So next week at this time, give me a thought and maybe cross your fingers for me and my lovely book, as well as for my pals, Sara Sue and Traci. Whatever the outcome, we are going to PARTY—in a responsible, old-lady way. Given my physical condition, I may come back a total wreck, but I will certainly be a happy one.

Linda Rodriguez's Dark Sister: Poems is her 10^th book and is a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop, and The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East, an anthology she co-edited, were published in 2017. Every Family Doubt, her fourth mystery featuring Cherokee detective, Skeet Bannion, and Revising the Character-Driven Novel will be published in 2019. Her three earlier Skeet novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, Every Last Secret—and earlier books of poetry—Skin Hunger and Heart's Migration—have received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices & Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.  

Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Native Writers Circle of the Americas, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Visit her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com

#WalkAroundThingsDay

by Sparkle Abbey

We’ve survived the second most brutal Iowa winter in history. We’ve also sprung our clocks forward, managed to escape April Fool’s Day unscathed (we wish we would have thought to keep all of our Amazon boxes for an April Fool’s prank!), and are ready to celebrate National Walk Around Day. Never heard of it? That’s okay, we hadn’t either. Living in Iowa, we’re used to walking around snow piles, icy parking lots, and Grand Canyon-sized potholes so it seemed like an excellent National Day to talk about.

We conducted a little research about Walk Around Things Day. . . .and by “a little,” we mean there wasn’t much information to find. We did learn the day can be celebrated literally and figuratively.

In the literal sense, one can take advantage of the day to benefit your health. Up your activity by walking your dog around the block or walking around the office building. Make sure you complete a full circle otherwise you haven’t actually “walked around” anything.

As for figuratively, if you’re looking for a reason to procrastinate on dealing with a work situation or an uncomfortable conversation, today is a valid excuse to put it off for another twenty-four hours. Living in the Midwest-nice culture, it’s not uncommon for people to "walk around" difficult conversations. You wouldn’t want to hurt your co-worker or neighbor’s feelings, would you? Which is probably why, as writers, we love to explore characters who tackle their problems head-on, who are unafraid to express their opinion, and speak before thinking.

We plan to celebrate the day both figuratively and literally. What about you?

Oh, one last thing. In our research, we discovered Sunday is National No Housework Day. Shouldn’t National Walk Around Things Day come after No Housework Day? Just a thought.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 

Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.

Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

April Fool's Day

I'll admit I'm not much of a prankster. I've never gotten the point of joke gifts—which, admittedly, could come from being raised by a single mom after ninth grade (we didn't have money for gifts we couldn't use)—and I definitely don't get the point of pranking someone.

Now, that aversion could stem back to a time in the eighth grade when my art class teacher (who shall remain nameless), thought it would be great fun to stick a bunch of ballpoint pens inside one of my winter boots, which had been placed in the hallway outside the classroom.

Pens. Penz. Get it? Hilarious.

NOT.

Of course, today my parents would have gone to the school and filed a formal complaint and who knows what would have happened to Mr. Anonymous. At the very least, a serious admonishing. Perhaps even a suspension. But I didn't tell them, filled with shame as I was, and he got away with it.
It's stuff like this that forms the writer, though, that makes us say, "I'll get even one day, even if it's only in a book or a short story."

So, yeah, one day you may read about a Mr. Kiley...er...Mr. Anonymous... in one of my murder mysteries, and maybe I'll say "April Fool's Day" to you.

And maybe I'll be getting even.

I'll let you be the judge.

Find me at www.judypenzsheluk.com, where I blog about one writer's journey. I've got a zillion of these stories. What can I say? Elephants have nothing on writers when it comes to not forgetting.