Planner Planning

October 21, 2015October 16, 2015

Last year, I decided to resurrect my planner. Several parts of the restructuring worked out really well.

A friend of mine mentioned she was downloading free, printable planner pages. Doing something like this never occurred to me! I embraced the idea. And now that I’ve finally jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon, I have a lot more ideas from which to choose.

There are many sites offering a variety of options. The ones I seem to like best only come in 8.5 x 11 size. And quite a few of the sites are from professional housewives/mothers and from people who home school. While I like the looks of the pages, the content won’t work for me. Here’s an example of what I mean. Parts of this page are perfect. But making the bed isn’t on my to do list.

I wish I were graphically able to create my own. I’m just not that clever.

Here’s what I settled on.

I think I’m going to love them.

Now I need to find something for blog planning.

Stalker Songs

October 18, 2015October 15, 2015

I like to create custom mixes of music. Recently, I realized two songs I happen to like are really kind of creepy–and stalkerish.

Elvis Presley’s “Kentucky Rain” is about a guy chasing after his run-away wife.

REM’s “Superman” threatens to track down a woman, even if she goes a million miles away.

So I Googled stalker songs. Eeesh! There are a lot of them.

“Every Breath You Take” (The Police)

“Run for Your Life” (The Beatles)

“One Way or Another” (Blondie)

“Private Eyes” (Hall & Oates)

These songs were all hits. That’s what’s really scary.

Reviews

October 14, 2015October 14, 2015

My local RWA chapter recently held a program on reviews. It was an insightful presentation and sparked passionate dialogue. Does one read reviews or ignore them? Are bad reviews are good thing? Does one respond to a review, good or bad?

Here’s my take on the topic. I love reviews, good or bad. It means someone read my book.

As far as I’m concerned a bad review lends legitimacy to the review process. If several reviewers find the same flaw in the book, then I need to seriously consider what they’re saying. I prefer to think of those types of reviews as constructive rather than bad. If a book has all four-or-five star reviews, I wonder if it’s not a stacked deck.

Never ever ever engage with a reviewer on a review site. It’s unprofessional. One of the newer, unpublished members of the chapter said, “But I would be thrilled that an author wanted to talk to me!”

My response: then friend me on Facebook. If you are my friend on Facebook, you will be my buddy. We will swap recipes, share stories about our children, and recommend books to each other. I love interacting with my readers . . . on Facebook. It’s casual, the way a friendship should be. But not on Goodreads and not on Amazon.

Do you write reviews for books you’ve read?

Why Extroverts Are Happier Than Introverts

October 11, 2015October 8, 2015

A recent Washington Post article claimed “extroverts are on the whole happier than introverts.” I was outraged when I read that (and thrilled when I read the Thoreau quote near the end of the article. Well, DUH!).

There’s a reason extroverts are happier: our culture is made to revolve around them. The needs of introverts are ignored. If peace and quiet reigned, if everyone had their own office (instead of a cubicle), if everything wasn’t a damned group activity, introverts would be happier than extroverts. The capacity for happiness is not in the makeup of the personality; it’s in the makeup of society.

And who did this survey? Leave me alone already!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday: Julie Doherty

October 7, 2015October 1, 20151 Comment

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Julie Doherty.

MJ: The first full week of October is National Great Books Week. As a reader what do you consider three essential elements of a great book and why?

JD: Great books have the perfect balance of interesting characters, a fascinating plot, and superb writing. Great books also teach us something. They take us on a journey, let us slip into someone else’s skin, and allow us to lose ourselves in other realms when our real worlds are less than satisfying.

A book goes from great to sublime when it does all of this with lyrical sentences containing just enough detail for readers to envision the scene. Too much description spoils the journey for me. It’s a bit like someone sharing vacation photos. I’m interested at first, but the moment you start pointing out the details of every photo, I’m going to pray a fire alarm goes off.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

JD: It definitely wouldn’t be dance. I have two left feet. I’ve been a singer, a calligrapher, and a canine artist.

MJ: Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?

JD: I experienced my dream job for exactly eight hours back in the nineties when the City of Harrisburg needed temporary help transcribing Civil War letters, some from a general to his wife. *fans self* I can’t describe how privileged I felt to touch those letters, let alone read their contents.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

JD: A room with a locked door and no telephone within earshot.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

JD: His determination to regain custody of his son. I also love that in spite of horrific emotional trauma, he has retained his sense of humor.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

JD: Her low self esteem. Who could blame her, though? I mean, her husband left her sitting in the fertility clinic while he was out impregnating a twenty-something airhead. It takes a while to recover from that.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

JD: Contemporary romance with elements of fantasy.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

JD: I chose names that fit their personalities.

MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?

JD: Since my heroine (Ann McConnell) owns the farm where my second novel takes place (SCATTERED SEEDS, releasing today, woot!) I had to set my WIP in Pennsylvania. She unearths a gold torc there and embarks on a journey to Scotland to research its origins. Most of the story takes place on the Isle of Iona and around the Oban/Taynuilt area.

MJ: And can you share a bit of this WIP?

JD: I’m tentatively calling this one SCENT OF FOREVER.

With birds chattering in the trees above her, Ann stared at the footprint of her ancestors’ cabin. Time had reduced its log walls and roof to ruddy banks around a flagstone floor. Only the hearth and part of the chimney wall remained upright. The rest of it lay in a heap, just like the pieces of her life.

She would repair the chimney—starting today—but her dismantled world? That would take a different kind of mortar.

MJ: Love the title! I understand you have a book being released today.

JD: Yes, SCATTERED SEEDS is available through Amazon.