IWSG: April 2019

The first Wednesday of the month means time for the monthly bloghop of IWSG members. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the wonderful administrators of the group, we have this safe place to share concerns, victories, and ask questions. Find the entire list of participants here.

This month's optional question:

If you could use a wish to help you write just one scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be?

I thought I didn't have an answer to this question, but then I realized I would like that magic wish for the first chapter in the new epic fantasy series. I'm only in the world-building/plotting stage so far, but we all know how important that first chapter is when we start to query. I'm going to try all the big traditional publishing houses again.

In place of wishes, I'm still working hard on the next book in my Generation Ship series. I'm nearly at the end.

"You can't wait for inspiration. Sometimes you have to go after it with a club." Jack London

How exciting is this month in entertainment? End Game from the Avengers, the final season of Game of Thrones, and the return of my favorite TV show, The 100. It seems like there is a new trailer from Thrones or Marvel every few days. It is so exciting.

I finally watched Aquaman last weekend. It was really entertaining and more fun than any of the previous DC movies. I'm looking forward to Shazam coming up this month, too.

The announcement that Supernatural will end after next season was bittersweet. I feel like the show has been at its best the last two years, but I'm glad they're going out before they lose their mojo. I have to wonder about the ending. Can it make sense for the main characters to get out of it alive?

I caught up to The Expanse on Amazon recently and really enjoyed it. Has anyone read the books? Are they good? Though my TBR shelf is sagging under the weight of all the books awaiting my attention.

Factoid from The Old Farmer's Almanac:
On this day in 1860, the Pony Express began postal service.

Do you have a special writing wish? Is 2019 a great year for entertainment or what? Have any predictions on who will survive End Game of GoT season 8? Do you think mail delivery has improved since the Pony Express?

IWSG: March 2019

Welcome to the monthly bloghop created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Join us as we share advice, insecurities and all things writing. Find the complete list of participants on the IWSG site.

Each month an optional question is thrown out there. This month's question:
Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

I enjoy both perspectives but find the antagonist easier to write for. I like to get in the villain's mind so the reader can see why the bad guy thinks he's the good guy. That's more fun than pure evil.

If you're in the northeast like me, you were swatted with three snowstorms in four and a half days that wound up Monday morning. I'm tired of snow, but my granddaughter loves it. Shoveling and sled riding. Grammy has been walking a lot of hills this winter. I'm ready to plant some flowers.

"Gardeners, I think, dream bigger dreams than emperors." Mary Cantwell

This cold, snowy winter is really difficult for the homeless. I hope you remember the shelters and churches, and food banks that help those people.

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others remains immortal." Albert Pike

Participating in IWSG always reminds me how fast time is flying by. My granddaughter turned two years old this past weekend. Where does the time go?

The excitement is really building for the last season of Game of Thrones. I can't imagine the pressure the writers must feel with the weight of viewers expectations upon them. We all have our theories and want our favorites to survive. We all have anticipations about the upcoming reunions and hope they're as emotionally fulfilling as we expect. We all have a few characters we hope get their due. There will so much judgement when it's finally over.

"There has never been a statue set up in honor of a critic." Jean Sibelius

I recently binged The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. It was entertaining but not great. I do hope for a second season. Any suggestions on what to binge while I'm visiting blogs today?

A lot of things are going on this week. Ash Wednesday is today. Friday is International Women's Day and Captain Marvel comes out appropriately that day. It's also my youngest son's birthday. His closest friends always text him on his birthday and wish him Happy International Women's Day instead of happy birthday.

"It is the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Next weekend, Daylight Savings Time begins. A lot of people don't like the time change and I hate losing the hour of sleep, but I like having dark in the morning and sunlight later in the day.

Do you like reading the antagonist's POV? Do you have some expectations for season 8 of Thrones that will influence your enjoyment of the series' end? Are you a Daylight Savings Time fan or do you hate it?

The Old is New Again

So, I got my new computer and finally set it all up. I'm still getting used the keyboard and I hate the different style of mouse thingy. I'll get used to it. It's worth it to have a battery that lasts forever (in comparison) and no interruptions in internet from a wonky something or other. Yes, I'm a computer expert and know all the terms. The switch over gave me an opportunity to clear some things off my computer. Why did I have all those things sitting around on my desktop?

Hope you all got to see the eclipse last week. With your safety glasses, of course. It was really cool though I would put it in the same category of cool as Aurora borealis. I've only seen those once and it was unforgettable.

Without even a chance to get over the Game of Thrones finale, I have a dentist appointment this morning. So, I'll be getting around to blogs later today to return visits. I stop in on many blogs who have excellent content about writing, new releases, recipes, and sometimes are just amusing. I want to share them on Twitter or Facebook, but there are no share buttons to make it easy. If you have a blog, I  hope you'll make sure you have that simple add-on so your visitors can spread the word of your existence.

Watching my daughter full time has put me back on the writing schedule I used while I was still teaching. And I like it. I'm doing my writing at night again after having the entire day for my mind to figure out the next scene. I'm feeling younger and more efficient again and not only because I'm chasing an infant around who has learned to crawl before she's even 6 months old.

Also helping my writing is the complete lack of interesting TV. Thrones is over for the season and my other summer fun, Salvation, is almost done. I think the next thing I'm looking forward to is the second season of Stranger Things. The Defenders on Netflix was okay even though I'm not a fan of Iron Fist, the series or the actor. I am looking forward to The Punisher later this year.

I will not be posting next Monday on Labor Day. We'll probably be doing the family cookout and games thing.

Are you making plans for Labor Day weekend? See the eclipse? Did you watch The Defenders? Do you have share buttons on your blog?

This Day

I'm not going to link to any of the zillion articles about the solar eclipse since they are everywhere and have been for a while now. I hope you're protecting your eyes if you in the shadow of the moon today. It's a very cool thing to have happen. We'll only get to see a partial eclipse where I live, but it will still be neat.

I'm spending more and more time watching my granddaughter as the school year approaches and her parents get back to work. She's a bit of sunshine every day. She inherited her father's unfortunate cowlick on the very front and center of her head, but she also inherited his disposition. Meaning she is endlessly pleasant and smiling.

Being out and about with that dear child reminds me how easy it is to be kind. So many strangers smile and often speak to her. She adores all of them. When do we learn to not think the best of others? She doesn't care about their race, their religion, or their sexual preferences. Old, young or in between. Thin, beautiful, or not. Elliana Hope doesn't care. She loves people, and so should we all. I find myself with more patience with others just by being in the sunshiny presence of hers.

We've had so much rain, it's terrible. The wet area of my lawn is officially a swamp at a time of year when it is usually completely dry. I conceded defeat to the weeds among my flowers last week. Our area is about 10 inches above average rainfall this year.

I'm over a third of the way done with my next book. Would love to finish the first draft by the end of September. I bought a new computer, but I'm still using the old one until I get everything set up. I liked my old computer but the battery was shot. I was lucky if it lasted 20 minutes, and they no longer make the batteries for it though I could try a used one. And wow, computer batteries are really expensive.

The further along Game of Thrones goes this season, the more disappointed I am in the number of episodes. The writers claimed there wasn't enough story to make ten episodes like other seasons, but they're rushing through story so fast, I find it hard to believe they couldn't have found lots of juicy details to fill the time. I'm really enjoying the summer show, Salvation, more and more as it goes. I hope it gets a second season though I guess they could fail to stop the asteroid and all die this season.

Preseason football is underway. I seldom watch sports on TV, but I do enjoy football. And I love watching my son coach high school football. I will also get a lot of writing done while my husband commandeers the TV to watch hours and hours of the game. Don't just him, but my husband is a Raiders fan. And Penn State, of course.

Is your part of the word getting a rainy overload? Are you wishing for a little human kindness among the world's people? Have you ever priced a computer battery? Looking forward to football season? Who is your favorite team? Are you going to watch the eclipse?

The Game Returns

I suspect a lot of you were glued to your TVs last night to watch the return of Game of Thrones for it's seventh season. It didn't disappoint. Loved the opening scene. Loved Jon and Sansa acting like brother and sister even though they're only cousins. I liked seeing everything coming together and the characters finally being all on the same continent. Things I'm still looking forward to is the meeting of characters like Jon and Daenerys and when can all the Starks please get together. And can Littlefinger finally get what he has coming? And isn't Jon being a wise king so far. And how about Jamie's opinion of the Greyjoy's? Don't we all agree?

"Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select the more enjoyable." Lousia May Alcott

Check out this interesting article about authors bullying other authors. I've seen it happen but never knew anyone personally involved. We need to support each other. Anne R. Allen speaks from experience about this. We need to support each other. In light of that, here's a new book from my CPRW friend:

Into the Fire by Vicki Smith

In Olivia Sanders' world, people like her don't survive very long. Special abilities are a threat to the corrupt government and those loyal. Olivia and those with similar abilities struggle to keep their secrets as new laws threaten them daily. Though hiding isn't enough for Olivia. A healer and firestarter, she works with the resistance to ensure the safety of the people of her sector, toiling in an unforgiving world without freedom or hope with the goal that someday they will find both.

Poisoned by someone she should never have trusted, betrayed by her godfather, the former governor, who is using disturbing methods to control the population and grow his army, Olivia is forced to seek help from Luke Jamison, the leader of the resistance. They join forces with his brother, Matt, and Jillian Derrick, a hard-as-nails woman leading a band of "undesirables" to safety.
As conditions in the sector deteriorate and the death toll climbs ever higher, Olivia and Luke, Jillian and Matt, cling to the miracle of found love while facing the horror of a future without each other.

Victoria Smith lives in Central PA with her high school sweetheart and way too many animals. She writes paranormal, urban fantasy, and dystopian—all with romance, because who doesn’t love a happy ending? She publishes with Liquid Silver Books and Soul Mate Publishing. Visit her at http://vickismith.blogspot.com.

 Books: 

https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Smith/e/B00QCI2VZG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1490140200&sr=8-1

 Twitter - @smith_victoria

"There is no friend as loyal as a book." Earnest Hemingway

Did five hours of cleaning out and packing things for Goodwill. At least two dozen coffee mugs, a dozen wine glasses, and thirty vases. When you have six children, you get a lot of 'best mom' style mugs as they're growing up. Every child bought me a coffee mug or wine glass when they were in college. So yes, I have Penn State, Gettysburg College, Boston University, and University of Pittsburgh. Now they're bringing stuff from work. LOL

Did you enjoy the first episode of Game of Thrones? Have you supported some of your author friends lately? Known anyone to get attacked by author bullies? Do gifts collect in your house? Need a coffee mug? Hardly used.

When Everything is a Chore

So much work to do? It seems I have more chores piling up all the time. Am I busier than I used to be or am I older and just don't get as much done as I'd like to every hour of the day?

A partial list of things I had to do before writing this post: Register a copyright, send a cheery card to a sick friend, update CPRW membership list, do some Twitter and Facebook scheduling(Please follow me if you're not already), direct the boys in some trash removal, and renew my Pennwriters' membership.

Thing I have to do later this week: Have dinner with a friend I haven't seen for months, call and check on an ailing sibling, babysit my granddaughter on two occasions, make a date to have lunch with another friend, keep an eye on the guys doing some work on our pool, and DO SOME ACTUAL WRITING.

I didn't include all the housework things and outdoor chores. I think I'll take a nap now. Though in all serious, I almost never take a nap.

All these things will make the week go faster until next Sunday when Game of Thrones returns. Here's an interesting article about the world of Westeros and why they've never advanced as a society. If their history goes back 10,000 years, shouldn't they be a little more civilized? In the meantime, I have some GoT soundtrack playing in the background while writing this week.

I'm also going to check out two new shows starting this week. Will is a period piece about young William Shakespeare that is on Mondays on TNT. Salvation is a short running series on CBS about an asteroid heading for Earth and the people looking to stop the extinction of all life on Earth.

This article about copyrights came to my attention. I've never known any writers personally who had to go to court to protect their work, but all writers know about piracy. And we've heard stories about famous writers like JK Rowling facing questions.

Do you register your copyrights with the government? Is it money well spent? Are you ready for another disaster show about an asteroid? Why do you think Westeros is stuck in medieval times besides that it makes a good story? Do you take naps during the day?

Goodreads, GoT, and Hoedown Showdown

Lots of news to share today as PA and most of the northeast USA braces for a snowstorm. Lots of us had a 'oh no' moment last week when HBO announced Game of Thrones would not return until July 16th for season 7. Do they know how many times I've already watched season 6? I can't wait that long!

In more excitement of things to come from IWSG, we're forming a book club on Goodreads. Please join us and invite your friends.

Not on Goodreads?

The IWSG book club is a good reason to join.

 Don’t do much on Goodreads?

This is an excellent way to dip your toes in a little more.

 Not enough time in your day?

We read one book every two months.

 

OUR GOAL: The Insecure Writer's Support Group (Book Club) is for writers to read/learn about the writing craft. In this book club, we will swap back and forth between non-fiction writing books and fiction books that demonstrate how to do certain aspects of storytelling. 

No promo. No review or beta reader requests. Just writers reading books and discussing those books with other writers.

 

**The first book will be announced on April 1st.**

**The discussion will start on May 17th.**

 

For more details and to join: Book Club

Don't forget to work on that Twitter pitch sponsored by IWSG coming in July. Being in the right place at the right time is how many authors find their agent or publisher.

I met a woman last week who arranges the books on her shelves by color. ???? What? There are people who don't arrange their books by author and subject matter? Am I the only one who thinks arranging by color is very strange. How do you find what you're looking for? Do you say to yourself, 'I think I'll read a blue book today?'

I have the pleasure of sharing news from a friend of mine. Misty Simon writes romance and mysteries. Her heroine, Ivy Morris, is fun and smart as are the amusing characters who live in her small town.

 

Hoedown Showdown, Ivy Morris Mysteries by Misty Simon

With the Tasty Tomato Tournament just days away, the small town of Martha’s Point is all abuzz. This is the first year without a sure winner, and the competition is fierce to gain the judges’ approval, even before the tournament starts.

But when Ivy finds one of those judges dead in a shed across the street, things go from bad to worse. All she wanted was seven glorious, kid-free days of messing around with her husband. Instead, she’s going to be tracking down a killer, staying out of the way of a pickle-obsessed farmer, and dodging the new cop who seems out for her blood.

Find Misty on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Are you anxious for Game of Thrones to come back on? How do you arrange books on your shelves? Are you a member of Goodreads and ready to join a new group? Are you in the path of the oncoming storm?

Improvements!

If you haven't checked in on the IWSG blog lately you need to do that. For the last month, you're read some of the tidbits I've learned at the writing conference I attended in May. I can't begin to share the many things I learned and the amount of networking I did with other writers. More of the good stuff will be shared at IWSG later this summer.

If you can attend a writers' conference, I highly recommend it. You'll come away filled with energy and ready to park yourself at your keyboard. And now, thanks to the work of L. Diane Wolfe and others on the IWSG staff had put together a new page listing conferences near and far. There might be one near you. Some are genre specific but many are for all writers, poets, short story authors as well as novelists and non-fiction writers. Think of all the things you can than share with the rest of us.

Also, don't forget to check in on the contest page on IWSG. So many novelists I know have gotten an agent or editor interested in their book by entering a contest. And it is a great thing to use in a promotion if you've won a contest once your book is published. You might be interested in something on that page.

Hopefully, everyone has recovered from the Sunday season finale of Game of Thrones. A few story lines are similar to the book and a few have deviated. I'm pretty sure the next season will come around before the next book comes out. So all the characters are pretty much in trouble and we'll have to see if they survive. There are a few decent characters on the show so I  hope at least a few survive the hiatus.

Summertime TV fare I'm enjoying or looking forward to: Hannibal, Defiance and Haven are back on or will be. I also like TNT's Murder in the First. I'll probably try The Dome again and check out a few new shows on SyFy channel. I'm also going to see Jurassic World sometime this week. Looks like fun.

Have you attended a conference or entered a contest recently? How much did GoT finale shock you? Any TV you're enjoying this summer?

M: George RR Martin

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. And stop by IWSG blog for some inspiration all month long.

Most readers and writers have heard of  The Game of Thrones and George RR Martin who writes the book series, A Song of Fire and Ice. The books are famous for killing off popular characters and HBO has rocketed the series to stardom. For the show fans who haven't read the books, some of the violent endings to characters is shocking. Martin is also know by book fans as one of the most frustratingly slow writers ever. His longest stretch between books in a series is 6 years. That's a long time to keep readers waiting and a good way for most writers to lose fans. Thanks to the HBO series, Martin continues to sell the first books in the series. I had started reading the series years before the TV show came into being so the violent deaths didn't surprise me. That HBO would make the show

knowing that the writer hadn't finished the books yet did surprise me. The show is good. The books are good though not my favorite. Martin had been accused by fans of being lazy, not having the story plotted out and not knowing where its characters are going or where it will end. Some think he kills characters just for the shock, or that he has too many plots going and is constantly adding new characters and ignoring the story lines of the original characters. 

Lesson: If you're going to write really slow, you better have a loyal fan base. Slow won't work for most of us. Kill your characters if it makes the story better but not just for shock. Know the ending of your story before you start it. If HBO offers you a contract, write at whatever pace you want.

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die" Cersei Lannister

"A dragon is not a slave." Daenerys Targaryen

How quickly do you expect an author to write the next book in a series? Know any authors slower than Martin? Have you read a book where a character's death disturbed and didn't seem to make the book better? Are you a fan of these books or the HBO show?

Epic or Not

I love epic fantasy.  I first read LOTR in ninth grade.  There's weren't many other choices back in those days but some great authors have stepped up to the plate. When I decided to turn my hand to writing, I wanted to write fantasy.  But the only writers' group I was aware of in the area was a branch of RWA, Romance Writers of America.  I went to a few meetings, joined, attended a conference, and wrote some romance novels.

Since then I've been sold manuscripts to two different romance publishers and have seven romance novels on the market. I'm proud of them and they're doing okay out here under my pen name, Susan Kelley.  But I still love epic fantasy best.

But every time I talked to an agent or an editor, or read what they were looking for, they all said 'no epic fantasy.'  'It won't sell.' 'There's no market for it.' 

Then LOTR hit the big screen and I knew the tide had turned back to my favorite.  I sold my first fantasy novel to a mid-sized publisher and dreamed of Peter Jackson making it into a movie. I'll pause here for laughter.  My publisher contracted three novels and published the first two before deciding they were turning their interests to zombies and self-help nonfiction.  I took my rights back and went the self pub route since it's very difficult to sell a novel that has already been published to a new publisher.  My dreams withered.

Then HBO came out with their epic fantasy series, The Game of Thrones.  I had read and loved the books, couldn't wait to see it, and they didn't disappoint.  But it revitalized my dreams.  I'm trying to sell my second epic fantasy series to a publisher.  I'm looking at smaller presses this round, hoping for a relationship where a publisher will work with me to build my career as well as their business rather than blindside me like the last one did.

While researching what publishers I should submit to, I noticed EDGE science fiction and fantasy publishers said in their 'want to see' list, NO EPIC FANTASY. 

So is epic fantasy a vital part of the market or must a tiny niche? Will readers every tire of werewolves and vampires and return to caring about an epic battle of good versus evil to save the world?

Vampires Come, Vampires Go

I visited the new BAM store yesterday but I'm not going to let my first visit form my opinion.  I know they were in a hurry to open for black Friday so I'll give them a break.  It was chaos. I can't say even one part of the store was organized except perhaps for the magazine displays.  So I gathered up a few writing magazines and headed to the cafe to enjoy a cold drink and skim through some articles while I waited for my silly daughter to finish fighting the shopping crowds in the surrounding stores. 

The cafe workers, three of them, had no clue what was going on.  There were no price lists on the wall but I didn't hold that against them.  But between the three of them, they didn't know how to make an ice coffee.  I would have settled for a regular coffee but I had gone running about an hour before I left the house and I needed something cold with ice.  So I ended up buying an overpriced drink from their cooler.
I'll visit them again next week and see how the store is shaping up.

But I did read an interesting article about mistakes writers make that will hold back their efforts to get published.  One I read with interest was the advice to not write only what is currently hot in the market.  Not long ago, vampires were everywhere, every new book, all of them competing with the few authors who had made it big with their series about big-hearted vampires.  Now we have an influx of zombie books and movies.  What will it be tomorrow?  Who knows.  It's better to write the story you want and have passion for than to try to write something copying today's flash fashion. 

I love epic fantasy with lots of swords and some sorcery.  But even with the popularity of the LOTR rings movies and the HBO series of Game of Thrones, it's not an easy genre to sell and only a few authors are making it big time in this niche market.  But I will continue to write what I love and feel comfortable doing.  I'm not going to add vampires or zombies to my world of magic, men with swords and elves. 

Do you agree about writing what you're passionate about or do you believe you need to get in on the current trends?  Do you feel your particular genre or field of interest is booming or bust in the current market?