My Write Way by G. A. Edwards

Being a writer, speaker and editor is FUN!

I have book coming out soon called Mirror Images. It is for Young Adults. It is a mystery/thriller and the first of a three book series set in Madison, Missouri.

One benefit. I meet great people. Check out in descending order...YA authors Veronica Roth and Anthony John. Oh, and couple other authors you might recognize, Janet Evanovich and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb.

And I get to do neat activities like meet a prince or dress up and go to masquerade ball or even learn how to be on S.W.A.T. team. So beware, I've got knowledge!

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I get to do presentations to help others love literature as much as I do.

But the truth is writing is HARD, HARD, HARD work if you do it correctly. I work late hours, make my wrists and back hurt and hear dialogue in my head most of the time. I also laugh out loud at some of the things I have my characters say, get angry during fight scenes and cry like a baby when someone is mean to my characters or when the book ends.

AND IT'S STILL AWESOME!

Why?
1. I can wear my pajamas to work!
2. I am the boss and make all of the important decisions.
3. I decide when and where and how I often I work.
4. I get to make up stories.
5. I can write all kinds of things. Scary books, fantasy, children's, funny, sad, or articles for newspapers or magazines.
6. I get to share my writing with others. I get to speak to all ages of people. And I get to read the work of other authors and help decide if they get published.
7. I travel to great places and can count it on my taxes. I have been to Washington, D.C., Chicago, Savannah and Atlanta, GA.
8. I can listen to music and sing as loudly as I want to!
9. I like to dance every 59 minutes when my timer goes off to remind me to not to sit too long.
10. One day others will read MY book and maybe I will bring some of the joy I have gotten from books.

There are three things to becoming a writer.

The MOST important is the writing. And don't forget to regularly SAVE YOUR WORK!
Then you have promotion and social media.
Finally you need to run a business.

How to get started.
1. Read some books! Look at how the author put them together. Choose something that interests YOU.
2. Maybe try some fan fiction.
3. Brain storm. Look around you for ideas. Find your VOICE. What is your style and your goal to communicate to your reader?
4. Get a notebook or something to type on or a tape recorder. Don't be afraid to research and interview.
5. Write. Set specific goals and get in the habit of writing regularly. Get a routine. SAVE your work!
6. Books follow the pattern: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution.
7. Your characters need goals, motivation and conflict. What they are doing needs to make sense.
7. Have someone else you trust read what you have written. Join critique groups and writing groups. Make writing friends.
8. Listen to their suggestions and consider them.
9.Revise your work. EASIEST TRICK-Read your work aloud. Your brain will hear the mistakes.
10. Keep going until you are done. Then find a contest or two. Then write ANOTHER book or short story or essay or journal entry--anything. Just keep writing!


Once you  have a product, you want to publish.

Research to find out the best place.

Decide on your pen name, title and later a cover, dedications, back copy, fonts, style, illustrations.

Types:

Traditional publishing. Query letters, agent, publishing companies.

Self-publishing. You hire everyone. You get more money, but more work.

Something in between the above two.

YOUR work, yes, your work, will be REJECTED. Multiple times. Don't give up.

Promotion.
Developing a brand. You need people to help get the word out about your book. Reviews, blogs, author pages, Facebook, Twitter and SWAG. Street teams. Book signings, library presentations and conferences.

Business.
You have to keep track of what you spend.You have to pay taxes. Foreign and movie rights. You can hire assistants when you start making money.

All of this and it's still an awesome job! So either read a book or write one or do both.

You've Been Missed

Dear Blog,

I have missed you. I haven't been posting while I continue my journey into writing and publishing. The business of this career has been an interesting learning curve and I have finally reached the point where I can let go of my writing enough to be ready to publish. Others would argue that I should have been in the place years ago, but I wanted to feel like I was competent enough to put the work out there.

And I've been busy interning with Entangled which has been extremely helpful with being able to see weaknesses in my own writing. And I been busy making connections with other writers and realizing there are some I may not want to be connected with. I've been speaking for a variety of audiences. There's been regular writing, editing in advice from my editor and working on something new in my business plan.

Yesterday I came up something that reminded me of something I may have been forgetting to do with my writing. Have fun.

I went to pay my water bill and saw a couple loading water into a large portable container located in the back of their truck.

This brought memories of our family going to "town". The tiny business district in the extremely small town I grew up in had  less than ten businesses and was only two blocks from our house, but it was "town" to us. While our parents shopped or went to the post office, my siblings and I would often go to the side of the bank and down to the back side of the gun/grocery/everything else store where water could be purchased from the city. Rural folks often didn't have good wells, so they would buy a truckload container's worth of water for use in their homes.

It probably says something about the lack of excitement in our town that I loved watching this process. It seemed miraculous that so much water could come out of this hose that wasn't near a pond or a lake. I hadn't mastered the concept of plumbing yet. My favorite part and the most anticipated moment for everyone was when the tank was full and the extra water would squirt out the top like a geyser. It was glorious in my mind.  As I mentioned, we did not have a lot of activities in my small town.

But I think that was the lesson I needed concerning my writing. All of the groups, conferences, Facebook and Twitter messages are awesome to be a part of, but it is the simple joy of having the words I have imagined flow out of me to the point that they burst worth that is why I write. Everything else is just a container to work in.

May Day! Or Back When Pole Dancing Had A Different Flare

Happy first of May Day!

I always loved this day as a child.  In my home town, we didn't do the traditional dance of young girls interweaving ribbons on a pole, although I do have some vague memory of being assigned to be some flower and doing that somewhere, but we did celebrate with May baskets. I believe my mother told me about that tradition and I loved gathering up flowers or maybe they may have been pretty weeds, making little pretty paper baskets and delivering them to my definition of elderly ladies in town.  I am not certain what those ladies thought when they came upon my creations, but I do remember you had to hang them on the doorknob, knock, people didn't have that many doorbells, and run away quickly before they caught you delivering the goods. According to customs in other countries you got to kiss the giver if you caught them in the act.

Maybe this is a tradition that should be revived.  A random act of kindness before the world even had a name for it.  I think it is sad that we live in a world where doing something nice for another without expectation of thanks or reward is so unusual it has to have a name to encourage others to do it. How many of us remember a time when that was simply called the "norm".

As I wait on some final readers and edits on the manuscript I hope to publish, I realize what I want my book to do.  I hope it causes the readers to think about how they choose to treat themselves and others, but I also hope it brings joy as so many books in my own life have. Thank you authors for your skill and sacrifices to publish.

I think on this May Day I am going to see what gifts I can gather up to share with others.  Hope you find joy in doing the same.

TRUE love or my husband as expresses it, "No skulls for you!"

Be sure to read to the end on this one.

It's spring here in the Midwest. Sunshine, warm temps, birds chirping, flowers blooming...you know the drill.
And it had better continue with the good stuff, because I am simply cold weather and snow-ed out.

And it is time to be reminded of that other rite of the season, love.  It's a good thing, right?  I think it is and enjoy all kinds of love in my life.   I love the fuzzy little baby chicks and ducks found at the feedstore each spring.  Grandkids and kids in general make me feel the love.  I know that technically people would argue it is more of a like, but I am certain that crunchy Cheetos and the now defunct Hostess Ho Ho's can trigger the firing in my brain that signals the pleasure associated with true love too.

Love is a great, great thing.  It's fun.  It also can hurt, if not done correctly...but we'll skip that part today.
But let's talk about good old romantic love. It's a subject I read a lot about it as an intern editor and as a member of critique groups. People say it is everywhere.

Do you ever think about how obnoxious you were when you had your first love?  Those euphoric and smug, "Someone thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread" looks you shared with the world.  All you have to do to remember is see a couple newly in love with all of their clingy touches and hear their "I love you, Babe-No, I love you, Babe" comments to realize that yes, you DID act and look just as goofy back in the day.

But it was great, wasn't it?

I had the early days of this goofiness in my teens and then later in my thirties.  I have to admit I was just as guilty of that obnoxious smugness after becoming a staid old mother and experienced teacher as I was in high school.  Oh, and love affects even older people the same way.  Anyone have the grandma or grandpa who suddenly gets their second or third or fourth or more wind from a new relationship that actually makes them giggle without concern that their teeth will fall out?  It happens.  Love gets us this way no matter when it happens.

This week I had a couple of things happen that reminded me of love and how it makes me feel.  My husband and I got married in middle age after we both had been married to others before.  There was some, okay a lot, of the initial giddiness goofiness of love when we were dating and mostly in the beginning of our marriage. Fewer hickeys than the first time around, since I had matured some.  But let's be honest, the giddy love fades over the years.  Side note: If he doesn't take the trash out on time next week, it is  going to fade a great deal more.

But there is compensation for some of what you lose at the beginning a relationship as you transition into a more stable one.  There's that security of knowing you can count on someone to be there for you and have your back.

Here's some examples of how my husband reminded me of his love this week.

First instance:  My mother injured her neck and called me early the other morning and asked me to take her to the emergency room and I did.  Side note:  She is doing okay now, since I know I will get messages, emails, and phone calls if I don't mention this.  My husband was still asleep...the man sleeps and snores with the intensity of a hibernating bear, so he did not know I was gone.  I call him a short time later from the ER and wake him out of a dead sleep with this conversation.

"I am at the ER with Mom.  I need you to go to her house and tell me the dosages on her medications." I then remind him how to get into the locked house and where the medications will be found.

"Okay, I'll call you from there."

That was the whole conversation.  I didn't tell him why my mother was at the hospital or how we got there or  even have to justify him getting up and dressed so early and I didn't say, "would you please?"  I knew he would do what I needed simply because he loves me and I said I needed it done.

Instance #2 of my husband's show of love is a little out there.  Don't worry I'm not about to share any details that will make throw your hands up at just the thought, screaming, "My eyes!  My eyes!".  At best you will be scratching your head, thinking, "I knew those two were weird, but this takes the cake...or skull".

So, I am passing through the living room where my husband is lounging on the couch in his usual t-shirt and shorts evening ensemble.  The t.v. show Bones is starting and I am not staying as I am not a fan.  On the screen a man and a woman seemed to be searching through a field, no...not a field but it's similar... of mushrooms. Here's our conversation...

Me: "Are those mushrooms?"  My derision for the show is apparent.
Hubby: "Yes.  It's some kind of game and you know they're about to dig up a skull."

Okay, I didn't know that because I don't like this show where these things apparently happen regularly.  Oh, and because the whole premise was stupid.

And then, the guy digs up...a skull!  OMG, my husband is a psychic genius!

Next on the television the guy is so shocked he throws the skull at the woman standing next to him.  I prepare to walk out of the room, because again, this show is still stupid.  My husband stops me in my tracks with his next statement.

Hubby: "I would never do that to you."  Cue the sincerity in voice at his sacred vow.
Me: "What?"
Hubby: "Throw a skull at you.  If I found one, I would never pick it up and throw at you."

I don't normally cuss in my public posts, but I think we can all agree this situation calls for a "What the hell is he talking about?"

I know, I know you're all thinking what kind of person thinks like this.  I did too and I know the man well. Still I have puzzled and laughed about his response for a week now.

The puzzling, because it just seems a little out there for anyone.

The laughter, because my husband is more of flight and come back in with a strategy kind of guy in the whole "Fight or Flight" question.  I can't imagine him even being in the area a second after finding a skull while rooting for mushrooms or anything else.

Side note:  FYI-In case of the need to attack invading forces or an army or zombies, I fall in to "Fight" category of responses.  My husband's style and my own complement each other.  I go in for the surprise attack on the front line and he follows with weapons.

Now let's go back to the whole, "Won't toss a skull at you" thing.  I can't explain why my husband shared this particular tidbit to exemplify his love for me. His reasons and the world inside his head are too complex for the likes of the usual human.  But like the earlier example of my mother's meds when he didn't even question what I said I needed, sometimes you just need to accept the love in whatever form it presents itself.  So I am.

Ain't love grand?


Feel free to leave a comment and tell me how your beloved shows their uniqueness with their love for you.

Tips of the Writing Trade

I have been a busy writer, editor, and critiquer recently.  I have had the opportunity to be with numerous authors and it is true that word of mouth is the best way to share ideas to help you.

Things I have learned.

Weird Word Navigation.  To help alleviate having to scroll down through numerous chapters and hundreds of pages to reach where you left off last (Really important if you are editing with multiple open documents), my critique partner Dawn suggests the use of a weird word.  Each time you stop writing for the session, put a weird word that you will remember.  When you return next time, simply do a search and find the words and go right there.  Much quicker.

Page It.  I also put the page of my last work point at the beginning of the document...although I like Dawn's idea better!

Zombie Rules.  If you can insert "by zombies" after the verb, you have passive voice.
Example:  She was killed (by zombies)  = PASSIVE
Zombies killed (by zombies) her.  = ACTIVE

Follow me...If the sentence makes sense with "by zombies" in it, it is WRONG!  If the sentence doesn't make sense, it is RIGHT!

Remember when around zombies, it is better to be active than passive.  Passive = Dinner.

I stole this basic information from a Twitter Post from Rebecca Johnson @johnsonr

Do you have any Klout?  Final tip for today.  Go check out your Klout Score to determine what kind of social media presence you have based on how much people interact with you on Facebook, Twitter, and others too. klout.com

Feel free to comment and share any suggestions you have.

Snowapocalypse Equals Editing, Writing, and Reading

These are some photo's from the first snow.  We've had two more since them.

It's snowing here.  Again.  It is the first time in a long time that we have feet of snow.  We can't even manage to get or keep the roads clean, schools and many businesses are closed, and I finally told the post office to hold my mail since the street crews keep burying my mailbox.  I am six foot and it is no exaggeration that there are some man made snow drifts out there taller than I am.

But it does give me some great time to do some editing.  I am using three screens to take my manuscript and doing some splitting of the screens to look at all of my beta readers comments at the same time and adjust.  It is time consuming, but lets me see if more than one of my readers didn't like something and it gives me an idea of what a variety of readers pick up on.  Thank goodness I had power the whole time.  Not everyone has had.

Reading manuscripts for my intern position has motivated me to come up with some ideas for my own New Adult.  It has been many years since college, but I think I can figure it out and I have plenty of former students and young family members to ask questions.

And I have been reading some great books too.  I caught up on a Julia Quinn book I had somehow missed.  Now I am reading a New Adult that Saranna DeWylde recommended then I am on to her new release, How to Seduce an Angel in 10 Days.  Her books are written in a way that fun-loving smart people enjoy.

So what do you like to do with snow days? Please leave me a comment.  It helps my Klout score...social media presence number.


Whatever it is, stay warm, and enjoy some hot chocolate!

Back in the Saddle. Again.

Here I go in the world of writing and kind of living again too.  The last two weeks have not been the most productive in the writing world for me. There were pluses and minuses both.  First, I spent some quality time with my son who was home on leave from the Army.  Always a plus!  Great visiting and he helped me with some computer issues that will make me more productive overall.  Then I wasn't feeling well for a week, but I did catch up on some reading.  Since reading is like breathing to me, I never stop it completely, but writing does take me away from it somewhat. And I did get to do a lot of research on authors and the industry too.  I found a neat class that I can use to help me bridge my academic background as teacher to my literary goals.

One thing I did get done was turning in my first report as an intern for Entangled Publishing, LLC's editor, Karen Grove.  She is graciously allowing me to read some of the inbox for the New Adult area of publishing.  It is like Young Adult, but based more for the older teen to early twenties group.  I am already learning a great deal about what is ready to be sent to an agent and what is not.  Plan to apply some of this knowledge to my own work soon.

I have also learned there is more to keeping track of business expenses than I ever want to know.  The idea of having to do it myself for a writing career motivates me to try to make enough money to hire someone else to do it!

So I am off to slay some dragons today. New intern material to review, local writer's contest to help organize, and volunteering at the local school this evening.  I'm reading something.  No surprise there.

Tomorrow, I write.  If the weather is as promised for the rest the week, I may have the opportunity to be shut in for few days and write a lot.  That is exciting to me!

Hope your writing goals get met today!

It's the Superbowl of Writing

This excerpt is taken from a speech I delivered on Superbowl Sunday showing how writing is like football.

This may be blasphemy to admit on Superbowl Sunday, but I am not a big fan of sports.  I know writing, but I had to dig deep and even research a little to get the right sports terminology for the following.

Pregame for writing:  You discover you have an interest, maybe you attend a seminar or writing or join a group, and start practicing by yourself and then with others.  You have to have a place to center yourself and store your supplies, but writers usually call that a special chair or an office instead of a locker.

 

Next you approach the game more seriously.  You've got to make some decisions and determine what specialties to develop.  What team will you be playing for?  Fiction or Nonfiction  Serious or humorous?  Lengthy works or short works.  You need to know which position or area to pursue.  Writers call that genre.

You work on conditioning, taking classes and workshops and attending classes to build up your skills in writing to become a stronger more efficient whole.  Sometimes we call in trainers and support like content and line editors.  Like athletes, writers do timed challenges with writing, we lift heavier loads by adding more depth to our manuscripts, and we keep going to practice even when we don't feel like, have doubts about our success, or get knocked down in critique.  We enter smaller contests too along the way, because writers have that drive to succeed that the best competitors possess.

What about teams?  Some writers will go on to make points on their own. Self-publishing are writing's field goal kickers, they are part of the overall team, but rely mostly on themselves to handle the job.  Others will seek a path of sending our queries to agents and editors to be their defenders on the field of publishing.  Some writers will be good enough to be courted by agents and editors.  Once you join with an agent or a group you learn the rules of the organization, meet the other players, and learn what your own role will be in holding the line in the book world.  Be sure to remember that no matter what type of writer you are or how much work you do yourself, there is no "i" in the team of writing.  We are all here, because someone somewhere helped us along the way. 

So you condition and practice some more with even more dedication.  Somewhere along the line you realize that you have a style or a voice coming out.  You will need to build a platform, so you do reviews for others, and you tweet and Facebook, and network to gain supporters.

Because it's Game Day!  You have a book and it is coming out.  You hope that enough people will buy the ticket and help fill the stands.  You know your family and friends and regular cheerleaders will be there, but you are hoping that your game is good enough that people are glad they came.  You hope your book is good enough to outweigh the opinion of those who you might offend or didn't like your style and write a bad review about your work on Amazon.  Like true athletic professionals you realize you shouldn't say much back in response.  But that’s okay, because your fans will go toe to toe or Facebook or twitter message to message for you.   

You realize you’re the quarterback of this game.  You the one on the field who has the final say on what play to call, what risk to take, and then you take the ball in hand and throw it out hoping your books make it into the hands of the receiver.  Sometimes you reach the audience you intended and sometimes it gets to someone else instead.  But you are selling books.  Touchdown.  *dance dance*

Half time is called conferences or retreats for writers.  You get good food and drinks, meet some famous people, and there's great entertainment.  

And then it's time to go out in your second half and go through the process again.  You will have learned some things to apply and now you have the challenge of coming up with something new. 

After a few books and good sales everyone calls you a winner. I would argue that anyone who began writing and kept on going through all of the difficulties can claim the title of winner, no matter what their sale numbers. 

Even published writers don't always reach their intended receivers on a play and sometimes when you least expect someone or something comes out of nowhere and tackles you to the ground. Genres aren't hot anymore, agents quit, companies close, or the business changes.  Maybe you are injured in the writing world, either by your actions or a rumor by others.   Writers have instant replay too.  It's called networking.  Your good actions are talked about time and again.  So are your bad ones.

Whatever good plays or bad, you can always find writers doing the conditioning and practicing and whatever it takes to keep in the game.

Doing the Next Best Thing

It's one of those days in writer world.  Frustrating.  I am not patient when it comes to establishing a new career as a writer and a speaker.  I want to be perfect at it.  And I am not. 

Of course I wasn't perfect in my last career as a teacher either, but I had been doing it for so long and with enough identifiable successes I felt more secure that I was being successful and offering something to the world. I remember being upset when I was unable to help a student whose home life offered numerous challenges.  Someone said to me, "You can't save them all."  And as much as it killed me to admit, they were right.  I couldn't.  But I could and did try to do the little I could.  I didn't change their worlds overall, but I was able to help them a little.

I am not that point of confidence as a writer and speaker. This world is still a difficult place for me to feel as if I am making measurable headway. Some days I feel like I am floating, untethered and woefully unsure that I will ever offer a contribution worthy of anyone's time or up to the quality of what I want to do.  Overwhelmed, isn't just a word around here.  Yes, I know doubt is something all writers share, as do people in general, but it isn't fun.

Today I ran across a short article about approaching life. Basically the message was nice way to say, "Eat an elephant one bite at a time."  I have heard this before.  But I needed the reminder.  This version was, "Don't set out to change the world, just do the next best thing.  Every day."  It's good advice.

I am off to put a boot in doubt's face, and do my next best thing.



Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-obryant/acts-of-kindness

The Roller Coaster of Writing

Just a brief check in blog world.  Been busy doing edits and more edits on my YA Contemporary Thriller Mirror Images.  Really busy.

Right now my manuscript is out to some readers.  It is the first time I have really let loose of it to let people who know me only somewhat see what I have been doing.  I know my book is FAR from perfect and I know it will return with numerous edits for me to do, but I got my courage up to get on the ride.

Near where I grew up is a theme park that used to have a great roller coaster.  It was a simple by today's standards.  Just ups and downs and a few unexpected turns and drops.  And I loved it.  I don't dislike the newer, faster upside down roll over kinds with bigger drops.  I like them.  But I miss the fun of that good old dependable ride.

This is how I approached Mirror Images.  When I started writing it, so long ago I don't want to admit it, the market was flooded with paranormals, dystopians, and of course, vampires.  There was nothing wrong with that, I read and enjoyed them too.  But it wasn't what I wanted to do.

I realized I missed the old mysteries and thrillers of my youth.  I loved how empowered I felt when I followed the clues and figured out who the bad guy or killer was in my Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels.  I had loved and still recommended  to students all the teen thriller books of Lois Duncan who wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer and other books that now seem cheesy, but I loved them.  I also liked that the books were short and even somewhat predictable, because having a "friendship"  with the books was enjoyable.  I read other types of books growing up and I learned, bettered my mind, challenged my ideas, and cried too over them.  It was like with people in my life, who had done of all of these things too.  I enjoyed all of the experiences, but when it came to picking my friends in books, I didn't want to learn or be challenged or always be involved in some drama.  Those mysteries and thrillers were my friends I could depend on bringing me joy.

So I really gave some time to determining what had made those books appeal to me to the point I remembered them after all of the books I have read in my lifetime, and I have read a lot of books in my forty-eight years. I thought when I started at the beginning of Mirror Images and I still think there is still a place for these books in the lives of young readers living in this current world.  Anything that can show young people that using your mind to overcome obstacles is the most important message I think a book can give beyond modeling the way to love and show kindness.

I looked at what I loved, books with suspense; who I loved, the thousands of resilient wonder young people I had worked with in my years as a teacher; and I thought this is what I can do; help others enjoy a book about teens who face obstacles and use their brains to figure out what to do.  That's real life over and over.

On the surface my book is about a serial killer in a small town.  But I think it's a book about growing up, loving and hating your family, falling in love, working your first job, being with friends, using your mind, making really hard choices, and learning to believe in yourself and others when everything and everyone says something different.

Right now I am enjoying my ride in the writing world.  Some days I go up higher than I have been before and others drop quickly down much lower than I ever wanted to be. Sometimes it is the same day and I repeat my ups and downs.

Like a real roller coaster, the twists and turns and climbs and drops will surprise me.  I am often a little afraid of where I will go next.  But this is the ride I bought the ticket for and I am gladly on it now.

In real life as a writer, I need my hands to type, but in my mind I choose to stop holding on tight the safety bar.  I am throwing my arms straight up to the sky and laughing and screaming with joy for the whole ride.

Just a quick Howdy Doo!

It's just a quick Howdy Doo from the G. Aliceson Edwards writing world on how I am doing with my 2013 professional goals.  It's already the fourth after all.  It's kind of repeat of my last blog post, but it reminds me what I want to accomplish.

New Year has rolled in with me hurrying to finish the "final" draft of Mirror Images before I force myself to stop editing and give this book out to some beta readers.  Yeah, I have been working on this book forever.  (I did write others while I was working on this one. )  But I am determined to finally achieve the level of quality I want for this book.  This day has been a long time coming, because I suffer, as many writers do, from insecurity that my writing shouldn't be read until it is perfect.  Silly, since I taught for the years about the value of drafts and feedback.  Physician heal thyself and all that.

After Betas return comments, then I will choose what to change or possibly what to keep the same in my quest for improvement.

Then I contact more agents and editors in a query frenzy.   Yes, I really am going to push toward the publication goal. Doubt be danged!  (I try not to cuss on social media.)

During some of the action above I will be designing my website.  I blog, tweet, and Facebook, but have never gotten to the website phase.  It is here.

I spent December giving away free presentations to schools and groups.  Now I have more scheduled and some decent paying gigs too.

This is my January 2013.  I hope you have great plans for your own.

I do a lot of dancing during my writing breaks.  Check out this cool Facebook  account and find the Hokey Pokey Shakespeare style.

It's 2013, Baby!

It's an extremely cold and icy day to begin the 2013 year, but I am totally looking forward to this day and the ones beyond.

My husband and I just discussed some of our joint goals of what we would like to see accomplished as far as our housing plans, finances, health, and travel.  It helps us to know what we are shooting for!

Writing wise...I have already determined my January goals week by week. 

They are:

Finish the edit on Mirror Images.
Strengthen my writing contacts with a road trip to critique and write-in.
Send M.I. out to beta readers.
Attend meetings and critiques.
Develop Website while waiting for beta reader responses.
Develop list of agents and editors to query.
Edit in Beta suggestions or ignore.  
Send in queries and already requested FULLS.

Then make a new set of goals for February.

Now I need to work on accomplishing my first goal.  Later!