Share a Little Love

How timely that I should get this little note from JK Bradley this morning:

Fay, this is a great start for a story. You’ve built a nice amount of intrigue by setting up this mystery. However the voting works out, here’s what I think, you should use this story and work with it. Maybe put out 500 or so words every couple of days for your followers. It’s really good.

Nice job.

What he doesn’t know is that I will be submitting the piece to the writers group next week. I wrote it so it will stand alone as a piece of sudden fiction.

However, to keep the juices flowing, I may follow his advice. My mind loves games, and by playing along on this one, I could end up with another short story to publish. What do you think? Would you like to play along, too? You can trick yourself out of that dry spot and get a short story done to boot. We can team tag for each other.

Here’s the link — http://thebradleychronicles.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/indie-500/

Note: To boot — I say this colloquialism a lot, but never give a thought to its origins or if this is the correct spelling. I’ll have to research that little phrase.

P.S.  After a week of frosty mornings, it’s warm again. Peas, pole beans, lettuce and radishes have popped. I’m waiting on spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, kale and brussel sprouts. Looks like the grapes took a hit and got frostbitten. Time will tell.

The Benefits of Tennis; Comment Tennis, That Is

Riatarded of The Uninspired Chronicles has touched a nerve. She is blogging about how an author jumpstarts writing when the author hits a wall. Many are wall-slammed it seems, seeking a solution to writer’s block. I’ve offered a couple of tips I use to Riatarded. My guess is she will put out an e-book with her collection of tips once the comment tennis game is over. It may prove to be a useful tool.

But it’s the comment tennis aspect of blogging that I want to chat about. Comment tennis (please forgive me for oversimplifying here) is the back and forth written exchanges on blogs. It is an art I am practicing. Why practice? Because I am trying to teach myself to soften my naturally very direct style.

I like getting straight to the point of a matter. I prefer to cut the chit-chat. However, I am aware that directness can equate to rudeness or sound like arrogance. So, I am trying to create a better way for Fay to communicate: I am practicing chit-chat via comments.

Second, I am an introvert forcing myself to act extroverted. Staying inside my introverted comfort zone reinforces bad habits I’ve made that obstruct free communication. To change myself in relation to others, I have to show up in another’s space. I have to get out there.

Third, good communication is an art. Reading and participating in comment tennis can teach me what works and what doesn’t. Practicing the positive forms reinforces those skills and ingrains them in my being.

It is said it takes thirty days of doing to make a new habit. When I have a lifetime of doing things a certain way, I think it’s going to take more than thirty days of practice to change it.

Quit Beating Up on Myself

Once a month, I meet on a Wednesday afternoon with a group of local writers. Some have already been published. Some hope to be someday. The purpose of meeting is to support each other’s writing habit.

Lately, I have reviewed the progress I have made in the past 12 months toward completing my first murder mystery. I have made it to Chapter 13.

If I have learned anything, it’s that book writing is more than putting words on a page.  It’s learning from the experience of others who have already successfully sold a book. It is developing a support system to assist with hurdles like time management, writer’s block, procrastination. It is honing skills, not only in story telling, but also in public relations and finance.  It’s learning to use social media effectively. It’s finding the right professionals to edit, publish and groom your product. And more.

I was beating myself up for moving at the speed of an earthworm.

Upon reflection I realized I have:

• attended a writers conference
• executed the advice I received at the writers conference
• blogged almost daily for a year
• attended classes on writing by professional authors
• started a local writers group and conducted meetings for more than six months
• organized a Date to Write group that meets twice per month
• completed twelve chapters (first draft) on a novel
• dreamed up story lines for two more novels to work on when #1 is done

So when I look back, I pat myself on the back for productivity. I am on the beginning of a learning curve. My output will not be as fast as those with more knowledge and experience. I calculate that between blogging and book writing, I have averaged 250+ words per day for a period of twelve months.

I have earned the first level on Inkygirl Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s Writer Challenge. For more information, look here:

http://inkygirl.com/250-words-a-day-project/

 

Kiss

I’m introducing a piece of sudden (flash, micro, short short) fiction inspired by Adam Levine’s “Moves Like Jagger,”  partial lyrics follow:

Take me by the tongue and I’ll know you.

Kiss me till you’re drunk and I’ll show you

All the moves like Jagger.

And by the luscious lips of Adele seen in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=hbz6f_xGqWI&NR=1

Moves Like Jagger

by Fay Moore © 2012

He wiped his mouth with a corner of the linen napkin, wadded it and dropped it onto the empty dessert plate. As he reaches for his coffee cup, he turns toward the woman seated to his right.

“Your lips are exquisite.”

She smiles knowingly. Years of these smiles have put crows feet at the corners of her eyes. She says nothing, but tilts her wine glass toward the gentleman in a nod to his remark.

“Really. Truly remarkable. Full. Luscious.” He sips and smiles.

The dinner party is breaking up. The others have pushed away from the table and are standing.

“May I?” he asks, indicating he’d like to pull back her chair and assist her to stand.

“Of course.” She smiles.

He slides a corner of the chair and extends his hand. She takes it and rises. Her eyes are on his. He slips his free hand to the small of her back, guiding her away from the table. For both, the ritual is well-rehearsed.

“It’s been a lovely evening.” There is a short pause, then he asks, “May I call you?”

She hesitates. Before she can say a word, he quickly leans in and steals a kiss, his lips gently sweeping hers.

She pulls back, withdrawing her hand. Her eyes flash.

“No need to say anything. You have my apologies.”  He surveys her and adds, “And my thanks.”

He smiles victoriously, makes a subtle bow from the waist, then offers her his elbow.

OK. THAT WAS THE LONG (approximately 300 words) VERSION. HERE’S THE 55 WORD VERSION OF THE SAME STORY.

He wipes his mouth and turns toward the woman seated to his right.

“Your lips are exquisite.”

She smiles knowingly and tilts her wine glass toward him.

Before she says a word, he steals a kiss. She pulls back. Her eyes flash.

“You have my apologies.” He pauses, grins. “And my thanks.”

About the genre:

Flash fiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as low as three hundred words, while others consider stories as long as a thousand words to be flash fiction.^[1]

In one particular format, established by Steve Moss, Editor of the New Times, the requirement is 55 words; no more and no fewer. Another, unspecified but frequently held, requirement is that the title may be no more than seven words. Hyphens do not alter the word-count (that is, “word count” has as many words as “word-count”). However, an exception to the hyphen rule is that if a hyphenated word cannot be separated, then the hyphenated word could be considered one word. As an example, (as given by the website, see reference) the word “co-worker” can be considered one word, where “long-suffering” is two words.^[2]

Prolific Author Makes Living by Self-Publishing

From USA Today, article author Jefferson Graham, published 2/15/2012

Scott Nicholson is the author of 70 books. His success comes from self-publishing his volumes and selling them on-line at Amazon.com. He publishes using formats for e-readers like Kindle.

Nicholson is a self-taught e-publisher. He uses stock photographs and picture editing software to create his book covers. Nicholson, 49, says, “If I can do it, anyone can do it.”

He publishes four books per year from his home in North Carolina. Though he doesn’t state a dollar amount, he says he earns enough from royalties to have a “comfortable living.”

Nicholson is living my dream. His example is my incentive to keep moving forward, one writing session at a time.

 

 

A Resource for Self-Publishers

Regarding: http://paper.li/Belinda_Pollard/1309952607

I just stumbled onto a terrific source of information about e-publishing and self-publishing. I have bookmarked the site in my favorites. There is too much information to absorb in one setting. I will need to return again and again.

It’s kind of like blogging. When I started my first blog a year ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I’d never seen or read a blog. I started a blog because I was told to, if I wanted to be an author in an e-world. I am still learning.

 

 This new-to-me resource on e-publishing is a storehouse of information. Right now I won’t understand much of it. I won’t recognize its significance until I have immersed myself in the e-publishing experience. THEN, I will be able to appreciate fully the value of this website.

The Office

What triggers a person to get off dead center and move toward a goal?

 

For me, it was a chance encounter on Tangier Island, VA. My husband and I were returning to the pier after breakfast ashore. An ocean-going sailboat was tied stern to in a slip, the name on her stern plainly visible. It said “The Office.” The vessel was registered in the United Kingdom.

 

The light bulb in my brain flashed. How could I make a living from anywhere in the world? My office could be a sailboat, the living quarters in a horse trailer, a travel trailer, the passenger seat in a car, the library, a cruise ship deck. . .literally wherever.

 

That moment gave birth to my dream to write novels.

 

I am lucky that the timing of my dream is what it is. The internet is global. The e-publishing industry is developing rapidly. Many readers are transitioning to electronic reading devices, so they can access e-books wherever they are – in a restaurant, on the beach, in a motel room, in a board room.

 

The supply and demand chain has never been so liberating to both ends of the spectrum.

A Date to Write — Update

In case anyone from the old Dream Station: I Want To Be a Writer blog has moved with me from Blogger.com to the WordPress world, then this is an update. If you are new to my raves, rants, and musings, then ignore the word “update” in the title.

To recap, I belong to a local writers’ group, which formed a few months ago to support the writing habit of its members. One benefit of membership is a semi-monthly date to write at the local library. Members gather in a quiet room for up to three hours of uninterrupted write time. It is an imposed discipline for those who find it hard to make time to write.

Since I am one of those persons, I love my dates to write. I have attended three sessions, averaging 750 words per session. That is good output for me.

Last Friday was the most recent  date. I produced 800 words. So my output is on the rise. I went to the session not sure where my scene was going. Nevertheless I made myself behave as a professional, ignored my doubts, and got to work. The result speaks for itself.

Since the industry standard is 80,000 words for a murder mystery, I need the equivalent of 100 dates to get the book finished. It’s a tactic that works for me.

A Golden Oldie Re: Tim Hallinan

Re-posted from Dream Station, first written in March 2010:

Real Tools for the Writer at Tim Hallinan’s Blog Cabin

     A friend told me about the Tim Hallinan web site at http://www.timothyhallinan.com/. Click on “The Blog Cabin” to find an abundance of information from writing tips to getting published to learning the hard way in the real world of making a living as a writer. Kudos to Tim for putting the information out there for the rest of us! It’s great stuff.

Dream Station: I Want to Be a Writer

You have discovered the new blog home for Fay Moore’s Dream Station: I Want to Be a Writer. Dream Station used to be located on Google’s Blogger.com until Google decided to be offensively invasive of its user’s privacy. At that point, I abandoned the Blogger site and joined WordPress.com. I am happy to be in my new home.

WordPress.com appears to have the capability of growing with me as I move from an amateur author to the ranks of professional.

It will take me a while to learn to use WordPress. Eventually, I will add several of my former blogs from Dream Station: I Want to Be a Writer. The information will be helpful as reference material to those persons like me who want to write and publish a book.