Do You Know What You Don’t Know?

By Sharon Woods Hopkins

As a fiction writer I’ve always heard you should “write what you know.” If your protagonist is a rocket scientist, it’s helpful if you have some background in science. If your story revolves around a car dealership, having been a car salesman comes in mighty handy.

But what about writing about what you think you know?

I once read a novel by a best-selling author whose protagonist was on a commercial airliner, and in the thick of the excitement, referred to the area where the food is prepared as “the kitchen.” Zap. Out of the story I flew. It’s not a kitchen, it’s a galley.

Another author friend’s protagonist was an expert horsewoman, but she left her horse in the pasture with its bridle. Nope. Probably not. What she likely left on the horse was its halter. A bridle has a bit and reins and a real horse person would never leave that on a loose horse.

And then there was the author whose antagonist tried to kill his victim by leaving the new Mercedes running in the garage. The protagonist got there in the nick of time. However, unless someone disabled the catalytic converter, or it had a broken exhaust pipe out of the manifold, the car would have run out of gas before ever discharging enough carbon monoxide to give anyone a headache, much less cause a death. I know this because one time I tried hooking up my 1994 truck’s tailpipe to a hose and stuffing it down a mole hole. After running the truck for nearly an hour, the mole was not even dizzy. I learned about the catalytic converter in great detail from my mechanic son after that little stunt.

And how about those Styrofoam cups?

There is no such thing as a Styrofoam cup. This is a really common mistake that most of the world makes, but an author could possibly get a “cease and desist” order from Dow chemicals if he or she uses it in their next best seller. Dow Chemicals is very specific about what Styrofoam is, and is not, on their website.

Being vulnerable is human, and we all make mistakes. However, if you’re writing what you think you know, it’s very helpful to have sharp editors. I was astounded by seeing the aforementioned mistakes show up in the finished product. How to protect yourself? Be sure you have dependable early readers, or pay to have a good copy and developmental editor read your manuscript. Unfortunately for us writers, most publishers today have thinned out the editorial staff, leaving only proof readers. Be diligent, and make sure you know what you think you know.

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Sharon Woods Hopkins is a member of the Thriller Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Southeast Missouri Writers' Guild, Heartland Writers Guild, Romance Writers of America, and the Missouri Writers' Guild. She has tried retiring, but can’t seem to succeed. After many years as a mortgage banker, she is currently a Real Estate Broker. Sharon lives on the family compound near Marble Hill, Missouri with her husband, author Bill Hopkins, next door to her son, Jeff, his wife, Wendy, two rescue Yorkies and a mole killing cat named Wilhelmena, and assorted second generation Camaros, including the 1979 Camaro named Cami who is featured in her books. Her Rhetta McCarter mystery series have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Missouri Writers Guild Show-me Best Book Award for Killerfind, in 2014. Her social media links are www.deadlyduo.net or on Facebook  and on Twitter as @sharonwhopkins   Killerwatt, the first book in the Rhetta McCarter Mystery series is now Free on Kindle.http://tinyurl.com/KILLERWATT-FREE-for-KINDLE

Poking a Toe into Twitter

By Elizabeth Sumner Wafler

A week after holding my first baby, In Robin's Nest in my arms--delivered not by stork, but by UPS--I realized that if others were going to know that the book actually existed, I would have to engage in DIY marketing.

A month later I had invested in a WordPress domain and begun tacking away at my own website. I opened a facebook fan page. And then someone asked me if I was on twitter, in a way that sounded as though if I wasn't on twitter, I must be on crack. "Twitter is the real way to build followers," said she. I twitter searched a celebrated author. She had 100K followers. I had four.

 I spent the next six months toiling over pithy, yet 140 character tweets, in which I alternated between tooting my own (book) horn in clever ways, i.e., photographing my dog "holding" my book, and fretting over whether one person out of the 320 million twitter users might read my tweets. I dreaded even pulling up Twitter.

And then I read that for every four tweets, only one should be self-promoting. You must engage, the experts said. Writing is a lovely, yet lonely occupation, and the thought of engaging with others in the trenches was appealing. I began to spend less time composing, and more time reading, and in the process, I discovered hashtag games.

Unlike reindeer games, in which the Rudolphs may be excluded, anyone can play. There are hashtag games (sponsored by cool writers) for each day of the week, i.e., #lovelines on Mondays and #onelinewed on Wednesdays, in which you can share a favorite line from your work in progress, and even for each day of the month, i.e., #authorconfession where the sponsor posts a monthly calendar of questions.

Now this, I could do.

Answering questions like "What is your weirdest writing habit?" is fun, quick and easy. And considering queries like "What is your MC's greatest fear?" has made me think more critically about my characters, their desires and motivations--all the "whys." I am honing my craft.

I now have 1,200+ followers, a million fewer than John Grisham, a couple more than your teenager. But I actually know a number of my followers. I've developed connections with them: writers with whom I share common struggles, small victories, and great triumphs, a band of cheerleaders who share my belief that a rising tide lifts all the boats.

Don't be afraid to traverse the waters of Twitter. Poke a toe in, then plunge in--up to your waist. Like a June pool, the water warms up quickly. It can change your perspective and maybe even your career.

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On the heels of a twenty-year teaching career, Elizabeth Sumner Wafler’s passion for a story told with heart led her to write her own fiction. Her first novel, In Robin’s Nest, is one of love, loss and reunion; secrecy and truth; and ultimately redemption. The author is currently seeking representation for her second manuscript, A Faculty Daughter, the coming-of-age story of a girl reared on the campus of a boys' prep school. Wafler lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband and Cairn terrier, Mirabelle. She can often be found at a local farmer’s market in search of the perfect tomato or bouquet of flowers, or at one of the area’s beautiful vineyards enjoying a glass of Virginia wine.

In Six Words-Part Two

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

Last Thursday, I posted an interesting picture as an inspiration to write a caption in six words or less. Several readers had some great captions. Here is the link to Part One and check out all the comments. 

In watching all the news about Hurricane Irma's approach towards the United States, I was concerned about all in its path. I spotted an interesting story about the director of Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West. It is now an impressive museum filled with personal articles of Hemingway. CNN reported, "Dave Gonzales, executive director of the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, confirmed to CNN that he and nine other employees were staying through the fierce winds and rain expected with Hurricane Irma, staying the legendary author’s 1851 house, with its 18-inch-thick limestone walls is “the strongest fortress in all the Florida Keys.” 

One of the main reasons they are staying is to keep the unique 55 cats (they have either six or seven toes) safe and comforted during the storm. Some of these felines are descendants of Hemingway's own six toed cat, "Snow White." Each volunteer will be attending 5 cats while riding out the storm in Hemingway's house. Yes, everyone is safe after Hurricane Irma made US landfall at the Florida Keys according to this article in the New York Post. 

I wonder if Hemingway came up with the six word stories because his cat had six toes. Just wondering. None the less his story is famous and haunting..."For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”  

According to an article in The New Yorker, "Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by writing the six-word story “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Hoping to cash in on that story's success, Hemingway wrote some six-word sequels."  Here is the link to the article with the Hemingway's sequels.

National Public Radio has an excellent article titled, "Can You Tell Your Life Story In Exactly Six Words?" Some if the response are from the famous and the not yet famous. From "Gloria Steinem ("Life is one big editorial meeting"), to author Frank McCourt ("The miserable childhood leads to royalties".)

A six word story is an excellent prompt to spurn a writer's imagination. It's simple and almost poetic. You can check Reddit or Tumblr six word stories or numerous groups on Facebook for examples.  

This exercise is a great jump start, especially on those days you start with a blank screen or piece of paper and no ideas. 

So, ready, set, go.

Confidence

By Michael Hicks Thompson

What is the one thing— the most important thing—a professional golfer must have to win on tour?

Confidence! If you’re a pro golfer, or tennis player, even a heart surgeon, you need confidence. Not arrogance. Just confidence. A belief in your God-given abilities coupled with the teaching and practice you’ve slogged through. And the determination to be the best you can be.

For novelists, their need for confidence is no different than the professional athlete or the heart surgeon. It’s a long haul with short term goals.

Without confidence, you’re sunk. It’s the underlying cause of the dreaded yips for golfers and surgeons. Or writer’s block for authors.  

I’d just come out of a major inferiority complex dealing with another novel. Actually, it’s a novel I‘d written five years ago. A sci-fi thriller about a world without decent drinking water. It was published as a serial in a year-long magazine.

After that, I wrote the Solo murder mysteries series--The Rector, then The Actress. Lately, I’ve felt a strong urge to re-write the sci-fi thriller, originally titled, JALA, which means water in Hindi. I wasn’t happy with my writing of that story, so I picked it up again. Even changed the title to WATER, 2035.

My confidence had taken leave, along with my senses. Big time. I struggled for months with the story. Couldn’t make up my mind about anything--the protagonist, the antagonist, the POV, their relationship, nothing. I was happy with the sub-plot, but nothing else.

Then, I was the first to sign up for a weekend retreat with Brandilyn Collins in Coure d’Alene, Idaho. That day and a half got me back on track. This was her first time to invite 15 writers to her home. She’s a master teacher.

One fellow didn’t show, leaving me as the only male among 14 ladies and one instructor. If you ever have the chance to attend one of her retreats, I recommend it.

It wasn’t like she sprinkled magic dust over my writing.

After returning home, I still struggled to get behind my computer and work out the scenes, the action, the dialogue. Mrs. Collins edited the first two pages that six of us had sent in a month earlier. She handed them out on the last day, and read them. Our version. Then hers. I sunk down in my chair when my turn came.

I got over my ego fast after reading and re-reading her edits. Then, I realized how right she was. Every day, I’d start from page one and read until I needed to add or correct something. (I didn’t change much from those first two pages.) But, I finally realized I had a good story to tell. And any writer knows the first two pages are life or death for a reader. I used what Brandilyn taught and eventually got in a groove, finally able to determine my protagonist’s deepest desires. If a writer doesn’t know the protagonist’s desires then the reader certainly won’t. And your writing will fall flat on the page.

I’d fiddle with and re-write every word along the way, each morning, progressing slowly through the scenes that needed re-writing for either plot/character changes, or just pure bad writing.

By the third month, my confidence had grown, little by little. The story seemed to take shape. And I was loving it. Still am. Sixty-seven thousand words later, and I’m still in a groove.

My advice to writers stuck in a new genre? Seek the help of from an excellent instructor in a small group setting. You’ll come away a better writer. 

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Born in his mother’s bed and raised on a small Mississippi farm, Michael Hicks Thompson knows a thing or two about strong Christian women, alcoholic men, and Jesus. His fictional writings intersperse his observations of human nature with theology. He’s a member of Kairos (prison ministry), been to Cuba twice on door-to-door evangelism mission trips, been a Sunday School teacher, and a member of Independent Presbyterian Church for 35 years. He and his wife of 45 years live in Memphis, TN, have three sons and four grandchildren. The little ones call him “Big Mike.”After earning his undergrad degree from Ole Miss and then a master’s in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, Michael started a one-man ad agency in Memphis. It grew to 87 employees in two cities, winning numerous national and international creative awards. Michael sold his firm in 2011 and turned his attention to full-time Christian fiction writing. His latest novel, The Actress (his sixth novel), is available in book stores and on Amazon in print, and for Kindle. Having already won four major awards, The Rector was first in the series. Both novels are murder mysteries that take place in the Mississippi Delta.

Dialogue in your Writing

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine 

Dialogue, is having conversations. Whether it be movies on the big screen or little screen or a novel, there will be conversations, dialogue.

For writers, words are our bread and butter. Choosing our words in writing dialogue is important, it brings our characters conversations to life.

While it is true, we sometimes as writers make our sentences too long, we must remember the sentence must make sense. So, if you are going to shorten it, make sure you are not cutting the heart out of the sentence.

One thing that makes it easy in writing dialogue is when you can write the way the character would talk. If you listen when someone is talking, you will hear how you can write better.

Listening to someone talk you hear how sentences are chopped and words are garbled. You don’t normally hear people talking in formalities, however, if your character is a butler, then yes, he will be speaking with formality.

A writer friend of mine, listens to conversations; when she hears phrases that interest her she writes them in a journal. She catalogs the phrases into formal or casual and has available all sorts of phrases to use for her characters conversations.

For a writer, our dialogue needs to be interesting and attention grabbing when needed. 

Our readers need to be able to distinguish which character is talking. So, it’s important to create personalized dialogue for each character. Perhaps we should read over our dialogues, edit them, making sure the words sound like our character.

Writer Struggles

By Lynn H. Blackburn

When people find out I’m a homeschooling mom and published author, there is one question I’ve learned to expect.

“How do you do it all?” My answer? I don’t!

Every writer, regardless of stage of life, has the same struggle. We have families and friends who’d love to see us—without a laptop. We have little people in our lives who want us to come to their ballgames, dance recitals, and school plays.

And we have passions other than writing. Whether it’s knitting, woodworking, reading, gardening, or fixing classic cars, it’s important that we don’t give up everything we love in order to write.

But how do we do it?

For me, the key is to determine what things I love most and do those things whole-heartedly. Everything else I try to minimize or eliminate from my schedule.

So what does that look like?

I look for anything I can outsource—I utilize housekeeping, online shopping, and grocery delivery services on a regular basis. For some this might mean hiring a yard service or choosing a few meals a week not to cook.

I look for ways to work when my family doesn’t need me—I write while my kids are at practices, music lessons and when they go on field trips. For some this might mean writing while waiting for teenagers to come home or while sitting in a waiting room. It might mean writing on lunch breaks or very early in the morning.

I look for ways to work more efficiently—I prefer peace and quiet when I’m working on my manuscript, but I’ve learned I can write blog posts and social media updates while we are watching football on Saturday afternoons. I also try to focus on one type of writing at a time—manuscript, blog, social media. Multi-tasking sounds good in theory, but it rarely works for me. For some this might mean scheduling writing retreats or clearing their schedule two nights a week for writing.

I look for ways to do things differently—I listen to podcasts, read blogs, and study books on productivity and the craft. I experiment with writing at different times of day, in different environments, and using different techniques. Sometimes they don’t work, but sometimes they turn out to be game changers. For some this might mean experimenting with writing late at night or trying morning pages or flash fiction to spark creativity.

I don’t look to others for validation—I’m not going to make everyone happy and I have to remind myself of this often! I can’t do this writing job well and volunteer every time I see a need. I say yes sometimes, but I usually say no to anything that will cut into my writing time. This is a real challenge for some of us (raises hand!), but it’s a vital skill all writers need to develop.

How about you? How do you do it? What tips do you have to share?

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Lynn H. Blackburn believes in the power of stories, especially those that remind us that true love exists, a gift from the Truest Love. She’s passionate about CrossFit, coffee, and chocolate (don’t make her choose) and experimenting with recipes that feed both body and soul. She lives in South Carolina with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Her first book, Covert Justice, won the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery/Suspense and the 2016 Carol Award for Short Novel. Her second book, Hidden Legacy, releases June 2017 and the first book in her new Dive Team Investigations series, Beneath the Surface, releases March 2018 from Revell. You can connect with Lynn at www.LynnHBlackburn.com and as @LynnHBlackburn on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

A Southern Setting...No Matter Where You Are

By Lindsey P. Brackett

Terry Kay told me recently, at a writers’ workshop in the Sautee Valley, that I am too young to write true southern fiction. He’s right, of course. I didn’t live through the civil rights movement, and while I remember when we got our first VCR, I don’t remember the year the lights came on.

I think what he meant was the southern fiction I raised myself on has evolved, like this region itself. This new fiction carries Southern overtones anywhere it’s set.  After all, these days are all about oxymoron. One can love skillet cornbread on a gluten-free diet.

So what is it, exactly, that makes a setting southern? What differentiates fiction set in the deep ravines of Mississippi or the foothills of Appalachia from my debut fiction set in the South Carolina Lowcountry?

And what if—heaven forbid—I put down the words bouncing around in my head about a young mother from Atlanta who’s been transplanted to New York? Will I still be writing southern fiction if she’s surrounded by people who don’t eat grits?

Of course I will. Because more and more what defines our setting, making us southern writers, is how we present a few key components.

LANGUAGE is the first cue that settles me into what I’m reading. In The Poisonwood Bible, there’s no doubt these girls are sweltering in the Congo, but with phrases like “reckon so”, “ever-when”, and “mess of fish”, there’s also no doubt they came from rural Georgia. As witnesses, we must pay homage to language of our culture and use it appropriately. For instance, I was grown before I heard the phrase “I s’wanee…” uttered in real life by a blue-haired woman in South Georgia. Up north of the gnat line we flat out swear. Readers (especially regional ones) will know where you are, and where you came from, simply by the language you use.

LORE is another way to lend a setting specificity. My wonderful editor, bless her heart, is Nebraskan, so she needed clarification for why I used “haints” when referencing the blue ceiling of a Lowcountry farmhouse. But anyone along the coast of South Carolina knows, you paint the ceiling and porch “haint blue” out of superstition. This is as necessary as butter on biscuits.

LEGENDS offer credibility to your setting. I grew up in the heart of legendary Coke country where any drink, other than sweet tea, is Coke. But my mama grew up in the Lowcountry, so she’s partial to Pepsi. In my book, I used this regional difference to cement a subtle difference between characters. From products to celebrities— i.e. I don’t know football but I know who Herschel Walker is—these legends are part of your setting’s fabric. Be sure to weave them in for authenticity.

Finally, remember setting is the background against which your story plays out. Would your story be different if set somewhere else? The answer might surprise you—and help you define what specific components your “Southern setting” is missing.

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Lindsey P. Brackett once taught middle grades literature, but now she writes award winning books in her own works in the midst of motherhood. A blogger since 2010, she has published articles and short stories in a variety of print and online publications including Thriving Family, Country Extra, HomeLife, Northeast Georgia Living, Splickety Prime, Splickety Love, and Southern Writers Magazine Best Short Fiction 2015.  Lindsey has served as Editor of Web Content for the Splickety Publishing Group, and she writes a popular column for several North Georgia newspapers. Still Waters, influenced by her family ties to the South Carolina Lowcountry, is her debut novel. A story about the power of family and forgiveness, it’s been called “a brilliant debut” with “exquisite writing.” A Georgia native, Lindsey makes her home—full of wet towels, lost library books, and strong coffee—at the foothills of Appalachia with her patient husband and their four rowdy children. Connect with her at www.lindseypbrackett.com or on Facebook: Lindsey P. Brackett, Instagram: @lindseypbrackett, or Twitter: @lindsbrac.

In Six Words-Part One

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for  Southern Writers Magazine

Using this picture as inspiration, in Six Words or Less give it a caption...ready, set, go.  

Writing Advice from Larry McMurtry

By Thomas Conner

In the late fall of 1979, I was spending a few days in Washington, DC, and decided I would drop into Booked Up, Larry McMurtry’s rare and collectable bookstore in Georgetown. I was not expecting to actually see McMurtry.  I figured just being in his store would help me improve my writing skills, sort of literary osmosis.  To my complete surprise, Larry McMurtry was not only sitting quietly behind the desk reading, he was the only person in the entire establishment.

I could hardly contain my excitement at seeing my favorite contemporary author up close and personal. I introduced myself and immediately began to share with him my extensive knowledge of his work to date. I stated that although Terms of Endearment was a brilliant novel, and I was sure he would be offered a movie contract someday soon, The Last Picture Show was my favorite book of all time.  We discussed his story-telling style for several minutes then I mentioned I was an aspiring author, albeit an unpublished one.

“Do you have any advice that could help me become a better writer?” I asked, not really expecting him to take me seriously and offer me anything I could actually use.

I was totally wrong.  He gestured for me to sit down in the empty chair next to him. I slid quickly into the seat and listened intently as Mr. McMurtry gave me the following writing advice:

When working on a project, it is ultra-important for the writer to write every day, regardless of how tired, or sick, or uninspired one might feel. Never let the story cool down, he said. The most important thing is to get the complete story out and down on paper as soon as possible, no matter how crude and unpolished it might be.  Push straight through and get that first draft completed. Then, he said, the rewrite and polish can begin. Don’t waste time and momentum rewriting as you go. It can bog you down, add weeks to the completion of the work, and even cause you to go stale and lose your enthusiasm for the story.

I have used that advice in my writing and I will continue to do so. I write the story straight through first. Then, I come back and try to shape a decent work out of it.

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Thomas Conner, also known as Tom, Tommy, and TC by friends and family, was born in Florida two miles from the Alabama state line. He spent most of his early years living on the Alabama side. He graduated from the University of West Florida in Pensacola with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities. Conner wrote his first novel when he was 12, which burned in a house fire, and has been writing ever since. He published a family history book in 2000 entitled The Conners of Conecuh County, Alabama, and has published several articles. Since 1980 he has resided in Central California’s Big Valley, where he has worked in higher education at a prestigious private university in Student Life. When not writing or working his daytime job, Conner is involved with classic movies, serving on a classic cinema committee and promoting a summer classic movie series. His Social Media links are: Facebook Author Page, Amazon book link, and Trailer link.

What Are Your Headlines?

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Apparently Mark Zuckerberg became a father this weekend, for the second time. Yahoo deemed this newsworthy, and as I read this headline and a few others, something struck me that relates to storytelling.

Who cares?

I'm not suggesting nobody cares, what I'm asking is who is it that cares? Certainly it's a life-changing event for the parents of any new child, so they go at the top of the list. Next in line would be their families, then friends, then associates, and so on. At some point fans of the co-founder of Facebook presumably care, as do writers for Yahoo.

Meanwhile, North Korea was testing hydrogen bombs.

There you have one news story with limited impact on the average person's life, and another news story with considerably greater potential. Which of these stories, if you were to put them in your novel, would keep your reader up at night turning pages?

Fact is, either one is fair game, since a comedy-drama can easily exploit the challenges of something as normal as parenthood, while the threat of nuclear war is a spy thriller staple. Perhaps even better, combine them: if the undercover agent's wife or daughter has just given birth, does that not raise the stakes for the hero?

The point is, every life event, however big or small, can have a role in a story if it furthers the plot or adds a layer of interest. Like reporters always looking for a scoop, storytellers need look no further than the daily events around us to find plausible plot points and twists.

As you look back over your own life, there are certain episodes that stand out in your mind more than others. These headlines of your life are step one if you're writing a memoir, but any one of them makes you uniquely qualified to fictionalize it as an event in your novel. You had to live through it; why not capitalize on it?

It's good to think of the significant events in your novel as if they were headlines, and to make each one newsworthy. Some may be a personal crisis just for the hero while others may be the basis for widespread panic. Give your characters captivating headlines to live out, and your audience will stick around to read all about it.

Writing is Tough

By Crystal Klimavicz

Writing is tough. Anyone who tells you something different may be lying. For most of us, writing is demanding, onerous, and exhausting. And hopefully, we love every moment of it.

As a woman, I view writing novels akin to giving birth. You’re full of excitement in the beginning when it’s all brand new. But as the months wear on, you feel weighted down and the joy is replaced with reality as the real work kicks in. Giving birth requires us to dig deep within ourselves to get through the process.

Some may ironically argue that writing and then editing a manuscript feels much the same.

Like those births, though, we somehow forget and inevitably move on. We seem not to remember the uncertainty, the fear, and the hurt involved with having children. Women have more babies and go through another nine months of carrying and the pain of bearing, again and again.

Writers also start anew, creating a different set of characters and forming unique plot ideas, designing new conflicts and different resolutions, all as if the pain of the writing process had never been experienced before.

I recently discovered a quote, “The greatest part of your road trip isn’t arriving at your destination, but all the wild stuff that happens along the way”, and I couldn’t agree more.  Of course, laying eyes on your final printed book for the first time is rewarding, fulfilling, and perhaps life-changing.

But let us never forget to appreciate the path that brought us there.

Love those early mornings when you wake up before dawn and tap-tap-tap away at your laptop with a steaming cup of coffee nearby. Love the days when the laundry piles up and the dishes remain uncleaned, while you furiously finish out that scene that had outsmarted you for days. And enjoy the late nights when there’s still energy and fire within you, bursting to get out onto the proverbial page. Cherish the first draft, as much as you adore the final. Love the journey, love it all.

The famed American poet, essayist, and journalist of the nineteenth century, Walter “Walt” Whitman once said, “I tramp a perpetual journey”. The definition of tramp is to ‘walk heavily or noisily’; perpetual means ‘never-ending or changing’; and to journey means the ‘act of traveling from one place to another’.

Heed Whitman’s advice, the father of the ‘free verse’ who was ahead of his time. Be loud in your cheer along life’s path; enjoy each moment and don’t restrain. Don’t ever stop moving forward, learning or growing. And, continue the journey through to the end.

Women and writers are resilient. We bear and nurture, we create and we complete.

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Crystal Klimavicz is a novelist from the coasts of Maine who now lives with her husband and two children on an island near Charleston, South Carolina. Though she did request epidurals for both deliveries, she does not fear the scourge of the red pen. She has experienced both pain and joy, and appreciates every moment of the life that she’s been given. Crystal is also the founder of Indie Books Unleashed, a new program that helps indie authors get their books read and reviewed, and she is currently working on her next greatest novel. Her social media links are: Facebook    Author Website  

Twitter   

Writing in Series

By Robin E. Mason

I didn’t think about a series when I wrote the first words of my debut novel. All I knew was there was a story inside me that had to get out—the characters were talking and would not be silent.

Fast forward. Tessa was published for Kindle in March of 2014. I was clueless about anything to do with publishing; a friend formatted and uploaded it for me. By August I knew I needed print books to do author events, and on 31 October, my book was officially in print.

And people read it. And they asked if there was a sequel. When I looked, there in two specific places, one at the beginning and one near the end, the story pointed right at Clara Bess. I had trouble getting her story off the ground, though, because the third book, Cissy, was hanging around already, too. I cut 5000 words and saved them for later.

That story is seven generations, covering 150 years, and I made obsequious notes on who’s who (family tree) and who brought what to the pot luck (most of which never made it to print.)

So here’s what I’ve gleaned about writing in series from a Pantzer’s point of view.

1.      Have a solid story.

2.      Because I’m a Pantzer, I make note of details as I write them. i.e. hair color, favorite food, birthdate, pets, music, and songs, etc.

3.      In both series’ I have made a family tree of key characters. I learned that my four MC’s in the new series are, in fact, related. (shhh, that’s a secret)

4.      Google maps. I have “borrowed” three towns now to create my own. First two were in the mountains, so I needed to know where the hills were and not put the city park on a cliff. (conversely, Cissy liked to teeter on the edge of the cliff… ) I draw out the streets and make note of street names, and which business is where—even if that business never has a role in the final story. But I know if Mercedes is walking past the barber or the church.

5.      I print a calendar for the years of my stories, currently 1912 and 1913 so I know if Pearl’s birthday is on a Sunday (it was.) Because this series is such a tight time frame, I printed out the days in list format to make notes of who met with whom on which day, and which conversation happened when, and other such major events.

https://www.timeanddate.com/

6.      Keep a doc of names in fitting with setting and time. The town clings to its French heritage and ancestry, and many of the characters names are French. The town itself, Saisons, is French.

Basically, if it pertains to your story and there is any possibility it might show up or be needed later (and it probably will) WRITE.IT.DOWN. “I’ve always had voices—er, stories in my head. I once said I should write them all down so someone could write them someday. I had no idea at the time that someone was me!”

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Robin E. Mason has been writing since 1995, and began working in earnest on her debut novel, Tessa, in 2013.  Meanwhile, she cranked out a few dozen poems, made countless notes for story ideas, and earned her BFA in Interior Design.  Ms. Mason lived with depression for many years, and the inherent feelings of worthlessness and invisibility; she didn’t want to be who she was and struggled with her own identity for many years.  Her characters face many of these same demons. Ms. Mason writes stories of identity conflict. Her characters encounter situations that force the question, “Who am I really?” For all who have ever wondered who you are or why you’re here, her stories will touch you in a very real—maybe too real—and a very deep way. “I know, I write from experience.”Ms. Mason has three novels published, the unsavory heritage series. Tessa, Clara Bess, and Cissy are available on Amazon, both for Kindle and in print. She also has several poems included in an anthology, Where Dreams and Visions Live (Anthologies of the Heart Book 1) by Mary Blowers, as well as a short story, Sarafina’s Light, also in an anthology, Blood Moon, compiled by Mary Blowers. She is currently working on The Tilting Leaves of Autumn, Book Two in her new series, Seasons. It releases in November, following The Long Shadows of Summer which releases in August. Books 3 and 4 in the series will be out in 2018. Her social media links are; http://robinemason.com   http://robinsnest212.wordpress.com/

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