Tag: Amwriting

QuickJAB

An Award for Maggie Sloan

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SPY 3D with NewApple2019

I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY  has been awarded the 2019 EBook New Apple Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing by New Apple Literary Services.

New Apple’s Annual Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing were established to honor the creative achievements within the world of indie and self-publishing that so often go unnoticed among the multitude of book releases.

happydance We tried to get a photo of Spike doing his wacky dance, but he was too busy pestering Larry. Here are his fill-ins.

Not sure who Spike and Larry are? Time to read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY.

SPY 3D with NewApple2019

 

QuickJAB

International SPY DAY

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OCTOBER 10 is International SPY DAY. From the first Tuxedo worn to a dinner party held in Tuxedo, NY in 1886 to the Premier release of From Russia with Love in London in 1963, OCTOBER 10 has had special significance in the World of Spies.

OCTOBER 10, 2019 ~ Best day ever to read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY Celebrate your spy-ness as you join Maggie Sloan in Maggie Sloan Mystery Series, Book 1.

 

QuickJAB

Spying on Sweet Procrastination

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What do you get when an author who is also a farmer with fifty chickens avoids writing the next chapter of Book One of the SWEET DEAL COZY MYSTERIES because it might be scary?

A sweet chicken procrastinator.

 

girl-spy

What do you get when an author avoids the final editing of the novel, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY, because editing stinks?

A sweet, stinky, spying chicken procrastinator.

 

writing tools

What do you get when it’s blog day on the schedule and an author avoids writing a blog?

A sweet, stinky, spying chicken procrastinator blog.

 

QuickJAB

The Beta Hero

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(Pic grabbed from the article in Indies Unlimited)

Yvonne Hertzberger wrote an outstanding article about the Beta Hero in Indies Unlimited. After reading her article, I realized I tend to write Beta Heroes too.  Beta guys have more depth, as far as I’m concerned.

I know a Beta Hero who learned to toss pizza when he was eight years old because he loved to cook. You’ll meet him in I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY when it’s published in January 2019.

THE GIRL WHO SAW CLOUDS has a Beta Hero. Remember how upset Pops got over Vanessa staying in town after the grid went down?

Even SWEET DEAL COZY MYSTERIES has more than one Beta Hero you’ll meet in Book 2 in Late Spring 2019. Not to give anything away, but you’ll recognize Roger and Jack.

Click the link below to read Yvonne’s full article. What do you think about a Beta Hero? Or do you prefer the Alpha Male when you read?

The Beta Hero: A Non-Stereotypical Male Character – Indies Unlimited

QuickJAB

Acknowledgments

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thank you text on black and brown board
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

The novel’s done. The final draft has been copyedited, proofed, and formatted for publishing. Now for the Front Matter and the Back Matter. Somewhere in the Front Matter or the Back Matter, it depends on which template you use or source you listen to or read last, is the Acknowledgments.

I’ve read that writing the Acknowledgments is a drudge. Harder than writing the book. It took me a year to write the book. Don’t need a year to write Thank You, right?

I did a little internet search on how to write an Acknowledgement for a novel. I learned I spelled it wrong. The next thing I learned is that I shouldn’t bore the reader or be superficial. Of course, I immediately decided anyone who can’t even spell Acknowledgment correctly must be superficial, so I’m doomed.

The Ack – we’ll call it – is supposed to be specific, walk the reader through the entire process of writing the book, but not be too long, must be witty, and again with the not boring. Also, mention names, but respect people’s privacy…ACK!

So here ya go….

ACK!! THANKS Y’ALL, FOR EVERYTHING!

There. That should just about cover it. Didn’t even split an infinitive or invoke a gerund. Nailed it!

 

 

FlatRose

Pink Baby Alligator, Marketing Assistant

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#FlatRose took her new assignment as Marketing Assistant seriously at the I Heart Books signing event in Jacksonville, FL.

When folks stepped close enough to snitch a piece of candy, Rose directed them to the opportunity to be eligible for our drawing for a free book, Sweet Deal Sealed, and the opportunity to be among the first to know when The Girl Who Saw Clouds is published. Triple bonus!

She was a little embarrassed for the balloon creature that was supposed to be an alligator, according to the balloon guy. Rose was heard to whisper it looked more like an anteater.

 

QuickJAB

Confessions of a Story-Teller

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I was born a story-teller. The story words bubbled up inside me and strained to escape. They detoured my brain and flew straight to my mouth or my typing fingers. For years while my words and I struggled to survive in the corporate world, we were feared and labeled frivolous and irrelevant. Wordy, even. My brain suggested I was not a story-teller, and I turned to conforming by slaughtering words. Dark times. I popped the action, sights, sounds, tastes, feels, and detail bubbles. Even when words bolted through the typing exit, very few survived.

My story words and I abandoned the corporate world for the world of fiction. My empowered stories shoot from my typing fingers, leaving room inside for new words to incubate and grow in my brain. First Draft. Second Draft. The only slaughter is Killing the Darlings, but that’s another story.