Saturday 28 July 2012

Courage of a Father to Learn from a Child

It's amazing how you go through your life trying to teach your children all those life lessons that your father taught you growing up:  be polite, clean up your messes, look both ways before crossing the street, don't spit or piss into the wind...and then one day you realise those very kids are the ones teaching you the lessons.

My two kids are basic opposites.  My daughter is 12 and at the stage where she has to deal with hormones and her body and how people react to her body.  her worst trait is that she is shy and afraid of everything.  I was just like that when I was, I was about to write her age but really I was like that from age 11 and have been struggling to get out of being like that ever since.  For my 21st birthday my parents wanted to take me out to a restaurant but I fought with my father because I was too frightened to go to a crowded restaurant.  LShopping Malls at Christmas give me panic attacks.  At 24 I started working as a security guard and got into a full blown shouting match with a parking attendant.  For a few years I was able to talk to people, but had trouble going up to strangers and saying hi.  Over the past few ears I have been getting better, but only when I ssaw how terrified my dauther is of going anywhere and doing anything have I started busting out of my own box.

My son is 10 and fearless.  When I was his age I was getting ready to climb into my turtle shell and hide out.  For him you offer a chance to do something new and he jumps to the front of the line.  he can run into a brand new community pool and make friends within seconds.  When he was 4 he held large cockroaches in his hands at a zoo.  Now he would probably try riding a lion.

An overnight trip to a campground with a youth group came up and my son said, "Okay," before the question was asked.  My daughter said, "no."  Somehow we convinced her to go.  When the time came to get on the bus my son jumped up the stairs.  My daughter needed a push and then sat by the window crying hoping we would pull her out.  When they got back the next day she tried to keep a blank sad face as she talked about all the things she did.

And the lesson is...sometimes you have to do things that scare you or make you feel uncomfortable in order to have new experiences and blossom.  I'm worried that my daughter could end up like me and be afraid of things for a long time.  Writers tend to be loners.  They sit in their little corners of the world giving the voices in their heads a medium to get the writers message out.  They lack the courage to go out and talk to strangers or try new experiences.  It is not their fault really.  With all the people in their heads, who has time for reality?

I probably know more writers who are too afraid to take the next step from being a writer to being a published author than I do of actual published authors.  so many are worried about the rejection or getting bad reviews or not selling any books.  "I want to be a published author, but the manuscript isn't long enough...its not ready yet...blah blah"  If you never take the plunge you never get rejected, but you won't get accepted either.  No great 5 star reviews, no selling your story and getting it out there just a pile of paper taking up space.  Mailing off your manuscript is terrifying and you have to be patient, but like my son, sometimes you just have to take the leap.  For me, I have been sending off stories for almost as long as I have been writing.  I've had some rejection and some acceptance.  The bad part about publishing  online is that so many out there are doing it and it takes time to get your book and name out there.  It's a courageous battle we all must take.  for me I am still afraid, but I try being like my son more and more and hope my daughter will, in her own time, find her own courage.

Thursday 26 July 2012

Guest Bloggin' & Interviewin'

The world of an Indie Author is a crazy spiral of Twitter posts, Guest Blogs and Interviews.  This week I am featured twice.  The first is an interview of literary questions if I were stranded on a desert island with a library.  The second is a post I wrote about how the body fuels the mind.  How to fight writers block you should get up off a chair and go do something.  It's all a matter of getting my name out there.  The secret is that I'm having a ball doing it.



Saturday 21 July 2012

IWU Blog Tour: Melissa Smith


It’s a big day for my blog.  I’m hosting my first blog tour and interviewing my first guest writer to my blog. 

With us today is Melissa Smith author of such books as Cloud Nine, Thunderhead, Fear’s Embrace, and Jealousy’s Rage.  Welcome Melissa and happy birthday.


Tell us a little about your book?

Well, let's see...I have six available, so let me decide... ummm...maybe... Ahh hell. I think we'll go with Jealousy's Rage :) It's a paranormal romance about the gods of Olympus and Atlantis.

What inspired you to write this story?

I've always been intrigued by Atlantis, and while watching an episode of the Twilight Zone had a spark of an idea and ran with it!

What do you enjoy most about writing?

The creativity and the exploration. I love seeing what's around the next corner :)

What do you like least about writing?

Ugh, the waiting on my editor...she takes so long! LOL, I know she's a necessary step, but do I hate the wait!

What type of atmosphere do you like to write in?   ex:  at a coffee show with a lot of noise, in a closet with loud music etc.

Heehee ;) I write in the living room on my laptop. I have a nice big desk that I only occasionally use. It's just so much nicer to be with my family when I'm writing.

If you and your main character were to meet what would you do?  What do you think you would talk about?

Awe man, I would have to kick out his knees and jump on top of him! Talk? Pfft! There would be no talking! LOL

Do you have any writing superstitions?

Nope.

What advice would you give a first time writer?

To just sit down and write.



Melissa's Blog

Melissa on Facebook

Melissa on Twitter

Melissa's Books on Amazon

Melissa's Books on Barnes and Noble

Friday 20 July 2012

5 Questions with Me

Check out this one.  I answered 5 questions having to do with writing.

My Guest Blog 2

Did you get a chance to check out my guest blog about my love for cop shows?  Why not???

Whats Happening

On Facebook I'm a member in the group Indie Writers Unite and with them I am part of a blog tour so coming up on July 22 I will be posting an interview with Melissa Smith author of Jealousy's Rage.

I'm also starting a Facebook group Canadian Indie Authors to bring together Canadian writers so they can discuss what is going on in the Canadian Indie world.

Coming up is also a discussion between myself and Sgt. Reid, the main character of Red Island.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Superstitious

I've always been told baseball players are superstitious.  They would wear the same pair of socks during a winning streak or putting their pants on left leg first then right.  Silly superstitious ball players.

I would never do anything that silly.  Okay, sure I never sscratch an itch on my right palm because that is the hand you get money with and I always scratch the left palm because that is the hand you give money with.  And I might try to get everything to equal my lucky number 13.  Like my first car's license plate was ABNB 652 (6+5+2=13) but then driving home 22 hours after buying it and an ice storm I put it on its roof so I guess it wasn't that lucky.  But I didn't get hurt so that is.  Ha!  When I say I found any way to make things equal 13 I found the way.  Say your phone number was 942-2945 in the 338 area code I would sit there going through the math until coming up with 3+3+8+9+4+2-9-4-5=13 Tada!

Oh damn, I am superstitious.

Its not my fault.  A lot of writers are superstitious.  Some need to write in the same place, same music playing, wearing a certain hat, etc.  It is all a trick of the mind.  Your brain gets it that you need a Staedtler triplus ball M pen in order to get the same mojo as you had to write your first book in order to write the second.  In a recent writers block stint I thought about what I would have given to be working an evening pizza shift at the Urban Eatery in Charlottetown leaning against the door with my notebook and pen.  The smell of tomato sauce, the heat from the 650 degree brick oven, ahhh.

For a while there I named all of the main character's girlfriends with a name starting with the letter C.  Courtney, Catherine, Casey.  In Red Island Reid's wife is Hillary so no C, but it is a rocky marriage so I guess that makes up for it.  On the other side I always wanted to name a main chracter Clay.  Any story I started witha  Clay never got finished so in my head now it will never get finished.

I also prefer to write either with pen and notebook or with the very same computer which has crashed, been erased, and now has a faulty plug.  When I was looking for an agent I sent out my query 13 times before going Indie.

The trouble with superstitions is that they are in your head.  Your head controls what happens.  Like if you think you can't finish a story when you switch to a Bic pen, you won't.  I'm sure almsot every writer has some sort of superstition.  We are only human after all.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Summer, summer time

So my "day job" is that of a chef at a daycare.  Yes, I said chef!  I'm not a cook.  I make breakfast, lunch, and snack for up to 50 kids and 8 staff 5 days a week.  I get to make my own menu and see what will fly with little kids.  A lot of the kids are from reserves up North so they don't get as exposed to certain foods as everyone else.  For instance I had the kids eating fresh fruit salad including mango and pineapple, tukey breast stuffed with a cranberry raisin sage stuffing, fresh hummus, homemade salad dressings, and homemade granola (no nuts).  Oh and they love tuna casserole, tuna fried rice, and a wicked vegetarian lasagna.

But that's not what I'm blogging about.  Though maybe I should blog some recipes. My job is at the college here helping those with little children better their lives.  Therefore, when the college is closed so is the daycare.  So basically I have been off work for two weeks.

I should be writing my second novel, but it is coming along slowly.  Though I did get some fabulous info from an RCMP facial reconstructionist.  I also don't have internet at home.  Makes things tough for promoting an ebook and getting my name out there.  I'm working my Blackberry overtime.  There are times I get Twitter all over myself.

So those who are fans or friends, be patient.  I promise there will be more blog posts coming soon.  For instance I am interviewing Sgt. Reid, my main character.  Perhaps he will let slip what his first name is.

Back to writing book two.