GHOST OF A CHANCE?

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.  

The awesome co-hosts for the February 7 posting of the IWSG are Stephen Tremp, Pat Garcia,Angela Wooldridge,

Februry 7 question: What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

What do I love about the genre I'm "currently" writing? 

I believe! 

I believe ghosts, demons, witches & fallen angels exist!

Most parents...

Tell their kids that there are  no such things as ghosts...

Not my parents...

They used to tell me and my sisters...

There were spirits all around us.

(thanks mom & dad)

For years I slept under the covers... 

With a bible over my heart...

Wondering if a spirit was hovering over me in the dark. 

And many nights when I had bad dreams...

I would crawl into my parent's bed hoping to feel safe...

Not a chance! 

My imagination turned them into Dracula and his bride...

So with my heart racing...

I would scurry back to my bed...

Dive under the blankets...

Put a pillow over my head...

Clutch the cross around my neck... 

And sweat myself to sleep.

When I became a mommy it struck me...

These kind of ghost stories weren’t nice. 

And when my kids were afraid of the boogeyman...

I did everything I could to convince them...

There were NO such things as ghosts or monsters.

Looking back...

I’m guessing that my father...

Who was an artist and writer...

Enjoyed telling these kinds of stories...

To get a reaction.

(yup it worked)

Now mind you...

I too love telling a good ghost story...

To get a big reaction...

But not by scaring the bejeebers...

Out of my kids or grandkids…

But rather in a published novel.

I’m on that path now and ...

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

This process of getting published... 

Is a whole lot scarier...

Than any ghost or monster real or imagined. 

So with lots of prayers and faith I forge forward...

And you?

What is/was the process of publishing your book like?

Scary? Exciting? Daunting? 

Or what?

Always,

Em-Musing

GIVE ME A HIGH FIVERR

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month.

It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.

Happy New Year to all ye Merry Writers!!!

Ready to ring in a new year of writing?

Me too!

Today’s question for the first IWSG blog of 2018 is:

What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?

For me...

It wasn't a step but a shift.

I can’t say what it was or what caused it...

But one morning in mid-December when I woke up...

I felt the fear of self-publishing shift out of neutral...

And zoom into high gear.

Even before the new year began...

I hired an artist to design a cover...

It’s already done and I love it!

I also hired an editor...

For one last go-round of edits (does it ever end?)...

And thank the lord there were only a few minor fixes.

Already in place now are freelancers...

To format the pages to upload the manuscript... 

Into Createspace and other self-publishing platforms...

To design and maintain an author webpage...

Then to market the hell out of my book—AZAEL’S LOT...

And all because of Fiverr (no, I’m not a paid endorser, just a believer)

That handy, dandy, reasonably priced freelancer site...

And of course, of course, of course...

I'll be checking all the excellent resources...

On the IWSG website for self-publishing. http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/self-publishing.html

And definitely, I’ll keep y’all posted throughout the year...

Especially the launch.

So?

What are your plans?

Always, Em-Musing

HIT ME- PLEASE

  This part of the monthy blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only,  Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.

December's Optional Question: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently? 

The answer to this question is easy...

I’d hire a “hit” man...

Not to take someone out...

To keep someone in...

Me, specifically!

In my office...

In my chair...

And hit me every time my mind wondered...

Or checked emails or Facebook...

Or decided to clean...

Or let Netflix lure me to la la land...

Rather than focus on my manuscript.

Actually, I’m a lot farther along than last year...

But not far enough!

To figure out what's holding me from pushing forward...
I had to look backward...

When I started writing my first manuscript...

There was no such thing as self-publishing...

Oh, there were a few oddballs out there who did…

But nothing compared to like today’s influx...

In fact...

If any writer dared to self-pub...

Other writers would snicker...

"Must not be good if she can't snare an agent."

And me? I was ignorantly happy…

Believing that all I had to do was write...

And all the mundane things of getting published…

Would be left up to an agent, editor, and publisher.

When self-publishing became the newest craze…

I lifted up my haughty chin and sneered…

“Me? Self-pub? Never!”

Well, here I am...

More than a decade later...

(though I have written 3 other manuscripts)

With my haughty chin down...

And my humble pie up...

Ready to self-pub.

But lord the process is scary...

It's an emotional roller coaster...
Blindly flying around... 
All the downturns, upturns and curves...  
Ofthe newest marketing and social media skills.
What about you?

Are you self-pub'd?

What did your process feel like? 

Or did you find your way to traditional publishing? 

Always,

Em-Musing

P.S.

From my part of the world to yours - may your holidays be blessed and joyous! See you next year.

DAY OF THE DREAD

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month.I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated. 

Optional Question: Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

Today is November 1st...

Known here in Mexico as...

The Day of the Dead! 

Me as a catrina with my jungle kitty, Indie

But if you're a writer...

You probably know it as...

The Day of the Dread!

The NaNoWriMo challenge!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Me? Will I do NaNoWriMo?

No, not this year.

I did do NaNoWriMo several years ago.

It was exhilarating…

It was brutal…

It was also…

Never finished.

I wrote almost 30,000 words…

But just couldn’t find the oomph to go on.

I know, wimpy, wimpy, wimpy…

But in my defense…

I used to write copy-on-the-fly all the time…

When I worked at a radio station writing spots.

On a typical day…

A salespeople would fly into the creative department panicked…

“Client needs a :60 on the air in a few hours.”

Now mind you, I didn't write the average rip'n'read spots...

I wrote creative, well produced spots...

And because radio is 'theatre of the mind'...

I often incorporated SFX, music...

And sometimes character voices (I do over 30).

I had no option to say, “Eh, I don’t feel like writing today.”

Or...

“I’m busy with another project.”

I gotta say, as hectic as it often was...

I loved the challenge of writing fast and furious copy...

But unlike the NaNoWriMo challenge…

I had to finish...

And sometimes I got rewarded...

Winning many ADDY and Crystal awards. 

So each November 1st I ask myself...

Do I need a drill to force myself to write?

No.

So, it’s no, no, NaNoWriMo for me this year.

But what about you?

Will you do or not do NaNoWriMo?

Got any scary NaNoWriMo stories? 

Always,

Em-Musing

P.S. Hmm? Come to think about it - being part of thousands of writers  around the world racking their brains out for a month does sound kinda, sorta fun. So maybe next year I'll do NaNoWriMo. But before I even use one brain cell thinking about that challenge,  I'm going to concentrate on another upcoming challenge - the 2018 A-Z Challenge!