My Writing Process

I was invited to join this blog tour by the incredibly talented Jane Isaac. I loved her first thriller/mystery novel, An Unfamiliar Murder. I can't wait for the next on in the series, The Truth Will Out, set to be released in April.

I'm always interested to hear about the creative processes of others, so I'm glad Jane included me. I'm enjoying reading the other blogs in this tour.

What am I working on?

I really try to focus on one project at a time, but that isn't always the case. Right now I'm working on several books. The one I'm trying to focus on is the follow up to my historical western romance, The Rustler's Daughter. I meant it as a stand-alone book, but soon after its release, I received numerous messages asking for books about his two brothers. So, I'm currently working on Matthew's book, which I don't have a title for just yet.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Most of my work has been in the paranormal genre. That genre is saturated with great indie and traditional writers, so coming up with something original can be tough. I ran across my idea by accident. Generally, in paranormal books about vampires, they are all the same kind of vampire. They may have different abilities, but they are usually turned the same way and can be killed the same way. In my Díon series, I had a vampire from Scotland and one who was a Viking warrior, so when I started doing research on how they may be different, I found an overwhelming amount of information on creatures from all over the world. So I thought it might be fun to have each one be different. My vampire characters are created from the lore of the region they come from. It's been a lot of fun doing research.

Why do I write what I do?

I write what I love. I have always been fascinated with the paranormal, so it wasn't a surprise that I wanted to write about it. I'm also a big fan of romance. I want to write books I'd like to read.

How does my writing process work?

When I'm bored (or having trouble sleeping), I make up stories to keep my brain occupied. It might start out as a single scene that I keep playing in my head until I get it the way I want it, then I write it down, and it grows from there. I generally see the scenes in my head, like a movie, complete with dialogue. I often write scenes out of order. I always think it's going to be a nightmare when editing, but my brain must have some kind of overarching idea of where the story is going because it always works out.

Other times, I just have to write. There is no easy scene in my head. That's when the real work starts. I always say that my characters keep me on a need to know basis, which isn't a lot. Sometimes I start writing a chapter, and I have no know what's going to happen. It's both frustrating and exciting.

I never throw anything away. While I was writing the first two Díon books, I wrote two scenes that I thought I would be using in those books, but they both wound up in the third book.

I try to write every day, but with work and family demands, it's hard to find the time. I'm not as disciplined as I should be. I want writing to be fun not forced. I don't want it to be another responsibility that I have on my "to do" list.

Thanks for reading about my writing process. I nominate the following writers to share their own creative approaches with us next week:

Charity Parkerson has a ton of work published. She writes romance, paranormal romance, and erotica. I am a huge fan of her paranormal romance books. She has won numerous awards and has recently signed on with Ellora's Cave.

Roberta J Gordon is the author of Gemini Witching: Elements 101. In addition to writing, she is also deeply committed to helping new authors navigate the self publishing process.

Mireille Chester has published several books in the fantasy genre in both YA and adult. She loves to spend time immersed in worlds filled with magic. I love Mireille's writing style, and her books are full of the best characters.

New Self Publishing Services/Resources Company

As a self published author, I'm always looking for resources to share. I want to welcome Bobbie Faulkner, who will be talking about her company, Jules-Faulkner Publishing, LLC, and some of the services they offer. I checked out the website myself and immediately bookmarked it. I loved their "Things to know..." page. They offer a variety of services at affordable prices. Check it out!

Here's what Bobbie has to say about her new venture:

The brave new frontier authors face daily is self publishing.  If you’ve been on this adventure for more than thirty minutes you’ve realized there are a lot of choices out there.  You can literally spend days researching and still feel like you’re running in circles.  My very good friend Michelle Franco changed my world almost two years ago when she told me that publishing an E-book was FREE on Amazon. 

Since that time I’ve met so many awesome authors that I treasure as close friends now.  It’s like power networking any time we get together, chat on the phone or Skype.  We keep discussing the options and websites available to help and how can we help others that are in our similar shoes.

One adventure I had was obtaining my Copyright.  A friend was guiding me through the process because it was like extra tricky, or I was extremely dense.  While I’m not an IT whiz, I do play one for my daytime job and had had the experience of using GoToMeeting.com.  Using this website I was able to create a meeting, share my desktop with my friend and then she was able to guide me for the final stages of completing my quest.

Later I thought if I was having difficulty with the Copyright website maybe other people are too.  I extrapolated from that thought to pondering the chances of compiling a site to help other authors, using GoToMeeting.com if needed.

I’ve had many hobbies over the years.  Photography, photo editing, book covers, book marks and logos, I've found it was therapy actually.   I discovered that many of my author friends are exceptionally talented in the area of editing. So…..jumping ten steps ahead of myself, I decided to try this new idea of combining all of these things together to help other authors.  That's where Jules-Faulkner Publishing was born.  We want to be a friendly voice for other authors, especially budding wordsmiths, that are about to face the same struggle in finding help.  If a friendly voice needs to be a helping hand we want to make that available as well.

Where traditional publishers offer these services in house, so to speak, we are offering editing, graphics, formatting, and consulting services ala cart, if that is what fits the need.  We are also compiling a list, a work in progress, of reference links that would help new authors.  Now while a few have raised their eyebrows over the fact that not only are we offering services, this list of reference links also directs you to other sites for some of the same services, trust me it’s intentional.  Knowledge is power, and it’s a journey that never ends.  I feel compelled to share what I’ve learned.  As varied as genres are, this process should not be viewed as the cookie cutter design to help everyone, but an avenue to promote well informed decisions.  While in the process if you run into trouble and need a hand, we are available to help.  Even if that help is just a friendly chat, know you are not alone in this journey. 

Drop by and visit our website at Jules-FaulknerPublishingLLC.com.  Leave us a message, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.  We look for any reason to grab a cup of coffee and pontificate the “what if’s” or “what’s next”, and we'd love to share it with you.

PS...If you've found links you found useful in your quest, drop us a line, and we will add it to the list.

Booktastik - Book Deals and More!

There is a fabulous new website for readers and authors called Booktastik. Readers can sign up to receive emails alerting them to book bargains in their favorite genres. There will also be news about contests and giveaways. For authors and publishers, advertise new releases, giveaways, and get to know new readers.

I love the look of this website, and each genre has its own color and clever animal mascot. There's so much to explore there, so check it out and subscribe now for an opportunity to win a Kindle!

Bully - The Documentary

Taking a break from holiday baking a few days before Christmas, I found my daughter watching a movie, so I decided to join her. She said she was watching a documentary called Bully. This film followed kids in a particular school district during the 2009/2010 school year. What I saw made me sick to my stomach. As you know from reading my blog early on, I've had several incidents of bullying with both of my children. What shocked me was how absolutely clueless the parents and school administrators were. I shouldn't be surprised, since it was exactly what I experience when I was dealing with my own kids' bullying issues.  

First, parents (myself included) have often experienced bullying as children and don't realize that bullying today has moved to a whole new level of cruelty. When I was a kid, getting off the bus in the afternoon meant I was safe until the next day. That is no longer the case. With social media and cell phones, kids can get bullied 24/7. Bullies can organize on Facebook and make groups or pages dedicated to destroying others. Kids can now be bullied by kids they don't even know or go to school with.

When I was a kid, bullying was part of growing up. Parents even believed that it could build character by forcing kids to stick up for themselves. For me, that was actually true to some extent. I had to fight when I was a kid, for myself and my little brother, and that fighting spirit has definitely helped me as an adult. But it was me against one person. Bullies didn't usually form big groups to gang up on one person. Generally, there were one or two jackasses in school and everyone knew who they were and tried to stay away from them. Now it's like going to school in a shark tank: kill or be killed.

In the documentary, I didn't think the kids would not act like idiots with a camera rolling. I was wrong. This documentary is raw and shows exactly what kids are having to deal with, including parents who aren't aware of the severity of the situation. Bully includes following the families of several kids who committed suicide as a result of bullying. I rarely cry, but watching those parents try to deal with what happened to their children, and their fight to try to get someone to listen had me sitting next to a box of tissue. One boy was only 11 years old. Tragedy doesn't even begin to cover it.

The school administrators are either insanely stupid, or they're trying to cover their asses by denying the extent to which bullying occurs in schools. I watched in horror as they followed one female vice principal, who tried to make a bully and his victim shake hands. When the victim refused, the vice principal sent the bully to class and proceeded to lecture the victim on how disappointed she was that he wouldn't kiss and make up. The victim detailed the abuse he has been dealing with, and that his parents had even contacted the police, who had warned the bully to stay away, but the abuse continued. The vice principal said she believed the victim and the bully could be great friends. That's a whole new level of stupid.

Due to escalating violence on the school bus against one of the boys in the documentary, the producers showed the parents the footage because the father kept putting pressure on the boy to stand up for himself. Once they saw the level of violence against their son (including being threatened with death, strangled, punched, and stabbed with a pencil), they were shocked. They went to the same vice principal and she completely blew them off and talked about her new grandchild. It made me sick.

I had to fight to make sure my kids were protected; but, eventually, I had to take my son out of public school and home school him. I was told by school administrators that my kids needed to "get along," "ignore the bullies," and was even told that they were being "tattletales." I asked the teachers and administrators, "What if you were being bullied at work, would you ignore it?" That idea is ridiculous. So what message are we sending our kids? 

Until parents and school administrators get their heads out of the sand and admit there is a real problem and take steps to actually make a difference (that doesn't include the gratuitous No Bullying posters) kids will continue to suffer and die.

After the documentary, I asked my daughter (in 10th grade) what she thought about school administrators and parents when it comes to bullying. She said "Mom, no one cares."

They have a website called The Bully Project. Check it out and support them any way you can. Even if you don't have children in school, this is a problem that needs our attention. Here is the Facebook page, Stand for the Silent, that is featured in the documentary.  Show our kids we care.

Here's the trailer for Bully.

Bully is currently on Netflix, or you can rent it on YouTube for $3.99 here.

Addendum: After writing this blog, I realized that I left out an important point. I missed a little bit of the beginning of the documentary, so I'm going to go back and watch the parts I didn't see, but I don't recall them talking to the parents of the bullies. Compassion has to start at home. Parents have to teach their kids not to bully others from an early age and take decisive action if they are told their kids are bullying other children. I tell my kids to treat people the way they want to be treated. Parents have to be involved. Teachers and school administrators cannot control the problem alone. We also have to empower our children to speak up when they see others being bullied, and let them know that the adults will protect them and back them up if they speak out.

Gift Warped for Christmas

I’m warped and twisted. I know that. I come by it honestly though. My mom used my brother and I for her own personal amusement when we were kids. For Christmas, she'd buy us toys like rubber band guns, puff ball shooters, belly whoppers and socker boppers, making us gladiators in our own living room coliseum. Then she'd let us go at it, while she laughed her butt off, and so did we. We never got hurt (except for that one time my socker bopper deflated, and I took my brother out with a right cross, but that's another story), and we loved playing tricks on each other.

One morning, my mother and brother mounted a puff ball shooter sneak attack while I was still sleeping. The puff ball shooters were large, plastic straws loaded with a puff ball that you blew at your enemies. Fairly mild compared to our usual weapons. Of course, I had mine loaded and ready. In my dazed, sleepy state, I grabbed my shooter and blew for all I was worth, hoping to hit them as they made their cowardly retreat. What I didn't know, was that my brother had filled my shooter with toilet paper, effectively plugging it up. I blew so hard that, with no where else to go, the air actually came out of my tear ducts and dried out my eyes with the added bonus of popping my ears, which I didn't even know were plugged. They laughed hysterically. But revenge is sweet, and they had to sleep with one eye open for awhile.

I love those crazy memories. I'm glad my mom was twisted. Twisted moms are more fun. I hope to pass that spirit on to my children. In all of the holiday insanity, don't forget to have fun! Get some socker boppers! I guarantee you'll get more action than a gaming console.

May you and your family have the Merriest Christmas and a Happiest of New Years!

Book Release! Where Will You Turn?

YES! It’s finally here! Where Will You Turn? Book Three of the Díon Series is now live on Amazon and Nook. Thank you all for being so patient. I’m really excited about this book. I don’t normally say that about my writing, but I'm really happy with the way this book turned out. I thought this was going to be the last book in the series, but now I’m not so sure. Plus, my editor threatened me with bodily harm if I didn’t write books for Bohdan and Pierce. She said “Please, please, please!” That’s three pleases! How can I say no?

This series will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first one I started writing. The characters seem like family to me, and I’m not sure I can leave them just yet.

To the fans of this series: You are amazing! Your comments and encouragement mean the world to me. It makes me smile and keeps me focused. Thank you for all your Facebook shares and tweets! Muah! XOXOXO

The first book in the series, Where Will You Run? is on sale for 99 cents through the month of December!

Get your copy here!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble/Nook

New Release - Close Call: A Doris & Jemma Vadgeventure

I've been able to read some excerpts from this new book, Close Call: A Doris and Jemma Vadgeventure, by Australian author Eloise March (AKA - Dionne Lister). From what I've read so far, this book is hysterical. What if our genitals could talk? What would they have to say about our sexual encounters? Check it out! Heehee...

Blurb:

Twenty-two year-old Jemma can’t seem to get her life in order. Her track record with men stinks, she constantly worries about getting fat and ending up a spinster at thirty. And to top it off, she has to be a bridesmaid at her most-hated cousin’s wedding. She feels like her life is over, until Doris decides to help out. Who’s Doris? Doris is Jemma’s vagina, and she thinks more of Jemma than her own brain does. Doris is on a mission to save Jemma from herself, but is the task too much for one vagina to handle?

About the author:

Eloise March is a woman who laughs at her own jokes, swears way too much and breaks any new diet by lunchtime on the day she starts. She believes in women’s equality, and all equality for that matter, and hopes the things she writes touch people in a positive way, and make them think about how they can create a better society for themselves and others.

In her spare time, she enjoys living as her alter ego, Dionne Lister — a suspense and YA fantasy author who is way too embarrassed to talk about vaginas. She likes spending time as Dionne because Dionne has an awesome family, wonderful friends and a cat called Lily, oh, and she has great hair. (She really does have great hair).

If you’re looking for Eloise, or any information about future books in the Doris & Jemma Vadgeventure series, you can visit Dionne’s website, where Eloise has been lucky enough to get her own page http://www.dionnelisterwriter.com. If you’re looking for a chat, you can find Ms. March on Twitter.

Links to the book: 

Amazon 

Smashwords

Waiting for it to be approved for premium and distribution to itunes, kobo, B & N. The paperback should be available in less than a week. I’m just waiting for the proof copy. Thanks!