Chickens and Novels

No, I haven't lost my mind. Yes, I know you're thinking that chickens and novels have nothing in common. However, I've come to realize that raising chickens and writing a novel do, in fact, have a lot in common.

Two weeks ago one of my hens laid her first egg. I wasn't expecting any of them to start laying until mid- to late August, but there it was, our first egg. It took her a few days after that before she started laying one perfect egg each day. Now we just wait on the other two hens to catch up with her.

So what does that have to do with novels?

You raise these little fluffy chicks, putting all your care and attention into them, making sure they have all the ingredients they need to become healthy and productive egg layers, and then you toss them out into the world hoping for the best. Just biding your time, waiting for your payback in return for all you've given.

And then the big day arrives! Your first egg(s)! All the care you've put into your chickens has now paid off. And if you're anything like me, you coo and praise your girls each morning as you collect the lovely little gifts they've left for you.

Still not getting how it's like a novel? Well, let me see.

You put your heart and soul into writing your story. You make sure your characters behave (or don't) according to plan. Their perilous journey makes everyone life difficult, but eventually it comes to completion and the story is over. You edit, and edit, and edit, and then you have someone else edit, before you edit again. You pay attention to every little detail, putting all your care and attention into it, making sure it has all the ingredients needed for a healthy and productive future on the book market.

Sound familiar?

In the end, you just have to let it fly and wait to see if all your hard work is going to pay off. And when it does, you coo and praise it for all the lovely little gifts it leaves for you in the shape of loyal readers and royalty checks each month.

Pictured above are the first four eggs my hen left for me. We made a pancake and eggs breakfast with them, and they tasted better than any eggs I've ever had. :)

InkPop and Teen Writers

I don't normally advertise for other companies, but I was contacted by an employee of Harper Collins wanting me to check out the site called InkPop.com and possibly mention something about it here on the blog. Even that isn't usually a good enough reason for me to share stuff I don't use or like

However... this site is very cool for the teen writer! InkPop focuses mainly on YA and teen writers, and as I don't write YA and certainly not a teen writer any longer, I had my teenager check it out as well. She's 14 (almost 15, she says) and loves reading and writing. Her words were, "It's cool, Mom. I like it and will definitely use it."

From what she told me, the only thing she didn't like is how difficult they have the password section of registration. It has a specific requirement on how your password should be. Something like 6 letters, 1 has to be a number and 1 has to be capitalized... or some such nonsense. She made it through though and moved on into using the site.

Anyway, the site seems to appeal to teens with ways to earn "badges" during your time there by doing things like writing short stories, writing poetry, helping out with critiques, writing fiction and even just trying out everything once. There are 25 badges in total, so there's plenty for the aspiring teen writer to try their hand at.

If you have a teen that enjoys writing, send them this way. They'll find lots of other people who enjoy the same things they do and possibly lead the way to a lifelong enjoyment of the written word. As an author, I like to encourage others to give it a try. I know my teen is.

Writing a Liz Baker story.

My character, Liz Baker, is currently my favorite character to work with. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't say that out loud. Will it make my other characters jealous? Should I treat all my characters equally? Nah! Liz is my favorite!

That being said, she sure as hell can be a difficult character to work with. She's stubborn, demanding, hates to be set on the sidelines when I just don't have the time to deal with her, and she gloats terribly when I come crawling back apologizing for not finding time to work with her. Yeah, she's difficult, but ultimately that's what makes her fun.

I have a routine when it comes to writing a Liz story. I require quiet, no distractions, and loud music. Sounds contradictory doesn't it? Quiet and loud music. LOL! Well, basically I need other people to be quiet and my music to be loud. It's so difficult to stay in a scene when people are roaming around or trying to talk to me. This is why I work when the children are asleep, not here, or playing outside.

I keep saying that one of these days I'll have an office, with a door that locks. And then once my music is on I won't hear anyone. Then I remember that by the time I have that office my kids will be moved out into the world themselves and there won't be anyone to distract me. LOL. Oh well, you deal with what you have and move on.

Anyway, back to Liz. She's my favorite and I plan to work with her for many more books to come. I'm currently working on book three in her series, and already have plans for two more. I see several adventures in her future.

I hope those of you who enjoy Liz and her world aren't suffering too much with the lack of a new story. I'm *planning* on book 3 being ready or very close to ready for release by the end of the year. Now if I could find the right title for it... Any suggestions?

Reading a book series in order

I love reading books that are in a series. I like being able to get a more detailed knowledge about the characters and their world with each additional book. And of course I like writing series books.

My question is: Do you expect a book in the middle of the series to explain, in detail, things that happened in all th book that came before it? Or are you good with passing mentions of previous events as it pertains to the book you're currently reading?

The reason I ask is that I noticed some bad reviews on the book I'm currently reading only because it didn't explain past events in the series and "expected" the reader to already know their details.

Personally, I find this ridiculous. I'm on book 3 in this series and I know all about the previous events because...now this is a doozy...I READ THE TWO BEFORE IT! OMG! Yes, you're suppose to read books in order when they're in a series. I thought everyone knew this little tidbit of information. So why in the world would someone give a book a bad review because it didn't tell you what you should already know before you started reading the book? Sheesh!

Now, if anyone out there thinks this way, and want to try their hand at reading my series books, just don't do it out of order. I don't write that way. I will mention past things/people/events as it pertains to the current story and will NOT explain it in full detail. Liz will say something like, "Marcus, my ex vampire lover who I just so happen to have stacked and burned his body in a mountain cabin." She will NOT go into greater detail talking about how Marcus murdered so & so, or how he said this and that, or how the cabin smelled/looked before she burned it down. Why? Because none of that pertains to the current story. If you want to know all that then you should have read book 1 before reading book 3.

To me, it just makes sense.

I don't get the bad reviews about this nonsense. Seriously, have some people gotten this lazy in their reading habits? *Shakes head in amazement*

WIP & My Happiness

WIP is what writers call their most recent work in progress. If you're on Twitter or Facebook you've probably seen someone comment on their WIP from time to time. Well, that is if you're following any writers to begin with.

The other day I was complaining about not being able to get any work done on my current WIP: Liz Baker, book 3. However, yesterday I managed to crank out a good bit of work in it. YAY! I was definitely feeling like a happy camper when I was finished. How did I manage any work? Well, I had to do a bad mommy thing and sit the two younger girls in front of the television to watch a dvd movie. I got an whole 1 hour and 18 minutes of writing time. I won't say it was uninterrupted time though, as I had to stop halfway through to break up a screaming argument between the two of them. That's always fun.

Anyway, yesterday was a good writing day, leaving me feeling happy and relieved. There's something about the kind of release only writing allows me. I don't know if it's the same for all writers, but for me writing is something my mind craves, and without it I ended up feeling frustrated and disheveled. Even these blog entries aren't enough to satisfy the requirement. It's my outlet.

Before I started writing on a regular basis I had other things to occupy my desire for productivity. I bet you didn't know that I owned two different homemade bath supply companies before jumping into writing as a career. During those days when I became frustrated I'd go to my workshop and experiment with new soap fragrances and designs. create new bath salt combinations, order supplies I was running low on, or take pictures of new products for the website. It kept me pretty busy, especially during the holiday seasons.

But even all that didn't keep me satisfied. Only writing does that, and when I can't get the time to write I get frustrated...as you all witnessed the other day. Eek!

Anyway, Liz is well into her next adventure and I'm feeling light and shiny today. I'm off to do my weekly grocery shopping trip, visit with my mother and grandmother, go by the library, and stop by the post office. If I get it all done fast enough I *might* get the chance to scrap out another thousand words, or so. Fingers Crossed!

Mental Writing for the masses.

The other day I complained to Tim that I hadn't gotten any book work done this week other than mentally. He laughed and asked, "What the heck is 'mental' book work?" Duh! Geez, some people...

Those of you who are writers know exactly what mental writing is, but for those of you who don't, it's what we writers do when we don't have the time to sit down and actually type/write our stories or articles. Most writers write in their heads from the time they wake up 'til the moment their brains close down for the night. And some of us (myself included) continue "writing" in our sleep. Dreams come in handy when writing fiction.

When the kids are screaming about some sibling unfairness I'm wondering how Liz will tolerate me putting her in a swimsuit. When Tim is texting me from work because he's bored, I'm contemplating the color of Liz's hotel room comforter. As I'm fighting with my pillow and trying my damnedest to fall asleep, I'm being hit with the most perfect solution to tie the next Liz Baker book together with a planned short story I'll be offering for free here in the future.

Do you get it now? It's mental writing!

It helps to know that even when I can't seem to find the quiet time to put fingers to keyboard in my current book file I always have the time to work ideas out in my head, and my notebook and ink pen is never far away.