Why Being a Creator Never Ceases to Amaze Me!
The power of the Mind, Heart and Spirit never ceases to amaze!! (Image titled ‘Magnit’ courtesy of darkwater www.sxc.hu)
When I started with NaNo I never really understood how amazing my mind actually is until I was thrown into a challenge that limited my time to create something I’d never tried before. In my post titled “NaNoWriMo and Other Scary Events”, I declared how utterly nuts I thought I was about trying out a new genre for a writing challenge I’d never undertaken before, but also I also said how excited I was to push my imagination and creative skills to their limits because I thrive under pressure and always do my best when something is staring me in the face saying, “Go on, I dare ya!”
And the result? It worked!! Everything came together and I now possess an almost completed novel written in a handful of different genres I always wanted to try “some time soon” but only when I had all the time in the world to think it through and plan it and outline it, and, and, and…!
As of today I stand at just over 47 000 words and by tomorrow I will have won NaNoWriMo on my first attempt! Whoo-hoo!
But I digress a little from the topic!
What has blown me away is something that I have spoken about at length in earlier posts: the power of our creative abilities and how unlimited they are in every respect. I have read some incredible blogs and Facebook stories about how well other writers have done and about how much further they’ve gotten than they’d ever dreamed possible. And I wanted to shout out loud so they could all hear me, and say, “Why did you ever doubt yourself? Don’t you know how much power you possess in your incredible mind, in your big heart, and in your glorious and mysterious soul and spirit?”
What I love the most about NaNo is the hope it builds in every person who attempts it – whether they win the challenge or not. Whether they write only a few chapters or finish the whole book, it encourages all authors and would-be authors to think and imagine beyond their comfort zones, and when they fully embrace the opportunity and open their minds to the potential inside them, then magic happens!
There is an author whose blog I follow, who from the beginning doubted she could pull it off because she had so much other work to do, but she was one of the first authors to finish her novel and now it sits at over 80 000 words the last time I read her posts. She described her journey almost on a daily basis and shared her innermost thoughts and struggles with her readers, but in the end she triumphed above and beyond because she believed in herself, that she had an incredible story to tell, and that it needed to get done.
What excited me was how every time I sat at my desk and began typing I couldn’t stop. I also had a story that needed to come out, and although I only had a vague outline and a few major scenes with which to start, it bubbled up from within and appeared on the page in stark detail, every scene as astonishing as the next. The characters came to life and developed very distinct personalities; the various genres I was using (see my posts “Does Genre Fusion Work – and is it Wise?”(see below) and “So Far Genre Fusion is Working for Me – a NaNoWriMo Tale of Success in Progress” for more details) complimented each other beautifully; and the scenery and atmosphere and detail of where the story takes place were created with no sweat and no tears of frustration. Every day I sat amazed at what I had achieved while the word count went up and up. The day I wrote over 7 000 words in one sitting is one of my favourite memories, even though my back and fingers ached and I couldn’t feel my legs and butt afterwards 
With utter amazement I looked at what I had created and realised that no matter what or how or when I write I will always be able to create – the flow will never cease and neither will the magic, that inexplicable force within all of us that just keeps giving and giving as long as we are open to receiving it and do not block it’s constant flow with self-doubt and low self-esteem.
Forgoing editing and fixing at the end of each day was the hardest part for me, yet I managed to control my perfectionism and stuck to the goal of getting it down first, reaching 50 000 words as soon as possible. The book will eventually be longer than the required word count to win NaNo, and once I’ve completed the challenge I will then continue until the story is finished and then put it to one side to let it stew for a month or two while I finish editing The Sword Bearer’s Awakening, Book 3 of my tetralogy, and get it ready for publication around March next year.
Image courtesy of: sofamonkez (www.sxc.hu)
Avalin: A Vampyric Legend is a powerful tale of desperation, lust, passion, love, hatred, war and the courage and determination of the human spirit to survive horrors beyond imagining. Here’s the synopsis once more:
“In the era of the gunslinger dangerous, hungry creatures of the night roam free and undetected.
A beautiful woman, once wealthy and respected and married to a man of great influence, is forced, out of great personal loss and desperation, to become a prostitute. Working in a high-class brothel, she catches the eye of two mysterious men and ends up spending a night with them, only to discover, in the heat of passion, that they are vampyres.
In what she thinks are her final moments, she begs them to end her life of suffering and grief. But these are no ordinary vampyres: they have searched for Avalin for centuries, they reveal to her, and now that they have found her they have no intention of ending her life. She has something they desperately need. She is unique, they tell her – one of a kind.
Fascinated, yet sad that her suffering will not end that night, she agrees to remain exclusively theirs, and so the extraordinary legend of Avalin begins. As she discovers more about her mysterious benefactors and protectors the more frightened she becomes.
These are no ordinary creatures of the night; they have a terrifying secret, a secret that could mean the end of all humankind!”
I’m hoping to get it published by mid 2013 before Book 4 of my Sword Bearers tetralogy. I will display it and promote it proudly as my greatest challenge and most satisfactory success because in writing it I discovered that when anyone tells me I can’t do something, that I’ve overreached, that I am crazy to try something I have no experience in, I will know that they are lying!
Believe in yourself, and never doubt for a second you are capable of more than you think!!
Please share your thoughts and experiences of your own self-discovery and realisations and how you see yourself – powerful or getting there or not quite there yet! I love hearing from you!
Related articles
- NaNoWriMo and Other Scary Events (moniquerockliffe.wordpress.com)
- Does Genre Fusion Work – and is it Wise? (moniquerockliffe.wordpress.com)
My Characters and I are One - A Journey into The Sword Bearers Series
The Cover for Book 3: The Sword Bearer’s Awakening
I’m a firm believer that your characters are shadows of who you are or who you wish to become.
Writing this tetralogy, there have been countless times when I’ve recognised aspects of myself in each one of my characters. Sometimes it’s scary, sometimes quite bizarre, but mostly I’m amazed at how I’ve woven my characters into a story that depict true human emotion and behaviour, even though the fantastical situations they find themselves in could never really happen. (Now I know we can have a long debate about that last statement – I understand as authors of fiction we believe that at least some small elements of our stories are true – but for the sake of this blog let’s just leave it at that!) If I could be my main character for a week, man, I’d just freak out with excitement! Just imagine!! (Yes, yes I know you can!) Here are a handful of the primary characters in my first two books for you to meet, and as you read about them you will find out a little more about me – the nice me and the crazy me! *cackles*
Khyri, the unassuming hero, is all I wish I could be and the person that I know I really am deep down inside – brave, bold, fearless, carefree, guileless, a consummate warrior, and physically very beautiful *sighs*; in fact, visually she’s almost perfect because of who and what she is, the mighty Sword Bearer in possession of the Sword of Heaven, a weapon capable of destroying entire worlds. But she also has a hidden darkness inside her: rage, depression, frustration, a little madness, a deep, soul-wrenching sadness – traits of which I partake every now and then, but just to a much shallower degree. For Khyri, I expanded her emotions to fantastical proportions. This is a powerful, frightening tale of great battles, terrifying confrontations, and ultimate triumph, after all, and if she doesn’t go through the darkness then the glorious light and freedom and joy will not be as bright at the end of her tale.
Drakoor s’et, the protagonist, is the evil, cruel thing I know I can become if I lived in his world and was the cast out, rebellious creature he is. An Arch Demon – once an Arch Angel of the highest order – he is obsessed with his singular goal and kills everyone and everything in his path to pursue it. He has no conscience; he is only filled with rage, hatred, frustration, a lust for revenge, and an obsession to rule beside his brother and master for all eternity. His ambition is to, quite literally, possess the Sword Bearer and free his brethren and claim the ultimate prize: freedom and omnipotence for all eternity. If taking control of someone in sheer desperation and forcing them to do my bidding was the only way I could achieve my goals, the only thing I could do to ensure I’d have all I ever needed to be happy and free forever, would I? Perhaps I would … Perhaps you would …
Yanec, the torn, messed up boy-man becomes the immensely powerful but terribly insecure puppet of Drakoor s’et (he is closely tied to Khyri – that’s all you’re getting. Can’t give too much away, sorry!), and is the person I’ve been quite a few times in my life when I didn’t have the wisdom or confidence, understanding or self-belief to tell people to shove off when they tried to control me! Yanec struggles daily to understand his life with no memory of who he was before he became Drakoor s’et’s First General – the second most powerful man in the galaxy. His mind teeters on the precipice of madness, and his heart and spirit and fettered soul fight to understand his place in the Universe. I sometimes feel like I’m losing my grip (understanding) on life and I question who exactly it is I am. This happened a lot more when I was a teenager. I’m sure you can relate. Yanec symbolises this part of me I hope grows weaker with every passing year and eventually fades as enlightenment comes.
Khyl, Khyri’s oldest brother, is the one who thinks he knows best and pursues his goals without thought for anyone else’s feelings, or stopping to think about the consequences. He’s a prince and the Keeper of the Sword Bearer, and he thinks these titles give him the right to do and say things as he sees fit without apologising to anyone. I’ve leapt into too many things in my life without thinking them through first; again, I did this more when I was a teenager, before I grew up and learned how to do things and go about them properly (it’s called wisdom, Monique). In many ways Khyl still performs like a child, but he also has a singular goal born out of great grief, and in his mind what he’s doing justifies his sometimes callous actions.
Brahn, Khyri’s second oldest brother, is the nurturing, loving, empathetic one who dedicates his life to keeping Khyri safe – the side of me I wish I could be more of to the ones I love. He loves his sister more than his own life, and is prepared to do anything for her. He sees his role as her protector and wants her to just be happy and safe forever. His over-protectiveness can be seen as a flaw, and although I identify this aspect of his personality in myself I hope I don’t behave like that when I have children one day.
The last character I will share with you today is Talisir de Ochre. He’s a character from Book 2, The Sword Bearer’s Journey, and although I hate giving too much of the story away I’ll make a small exception with Talis because he is the coolest character I’ve created, and beside Khyri, he’s the person I’d most like to be – abilities and all!
Talis is a Shadow Weaver. He can manipulate shadows and, quite literally, disappear before your eyes if there are enough shadows around him. He has other very cool abilities – which I can’t share with you right now if I don’t want to spoil the story – and his dedication and loyalty to Khyri is admirable and complete. His stoic self-confidence and lack of guile make him a fantastic character, and as the story progresses the reader discovers that there’s a lot more to the quiet Talis than initially meets the eye. He has this stillness about him that speaks of utter mental calm and inner-peace (and many secrets). He is quite old in human terms, and his race is considered by mortal-kind to be beings of legend and great mystery. Their role in the story slowly unfolds as the reader approaches Book 4, The Sword Bearer’s Ascension. Talis is the kind of person I’d love to be: in control of my emotions at all times, mysterious, non-judgemental, watchful, wise, a great listener, and, of course, a kick-ass warrior!
So there you have it, an insight into my books and some of the characters, and quite a bit about me! But I don’t mind that you know so much about me ‘cause all I have to do is read your work and then I’ll know almost all there is to know about you!! He-he! Here I come!!
I love hearing from you! Do your characters also depict aspects of you, or the kind of person you want to be? I’d love to hear about it.
The Fact that ‘Ordinary’ People Don’t Get Us Artists Is So True!
Polina Seminova
I just hate it when someone speaks about writing or dancing as if they know what it really entails when, in fact, they don’t have a dang clue!!
I have met people in my life who are so clueless about artists that they think they know everything about them! Know what I mean? They sprout such nonsense, and speak such lies with straight-faced confidence, heck, I’m almost convinced they know what they’re talking about!
As a young kid and later a teenager, already firmly established in my dancing and with complete understanding of how much hard work it entailed, and I told new friends and their parents what I did, my pet peeve was when they asked me to please show them something. “You know, do a twirl or something,” they’d twang, and I’d cringe inside and brim with annoyance, but I’d just smile and (with as little sarcasm as possible) tell them it was impossible because I didn’t have any space. I mean, did they really expect me to do grand jetés (split leaps) and pirouettes (turns) in a room full of furniture and break my neck? Yup!!
I know someone who recently told my husband – who knows very well that I danced professionally – that all it takes to be a dancer is to move your body to music, and that it didn’t require any special skill or much work, whereas professional rugby and cricket took years of dedication and immense skill, talent, and training. Now, only one of those statements is true, and as to the other, well, it showed how utterly ignorant the man was about what it takes to be an artist, and that he thought that sport and dancing didn’t compare. According to him, dancing can never be taken seriously while sport was a god to be worshipped! (My biased interpretation ) That dance is called a sport by some infuriates me to no end! Yes, a dancer is an athlete in regards to physical exertion, but that’s where the one and only comparison ends!
Now, if I had been present, firstly, he wouldn’t have dared say something like that (I can be snarky when I get defensive!) and, secondly, I would have given him a very sharp lecture on exactly what it took to become a professional dancer – the long hours everyday of your life; sacrificing parties, holidays, and other social events to do exams, festivals, competitions, and spend more time in the studio learning how to control your body (in a way that is completely unnatural to the way the human form is put together); the physical pain and bleeding feet and pulled muscles and swollen joints; the disappointments and failures before the winnings and successes; the never-ending commitment because missing one week of dancing was like losing an entire month of training!! I could go on and on, and I would’ve eventually had him on his knees begging for my forgiveness before I’d finished with him!
*
(Sidebar)
Okay, so this is my explanation regarding dance. It is NOT an anti-sport statement because I LOVE sport and watch the Olympics with as much fervour as anyone else. This is an earnest comparison; you, dear reader, can draw your own conclusions:
Ethereal Beauty!
Yes, I understand that sport also takes heaps of commitment, especially if one wants to do it professionally, BUT training to become a professional dancer begins the day you walk into a studio at around three years old; kids with aspirations and talent to become professional sportsmen/sportswomen only begin serious training when they’re teenagers, and then the training they do only requires them to train what their bodies can already do naturally. (What follows includes sports like gymnastics, tumbling, ice-skating – anything that can be linked to dance and that requires artistry) With ballet everything you do is beyond the norm for the body: turn-out; spinal rotation beyond the norm of the human spine; co-ordination of the entire body while moving to music; listening to phrasing; interpreting the music; facial expression and performance; acting; spatial awareness; correct weight placement; elevation with stretched legs and feet while holding the body still in the air and expressing perfect line, style, and quality; flexibility (WAY beyond the natural uses of the human body, not required in sport); strength to elevate the legs, these days, to almost a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle to the floor; arched feet (the girls have to train to balance and turn en pointe for years – and professionals will tell you, the training for that never stops!); perfect balance – these are but some of the requirements for a dancer. Tell me where a sportsman or woman has to do all these things SIMULTANEOUSLY everyday of their lives?
Shirley Maclaine – a consummate artist!
*
I recently read a blog by a mom who is a serious writer with a firm goal to one day earn a living as a novelist. She is already a journalist and does a lot of other writing jobs when she isn’t working on her novel. But being a mom requires her full attention, and as a result of her working at home her kids think she does nothing all day but sit at home, then only leaves to fetch them from school and take them to extra-mural sporty activities. They even write on their school forms that she’s a ‘stay-at-home-mom’ because they don’t think that writing is a job. Her solution? To treat her writing like it is one – leave the house at 9am, go somewhere like a library or a coffee shop or somewhere quiet to write, then return home at 5pm. She discovered it was the only way she could find the time to get done what she needed to, and get it through to her kids that what she did was serious work, and that when she worked then she was off-limits, so to speak.
In short, I found this story very sad, and it brought out all the feelings of frustration and, yes, even anger that I earlier expressed. What is it with the ‘normal’ world that doesn’t get us? Why is it so difficult for them to see us as creators and designers and artists, something that they could never be because they were gifted with other skills that do not require out-of-the-box thinking?
A very wise man! He understood the necessity of Magic!
As artists we are borderless and limitless. We are visionaries and dreamers, and we only live on this earth because the laws of physics say we have to (for now, anyway!!). If we had a choice we would rush at the chance to explore the Universe – inside us and out there – without fear because we believe that dreams are more important for our continued survival as creator-beings and for earth and it’s inhabitants to evolve!
The kind of people I mentioned above – the ones that think dreaming and allowing magic to lead us and dictate how we should approach and live our lives is rubbish – do not understand that without us dreamers and visionaries they wouldn’t have music and movies and art and dance and design and technology and, when you get right down to it, without us they wouldn’t see any progress as the human race. In their blind arrogance (which is simply ignorance) they think they can have everything in their lives without us. But if they just stopped and looked, and took the time to understand what it takes to write a story that came from a place us authors could never explain; to understand what it takes for a dancer to be so magnificent in her performance that it brings tears to an observer’s eyes and makes it difficult to breathe; to understand that an artist can paint something so beautiful that it can render its observer immobile for hours because of its power and beauty; to understand that a piece of music can make grown men cry and can turn a five-year old into one of the most brilliant composers of all time (Mozart)!
I admit, this post is a bit of a rant, but, as with just about all my posts, I believe my goal as a blogger and an author is to inspire you, dear reader and writer, to never, ever think of yourself as anything less than your partner who has a ‘real’ job and cannot understand your obsession with writing, or your kids that do sport and can’t understand why you spend so much time writing when you don’t earn anything for it, or your friends who have boring, uneventful, safe desk jobs and who can’t understand that you would give up parties and social events to spend more time tweaking your novel so that it can be ready for publication in a few weeks.
Be proud, is what I’m saying, for without you they would not know magic! They would never even be aware of its existence!
You are an artist! You are Magic incarnate! Keep producing and keep conjuring your masterpieces and being the creator-being you were meant to be. Teach those that do not understand, that do not get it, how much work and skill and talent and dedication it takes to be good at what you do, and that even if they don’t see the results – or as in the case of this man who didn’t have a clue about what being a brilliant dancer was all about – it doesn’t mean that those results are not there, it just means that these people don’t know what good or brilliant is! Or even what art is, for that matter! They don’t understand the power or joy or reverence or exuberance writing brings you. Perhaps just be a little more patient in your explanations than I would have been with that clueless man; after all, I am quite cheeky when I want to be And now that I am a writer I feel it is my duty to defend us authors against those that scorn and misunderstand us, just as much as I continue to defend dancers who have a reputation for being stupid and uneducated!
Please leave a comment! I love hearing from you! And you can rant all you like – against or for!!
Don’t Sell Yourself Too Cheaply - You are of Great Worth
Yesterday I went to the Chinese Mall and Dragon City in the south of Johannesburg (South Africa) to do shopping for our huge dance show being held in November. Now anyone who lives in JHB and is aware of what’s going on in their world knows about the Chinese Mall and Dragon City for their cheap prices for absolutely ANYTHING you can think of!
JHB (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Now, I hadn’t been to this particular Chinese Mall/China Town before so I was very curious to see it and experience what all my friends have been raving about, what with the “amazingly cheap clothes” to the “cheapest props, costumes, and make-up for ballet festival you can imagine” to “OMG the handbags (purses) there are just divine!” So off I trundled with my two partners in the ballet studio and, boy, was I left flabbergasted: toys, clothes, party favours, hardware, software, cellphone accessories, kitchen ware, food, fake flowers, bags of every kind, underwear, wigs, make-up, glitter, glitter, oh, and more glitter … and the list goes on and on and on! Whew! For six hours we shopped ‘til we literally dropped, surviving on chips (potato chips), Iron Brew (kinda like Dr Pepper/Root Beer) and ice cream because we had no time to sit and have a decent lunch! Uh-uh, we were on a mission, and with the exception of three items we couldn’t find due to lack of time we fully loaded the SUV and sat in stunned silence, bathing in the glory of success for a few minutes before driving home and collapsing into our husbands’ arms with a sigh and whining for real food and comfort – physical and emotional! And on top of it all it was the end of the month (payday) weekend!! We were NUTS!
Despite having conquered the Great Chinese Challenge – for a few hours at least – I understood that although we got everything we needed at literally a quarter the price we’d get it anywhere else, the items were not of the highest quality and will most probably only last a short while. It sufficed, however, for what we needed it for – one show with crazy, energetic kids who will no doubt wear out every item we bought in no time – therefore sacrificing quality for cheap quantity is, in fact, a good thing in this case.
When I finally recovered, and my energy levels were back to normal, and I braced myself for the Social Media Catch-up I was about to face for neglecting my relationship/book promo duties for an entire day, I opened my emails and Facebook and Twitter and discovered a plethora of invites for FREE books and Give-aways.
Now, having just been to a place where ‘cheap’ was the order of the day, and I had my first experience of such apparent disregard of the coin in exchange for goods, I was struck by how many writers give away their very hard work for nothing, or relatively nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the power of offering your book for free as a means to promote your work and invite interest and attention, but if it’s done too often and for too long it can eventually become detrimental to who you are and what you really want.
I know that when I get clothing or make-up or shoes for a very low price then I understand I am receiving something of lower quality, as well, something that won’t last and satisfy me for very long. When a writer keeps giving their work away for free I have to wonder why; I become a little suspicious and sometimes a little stand off-ish.
Personally, when someone pays the full price for my books it is such a great feeling because it justifies all the hours, days, and months of work, sweat, and sometimes tears of frustration I put into writing my stories, and it tells me that people are truly interested in reading my books because they believe it’s worth their time and money. What an incredible compliment!
To paraphrase Hemingway: as writers we sit at our typewriters and BLEED. Now what does it say of us when we keep giving away our work for nothing? Do we think so little of ourselves and our abilities?
If freebies are used as the occasional incentive, or as an introduction to me and my work, then it can be a very effective tool. But, in my opinion, if it’s done too often it decreases the value of my work and snubs the inordinate amount of time I put into creating it.
The temptation to give our work away is huge because, let’s face it, at the end of the day we want to be KNOWN, we want recognition, we want to stand out from the hundreds of thousands of writers out there and make the world SEE us.
I know some of you reading this will disagree with me, and there might even be some of you who can testify to the power of give-aways, and I will eagerly applaud your success, but please just make sure that you are not selling yourself too cheaply, that people understand that what you are offering is quality stuff, and then, of course, make sure you produce and present high quality stuff to your readers.
There’s nothing worse than a free book and the quality of that book turning out to be as inferior as the price!
Book 2 in The Sword Bearers Series – This book took me a year to write, rewrite, edit, and publish! It’s too precious to give away carelessly!
It’s hard for me to fight the temptation to give away freebies of my work because I am quite new to this writer’s world myself, but even I can see the dangers in selling myself too eagerly and too freely just to get known. I have to trust in the process, and I have to trust that as I build relationships with other authors and readers that slowly but surely I will get the results I want. In the meantime, I work hard at improving my craft and producing top quality work, knowing that when someone pays $3.50 for my Kindle book they will definitely be getting what they paid for, if not more!
If you agree or disagree please let me know! I love hearing honest, heart-felt stories from you all.
Things I Discovered and Experienced This Week You Might Also Like
Another crazy week is coming to a close and I’m hitting these keys at a furious rate trying to get my blog out to you on time! Seems the days are getting shorter and time for my favourite thing to do is being eaten up by work and other commitments! This always sucks because there isn’t anything better, of course, than WRITING!!!
The third book in my Fantasy series is coming along nicely (The Sword Bearer’s Awakening), and should be available before Christmas. I’m sharing this fab news because it links in nicely to the first thing I learned this week that made me do many happy dances throughout the week whenever I thought about it. It is the first of many wonderful things I want to share with you, so let me begin:
1) The Sword Bearers: Book 1 and The Sword Bearer’s Journey: Book 2 both received 5-star reviews on Amazon this week!! Book 1 has already received a 4-star rating on Goodreads but these reviews were my first true ‘outside’ reviews and that makes it even more special and thrilling! Click on the book titles to read the reviews.
2) I recently read about the horrible situation where a blogger got sued for using a copyrighted pic/s in her blog! This was rather scary, as I’m sure you’ll agree, but I read a blog by one of my favourite bloggers about a site where bloggers can get FREE pics to use on their blogs as long as the artists/photographers are given recognition. The site is called WANA Commons and the blog was written by Kristen Lamb (she’s on my blogroll). I highly recommend Kristen’s blog: she is funny and very informative and the founder of WANA International, a company that supports writers in many various ways and helps them become better at their craft. (WANA stands for: We Are Never Alone.)
3) I belong to a fabulous group on Facebook called Authors, Reviewers, & Book Lovers where authors go to meet each other and promote their books and make friends and get support. A few ways we do this is to start streams with different topics. For example, I started a stream called “The Amazing Amazon ‘Like’ Stream”. Everyone posted their Amazon book links and then we all went on over to Like and Tag each other’s books! Apparently once you hit 50 likes on Amazon then they market your book for you! It was a wonderful event and many first time authors got the attention they sorely needed and their presence on Amazon increased!
I also started an Author Page Like stream and we all got to increase our FB Page Likes!
We will be doing this for Twitter (we follow each other), Pinterest (we follow and pin our books onto each other’s boards), blogs (follow/subscribe), and for whatever else takes our fancy! It’s a great way to get known by the big wide world out there and for our books to get seen! So, please come join us!
Minions from Despicable Me
4) Hubby and I went to see the movie Brave and we loved it! But before the movie started we got to see the trailer for the sequel to one of our all-time favourite movies: Despicable Me. I absolutely HAD to share this clip with you. I believe I almost wet myself I laughed so hard the first time I saw it (I’ve watched it like a gazillion times since then and it still gets me hysterical every time)!
5) I discovered that Anthony Hopkins, one of my favourite actors of all time, is a very wise man!
6) I rediscovered that I live in the most awesome country weather-wise where it can snow on a Tuesday and the following Wednesday I can walk around in a T-shirt it’s so warm!!
7) I met the most generous, awesome people online that did things for me that I never expected and that I never asked for, like promote my books and Author Page and me. Here are those people and links to their pages and sites if you, too, want to experience the love:
- The Independent Paperback Gift Shop (Mark/Wiz Green – see the incredible feature they did on me here) – this page will promote you and your work.
- Books Direct (Lynda Dickson) – this page will also promote you and your work
- Christine Walden (my first true online friend. Her generous spirit and open heart are as yet unmatched!)
- Kevin Rau (he did my first ever author interview)
- RaeBeth McGee (another interview and upcoming review for Book 1)
- DVW Book Club (Dave and Sally – also promoted my books generously)
8) Oh, and last but not least I discovered (from real poets) that my poetry is actually quite good! My post titled ‘Rest Weary Spirit, Reignite Your Fiery Heart – A Contemplation’ got a few likes and pingbacks. Go read the poem here!
I hope you also had an exciting, full week and met new friends and sold books! Come visit my FB Author Page and promote your work there and meet my friends! I know they want to meet you, too!
Have an awesome week, y’all!!
Related articles
- WANA Commons – Beautiful Blog Images without the Worry (warriorwriters.wordpress.com)
- How to Create a Buzz About Your New EBook (steveatwood.wordpress.com)
- An Author Platform Built on SPAM is Doomed to Fall (warriorwriters.wordpress.com)
- Literary Citizenship – Pay It Forward (jenniferjensen.com)
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