Tag Archives: writer

ROW80: Funny Misunderstandings

One day last week, I was eating lunch with the girls at work, when a woman from another department stopped by to say hi. Apparently, she’d emailed one of my coworkers earlier this week about the “snatchin’ shoes” she’d bought that weekend. “I want to see your snatchin’ shoes!” my coworker said.

One of the other ladies’ eyes went round. “You want to see her what!?”

Apparently, she’d misunderstood, and heard “snatch and shoes!”

The conversation degenerated from there, especially when a third coworker described something she’d misunderstood: she’d woken up that morning to find three ducks in her yard fighting. She grabbed her camera and took some video, before she realized only the two males were fighting. 😀

Similarly, I’ve been misunderstanding some of my ROW80 tasks, although with much less comical results. I underestimated the amount of time How to Write a Series Lessons 1 and 2 would take – there’s a lot of work in planning a series, especially when you haven’t written Book 1. (Yet, that’s the best time to plan, so good on me!) OTOH, Lesson 3 dealt with planning subsequent books in a series after Book 1 (or more) is already written, so there wasn’t much for me to do at this point, and it went quickly.

However, I made up for it by (again) underestimating the amount of time proofreading would take. Fortunately, it all evened out.

Here’s how my week’s progress went:

Complete print layout and print cover design for Time’s Fugitive – Done!
Complete Lesson 2 of How to Write a Series – Done!
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – uh, two and one. Still need to work on this.
Track exercise and consumption – not quite – missed yesterday.
Bonus: Upload Time’s Fugitive print book to Lightning Source – no, b
Bonus: How to Write a Series, Lesson 3 – Yes!
Bonus: Cover for Hangar 18: Legacy

Here are my plans for this week:

Upload Time’s Fugitive print book to Lightning Source
Complete Lesson 4 of How to Write a Series (which will finish the workshop)
Cover for Hangar 18: Legacy
Write two guest blogs I’ve promised people – this has been hanging for way too long
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
Track exercise and consumption
BONUS: Develop list of things I can tweet about my books
BONUS: Write content for author newsletter

Overall goal progress:

Release Time’s Fugitive, in both ebook and print – Ebook done. Print almost done.
Complete Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop – in progress, should be done this week.
Bonus: Any planning/outlining of new book, beyond workshop exercises – on hold until other goals accomplished
Release Hangar 18: Legacy – OR – release Times Two (Time’s Enemy/Time’s Fugitive box set) as an ebook – on hold until other goals accomplished
Bonus: Both of the above – on hold until other goals accomplished

I’d love to hear from you! Have you ever heard something you thought you understood – then realized you didn’t? Do you have trouble estimating the amount of time a task needs? How are you doing in this round of ROW80 – or if you’re not a writer, or not doing the ROW, for this spring?

Just Another Misfit Monday

Ever since America’s favorite lasagna-eating cat declared “I hate Mondays,” it’s been a fashionable thing to… well, hate Mondays.

And for this reason, Monday is the misfit among days of the week. More people hate Mondays more than any other day. I know I do.

For some of us, the why is obvious: we have a whole week on the job just starting, and Friday–and our weekend off–is at its most distant. Mondays are even more insidious for those of us who are “not morning people,” as we tend to make up for the week’s sleep deficit by sleeping in on weekends–which makes it that much harder to get to bed on Sunday night, setting us up for another week of sleep deprivation beginning on Monday.

Of course, the obvious cure to this phenomenon is to simply stop sleeping in on the weekends. Duh! But who wants to do that? Here again, the morning people have the advantage: those who are used to getting up at 6AM are more likely to continue this pattern through the weekend. But this is no solution for those of us who’d rather stay up until 9 (or later) no matter what day it is. So we put up with the weekday sleep deficit and keep hating Mondays.
I found a few interesting statistics about Monday-hating on the web. A U.K. government organization found that there were more suicides on Monday than any other day of the week (and fewer on weekends). What was surprising was that this pattern held even among retired people. Supposedly, people are more likely to be late to work/school on Monday, too. Not surprising, for those of us dealing with the jet-lag phenomenon of catching up on our sleep over the weekend. It’s even been suggested that more heart attacks happen on Mondays.

I also found a few mentions of people who actually like Mondays. Some are undoubtedly people with a non-traditional work schedule, but a surprising number were people who do start the work week on Monday. These people took the view that Monday is a fresh start, or that they have the whole week ahead of them to complete their work tasks.

What about you? I’d love to hear from you! Do you hate Mondays, or are they a new beginning for you? Do you work a traditional Monday trough Friday job, and does that influence your opinion?

ROW80: Working Through Fear

Ever have that feeling where you haven’t done something for a long time… it’s something you know how to do, yet when you get back to it, it’s downright scary?

That’s sort of how my writing went this week. I accomplished my fixes and release of Time’s Fugitive, no problem. I did Michele’s cover design (she loved it – yay!). And when I could put off my writing workshop no longer, I dug back into How to Write a Series.

It went slowly at first, because it was making me think things through on my series that I frankly, had no idea of. I had to do some brainstorming. Something I haven’t done much of for my writing in the past couple of years.

Fortune's Foe by Michele Stegman Then I got to the last task in Lesson Two, Part Three, and it stopped me cold.

That task was: “Write scene one of the first book.”

I froze. I procrastinated. I played Spider Solitaire. I farted around on Facebook and Twitter. I read several blogs. I downloaded WriteWay Pro, because I’ve been wanting to try it, and it made sense to try it with a new book. I read through some of the documentation, and set up my book.

My husband left for the AMVETS hall, and I dropped my daughter off at a friend’s house. Then I could delay no longer.

I had to do something I haven’t done in over two years: write new material.

By the time I got a few paragraphs down in my shiny new software, my husband had returned from the AMVETS hall, and turned on the TV. So I put on my headphones and kept going. I will admit, it wasn’t all a real scene – much of it is written in “blocking it out” form, a technique I learned years ago from Liz Bemis, and more recently read about on Rachael Aaron’s blog. I stopped for a few minutes to watch a car chase on Hawaii-five-o (hey, it was a Camaro!), but an hour later, I had my scene sketched out.

Here’s how my week’s progress went:

Make fixes and re-upload Time’s Fugitive – Done!
Finish book cover I’m designing for historical romance author Michele Stegman – Done! Check it out, above…
Complete Lesson 2 of How to Write a Series – partly
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – uhhh, not so good; I wasn’t feeling well a couple days this week.
Track exercise and consumption – also done about halfway.
Bonus: Cover for Hangar 18: Legacy

Now I’m looking forward into doing more digging with How to Write a Series.

Here are my plans for this week:

Complete print layout and print cover design for Time’s Fugitive
Complete Lesson 2 of How to Write a Series
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
Track exercise and consumption
Bonus: Upload Time’s Fugitive print book to Lightning Source
Bonus: How to Write a Series, Lesson 3
Bonus: Cover for Hangar 18: Legacy

Overall goal progress:

Release Time’s Fugitive, in both ebook and print – Ebook done. Print interior started.
Complete Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop – in progress.
Bonus: Any planning/outlining of new book, beyond workshop exercises – on hold until other goals accomplished
Release Hangar 18: Legacy – OR – release Times Two (Time’s Enemy/Time’s Fugitive box set) as an ebook – on hold until other goals accomplished
Bonus: Both of the above – on hold until other goals accomplished

How about you – have you ever stopped doing something for an extended period of time – then found it scary to start back into it? I’d love to hear from you! What kind of goals are you setting for this round of ROW80 – or if you’re not a writer, or not doing the ROW, for this spring?

The Book I Waited Years to Read

A couple weeks ago, a book was published on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords that I’d waited for for years. No, not the latest installment in George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. It wasn’t by a big name author – in fact, until a few months ago, I didn’t even know the author’s name!

Every winter, I judge in the Golden Heart®, the Romance Writers of America’s annual contest for unpublished romance. In this contest, the first three chapters and a synopsis are judged – up to 55 pages total. There’s no commenting – each entry gets a single, numeric score ranging from 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest. Little direction is given beyond that we’re supposed to be choosing “the best in unpublished romance fiction,” and that each entry should be judged on its own merits, not against the others in our packet of 5 – 7 entries.

I’ve been a member of RWA since 2000, and probably have judged the Golden Heart for ten years. Based on the 1-9 scale, I’d consider a 5 to be “average” unpublished romance fiction, a 1 to be unreadable, and a 9 to be can’t-stop-thinking-about-it, want to read the rest NOW. The lowest score I’ve ever given was a 2.5. I’ve given several in the 8’s, but only one 9 in my ten years of judging. That entry was a paranormal romance called Ashes in the Wind.

The story was about a young noblewoman in the Roman empire who found herself inexplicably drawn to a gladiator slave and begged her father to spare the man’s life. For the next two chapters, she bargained her jewelry and other valuables for a few stolen moments with her gladiator here and there, unaware she and her love interest were under the care of a pair of guardian angels who’d been tasked with getting them together. But the bumbling angels didn’t count on one thing: Mount Vesuvius, and their charges die a horrible death in each other’s arms while trying to escape.

And that was where the entry ended. I was choked up (something that doesn’t happen to me easily!), and even though I had the synopsis and knew how the story ended, I thought about this book for days afterward. I judged it in 2005 or 2006, I think. I was astonished when it didn’t make the finals (what were the other judges thinking???). Some entrants put their names on their entries, but most don’t, and RWA doesn’t release names of judges or entrants, nor will they forward emails. I hoped this book would be published, and that I’d hear about it, because that was the only way I’d get to read the rest. Even years later, I remembered it, especially each year when I received my GH packet and wondered if I’d get anything that good.

After I decided to take the independent route with my books, I joined a Yahoo Group for indie romance authors. New people joined every day, and often answered the invitation to introduce themselves. A few months after I joined, an author named Lori Dillon joined and described her book, a reincarnation romance set in Pompeii. It was that book! I couldn’t believe it, and I emailed her. We have something else in common in that we’re both graphic artists-turned-web designers. She also read my book Time’s Enemy and gave it a wonderful review.

The book was released as Out of the Ashes earlier this month, and I bought it right away. It didn’t disappoint! You can read my review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads. The book is also available on Smashwords. If you enjoy an emotionally-rich romance with a paranormal element that’s not the same-ol, same-ol, Out of the Ashes is a must-read!

Have you ever picked up a book that for whatever reason, you didn’t finish – only to find it again years later? Did it meet your expectations?

New Release! Travel back to prehistoric America in Time’s Fugitive

It’s here at last!

It’s been a long time coming. I’d originally planned to release this in December, but that obviously didn’t happen. My revisions took longer than I thought. My readers took a while to read, and my editor took a while to edit – but it’s all good. I’d much rather release late, than release less than the absolutely best book I can. Time’s Fugitive is a long, complex story clocking in at 143,000 words, a length typically found primarily in historical fiction or epic fantasy. It’s definitely historical, and my first readers assure me that it is indeed epic. Here’s what else they had to say. I’ll take their word for it, or better yet, yours!

Here’s what it’s all about:

A past shrouded in mystery

Violet Sinclair remembers nothing of her life before the day she awoke several years earlier, drenched in blood that wasn’t hers. But since she met Tony Solomon, she’s been certain of one thing – sometime in her hidden past, she knew him… loved him… and did something terrible to him.

A present fraught with danger

Time-traveler Tony Solomon is sure he never met Violet before they were coworkers, yet she bears an uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved and lost decades before he was born. After an impulse encounter leaves Violet pregnant with his child, she becomes the target of killers from the future.

A future feared in jeopardy

Framed for murder, Tony will do anything to protect Violet and their child, even if their only escape is to jump into the past, something he swore he’d never do again. But when they jump back much further than planned, they find their troubles are only beginning—and secrets can get them killed.

Time’s Fugitive is out and available in ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. Other retailers and print version coming soon.

What do you think? Would you willingly travel back to prehistoric America? What if it was the only way to save your child? I’d love to hear from you!

ROW80: Two Steps Forward…

First, last week’s progress:

Make final edits, format, and release Time’s Fugitive in ebook – Done!
Bonus: Anything on Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop – No (but it was a bonus anyway)
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts each week – two intervals, one short
Track exercise and consumption each week – uhhhh…. similar to the above.

As for that first goal, you know how the rest of the post title goes…

“…two steps back.” Yup, I finished proofreading, made the changes, formatted, then uploaded – then found a couple of mistakes. Not typos, but technical details, revealed by a writing workshop I attended yesterday. Luckily, I wasn’t sure how long it would take for the book to publish on the retail sites, so I’d waited to make a formal announcement. So I’ll be making those changes today, and uploading, then I’ll announce when it’s up. If you’ve already purchased, no worries – this stuff isn’t something that most people are likely to even notice. But now that I know it’s wrong, I want to fix it – because I can.

So for this week, here are my plans:

Make fixes and re-upload Time’s Fugitive
Finish book cover I’m designing for historical romance author Michele Stegman
Complete Lesson 2 of How to Write a Series
Bonus: Cover for Hangar 18: Legacy
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
Track exercise and consumption

Overall goal progress:

Release Time’s Fugitive, in both ebook and print – Ebook done, but needs a couple of changes. Print interior formatted.
Complete Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop – on hold until TF out
Bonus: Any planning/outlining of new book, beyond workshop exercises – on hold until other goals accomplished
Release Hangar 18: Legacy – OR – release Times Two (Time’s Enemy/Time’s Fugitive box set) as an ebook – on hold until other goals accomplished
Bonus: Both of the above – on hold until other goals accomplished

How about you? I’d love to hear from you! What kind of goals are you setting for this round of ROW80 – or if you’re not a writer, or not doing the ROW, for this spring?

Fantasy and Family: Author Alicia McKenna Johnson, with Giveaway

I “met” Alicia McKenna Johnson last summer in an online workshop, and today I’m welcoming her to my blog to tells us a little about her writing and her new YA Fantasy novel, Phoenix Child!

Alica writes about snarky girls, kind boys, and the adults trying to keep them alive. After day dreaming for the first thirty years of life, Alica finally began writing her stories down, much to the delight of her readers. As Alica sits in her armchair at home dreaming of traveling the world, her diverse characters explore for her listening to music, seeing the sights, and eating exotic foods.

JMP: Have you been published by a big publisher? Small press/epub? Independently? Please share your publishing experience.

AMJ: I only have the one book out, which I have self-published. At times my stomach would get twisted into knots worrying about messing up, but I have read blogs and emailed friends who have self published and found it to be easy, with the right help.

JMP: Isn’t that the truth! One of the best things about indie publishing is the friendships that have come from it -authors helping each other! So what made you decide to take the indie publishing path?

AMJ: I didn’t want my book cut up to meet industry standards. I also didn’t want to wait until someone decided I was worth representing, patience isn’t a gift of mine.

JMP: Haha, me either! Now that you’ve tasted the control and flexibility that comes with indie publishing, are you still pursuing a traditional publishing contract, or perhaps an agent?

AMJ: I don’t plan on pursing the traditional publishing path at this time. I won’t rule it out, but right now I’m content.

JMP: Me, too! Glad to hear it’s working out for you. I know one thing I struggle with is time, especially with a day job. What do you do (or have you done) for a day job? Has this informed or inspired your writing in any way?

AMJ: I’ve done all sorts of things, worked in heath food stores, taught natural childbirth classes, been a stay at home homeschooling mom, phone psychic, and now I’m a houseparent at a group home for children remove from their homes by CPS.

In Phoenix Child, Sara my main character, starts out in a group home. Through the series she learns what it means to be part of a family. I’ve seen many people upset because they are offering a home, either being a foster parent or wanting to adopt a child and hurt because the kids don’t seem to care. When in reality, the child doesn’t always understand what they are being offered, having never been part of a family before.

JMP: Have there been any particular events, places, things you’ve seen/heard/read that inspired the overall premise of a book, its events, or any of the characters?

AMJ: I love Cirque du Soleil, the performers are amazingly beautiful and strong. I would love to be able to be in the circus, however I can’t so I write about them.

JMP: That’s what I love about good books – they can take us anywhere! And through our characters, we can live vicariously and do things we would never be able. Most of us have trouble getting to the writing every now and then, if not every day. What keeps you from writing, and how do you handle it? How do you make time for writing?

AMJ: I try very hard to write 1000 words per day. The only way I get this done is by not allowing myself to check my email, facebook, twitter, etc until I met my word goal. The biggest thing that will stop me from writing is my emotional state. If I’m angry, sad, or bitchy I’m probably not going to get any writing done that day.

JMP: LOL, me too! I guess it’s a good thing I have a pretty boring (in a good way!) life. So tell us about your current or upcoming release?

AMJ: Phoenix Child is my debut novel. It’s a YA urban fantasy which I hope is interesting enough for teens and adults to enjoy.

Sara’s dream is to find her family but she doesn’t count on discovering magical creatures or catching on fire. On her fourteenth birthday a surprise inheritance changes her appearance, abilities, and identity. Welcomed into the family of the Phoenix she is taught to use her new powers. Will Sara embrace being a Child of Fire or will the evil that killed her parents destroy her as well?

JMP: Phoenix Child sounds like a really cool story! It’s on my list TBR.

You can download the first 30 pages or purchase Phoenix Child on Amazon and Smashwords.

Got a question for Alicia? Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing for a free copy in the format of your choice. I’ll do the drawing with Random.org between 6PM EDT and midnight tomorrow (Friday), so speak up to win!

UPDATE: The winner of an e-copy of Phoenix Child is Emma Burcart! Emma, Alicia will be in touch to see what format you’d like. Everyone, thanks for your comments!

Last Minute Edits, and Awesome!

That’s mostly what’s going on around here today. I spent last week doing a final proofread of Time’s Fugitive before uploading it to Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble, and now I’m making those last edits. It’s important to me that I produce absolutely the best product I can for my readers! So, I have not had a chance to write today’s post.

Scroll down to see what my first readers had to say about Time’s Fugitive. I’d also like to give a shout-out to Prudence MacLeod, who read and reviewed Time’s Enemy last week. Here’s what she had to say:

5 Stars – Awesome

Last weekend I read Time’s Enemy by Jennette Marie Powell. I really recommend you read this book. It is a great tale of time travel and the consequences of messing with the past. Jennette is a fine writer with a master’s touch at keeping up the tension. (You have to remember to breathe)

Time’s Enemy is Jennette’s first novel, or so I believe. This bodes well for the future for she will surely get better and, I for one, can’t wait for more adventures of Charlotte and Tony. Great work Jennette!

Thanks, Prudence! The wait won’t be long now!

ROW80: Measuring Up

Time’s Fugitive is very close to release! All I have to do is type in the changes from my proofreading, format it, and upload! My primary goal this week is to accomplish that.

Here’s what my first readers (beta readers) said about Time’s Fugitive:

– I could not stop. Very fast paced. Such a convoluted plot. I don’t know how you kept all those threads from tangling! Whew! I feel like I just got off a roller-coaster! What a ride! And I certainly enjoyed it–a lot. Although at times I was thinking what an evil woman you were throwing all that stuff at your poor hero and heroine! And more than once I worried that there was no way you could get them out of the fixes you had gotten them into!

– I am in love with this book! I converted it so I could read on my kindle and I’ve been sneaking it into the bathroom at work to read. LOL! As soon as I finish, I’m going back to read Time’s Enemy. Really, by 1% I was hooked.

– Talk about a roller-coaster ride. And having a baby in prehistoric ohio? It CAN’T HEAR YOU over how awesome it is! This one reads like a thriller–the romance does definitely take a backseat, though it’s still pretty strong in places. This reminds me of the old-school 70’s romances a little–where the heroine went on incredible adventures and went through shipwrecks, strandings, and sometimes multiple partners, and a lot of cheese (it was the 70’s you know) but damn if it wasn’t EPIC CHEESE. Time’s Fugitive doesn’t have any cheese in it, epic or otherwise, but I love the characters, and the settings are aMAZEballs.

As for my ROW80 goals, I forgot something last week when I posted last week. When setting goals, it really helps if you set some means of measuring them! And breaking them into doable chunks. I posted the goals for the overall challenge, but I forgot to break it down to the goals for this week. So I’ll just review the results as they relate to the overall goals, and whether or not I considered them to be met for the week:

Release Time’s Fugitive, in both ebook and print – finished proofreading
Complete Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop – on hold until TF out
Bonus: Any planning/outlining of new book, beyond workshop exercises – on hold until other goals accomplished
Release Hangar 18: Legacy – OR – release Times Two (Time’s Enemy/Time’s Fugitive box set) as an ebook – on hold until other goals accomplished
Bonus: Both of the above – on hold until other goals accomplished
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts each week – Got the interval workouts, one short workout
Track exercise and consumption each week – Done!

And for this week, I’ll break them down:

Make final edits, format, and release Time’s Fugitive in ebook
Bonus: Anything on Holly Lisle’s How to Write a Series workshop
Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts each week
Track exercise and consumption each week

How about you? I’d love to hear from you! What kind of goals are you setting for this round of ROW80 – or if you’re not a writer, or not doing the ROW, for this spring?

My Town Monday: Girls Rule… in the Air Force!

I’ve been considering a new direction for Mondays on the blog, which will probably include making My Town a once- or twice-a-month feature, rather than every week. But an announcement I read last week was just too cool to pass up: this summer, the U.S. Air Force will see its first female four-star general – and she’s from the Dayton area!

General Janet C. Wolfenbarger

She’ll also serve here, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where she’s already spent over half of her 32 years of service. Now a Lieutenant General, Janet C. Wolfenbarger works in acquisitions at the Pentagon, a suitable step before taking the lead at Air Force Materiel Command, which is headquartered at Wright-Patt. AFMC oversees acquisition and logistics, in addition to research and development, and support and sustainment programs for aircraft and weapons systems.

General Wolfenbarger has a long history with the Air Force. Not only has she spent over half her life in service, she was a military kid, with a father in the Air Force. Her husband also served many years as a pilot before retiring in 2006.

Born Janet Libby in Florida, her family moved several times before her dad was assigned to Wright-Patt just in time for her to spend her high school years at Beavercreek High School. While there, she and several classmates started a girls’ soccer team, which eventually evolved into the current, official school team and was the start of her decades of leadership. In 2004, she was inducted into the Beavercreek High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

General Wolfenbarger's past service at WPAFB included managing the B-2 program

When she graduated from Beavercreek in 1976, the Air Force Academy was just beginning to accept women, and Janet Libby graduated in the academy’s first class that included women. She then went on to earn several masters degrees, including one in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2009, she received her third star, and became the highest-ranking woman in the Air Force.

General Wolfenbarger’s story is certainly inspirational. She’s proof that with determination, confidence, and simply doing one’s best in a job, one can go far. She hopes more young women will consider the Air Force as a career, one she calls “extraordinarily rewarding and challenging.” And with her new assignment, she’s glad to return to Dayton, and said, “I feel as though I am coming home.”

Congratulations to General Wolfenbarger, and best wishes for continued success in her new assignment!

You can read more about General Wolfenbarger in the Dayton Daily News, as well as on the official U.S. Air Force website.

I’d love to hear from you! Have you heard or read any inspiring girls-rule stories lately? What do you think of General Wolfenbarger’s story?