We live in a world of words, all of us. These words fill our days with joy, sadness, boredom, and wisdom. Words can touch our souls or leave us bereft of hope. It all depends on timing, person talking (or writing), and person receiving the message. So much room for communication and confusion. In short, words mirror our lives.
So what then, is a good week for someone who loves to write? Believe it or not, it’s not the putting of words down in some semi-permanent state, but the goodness happens when soaking up the world through the words and thoughts of others.
Kate Lansing
Do you know Kate Lansing? She’s an aspiring writer and director of social media for Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America. Last week, I did a presentation on Author Platform, and Kate was fully engaged.
But I have a secret. I’m not the best with social media and particularly Twitter. I wrote to Kate and asked her how to get to 60 Tweets by March 31. “60 tweets is a great goal, and I think you can totally do it!” She gave me a link to her Miss Manners Twitter Dos and Don’ts blog post, and I’m excited to say I have upped my tweets–by one. Need to keep working on this one–apparently replies to others’ tweets don’t count. I think I need to learn more about stats.
Bad News From My Publisher
I like this green color and the jacket style–now does this come with matching pants?
Last Thursday, I received word from my publisher: “After substantial reflection, analysis, and much heartache, Five Star Publishing has decided to stop acquiring titles just for its mystery line.” Whoa! Just like that? No hint this was coming? No, please send us your questions and we’ll start posting answers?
I’ve heard that publishing works this way. Not quite sure where I’ll go from here, but knowing that other authors, editors, agents and all sorts of people in the industry go through this, I believe there will be good things ahead. As my friend, Catherine Dilts, said, “I needed a little kick in the pants to move on to other projects and publishers.” Keep an eye on Catherine. She’s had another story published in Alfred Hitchcock magazine and is shopping for the right agent.
Me? This gave me the opportunity to buy Writer’s Digest’s latest “Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.” Love their articles and seeing 450 pages of opportunity knocking!
Interview With A Vietnam Vet
I see Al at Einsteins frequently. He and a group of retired police officers meet there for coffee a few times a week, and as I visit just about every day, after walking Prophet, we’ve become waiving acquaintances. But I wanted more information about what it was like in Vietnam because I want a couple of my characters to have experienced those war years. Al agreed to meet for lunch.
What a delight. I learned vocabulary, emotion, thought processes and more over fajitas and quesadillas with this generous man. I love research like this, and hope that it leads to better characters for you when the next book gets written and (hopefully) published.
Yes, for a writer, this has been a good week. So much to observe, learn, and listen to. Hoping your life is filled with such richness.
Wishing you a creative week.
COUNT DOWN OF 60’S
Facebook likes = from 0 on January 13 to 12 today. THANK YOU FRIENDS!
Tweets = from 0 on January 12 to 1 today–this obviously needs work on my part.
Reviews = 6 reviews on Amazon, still sitting at 6–0 reviews on Barnes & Noble–6 reviews on Goodreads (no change)–Do you know anybody who likes to read and write reviews?
Pages/word count=2,000 on January 13, now I have about 2,250 (oops! need to produce a lot more than this!)
Read 60 books by December 31= Still reading Miss Marple, but also read the manual for our new pressure cooker. Did you know that many of the things you’re cooking in conventional ovens can be done in a pressure cooker to save time and electricity? Pretty cool.
Birthday outfit=Took a quick peek at Nordstroms online and Brooks Brothers. No “just the thing” ideas yet, but I’m working on it :-).
Liesa, I love your thoughts on what makes a good writing week! It’s easy to get caught up in word counts and plot outlines when thinking about progress, but there’s so much more to writing than just that. And thanks for the shout out! Good luck with your goal of 60 tweets–now 59! BTW, everything from your post would make for great, and interesting, tweets (either before, during, or after). Just sayin’ 😉
Thanks, Kate, and welcome to my website. I look forward to learning a lot about Twitter from you this year, and wish you all the best on your novel. Let’s talk guest blogging next RMMWA meeting.
Liesa, what a great message! I like how you put a positive spin on the truly devastating news about Five Star. I am so grateful we were both published by them. The role of acquiring and encouraging new authors is so important. I hope another publisher steps up to fill that gap. And whatever birthday outfit you select will be sure to have style and class, just like you.
Thanks, Catherine! I know you’re an author on the move with your short stories in Alfred Hitchcock and your production on new novels so strong. I hope 2016 brings every new success to you.
Hi Liesa. I ran for the Writer’s Digest too when I received the news from Five Star. And like Catherine, I’m grateful to them for publishing my work. I learned a great deal about writing and the publishing process from them and will always be proud to have been a Five Star author.
Don’t you know it, Jeanne. Loved reading All Things Murder, and hope that you, like Veronica Walsh, land on your feet with this. Best to you always.