The cure to the dreaded writer’s block

A common discussion that I see among writers on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, is the oh so dreaded writer’s block. First of all, let me tell you—THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS WRITER’S BLOCK! I do not believe in writer’s block. I believe in setting your mind to the task of writing and it will come. Whenever I’m stumbling with a scene, I simply move on or switch projects. When I go back to the troublesome scene I see that it wasn’t the scene, just my mindset at the moment.

Only you can find your own answer to curing “writer’s block.” Mine? Exercise. Yes, I have deadlines, a baby, a high maintenance dog and a husband who has a limited selection in his cooking repertoire BUT I schedule time for my fitness. It’s amazing what an hour in the gym can do to my mind. I also make time to laugh. Put something humorous around your work station. The attached picture is something I found in my Grandfather's office after he passed away. It never fails to make me laugh.

I also love to love on my dog, Oscar. Taking a few minutes off to hug and play with him is another great way that I clear my mind. Recently, fellow dog author, Amy Shojai wrote on the health benefits of having a dog. She focused on actual health conditions such as high blood pressure but I know that Oscar helps me with my stress. To read Amy’s article click here.

What do you do to limit your stress during a deadline rush? How do you battle with “writer’s block,” if you even believe it exists?

Announcements:

“Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” is available at the affordable price of $2. 99 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. For more information on “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” click here.

Obviously, I love dogs. My fellow #MyWANA member, author James Rollins is holding a fundraiser over at his blog that will benefit The Humane Society of America. It’s fun and easy. Help spread the word of his upcoming novel, “The Devil Colony” by buying fun merchandise and ALL the proceeds go to benefit The Humane Society of America. It’s a win-win people!

What do writers and Lady Gaga have in common?

I’m a Lady Gaga fan. I was devastated when her tour went through Houston when I was nine-months-pregnant, BUT then my wonderful husband bought two tickets to her Monster Ball when it made it’s second pass through the city. To my writer-related point, what do writers have in common with Lady Gaga? I should have titled this post: What do great writers have in common with Lady Gaga? They are all different.

Whether you like Lady Gaga, her music, her unique style and all those costumes; everyone can agree on one thing—she is different. No matter if you are a writer, a singer, or in any creative field—being different is the key to success. Being different is what makes you stand out from all the good writers out there.

My senior year in college I wrote a very long paper on a book that inspired me. I wrote on Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.” I believe that Lady Gaga is a great example of this. Of course she is good but she is more than that. She takes each performance, each song, each costume that little extra step to make it great.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to go from good to great. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this topic, as I prepare to pitch my fiction work at RWA Nationals. What makes my story greater than all the other good stories out there?

Only I can answer that question, like only you can know what will take you from being good to great. Lady Gaga has obviously figured out what works for her.

I may still be working on getting my fiction work published but I’ve made one step from being a good writer to a great writer by releasing my non-fiction book, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog,” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing. I wrote what I loved. I wrote what I knew. I wrote about dogs. It won’t become a movie, but it means so much to me. I know I will make a difference with it.

The literature world all ready has a J.K. Rowlings and a Stephenie Meyer. So, I can tell you that I am not writing about boy wizards or a teen vampire love story.

Be different. That’s what great writers share with Lady Gaga.

What are you doing to take your writing, life, career, etc. to the next level? What are you doing to stop being good and become great? What are you doing to become the “Lady Gaga” of what you do? Work hard and go beyond the “Edge of Glory.”

Announcements:

To learn more about my non-fiction book, “Caring you Your Special Needs Dog,” out this month by Who Dares Wins Publishing click here. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine.

Obviously, I love dogs. My fellow #MyWANA member, author James Rollins is holding a fundraiser over at his blog that will benefit The Humane Society of America. It’s fun and easy. Help spread the word of his upcoming novel, “The Devil Colony” by buying fun merchandise and ALL the proceeds go to benefit The Humane Society of America. It’s a win-win people!

I recently had the honor of being a guest on author Amy Shojai’s radio show, “Pet Peeves.” You can listen here.

I had the opportunity to write a guest column over at Pitch University. Click here to read about Finding Luck in Unforeseen Pitches (and Dogs!)

And to those of you that read the announcements.......enjoy my favorite new Gaga song from her new album, “Edge of Glory.”

A rant on respecting the book

OK, I realize that I’m preaching to choir here. If you are following my blog you probably enjoy reading and respect the craft of writing. This past December I became a fan of the Kindle but I still purchase some books from bookstores. There is just something magical about walking in a bookstore and for me this week, a part of that magic was missing. It was no fault of the particular Barnes and Noble that I was in but the fault of one person that clearly does not know how to respect a book.

I pre-ordered a signed edition of Cassandra Clare’s ‘City of Fallen Angels’ from Barnes and Noble. I also purchased the book on my Kindle so I read the book on release day. I followed up with the bookstore on release day and was told that the signed editions were not in yet. No big deal. I had all ready read the book. What I really wanted was the special letter from Jace to Clary that was in the Barnes and Noble edition. So I waited.

I got the call last week to go pick up my book. I went to Barnes and Noble and finally had my signed edition with the letter. Or so I thought. Once in the car I was anxious to finally read the letter. I opened my book and saw the problem. Where the letter was supposed to be was a tear. Someone tore the letter out of the book.

Needless to say I have been furious over this and that is why I have waited to write anything until I had some time to calm down. To be clear, I am not mad at Barnes and Noble. They cannot inspect every book to ensure that pages aren’t missing. I am mad at the individual who did this or anyone that has torn a page out of a book.

I love to read. I love the feeling of escaping into a new world and meet new characters. And I know that I’m not alone in my love for reading. If you go to a bookstore, you must, is someway share this love for reading. So, why tear pages out of a book that someone else is going to read? Why take away a piece of the magic from someone else?

If you have ever thought about tearing a page out of book I encourage you to stop and think about what you are doing. You are destroying some of the magic for the next person that will open that book. Please take time to think about what you are doing. Do what is right. And this applies to everything in life.

If this is the first time you’ve read my blog, I encourage you to read past posts. I’m normally not on my soapbox but I had to speak on this issue.

Announcements:

My non-fiction, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. For more information click here.

You can read my interview at Who Dares Wins Publishing here.

I was a guest on Rachel Harris’ blog, Ending Unplanned this week. I spoke about going outside the box for writing communities.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

What do authors do on release day?

Between long nights of writing, endless plotting and research, all writers deserve a break when they finally get that so sought after release day. Wrong. At least that is how it was for me. With the dawn of social media came even more "jobs" that writers must do other than write. Yesterday when my non-fiction “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” came out I went to work with promotion. It is one thing to write a book but if no one reads it, then that hard work will go unappreciated.

In addition to promotion, I still have been writing. Obviously, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” is out of my hands but I’m all ready on to the next project. I’m currently revising my young adult fantasy and beginning research for the next book in my non-fiction series.

What other “jobs” do authors have? We’re also managers, accountants, janitors, etc. How do I make the time to do it all, while raising my daughter and dog Oscar, who you all have figured out by now is high-maintenance? Read my previous post on how to be your own staff.

Managing a writing business is not easy but it’s a way of life that I love and thrive on. Writing is a lifestyle, a way of life that we writers crave.

I support the idea of celebrating the milestones and victories of being an author, such as the fabulous release day. For me though, I celebrated the day my galley was in my hands. Now, I’m in full promotion mode and working on the next thing. I will say though, I did my little *happy dance* when I searched my name in Amazon and my book popped up!

What do you do or will you do to celebrate a book release? Will you celebrate on release day or when the book is out of your hands?

Announcements:

My non-fiction, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. For more information click here.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

"Caring for Your Special Needs Dog" is out today

My non-fiction, "Caring for Your Special Needs Dog" is out today. It is available via ebook at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A percentage of proceeds will go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine.

You can read my interview on "Caring for Your Special Needs Dog" at Who Dares Wins Publishing blog, Write it Forward.

Thank you everyone for supporting this great cause and for supporting my debut novel.

Promotion: Non-fiction vs. fiction

As a writer of both non-fiction and fiction and with my non-fiction debuting next week; I’ve been thinking a lot about marketing and the differences between these two worlds within the literary realm.

My initial thoughts were that non-fiction would be more predictable on how to market. For example, with my book “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” I will be reaching out the veterinarian schools/practices, shelters and pet owners. This would not be an idea book to market with an ad on Facebook.

When my young adult novel comes out I will turn more to social media, YA book reviewers, book tours, school visits, etc. For fiction that caters to a young audience that in well versed on the web I would want to do a book trailer in hopes that it would go viral, like many YA trailers have.

As I prepare to market my non-fiction, I asked around to get feedback from other writers on how they see marketing a non-fiction vs. a fiction. New York Times best-selling author Bob Mayer knows this well as he has sold and promoted both non-fiction and fiction novels. “For non-fiction, we can target promotion to specific audiences much better than we can for fiction,” explains Mayer of Who Dare Wins Publishing. Author Jill Kemerer believes that “fiction authors promote themselves while non-fiction authors promote the ideas in their books.”

Mayer recently released his historical epic, “Duty, Honor, Country” a novel of West Point and the Civil War. He spent the last week mailing galleys out to a bunch of Civil War Magazines and reviewers, as well as the Superintendent at West Point and the head of the history department. This is an example of the power of reviews. That may be the strongest commonality between promoting a non-fiction vs. fiction.

This next week I plan to reach out to as many niche groups as possible but I do plan to use Twitter and Facebook to reach out to everyday dog owners. My book, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” I hope will be recommended by veterinarians but I wrote it from the heart of one dog owner to many other dog owners seeking advice and guidance.

But in the end, promotional plans for both non-fiction and fiction books are both uncertain. “The bottom line is that you do everything you can and you have no idea what will work. There is a degree of luck involved but luck goes to those who work the hardest,” says author Bob Mayer

What marketing tactics do you feel are the most effective for non-fiction? Fiction? What have you learned from your experiences?

Announcements:

My book, "Caring for Your Special Needs Dog" published by Who Dares Wins Publishing comes out this Wednesday, May 18.

Writing with passion: How that led to my first book

Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” We all love to write or we wouldn’t be able to handle this fast growing and crazy industry, but do you love what you write. I’m talking about if you love your writing. Most authors experience times when they don’t like their own writing, at least I hope that’s true because I’ve been there. The question is, are you writing what you love?

There is more to you then being a writer. What is it that makes you smile? What do you do when you’re not in front of the keyboard or on Twitter? For me, the answer is dogs. I have always loved dogs. I have never not had a dog in my life. Many of you put up with me talking about my dog Oscar on this blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. And that’s probably not going to change. I’m crazy about that dog. I mean, look at his picture. This is seventy-pound Oscar curled up on the couch surrounded by blankets. Maybe I should have named him Linus! Back to my point; after a conversation about dogs with Bob Mayer at one of his Warrior Writer Workshops (I highly recommend these) I decided to write a book on dogs. To be even more specific, the book is about caring for dogs with special needs, since Oscar has epilepsy.

Was it a good thing for me to take on another major writing project while still working hard on my young adult novel? I say yes. I love to write but it has been a wonderful thing to combine two loves of mine. It just feels good and I’m so happy that my first published book is about something that means so much to me (not that the YA doesn't and you'll hear why in a moment.)

For me it has been a breath of fresh air to be able to switch off from the two projects. While writing a young adult epic fantasy sometimes my head needs a break from running and designing a new world. During moments like that it was nice to switch over to work on my dog book. Both projects are completely different in tone and style. This gave me the needed break that I needed from the YA and the opportunity to hopefully really make a difference.

You can take writing about your passions to another level. I have. When writing fiction, write something that you love into the story. It will personalize it for you and keep you in love with the story. Yes, a writer can easily fall out of love with their own story after endless hours of working on it. In my YA you probably won’t be surprised to hear that Oscar has a role. Yep, I wrote in my dog. I’m an author, I can do things like that! For me, this makes the story much more exciting when I’m working on it at 2 a.m.

I know, I know. “Write a piece of me into the story? But if someone doesn’t like it then they aren’t liking a piece of me.” I once heard that concern and my answer is simple, get over it. As a writer you will not please everyone. You must have tough skin because there will be agents, publishers and readers out there that will not like your work. I accepted this before anyone looked at my work and this is why I understand the importance of making me happy. You can only control your own happiness, so write what you love. Put your happiness and anything that makes you happy into your story. Write with passion. If you do, you will be a happier writer and a better writer.

Do you write with passion? Have you written a non-fiction about an interest that you love? Do you combine your interests into your fiction? Share it in a comment below.

Announcements:

I’m excited to announce that “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog,” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing will be out a week from today, May 18! I’m really excited about this project and can’t wait to share it with you all. A percentage of profits from this book will go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. Again, I’m following my passions.

Also, I’ve joined Facebook. You can now follow me there for announcements about my book, columns and other writing projects. Join the party and say "hi!"

If you haven't, join the Love Revolution for writers an follow the hastag created by Social Media expert Kristen Lamb, #MyWANA. This is a great way to connect with fellow writers, share information and ask questions. It can be hard to juggle writing and managing social media but we are not alone!

Help! Writer challenges at the end of a manuscript

I am now just four chapters away from my final revision pass on my YA fantasy manuscript! Even for someone that considers herself to be organized and disciplined, this has been the most difficult part. I’m going to compare it to my wedding almost four years ago. I felt that our 10-month engagement went quickly with exception of the final two weeks. That time dragged for what seemed like eternity.

So why is this final stretch being so hard? My theory is that the end is so close that I’m getting nervous about finishing it. I’ve been working on this project so long that it will almost be strange to not be working with these characters for hours each day. Secondly, finishing it means that I will actually be submitting it. Also, I’m finding myself torn on how to publish it. The publishing industry is moving and changing so quickly these days. And lastly, I’m finding myself suffering from the writing blues. This is what I call it when I’ve decided that I don’t like the story anymore.

So what am I doing to combat these issues and move towards the end, reaching my self-imposed deadlines? First, as a motivation to finish I have clearly outlined my next very exciting project. Really, I can’t wait to dive into this new story and this is the PERFECT motivation to wrap up my current WIP.

Secondly, I’ve put my worries of the publishing industry aside for the time being. Better understanding the industry has nothing to do about finishing my manuscript. I can’t publish it in any way if it isn’t finished.

As for those writing blues, I recently spoke to some of my author friends and found that they all experienced this. I believe that most writers are perfectionists, like myself, and therefore we are going to find times where we are not happy with our work. I’m fixing such thoughts by going back and rereading positive emails from my critique partners. I’ve also gone back and reread a few of my favorite scenes reminding myself why I love this story and why it deserves to be read by others. As an exercise I also copied pictures of actors that I felt matched my cast of characters into my word document with all my character profiles. By adding these pictures it renewed my love for the cast and gave me the final emotional driving push that I needed to dive back in and finish the manuscript.

So, I ask, have you experienced these problems when the end is so close? How did you overcome and finish your manuscript?

Announcements:

Just a reminder that my non-fiction book “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” will be out later this month by Who Dares Wins Publishing. I recently secured that a percentage of the profits will go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. More details to come.

Also, if you have not read the book, “We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media”by Kristen Lamb then you should. Kristen has also started a new hashtag group on Twitter, #MyWANA where writers can meet for effective promotion and discussion. This is great way to get your platforms out there effectively and quickly in an age where social networking is key.

So do you want to know what my YA is about?

As I have said before, I’m working on the final revisions of my YA fantasy and preparing it for submission. As any writer understands, the pitch is often the hardest part of writing a book. I have a degree in public relations so you would think that I’d be great at pitching my own book. Wrong! I’ve learned that pitching your own book can be one of the biggest challenges to a writer. I feel that I’m too close to my story to decipher what is really important to pitch and what is not. That is why I’m trusting Diane Holmes over at Pitch University to advise me on my pitch. Today she is talking about me in a Pitch University case study.

If you’ve ever wondered what my book is about, here is your chance to find out! In working with Pitch University I found that I was pitching the right parts of my book just at the wrong places. My instincts were right which made feel good about my pitch and know that I’m on the right track. Pitch University also has connections with agents so I was able to get feedback from agent Molly Jaffa with Folio Literary Management.

You can see my case study here. As I prepare to submit this story for representation I am open to your suggestions. What do you think of my pitch? Do you want Pitch University to examine your pitch? Contact them here.