Tag Archives: Art

December 6, 2012 · 5:07 am

‘Like’ me, please…

Social networking has always been important for girls–invite me to your birthday party and I will invite you to mine. We both gain that way. After all, you get a present and I get a cupcake! In childhood the little bits of social networking we did led to tears as often as it did to cupcakes, but now we’re grownups and we have a book or a music cd to market. We can’t afford to shed tears over this.

Whether it is music or books, if you are an indie, you must take responsibility for your own marketing.

1. Decide what you are marketing. This sounds like a no brainer, but many people are blurry on this, and they apply a lot of energy and get nowhere. I know many people who write, paint and ALSO make music. If you are doing multiple things, separate your website into different pages for each aspect of your career, with a good home page that directs your prospective client to the product they are looking for. I really like the website which Blackmore’s Night has put up, and I also like Mercedes Lackey’s website. Both are professionally done, but a free WordPress Blog can be utilized to good advantage by a determined self-promoter. The lovely folks at WordPress give you all the tools you need to learn how to do this!

2. Make regular posts and updates, to keep your blog fresh. After all – we’ve all clicked on links in the google list that take us to abandoned virtual warehouses, with out of long out of date information and links to nowhere!

3. Use Twitter well and sparingly. Twitter can easily become a spam-fest, so be careful how you use it. Be sure to retweet your twitter-friend’s important events, and they will return the favor. Once in a while, post your homepage, your professional Facebook page and links to your books or your music, but be wise and respect your friends.

4. The eternal sunshine of the Facebook page – again, be careful not to spam the world everyday with your links on your personal page, because your highschool chums and distant cousins won’t pay anymore attention to them than they do Aunt Caro’s constant barrage of invitations to play Farmville. In fact, they may unsubscribe from you. This is where having a professional page comes in handy. After you send out ONE invitation to your family and friends to ‘LIKE’ your professional fb page, you are good to go. Maybe in a few months, re-post the link on your personal wall, but don’t beat folks over the head with it. Do tweet the links to it once in a while, and post them on your blog/website. Page Owners need to make sure their content is interesting and in that way they are encouraging Likes, comments and Shares so that their posts continue to show up in their Fans’ News Feeds, but they MUST NOT SPAM.

BTW – My Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/cjjasperson and I would be awfully happy if you would stop by and ‘like’ me… I’ll save you a cupcake at my next birthday party! (…hmm…should I use ‘lol’ here or is that too hokey?) (I’m not really joking, so maybe ‘lol’ is appropriate… it’s jaunty and pretends I’m not serious…)

lol.

It’s tough trying to learn the ropes in the world of self-promotion. There really is no handbook, because the social-network scene is always changing.

One thing hasn’t changed though and that is business etiquette. Trying to walk that fine line between getting your name out there and being that annoying acquaintance who deluges his casual acquaintances with constant demands that they buy his wretched cd or book is difficult. I think this is where our manners come into play–what would you like your friends who are self-promoting to do? Behave the way you want them to behave for you and hopefully you will still have friends in a year!

lol. (I mean it this time.)

I do have some acquaintances on Facebook who bury me with spammy demands to push their product, and I have friends who only ask to have a product pushed once in a while. Guess who I am always happy to help? Not Spam-the-Man Jones and their sad book of badly conceived, not-so-erotic, pornographic haikus.

Now that might actually sell. (Note to self–consider writing a collection of seventeen-syllable erotic poems…)

Nah. lol.

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Filed under Adventure, Books, Humor, Literature, writer, writing

Tagged as adventure, Art, erotic haikus, fiction, humor, literature, Social Networking, writing

November 26, 2012 · 6:39 pm

The Descriptive Balancing Act, Maria V.A. Johnson

Today’s guest post is by Maria V.A. Johnson, poet and editor. Maria was the editor on Carlie M.A. Cullen’s novel of paranormal love and adventure, ‘Heart Search: Lost’. Maria can be found blogging at http://mariavajohnson.com.

Maria is discussing the fine balancing act an author has when it comes to description. For me, description is like hot-sauce. I love it, even when my lips are on fire, but I fear going over-board with it so when I am cooking, I don’t go there as often as I should.

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The Descriptive Balancing Act

One of the hardest parts about writing is getting the level of detail correct. If you don’t describe something well enough, how are the readers supposed to connect to it? On the other hand, if you describe too much they will give up reading it completely.

It has always been a balancing act, between description and plot. One thing you need to remember though is that a story should always be either plot or character driven; it cannot be driven on description. The whole point of description is to paint the scene. Think of a painting of a woman. Is it interesting if she is standing in a white canvas, nothing around her? Not really. But is it interesting if she is standing in the middle of a huge crowd, or a forest, so you can barely see her? No. An author has to try to find the middle ground, just like with that painting.

So how do you use enough description to show the scene without overwhelming it?

Step One. Focus on telling the story. You can always go back and add more detail later if it’s needed.

Step Two. Try to be realistic. Don’t put in fancy words and elaborate phrasing just because it sounds good or you think it will stun the reader with your eloquence. Look at this phrase from the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2011win.html

The Los Angeles morning was heavy with smog, the word being a portmanteau of smoke and fog, though in LA the pollutants are typically vehicular emissions as opposed to actual smoke and fog, unlike 19^th-century London where the smoke from countless small coal fires often combined with fog off the Thames to produce true smog, though back then they were not clever enough to call it that.

Now a) this sentence is way too long, which makes it difficult to follow from one end to the other, and b) you only need the first 8 words. Who doesn’t know what smog is? Who doesn’t know this author is referring to the car emissions? It is unnecessary detail. And the reference to 19^th-century London? This would only be relevant if this were in a Historical Fiction novel or something similar, rather than being a throw-away comment on what real smog should be. The author should just say “The Los Angeles morning was heavy with smog,” and then move on with the story. We all know what it looks like, and those 8 words conjure enough of a picture for us to understand the scene.

Step Three. Think about your characters. How do they act, think, feel? When they do or say something can you see their personality, their motivation, their feeling behind it? You don’t need whole paragraphs to do this unless it is a scene that calls for it, e.g. when someone is crushed by grief and the emotions are overwhelming everything – including the story, sometimes all you need is a word or two. Look at this example from Heart Search: Lost by Carlie M. A. Cullen.

“I don’t know what to say,” he moaned, anguish still apparent in his tone.

The male protagonist has just accidentally hurt his partner. You can see with just a few words how much it has affected him and how he feels about it. This tells you a lot about his character, how caring and gentle he is, and how much he loves her.

Step Four. Before sending it off to an editor, give it a read through and ask yourself “Is this something I would like to read?” If the answer is no, then ask yourself why.

Four easy steps to follow towards a balanced story. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but even for the exceptions there is a rule.

The Rule. If you are going to break a rule, make sure you do it well enough that nobody cares!

Let’s look at two classic examples of this – C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien is known for his amazing scenes. Pick up The Lord of the Rings and you will find description on top of description. Even when they take up the entire page, it doesn’t feel too heavy. This is partly because of the length of the book, and partly because of the way he makes the scenes come to life. You don’t notice how long the descriptive passages are when you are lost within the world he has created.

On the south-eastern side the ground fell very steeply, as if the slopes of the hill were continued far down under the trees, like island-shores that really are the sides of a mountain rising out of deep waters.

Lewis is the exact opposite. Read The Chronicles of Narnia and you will see how little description he actually uses. The fact that this is a children’s book helps. A person’s imagination is most vivid as a child. He gives just enough detail to release the child to see the rest. He makes the reader the describer, letting them go where they want with only a little nudge. In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe most things and people are described, but not until you are half-way through the final chapter do you learn anything about the four main characters.

And they themselves grew and changed as the years passed over them. And Peter became a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior, and he was called King Peter the Magnificent. And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet … Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgement. He was called King Edmund the Just. But as for Lucy, she was always gay and golden-haired…

So now you know the steps to follow, you are half-way to having a decent novel which will engage your readers. Don’t forget that you should ALWAYS send it off to a professional editor – NEVER try to do it yourself!

Remember The Rule and happy writing!

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Filed under Adventure, Books, Fantasy, Humor, Literature, Uncategorized, vampires, writer, writing

Tagged as Art, battles, Chohula, fantasy, fiction, Hot Sauce, humor, romance, writing

November 1, 2012 · 6:39 pm

NaNoWriMo – the first 6 hours

YES!!! We survived the invasion of the 3 ½ foot tall Zombies. There was enough chocolate to go around, with plenty for my hubby and I to—er—examine. But now another Apocalypse looms on the horizon. Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo. Now I must write 1666 words per day to have my 50,000 words by Nov. 30, 2012. I will have no trouble. I managed to wake up at 2 a.m. and got the first 1538 words down. Now it’s full steam ahead and no stopping for tourist distractions.

This blog will be the temporary home of eminent guest bloggers such as J.D. Hughes, Carlie Cullen, and Maria Johnson along with others as yet to be lassoed! I can’t wait to see what they pull out of their incredibly creative minds for this!

Also, Alison DeLuca is having a blog tour for her fabulous Steampunk series, the Crown Phoenix Series this month, and she will be visiting more than once, I hope!

So, to get you all started, these are the first paragraphs of what I did at 2:00 A.M.!

Excerpt from Valley of Shadows

The day John Farmer left home began as any typical winter day, rainy and cold. Only the day previously he’d turned fifteen making him legally an adult. His father had given him a new bow with a quiver full of arrows he’d forged especially for him, warning him to use them wisely. Other than that, nothing in John Farmer’s life had changed to mark his passage into adulthood. He still planned to try to get into town, and see Marjean Baker, if he could. She was a friendly-girl down at the Boar’s Head tavern, and was five years his senior, but she really liked him, and he’d most definitely enjoyed her favors, the two times he’d managed to sneak off with her.

Unfortunately, he’d dallied with her too long the last time, returning home a bit too late the previous Restday, and his father discovered his secret arrangement with Marjean. John was now unlikely to get into town, unless he could figure out a way to sneak away without Wynn finding out—also unlikely as Wynn had taken to popping in and ‘checking’ on him at odd hours, making sure he was still there. His dad had even taken the precaution of hiding the saddle and bridle, so John would have to ride bareback if he did manage to sneak off.

He’d no idea why his father was so upset about such a minor thing. Unbonded men often had relationships with friendly-girls. No one thought twice about it. From what his dad’s old army friend, Jules Brendsson, said when he’d passed through Markett during Harvest, his dad had been the next best thing to a pleasure-boy as a young man, so Wynn’s attitude was hypocritical, in John’s opinion. It’s not like I want to bond with her or anything, we’re just having fun. People expect you to have fun with friendly-girls, but Dad acts like it’s the end of the world.

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It has a long way to go! But it’s 30 days of straight on keying and no looking back until December 1^st. If I can just get the whole tale down from start to finish in that time, I will be able to spend the next half-year expanding on it. Fortunately, I know these people and their world better than I know anything else right now, so I should be able to do it.

I will pop in and keep everyone posted on my progress. In the meantime I can’t wait to see what posts my friends will be making here during the month of November!

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Filed under Adventure, Battles, Books, Dragons, Humor, Uncategorized, writer, writing

Tagged as adventure, Art, battles, Brittain, dragons, fantasy, fiction, writing

October 29, 2012 · 6:00 pm

The Zombie Apocalypse–and so it begins…

Halloween is just a day or two away. Wednesday night will see the streets of my town filled with the walking dead, the could-be-dead and the just plain skeletal remains of the dead. Should I plan poorly and run out of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Hershey’s Chocolate Bars before 9:00 P.M. or so, I will most likely wish I was dead! After all, my deeds that night are all that stands between the undead apocalypse and the good people of the world.

What is this fascination we have with death? So many books are being written about the undead, vampires and zombies. In my town Zombies are very popular, being quite athletic and charitably minded, with many turning out this last week for the Zombie Dash 5k run.

According to Zynga executive, Travis Boatman, who has been making games for two decades, “People want to smash and maim and kill people,” Travis says. “But people don’t alway like smashing and maiming and killing real people because, well, there’s something unsettling about that. Zombies are people,” Travis continues, “so they fulfill people’s desire to smash and maim and kill people. But they’re also already dead. So there’s nothing unsettling about smashing and maiming and killing them.”

Read more of Travis’s Interview at : Zynga

Vampires are of course very romantic, and frequently are the most popular books on the store racks. Anne Rice made the vampire quite romantic and disturbingly sexy in her 1976 novel, Interview With the Vampire. Stephanie Meyers made them not only romantic, she made them mainstream with her mega-popular Twilight. Heck, she even managed to make damp, dreary Forks, Washington seem somehow more mysterious, much more glamorous and a LOT less rainy than it actually is. After all, Forks averages 212 days per year with measurable precipitation — and trust me, that is a LOT of dark, rainy days.

I am a superhero, and October 31st is a most important night in the calendar of this superhero. It is the one night of the year when the veil between the worlds is most thin and the undead wait, literally DYING to invade our streets. Without my efforts to stave off the annual apocalypse which each year is poised to take place on November 1st, who knows what mayhem would abound?

How do I do this? I have certain skills… and I’ve much arcane and mystical knowledge. Dressed in my ritual garb, I will personally perform the annual sacrifice which appeases those uneasy dead who roam the streets.

The vampires and zombies who will be knocking at my door on Wednesday will be, for the most part, less than four feet tall, wearing rain coats over their rags and capes, and carrying plastic bags for the annual sacred offering of chocolate. I will be wearing my lucky witch’s hat and flying-cape as I ritualistically drop chocolate into the offering-bags, hoping against hope that the annual tribute will keep my neighborhood safe from the walking dead for one more year.

I take my work seriously, when it comes to protecting my town. If it wasn’t for me and fifty dollars worth of chocolate, who knows what evil these undead marauders could unleash for the next year? It’s a terribly lonely thing, knowing that one fat grandma in a witch’s hat armed only with a bucket of chocolate is all that stands between human-kind and the zombie apocalypse.

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Filed under Adventure, Dragons, Fantasy, Humor, mythology, Romance, Uncategorized, vampires, writer, writing

Tagged as adventure, Art, battles, Brittain, knights, magic, mythology, vampires, writing

October 20, 2012 · 6:10 pm

You, Me and Mr W B

Today’s guest is the well-known author, blogger and editor, Carlie M.A. Cullen, author of Heart Search, a paranormal fantasy and who hails from the UK. She has consented to give us her humorous take on that bane of all writers – Writer’s Block. Her approach is quite zen as compared to mine! Take it away, Carlie…

You, Me and Mr W B

The vast majority of us authors have day jobs and families, so we try and squeeze in some time when we can to write. But it’s just not that easy.

Picture the scene; you’ve had a rotten day at work so you’re feeling kind of up-tight and frustrated – angry even. When you get home you find some bills in your post box so now you have to work out which ones you can pay now and which will have to wait a week or two. Your spouse/partner is worried about money, the kid(s) and is fed up because he/she broke a favourite ornament. One of the kids is ill; they’ve got a bit of a fever and keeps throwing up, and the dog has decided to expand its’ culinary repertoire by chewing on your slippers.

After all this and having had dinner, you manage to find half an hour to sit down and write. You fire up your PC or laptop, open the relevant page and nothing. Mr Writer’s Block has taken up residence in your head and you can’t think of a single thing to write. You re-read some of what you’ve written before in the hope it’ll spark something, anything, so you can continue with your story. But what happens? Zilch, zip, nada, nothing. Before you know it, your half an hour has gone, it’s time for bed and now you’re even more frustrated.

Is it any wonder?

Our busy lives get in the way of our writing and just trying to find the time is hard enough, but when you’re worried about money, job, kids et al, it’s really no wonder so many of us suffer visits from Mr Writer’s Block, is it?

For us to be productive with our writing, we need to be able to put aside all the stresses, strains and problems thrown across our paths. We need to allow our imaginations to soar in a creative way rather than imagining what will happen if a particular bill is not paid by the due date. We need to find our zone and shut everything else out. Sounds easy, right? Like heck it is!

So how do we do it?

Preparation is key here and there are a few techniques you can use to get past it. I’m going to share three with you here.

If you’re the sort of person who listens to music when you write, put on a CD or your iPod for a good 10-15 minutes before you start and really concentrate on it. If it’s instrumental, listen to how the notes rise and fall, the harmonies created by the different instruments and think what scene the music conjures; if there are vocals, listen to the words very carefully, and try to picture the artist’s mood when they were writing it or how they would look performing it on stage. By concentrating on the music, you’re beginning to free your mind.

Another way is deep breathing relaxation exercises with a twist. Sit or lay – it doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable – and close your eyes. Start breathing deeply then begin by thinking about your feet and mentally picture the muscles relaxing and the stress as a puff of black smoke or a black cloud which appears outside your feet as the muscles relax. Then you start working your way up your body; ankles to knees, knees to top of thighs, hip / groin / stomach area, chest, shoulders, arms and hands, neck and last of all your head. Then you picture a shape, any shape you like. It starts off small then gets increasingly larger until it fills your vision. Then you allow the shape to morph or distort itself, bending in on itself, twirling around, basically anything your mind can invoke. Now you’ve spent that time relaxing and playing with the shape, it’s pushed out the worries and let your imagination go to work.

The final one is ten minutes of free-writing, using pen and paper. Most, if not all of you are likely to know what this is, but in case you don’t I’ll explain. Pick a word, any word you like, at random. Now you just write anything which pops into your head about that word. Spelling, grammar and punctuation go out the window. You don’t even need to worry about sentence structure. You can write a list of words you associate with your chosen topic, you can write sentences. It doesn’t matter what you write, how it sounds, how arbitrary it is, the important thing is concentrating on your chosen word and just keep writing. The mere fact of you concentrating on something else has opened your mind and allowed the creative side to emerge.

After doing one of these exercises you go straight to your computer or writing pad, whichever you use and begin to write. Allow your mind free rein on your work in progress; it’s primed and ready to accept the sparks of inspiration your preparations have encouraged. It might be a little hokey at first, a little off compared to how you normally write, but that’s okay. The important thing is you’re now writing and as you progress your style, sentence structure and all the things you’re used to will materialise and ‘hey presto’ you’re back in your groove. The worst thing you can do is concern yourself with your first few lines which may not be up to your normal standard – it can always be edited later – you’re putting words on the page or screen and that’s what matters.

So the next time you’re tense and Mr Writer’s Block come knocking on your door, slam it in his face, do your chosen exercise(s) then write to your heart’s content.

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Carlie’s approach is so much more civilized than mine! Although, I must say, my hair-dresser, Heavenly Kevin has become quite adept at disguising the flat spot I’ve gained from banging my head on my desk! Thank you Carlie – we’ll hear more from you in November when NaNoWriMo is in full swing and I am begging for guest posts!

Carlie’s book, Heart Search is available at amazon.com for the amazingly affordable price of only $2.99 for the Kindle download. I love a good tale of vampires and love gone awry!