Happy Insecure Writers Support Group Day.
Apologies for not putting up all the usual info. My laptop is down and using an iPad is more difficult than I thought. Please check out our home page https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com
Secrets is the question this month. I can’t think of a secret that my readers can’t figure out from my stories. Families are important to me, which is why my characters have families. In my cozy mystery series (Alex O’Hara novels), I show Alex interacting with her dad and her surrogate mother in book 3, The Case of the Meddling Mother. Her family and Nick’s family play a large part in book 4 (work in progress).
The main character in One Red Shoe, a romantic suspense, is the youngest and only girl in a family of five. Having overprotective brothers is a pain for her, but always my secret wish since I’m the oldest. In Numbers Never Lie, another romantic suspense, Maggie’s driving force is finding her brother’s killer.
Readers can learn a lot about us from our stories. Maybe not from just one, but from the whole body of work.
Hope you have a great month and continue to stay safe.
Showing posts with label ISWG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISWG. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
#IWSG: June
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
#ISWG: Flexibility
Since many of you are doing A to Z Challenge, I'll make this short and, hopefully, helpful. To succeed as a writer you have to be flexible. I don't mean jump at each new trend, but be willing to try to new things.
If you have time and more interest, I wrote a lengthier post on this topic last week over at The Roses of Prose. I will be without internet service until the weekend when I'll try to get to everyone. Thanks for understanding.
Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
#ISWG - Good Times and Bad
It’s the first Wednesday of the month and time for the
Insecure Writers Group. The purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can
express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those
who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe
haven for insecure writers of all kinds! A big THANKS to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting
this group and keeping it going. And to this month's awesome hosts C. Lee McKenzie, Tracy Jo, Melanie Schulz, and LG Keltner!
There are days when everything goes wrong, when nothing we
do is right. Then there are the days when the writing flows, when we receive
good news—an acceptance letter from the agent we always wanted or the editor
who loves our work or someone other than our mother thinks our story is
fabulous. Hopefully, the good happens more often than the bad.
This has been a mixed month for me. More good than not. I released
The
Chameleon, my newest science fiction romance. Sales are good, for which
I am very grateful. I finished the first book in a new private eye mystery and
sent it out for editing. And I already have a cover for it (thanks to Rebel Ink
Designs).
I mentioned a mixed month. I'm slowly recovering from the
pulmonary embolisms, much slower than I thought I would. The lungs don't bounce
back that easily. I finally had a skin test to tell me what I was allergic to
that sent me into an anaphylactic reaction, but I'm still no wiser. Birch
trees? C'mon. I lived next to one for 14 years. Hazelnuts? Love them. I eat
tree nuts (and peanut butter) all the time. I started another sci-fi romance
and I feel like I'm slogging through a swamp. So slow. The worst part is I know
where this story is supposed to go. And the "d" key sticks on my
laptop. Do you know how frustrating that is? Look at all the d's in this post.
LOL
Back to the good part. My son is getting married. And to the
young woman I've been hoping for over two years would be my daughter-in-law.
Despite the fact that they live in Arizona, the wedding will be here in
Michigan, on a Lake Michigan beach. I couldn't be more pleased.
So if I have any advice this month, it's to enjoy, revel in
the good times. Put up with the not so good. Find good things to celebrate.
Here's a little about The Chameleon.
Legally Blond meets Mata Hari
Socialite Jileena Winslott has perfected the image of the
spoiled, rich, bubble-headed daughter of an industrial magnate. In reality,
she’s a smart, savvy aide to her father in social situations where she is his
eyes and ears. She yearns to be her true self and run the family business. When
her father sends her on a covert mission to the Outer Rim, she has the chance
to prove herself. Big problem. He insists she take along a fake fiancé—the man
she’s secretly loved for years.
Security Officer Laning Servary has better things to do than
babysit a spoiled rich girl on a tour of the Frontier. If he refuses, he can
kiss his career good-by. Then Jileena’s father sweetens the pot. If Laning
keeps her safe, his family will receive the land they share-crop. He can’t
refuse.
In the close quarters of her ship, Laning and Jileena
discover they aren’t who they seem. Pirates, weather, and her recklessness threaten
to derail the mission. As Laning and Jileena revise their impressions of each
other, they’ll have to make hard choices about their goals. Can their budding
love survive?
The Chameleon is available at:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00K8GDN00
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/436631
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chameleon-diane-burton/1119480831?ean=2940149208616
Click here to find others on the Insecure
Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Insecure Writers Support Group - A Crappy April
It’s the first Wednesday of the month and time for the
Insecure Writers Group. The purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can
express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those
who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe
haven for insecure writers of all kinds! A big THANKS to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting
this group and keeping it going. And to this month's awesome hosts Mark Koopmans, Joylene Nowell
Butler, Elsie,
and Lisa
Buie-Collard!
April 2014 is a month I’d rather not repeat. The day after
the last ISWG post I woke up with severe pain on the right side of my ribs. It
hurt to take a deep breath. Talk about scary. Probably not as scary for me as
for my husband when I woke him up with “you need to take me to Emergency.”
Our minds do crazy things when we don’t know what’s
happening to our bodies. It took me over half an hour to wake up my husband.
Why? Because I’m stupid. First, I figured I pulled a muscle and if I changed
positions—rolling over, walking, sitting in a chair—the pain would go away. Yeah,
right. Severe pain goes away by all by itself. Then, I tried more self-diagnosing.
I’m not a doctor, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn. LOL My son-in-law is a doctor.
Did I call him? Hah. As I said, stupid.
Long story short, I had—Surprise!—blood clots in my lungs. I
had pulmonary emboli before, after knee replacement surgery. Didn’t feel the
same so I didn’t recognize the symptoms. Scary, yes, but I was in the best
place, even though three days in a hospital is no fun. Coming home was great,
but was I ever tired. My doctor says he tells all his older patients (note, he
didn’t say old) that for every day in
the hospital figure a week of recovery. I can say he’s right. So the rest of
April was pretty much shot.
On top of that, I had a major glitch in releasing my newest book romance. After waiting almost two months for the cover, my designer
finally told me that because of health problems she couldn’t do it. I know all
about health problems so how could I be mad?
After a crappy April, I have two pieces of good news. The best is I
didn’t die from the PEs. (I’m rather glad of that. LOL) And the second is I
have a new cover designer, Rebel Ink
Designs, who dropped everything to work on the cover of my soon-to-be-released science fiction romance. And here it is:
I have to say that May is starting out great.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
IWSG: Life's Weird Curves
Can it be the first Wednesday of the month again? Then it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group where writers can let all our insecurities hang out and someone (many someones) will offer suggestions, support, and understanding. A big THANKS to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group and keeping it going. And to this month's awesome hosts Tina Downey, Elsie, Elizabeth Seckman, and Julie Flanders!
Yesterday, my niece posted this on Facebook:
I’d like to think that I wouldn’t give up no matter what
comes my way. I’ve weathered some pretty good storms—my family’s health, my
own, financial worries, deaths of loved ones, the demise (or so I thought) of
my writing career. I’ve had to make adjustments but, in the end, I came out
okay.
Look at the palm trees. How they weather hurricane winds.
They bend but don’t break.
If we’re writing with the intention of being published, we’re
bound to be rejected. Oh, not us personally—our work. If we don’t get
rejections from editors or agents, reviewers can do the job. That should keep
us from getting too big for our britches (as my grandmother would say). How we
deal with rejection or the rest of life’s curves is more important.
Click here
to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s
blogging today.
Off topic: This is “Read an E-Book Week.” Visit my previous post to find out how I’m celebrating.
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