Freedom and Independence to Follow My Dreams

by Diana McCollum

(This first appeared as a blog on Windtree Press)

I live in a country the, USA, where I can enjoy the freedom and independence to follow my dreams.

My dream is to write and publish stories that I love for others to enjoy.

The job of writing is an independent job. I don’t have a ‘boss’ or a time clock or a paycheck! Once I sell a book to a publisher, I will have a boss, a deadline for revisions and a paycheck!

For now I am my own boss, which is fine with me. Except for the fact my boss is sometimes lax in cracking the whip and getting my butt in the chair and fingers on the keyboard.

My beginning art class

As an independent writer I can pursue writing courses, business courses and learning as much as I can about publicity from sites such as Canva. I can enjoy my other artistic pursuits which includes, but is not limited to, acrylic painting on canvas.

I am immensely thankful that I worked for a company who took care of their employees. Not only in the present day, but thinking ahead to the employee’s retirement. Because of the retirement investments of 22 years being employed by the same company, I am in a comfortable spot in life. Not wealthy, but not worried about finances. Comfortable.

When I retired from MCM Construction my husband and I were able to move to OR and take care of my mom. I started following  my dream of publishing books. I took classes. POV Author Services offers beginning and advanced writing classes, also classes on the business side of writing. I met with writer friends and went to conferences.

Then the pandemic hit and everything moved to online, Zoom ,or Facetime. I learned a whole other way of learning and visiting. Of course, no more meeting at the tea or coffee house with friends. Instead, once in a while we met in smaller groups on front porches or backyards.

Along the way I’ve found out a lot about myself. Writing does that for you. I encourage one and all to write in a journal. Every day, once a week, you choose. Believe me you will find out things about yourself you never knew.

Maybe you will find you have a story in you that is waiting to be put to paper, or typed into the computer. Ideas for stories can come from anywhere. Newspaper and magazine articles are a good source for ideas. Special events which happened in your own life or the life of someone you know. Or an interest in a certain subject. Or a picture of my old chair could surely stimulate the imagination.

With me it was paranormal, witches and magic.  My Pennsylvania grandmothers both had superstitions they lived by. Having lived their whole lives in PA, sometimes in PA Dutch country, and the superstitions abound in Dutch country.

One grandma believed to cure warts you only had to find a tree stump with rain water in it. On a full moon collect some of the stump water to douse your wart and it would kill it.

Both grandmothers and my mom believed things came in threes: death, accidents, good fortune, found money, etc.

There were lots of sayings about brooms. Jumping over a broom stick with your intended seals the marriage, a broom stick across the doorway keeps evil and bad luck out, a broom in the corner is for sweeping away bad juju. And on and on it goes.

My mother’s grandfather and her uncles made brooms. My mom and her sister had to take the straw to the creek and tie it in bundles and walk on it in the water to soften it for processing.

Listening to my mom and aunt talk about broom making got me thinking. Where do witches get their brooms? And so my first idea for a story was born. That specific story is yet to be written, although it is outlined. H-m-m? Maybe I’ll start that one next!

In the meantime, I do have a few books and short stories for you to enjoy.  For more information check out my website.

Another Place, Another Time – Maybe We’re Already There

By Robin Weaver

I like my smart phone. I’m also fond of Google, and GPS—in the past I tended to get lost. A lot. I like microwaves, ordering online, and movie theaters with recliners. Imaging a time without drive-thru vanilla lattes, internet banking, and cute little SUVs makes me feel a tad queasy.

So why would I want to live in another time? As my friend Lorraine says, “I don’t want to live in another time unless it’s a book and I can stop reading it.”

As for place… I love sunshine. This area gets 218 days of brightness a year. I hate shoveling snow—we get one, maybe two storms per year. And everything shuts down so we can play.

So basically, I’m content. Well, almost...  I have made a few choices I’d like to revisit.

So what do bad decisions have to do with another place and time? It’s possible (if highly theoretical) that I can make different choices in another place and time—or in a parallel universe.

Say what?

I’m not kidding—or even making up a story. Multiple universes are also predicted in string theory, which suggests many universes exist parallel to each other. In some theories, your clone is also reading this blog in other world. In other theories, copies of you are being more productive—eh, wait… I mean the-other you is commenting on this blog in that universe.

Other theories deviate and suggest the other worlds are entirely different and don’t even have the same laws of physics. As with any theory, opinions differ. Not all physicists believe other universes exist at all. And of those that do believe, most don’t think contact between these universes is.

Is it possible? Who knows. Humankind once believed the world was flat and the sun revolved around us. (Note: There is a theory that actually suggests the universe is flat, but that’s a blog for another day.) We have since learned our universe is much larger and more fascinating that we can comprehend.  Is the leap from a single universe to multiverses that much of a stretch (or maybe I should say expansion)?

What do I believe? This stuff is way beyond the ten-percent of my brain I can actually use. As a writer, multiverses spur my imagination. The possibilities are endless.

2011 – What happened in the world of publishing…

Gosh it’s January 2012 already! I don’t know about you but I’m excited about the coming year. When I look back on 2011 I’m pleased it’s over. It wasn’t the best year for me personally, or for New Zealand. The earthquakes that destroyed Christchurch and killed so many rocked our little country. And don’t let’s forget the devastation in Japan, tornadoes in USA , and other natural disasters around the world.

Also, in 2011 the world of publishing changed.For the better if you ask me...

I’ve a feeling 2012 will be a great year. I’m not really one for New Year resolutions, but I do set myself goals. My 2012 goal is to gear up my writing so that my output doubles or triples even.  I’ve set myself weekly targets, realistic weekly targets, so that I can publish three novels and at least three novellas this year (and still work at my other job twenty hours per week). I know, it’s a big task, but if I work hard enough I may be able to give up the other day job.

The real driver is that I want to move to a rural part of New Zealand where jobs are not prevalent and will therefore have to rely on my writing income. I have bought a one acre section, with my sister, in the Hawke’s Bay wine region. Here’s a photo of my section – see the view. We want to build a huge house with swimming pool on the site, and move in Christmas 2012. Sigh – I need my writing career to take off to achieve that dream.My section is a huge incentive

That’s a lot of writing, I hear you gasp? I need this output because of the word SELF-PUBLISHING. I’m traditionally published at present, but I’ve decided I’m not sitting back and letting a traditional publishing house tell me when my books can be published. My current contract allows me one book a year. You can’t make a living off that. In fact, I have learned that to make money in publishing you have to publish at least 4-8 books a year.

So I’m going to self-publish this year. I’m not sure if I shall also traditionally publish, that will depend on my contract obligations. I have decided to look at the self-publishing model for several reasons:

1.       Book runs are diminishing. A new author is no longer building their brand through book-store distribution. If that is true, then why do you need a traditional publisher?

2.       Digital books are outselling print books about 4:1 in the romance genre and an author owns their online marketing space not a traditional publisher

3.       I can put books to market when I want, and when it’s right for me

4.       I can price the books competitively. Currently I’m a debut author with a book priced at $14 and an e-book at $8 – how do I compete and build my brand at that price? I can’t.  Ebooks are setting the price at around $4.99 (Avon’s new ebook price)

It also means I have to find time to do the marketing, but I had to do that anyway.

My first self-published book, a novella, I’m releasing in my favorite romance month, February – ready for Valentine’s Day. I love the whole concept of making time for romance. It’s the little things we do on Valentine's day to show someone how special they are to us. Breakfast in bed, romantic picnic lunches (remember it’s summer in NZ), the candlelit dinners, and romantic cards from anonymous admirers.

So, watch out for my first self-published novella, due out on Valentine’s day (14^th of February 2012). It’s a 35,000 word novella called, To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield. Here’s the blurb:

Caitlin Southall’s temper has finally got the better of her. She’s challenged Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, the most notorious rake in all of England, to a wager. She wants her house back. The one her destitute father lost to Dangerfield in a card game. But if she doesn’t win their bet, she not only loses her home, she loses her dignity and pride and damn it all, maybe her heart... For the handsome Duke has decreed, when he wins, she must spend the night in his bed.

Harlow Telford is amused by his hellion neighbor, Caitlin, or Cate to her friends, who seem to encompass everyone on earth except him. When she bursts into one of his private gatherings, he mistakes her for the entertainment. Her slap across his face sets him straight and raises the absurd desire to seduce the unconventional beauty into his bed. When she issues her daft challenge to win back her father’s pile of rubble, the terms are set.  And he’ll do anything to win—except fall in love...

I’m looking for reviewers. If you’d like a free copy of To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield in exchange for a review on Amazon then contact me on romance at bronwenevans dot com.

Happy New Year! I hope you achieve your goals this year.

'The writing will teach you'

‘The writing will teach you...’

In high school, I wanted to be a lawyer and perhaps go into politics. Of course, as a teenager, I also intended to be rich and slender.

I didn’t go to law school and now shudder at the idea of a life in politics. The odds are also pretty slim that I’ll ever make any “wealthy” or “best body” lists.

Regrets? Not a one. Well, only if I could somehow have the rich/thin option while still being a writer who adores every dessert known to womankind.

I switched from Political Science to Journalism during my freshman year at Northwestern University, shortly after my boyfriend’s best friend complimented my writing and suggested the possibility. The truth is I’d never considered writing as a career option, even though I’d always loved writing—well, at least, making up stories. (Thank you for the nudge, Bob.)

I guess the storytelling/drama gene ran in our family. Whenever my Aunt Kate tucked my sister and me in at night, she recited Macbeth as our bedtime story complete with plunging dagger scenes. I loved it. I also have a vague grade-school recollection of how much fun it was to dream up a fairytale that explained how a Frenchman, Dan de Leon, wound up as a weed (dandelion). Throughout elementary school, one of my favorite activities was to join neighborhood kids in our spooky basement where we conducted make-believe séances and tried to scare the pants off each other. And I always, always loved to read.

Shortly after switching to journalism major, I landed an intern gig at Medallist Publications and started earning money as a writer. I’ve made my living as a writer ever since. Mostly I’ve penned nonfiction. (I’m taking the liberty here of describing ad copy as nonfiction.) My anything-for-a-buck assignments have run the gamut—speeches for executives, newsletters and brochures, feature magazine articles for business, trade and travel magazines, website pages, billboard slogans, ad campaigns, Help documentation, etc. For the most part, I really enjoyed my assignments and never paused to consider authoring a book.

One day I was approached about writing an “as-told” book by some folks who had an intriguing story but lacked any notion of how to share their experiences. So I interviewed and researched, outlined their book, and wrote the opening chapters. We landed a well-known New York agent. Then, boom, my “clients” accepted a large settlement to keep mum on the material at the heart of the work-in-progress. They canceled the project. My efforts didn’t earn me a penny. But I’m oh-so-glad I accepted the challenge. It gave me confidence. Yes, I really could write a novel. It also convinced me that any future book-length project would be pure fiction, and a solo effort. Going forward, I would be the only one to pull the plug on a novel in progress.

At this point, I felt pretty smug. I took a fiction-writing course through the University of South Carolina-Beaufort, and I assumed I’d be the class star. After all, I’d been writing for years. As I recall my classmates included a lawyer and a veterinarian, a librarian and a retired FBI agent. The opening chapters of their books blew me away. I was humbled. They weren’t just GOOD. They were very, very good. That’s when I realized that people in all occupations have compelling stories to tell and active imaginations. Journalism training or even an MFA degree (which I don’t have) aren’t publishing guarantees. I learned that many of my contemporaries were quite capable of creating beautiful imagery and writing vivid passages.

If I wanted to publish, I realized I had to expect stiff competition and I’d better do all I could to master the craft.

Years have passed since I took that introduction to fiction-writing course. Did any of my classmates ever finish the novels they started? Most don’t. Or they shove their manuscripts under the bed after a few rejections. Life goes on.

Brewster Milton Robertson taught that fiction course, and the first thing he wrote on the blackboard was “the writing will teach you.” Now I think I fully understand what he was trying to communicate. If you want to be a writer, you must be driven to keep writing. With each passage you write, you learn something new about the process...about what fails and what works...what captures attention...which words are essential and which are excess baggage.

Being a writer means you keep writing through harsh critiques and rejections through spells where your muse takes a hike. You keep writing because you love it and you love what it teaches you about your craft and yourself.

Welcome Everyone!

I am so happy we've finally launched RTG into the Internet. While everyone may read romance not everyone reads the same genre. Here you may find an author you already love, or one you fall in love with. or be tempted to discover a genre you've never read before.

My name is Elaine Charton and I live in Arizona. The land of cactus, the Grand Canyon, fantastic Mexican food and Cowboys. One of my favorite places and one we like to take visitors to see is the town of Tombstone, home of Doc Holliday, the Earp brothers and the infamous OK Corral.

I grew up surrounded by brothers and being in the minority I usually had to watch what they wanted. Shows with cops, robbers and cowboys and if I didn't like the way they ended, and I usually didn't, I changed the endings. Because no matter how gory, deadly, ugly the world in my books, there must be a happy ending. When it's my book, I can be sure that happens.

I write Romantic suspense and Paranormal Romance.