Tag: Writing

Short Story Progress

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

By September 1st, I need to finish a holiday romance short story which is between 3,000 and 15,000 words. I started it two weeks ago. Up until today, I had 717 words written. I’ve got the premise and my two lovebirds but I hadn’t gone much beyond that.

Tonight when I should have been thinking about sleep (hahahaha) I opted to reread it. I got to the end, wrote a little more, and did some formatting. I didn’t think I’d much more than that. These characters have not pushed me at all. But I’ve given myself a setting where I have approximately seven weeks in which my two characters have to go from being a bit adversarial to in love as well as resolving something in her past (not sure what yet though I have ideas brewing) about the holiday season.

I wrote. I figured an hour and I’d see how awful it was. Well after doing age calculations, research on storage units, depression glass, antique glassware, and a few other things, I now have 2947 words written and I think I know the path I’m headed with this story.

My hope is I’ll stay inspired and finish the story in the next couple days so I can at least do an edit on it by the first.

Meanwhile I have a story in an anthology out on Wednesday and a short story which comes out September 4. I’m also prepping my October books’ files and getting started on my November release tasks.

I know I do this to myself. I should spread out my releases further. I guess with two of the remaining ones, I could spread them out a bit but they’re done… The reality is – they’re done so I want them out.

Each one of these releases I’m working on building marketing tools, publishing tools, and a skillset that will hopefully lead to me having higher sales. Will it work? No idea. But I’m trying this way for this round of things to be published. I’ll analyze how well it works as I go.

Writing Vacation Day 4

by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

Today has been a day of interruptions, family time, and annoyances. It seemed like from waking up, I wasn’t able to write because I had things like pay bills, answer calls, and so on. It’s been busy with promoting an anthology – fingers crossed it makes the USA Today best sellers list. Trying to write.

My writing today was sporadic. There are times when I open my computer and the words flow so easily it’s like water out of a faucet. Then there are days like today. Every time I got going, I either got interrupted or distracted.

So in spits and spurts today, I worked on my dark romance… not sure it’s dark anymore. Tonight, I finished the first draft. It was supposed to be 10-12K. It was supposed to be dark. I’m laughing hysterically because my muse never follows the rules. Not ever. She’s a naughty tease. Dark, I don’t consider the story dark, though it is more dark than I normally write. Word count…. so before I started these days, I wasn’t sure I would even finish this story. But the characters grabbed me and made me. But instead of a nice and easy short story of 10K, I’ve got a nearly 29K novella. I wrote 5400 words (roughly) today.

I like it. I think. Whenever I finish a project, I either love or hate it. This one is outside my normal so I’m not sure how I feel about it. It will go off to the beta readers so they can tell me yeah or nay. I may reread it once first.

Tomorrow is a busy day and I think my people will be out of my house. I might have to put my phone on do not disturb and see if I can start the next short story I want to finish. I’ll have to see if these characters are out of my head and if the start I have on it inspires me to write more. It’s very different from the one I just finished.

Writing Vacation Day 3

by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

This morning I was woken up earlier than I wanted to be awake. I’m not a happy morning person. It’s the worst part of the day. However, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I got up and started promoting, answering messages, and so on.

For a time I tried to go back to sleep but that was a no go. I started writing again. I’m sort of laughing at myself because this short story has moved from short story to novella. I’m at 25K total and still not done. I started writing with a concept and as an attempt to write a dark romance. I don’t know how successful I’ve been at dark romance but the story has taken on a life of its own.

I’m on what I think will be the last chapter – not swearing to it. But for the last thirty minutes have been fumbling. I know what comes next but my brain is saying – nope. Probably because I’ve been writing most of the day.

This story was supposed to be 15K. I’m so far beyond that, I’ll end up self-publishing this. I know the steps I have yet to go through and think it will be one chapter. But I never know until I’m done. For all I know this may stretch into an actual novel. Today I wrote 9600 words. A really really good day. I’m not sure how many words this is total but I’m pleased with my progress during this vacation.

Tomorrow I have one takeover. Aside from that, I’m hoping to get this one done and move to the next. I’ll be interested to hear what my people think of my story.

Writing Vacation Day 2

by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

At 3:30 am I gave up on finishing my story. I thought – finish this escaping scene and then one more and I’ll be done. Easy breezy. Right? Nope. Can’t be that simple. I finished the scene and wrote more.

I was woken up at 8:30. A dangerous thing to do when I planned to sleep much longer than that. But I got up slowly. My goal today – finish the story. I worked with MANY interruptions. Some were fun, like when Bash jumped on my footstool of my recliner and stared at me until I set aside my computer. Then we cuddled. He got pets and pets. I got snuggles. Some were annoying, like the discussion on how much we should spend on a sink. Do we buy cheap and not what we want or do we spend more to get what we want?

I talked to my niece, my sister, my daughter today. I remembered a day job task which I meant to do before I went on vacation and time ran out before I could figure it out. I worked on budget – never fun. I working on promoting two books – one out on the 10th and the other out on the 25th. I handled messages from a range of people.

Then people went to bed. Classical music played and I wrote. I got 6800 words written today. I’m a bit disappointed by it. I also am cursing the muse who is messing with me. I had a plan. I got to that point and the characters said – what? That’s how you think we end? Nope. Come along we’re taking you on a ride.

Now I’m at 15,480 for words. I was only supposed to have 12K. Ooopppss. The main five characters – Zulma and her reverse harem Drake, Claud, Parker, and Stuart were supposed to ultimately ride off into the proverbial sunset and all would be well. They refused. Bastards. Instead they said – well what about the others? What about the rest of the cannon fodder imprisoned on the planet? Why can’t we save them? My brain said – nope too complicated. I’m too close to my word count. I just need to finish…

Yeah and then the characters said. Word count? Meh! We don’t care. Here’s what we’re doing… Not surprising, I like what the bastards want to do and think it fills the plot out nicely with a lovely little surprise at the end which I hope no one sees coming. I’d tell you but then the characters would kill me.

For now, still not done. I’m hoping for quiet tomorrow morning and better quality writing time. I hope to finish by noon but I’ll see how the day goes. It’s a little after 2 am so earlier than last night. I’m off to bed with the hope of kitten snuggles as Bash Bear has graced me with his presence. I’m also hoping for sixish hours of sleep… not holding my breath.

Manuscript Progress

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

Procrastination is a great tool if you don’t want to accomplish anything. Today I set up posts for my blog, did some promoting on some of my books, celebrated my first hardcover book and a variety of other tasks in order to avoid writing.

I had a lot of excuses – my female character is too… I hate my story which is me being unsure of whether I’ve got the right tone. So I putzed in the story. A bump into encounter which lead to breakfast… a conversation with her daughter…. texts from her ex (bastard that he is) and more.

I whined to another author about being outside my comfort zone in genre, and so many aspects of the story. Finally my little Bash Bear (one year old kitten) came and lay on my lap for attention. He wanted Grammy time. He snuggled in and I pet him, scritched his chin and gave him love.

When he had enough Grammy time, I realized I needed to stop my bitching and just get it done. Now it’s 2 am and I’m headed for bed. I’ve written 6752 and I’m up over 11,500 for total words. All good and I am starting to like my female character more. I also like how my characters are syncing with each other. Only 38,500 left to go. Hopefully tomorrow I get some good writing time in. This will be my focus all week. If I can get somewhere between 3-5K words each night, I might be able to finish the rough draft in a week. Fingers and toes crossed but we’ll see whether the characters will cooperate with me.

Day 1 of Furlough

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

I’m officially on furlough through the end of May. I was lucky to only have to take 13 days over the next 13 months but I opted to lump them together to get them out of the way.

This means today… well last night I stayed up till 3 am editing which meant I slept until 10:30. I got two more of the Wayfarer books edited. I’m re-editing them and releasing them with new covers. I have four more to get through the edits. Then I have formatting and other things to work on before I can publish them.

I signed up for unemployment and put up a resume – because it’s required for unemployment. It wasn’t difficult. Go to the site, create an account, and follow their questionnaire.

Aside from that, I’ve been marketing my books and set up posts for my book tours. I have a long long long list of things I want to get done over the next two weeks. We’ll see how many of those I manage to get through.

My middle daughter and I are doing a virtual paint night tonight. I’m looking forward to that. They are always fun and I enjoy the time spent with her and painting.

No I’m not planning to document all my furlough days but I figured what the heck, let’s do this one.

Shawn Gale

by eileentroemel, posted in Author Interview

Shawn and I met through social media. Through this interview I discovered he studied in my home state – yeah Wisconsin!

Author Bio:

Shawn Douglas Gale is a Canadian screenwriter, an academic, and a critically-acclaimed author.

Gale graduated from Fraser Valley Writers’ School with a Master’s diploma. He then graduated from Humber College’s prestigious School for Writers, where he was awarded a Letter of Distinction. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing at Bircham International University. He was a student at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Creative Writing department from 2014 to 2017, where he earned two certificates in screenwriting. He has completed various other courses and programs in areas such as trauma, psychology, criminology, and vocational training.

Gale’s many stories and articles have been publshed in anthologies and periodicals in the U.S. and Canada. He is the author of the acclaimed, award-nominated story collection The Stories That Make Us. He is also the author of World of Dawn: Arise and World of Dawn: Reveal, books one and two of his critically-acclaimed fantasy series for all ages. Books three and four will be published in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Gale is a member of Burnaby Writers Society and The Writers’ Union of Canada.

Tell us about yourself?

I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and grew up on military bases in eastern and western Canada. Throughout my late teens and early twenties, I worked as a carpenter’s apprentice and later carpenter. I built custom timber frame homes in Ontario’s Muskoka lakes, on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

I’ve been an avid reader since I could read and played Dungeons & Dragons seriously in my teens. Some of my favorite movies are Braveheart, Apocalypse Now, Guardians of the Galaxy, and both the Hunger Games and The Lord of the Rings series. I have an eclectic taste in music. In particular, classical music, foreign folk music, and 90’s dance and hip-hop gets my motor revving. Although I don’t write poetry, I read, recite, and memorize it daily. My favorite poems are by Leonard Cohen and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I also really like Anne Sexton’s “The Starry Night” and Marianne Williamson’s “Shine.”

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

In late 2009, at the age of thirty, I had a life changing experience. It was during this time that I committed to becoming an author. I’ve never strayed.

What genres do you like to read? And are these the genres you like to write?

I read pretty much every genre, except for romance (nothing against it), though I do lean toward sci-fi, fantasy, and literary fiction. More often than not, I have three books on the go: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. For non-fiction, I usually read history, philosophy, and self-improvement. I’m reading Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly right now for a university course. When it comes to poetry, I read everything and anything. Lately, I’ve been memorizing “The Builder” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Writing is an adventure, and I enjoy challenging myself. If I take on a project, I’ll lean into it with everything I got. I’ve written sci-fi, fantasy, memoir, essay, screenplay, and literary short and long fiction. After I finish my acclaimed World of Dawn, WOD, sci-fi fantasy series, I’ll be working full time on a novel loosely titled Into the Caliphate, which I’m doing research for as we speak. It’s literary fiction in the vein of Cormac McCarthy’s style. It’s about a young man who heads to ISIS’s Caliphate at the height of its power to rescue his younger sister, who’d travelled there to become an ISIS bride. Keep your eyes open for it. I promise it’ll be a doozy.

Is your book for adults, young adults, or children?

My WOD series is for ages twelve and up. I’ve heard glowing feedback from teens to adults. There are themes, subject matters, and characters that I believe will resonate with everyone. With that said, I do suggest parents read up on World of Dawn via reviews, excerpts, etc. before buying books for their children.

What is your current release project?

Currently, I’m preparing to launch World of Dawn: The Great Reach, which is book three of my series. At the same time, I’m seeking financing to produce book one’s feature film and promoting the series in its entirety.

Tell us about your key characters?

The main characters are a band of troubled youth from Earth. On their journey to find a way home, they meet a host of other characters. Some join their adventure for a time, while others pop in and out throughout the four books. As I noted earlier, there’s literally someone for everyone in WOD.

The core characters are the young cowboy Tanner Kurtz. There’s Colby Watts from the streets of Detroit. The sisters Anna and Tabitha Conroy are from a wealthy San Francisco family. Simon Watts is from a Snohomish Native American reserve in the Pacific Northwest. Glooscap is a legendary brave of the Sawnay people who’ve been on World of Dawn for centuries. Ambrose Bierce is the mentor of the group. He’s based on the real-life American writer who actually disappeared in 1917 while searching for a stargate in Mexico. (Yes, I am serious.) And Dejunga is the fiercest brave of the cannibalistic Wendo tribe, who’s hunting the group for WOD’s super-villain One Who Sees All.

What is the blurb or synopsis of the book?

Here’s the synopsis for the soon-to-be-released book three, World of Dawn: The Great Reach. Book one’s and two’s can be viewed on my website https://www.worldofdawn.com/category/world-of-dawn/.

Finding a way home to Earth has proven elusive for the boys and girls of Halton House. Now, in the Women of the North’s alpine village, they believe they’ve made it. They soon learn, though, it won’t be as easy as they’ve been led to believe. With foes around every corner and One Who Sees All’s bounty hunters on the stalk, the group’s mettle is put to the ultimate test. And when a people need help, they’re faced with yet another dilemma. One that may kill them. The time is nearly at hand. A convergence of unimaginable forces are about to collide. And the truth of World of Dawn will soon be revealed. Continue the adventure in the third installment of World of Dawn. A coming-of-age story in which a journey to find a way home becomes a quest to save a world.

Do you have a favorite scene?

This is a tough question to answer, because there are a plethora of excellent scenes. That said, I’m gonna say the final scene of each four books. All four books end with a scene in Dejunga’s point-of- view. There ends up being much more to him than initially meets the eye. That’s all I’ll say. Read the books if you want to know more. And trust me, you want to know more.

What advice would you give a beginner?

If you want to be an author, write every day. Practice your craft and study the market and literature daily: by yourself, in school or workshops. It takes will, courage, and vision to be a critically and commercially successful author. People dream of writing for a living, yet unfortunately many throw in the towel before publishing. Maybe they can’t handle the rejection. Maybe their friends and family question their sanity. Or maybe they just don’t have what it takes. You need to persevere, be strong and brave, and believe in yourself. And of course, you need to have something important to say.
So what are you waiting for?

Social Media links:

https://www.writersunion.ca/member/shawn-gale

Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/shawndgale.author/
https://twitter.com/authorshawngale?lang=en

Purchasing links Amazon

Morgan Worth, Editor, Beta Reader, Proofreader

by eileentroemel, posted in Editor Interview

Morgan and I bumped into each other on social media. Since she offers services for beta reading and proofreading I thought it would be wonderful to have a description of what these two things are and how they work if you hire someone.

Tell us a little about yourself

I get paid to read books! I am a freelance beta reader, proofreader, and editor.

What is your background for being a beta reader and proofreader?

I have a B.A. in English, and I minored in Printing and Publishing Arts. That minor heavily emphasized editing techniques. Just as importantly, I’ve been a devourer of books for as long as I can remember! I love words and stories and I’m fascinated with how they work. I have also been teaching for eighteen years, so I’ve read and curated books for kids and teens of all ages and I have lots of experience evaluating writing and giving constructive criticism.

Please explain what a beta reader does?  

A beta reader reads a manuscript before it’s published, and usually before it goes through any editing. Beta readers provide feedback from a reader’s perspective. Many authors exchange manuscripts with other authors or try to recruit readers to give them feedback. Sometimes this works out great, but often other writers are busy and have a hard time getting to critiquing someone else’s book right away. Readers are often busy, too, and they tend to have a hard time giving the kind of detailed, honest feedback that a writer can use to make her book better.

As a beta reader, I read unpublished manuscripts just as a reader would, but as I go, I make notes of my thoughts. What do I think is going to happen next? What made me laugh out loud? What grossed me out or confused me? Then, I look at the book as a professional, with a critical eye. I consider the intended audience and genre expectations, and I give constructive feedback on the book as a whole.

And a proofreader 

Proofreaders find errors after the copyediting process. Sometimes when the author makes changes called for by the copyeditor, she accidentally introduces mistakes such as duplicate words or misspellings. Suggesting changes to sentence structure, pointing out passages that lack clarity, addressing widespread punctuation and grammar issues, etc. are beyond the scope of proofreading. This is copyediting, a much more time-consuming task.

Do you have genres you prefer?  Or ones you won’t work in?

I’m always thrilled when I get my hands on a cozy mystery! I read a wide range of genres, and fantasy is another one of my favorites. I also enjoy sweet romance and historical romance. Those who write for kids and teens will be happy to know that I have experience with the unique characteristics of kidlit and YA and am also currently working with kids on a regular basis.

I’m not the right reader for erotica, erotic romance, steamy romance, or horror. I’ve just never gravitated toward them and I wouldn’t be able to give good feedback.

What’s the number one thing you hate to see in a manuscript?

Preaching! I’ve spent many hours with manuscripts that were all message and no plot. The author had something to say, and she was so focused on saying it that she forgot to tell a story. No matter what your philosophy is, the best way to convey it is through a great story. The story must come first!

What is something which has totally taken you by surprise when reading?

I’ve been surprised by many fun plot twists, but I won’t give those away here. I’ve also had a few experiences with books that suddenly changed in tone halfway through. That’s a much less pleasant surprise!

What can authors do to better prepare their manuscripts for a beta or proofreader?

Study your craft. Sure, you’re hiring a professional, but how will you know whether she did a good job if you don’t know how to use an apostrophe with a plural possessive or if you’re not a reader yourself?

When hiring a beta reader, it’s okay to leave spelling and punctuation errors unchecked, but the manuscript should be clean enough that a reader can make sense of it. If you’re hiring a proofreader, remember that her job is to catch mistakes that remain after copyediting has already taken place. In general, the better shape your manuscript is in, the more the pros can help you put a finer polish on it.

What format do you prefer?

I prefer using track changes in Microsoft Word, but I can work with PDF as well.

What advice do you have for authors?

Read! Read widely, and read in your genre. I believe that most writers absorb some of the elements that make up a strong plot and compelling characters as well as genre expectations if they read a lot. Your experience as a reader is what gives you that gut feeling that something is off with a certain part of your story. Sure, it often takes someone else (such as a beta reader) to reaffirm those suspicions, but the more your writerly senses are honed, the better your manuscript will be to begin with, and the better able you’ll be to consider that feedback and decide whether or not it’s on point.

Links to find Morgan Worth

Please visit my website for more details on my rates and how to hire me! http://www.mybetareader.com

I also have a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MyBetaReader

Are you ready for an Editor?

by eileentroemel, posted in Tips for Authors, Writing

You’ve done everything for your story.  Your rough draft has been spell checked, sent to beta readers, edited by you, and spell checked again (and again, and … you get it).  Is it ready for an editor?  Do you need to use a professional editor?  How much will it cost?

On my blog, I’ve got interviews with editors https://eileentroemel.com/category/editor-interview/ who can tell you what they do and more.  Some editors charge by the word and some by the hour.  Here is one organization’s suggested fees – https://www.the-efa.org/rates/  I’m sure other organizations have something similar. 

Is your manuscript ready for an editor?  If you can’t take it any further, yes.  If you’ve edited it to the point where you know it isn’t going to get any better with you looking at it.  It’s time to seek outside help. 

Do you need to use a professional editor?  That is up to you.  Only you can answer this question.  Are you a grammar and punctuation geek?  Do you know the rules and follow them?  Do you know when you can break them without making it harder for the reader to understand what’s being said?  If you don’t or aren’t, get an editor. 

One thing I recommend when choosing an editor is to ask if they will do a sample.  If they do, it helps you to see their techniques and skill.  You don’t want to send someone a couple hundred bucks and find out they miss more than you did.  If you are trying out several editors, send them the same sample and see who gives you the best results. 

There are all sorts of ways to find an editor.  The question becomes is the editor you find going to work well with you?  With most online writer’s groups, all you have to do is say you’re looking for an editor and you get a dozen (or more) people offering suggestions. 

Professional editor organizations are out there as well.  Again Google is your friend here – use it to find a variety and then check out the organizations to see if they offer a list of editors.  You want one which has been in existence for a period of time and offers a feature to search their members or in some way find someone who’s interested in doing work for you. 

I’ve done editing and do a few jobs (no this is not a plug to do your editing).  It’s time consuming, difficult and complicated.  Editors are people – a good one will catch most of your issues but you need to be realistic. They will miss things. 

When working with an editor, here are a couple things you should know:

  • No book is without error whether traditionally published or self-published there are always errors in there.
  • Editors – even freelance ones – need to pay their bills, pay them for the work they do.  Be clear about your expectations and your budget.  Talk to them about their fees – don’t expect a discount.
  • Editors – even freelance ones – are not going to be available 24/7 as soon as you email or text them.  They do have other clients and a life. 

Obviously you don’t want to be taken by a bad editor but if you use your due diligence you should be able to find a good editor to work with.  Take the time to get to know your editor and the type of work they do.  Budget appropriately and pay promptly.  You’ll be on pins and needles while they edit but you should end up with a better product than you had before you sent it to a professional.

If you have a writing question you want answered or discussed, use the contact form to let me know.

What Genre?

by eileentroemel, posted in Tips for Authors, Writing

One of my biggest mistakes when I wrote my first book was to write a manuscript longer than any publisher would take in that genre.  I didn’t even think to go look at what romance writers were producing.  I wanted to tell a good story.  If it was good enough, it wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t the word count the publishers wanted, right?   WRONG! 

Harlequin – probably the biggest publisher of romance novels has an array of categories but the one common thing to all categories – they have a specific word count they publish.  My novel – close to 150K – didn’t fit any of them because it was too long.  Try taking at least 50K out of a book.  It broke my heart to do it. 

There are other reasons to research your genre.  It might direct you to which POV you use – some genres are almost exclusively 1st person.  Others are never 1st person. 

Reading your genre also helps because it tells you what tropes are always used (and may need to be avoided or used but in a unique way). 

Google is your friend when it comes to this.  Look for organizations which feature your genre.  I know what you’re going to say – I’m bridging multiple genres.  Well good for you.  Look up all the genres you’re bridging.  If one of them is 50K and the other is 100K you may have to compromise somewhere in the middle. 

It’s about more than just the length your novel should be.  Researching the genre for your novel allows you to have information about who reads the genre, where they get information about the genre, and more.  This is really valuable marketing information. 

Other things to look at – what are the covers like; what is the sexual or violence content; or what are the chapter headings like. 

ParentingPatch [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Go to the local library and look at all the books in your genre and take note.  What colors are used for covers?  Blue may be common – so do you want to use blue?  Or will using a different color make your book stand out? 

Look through the same genre on your favorite book buying site.  Look at prices, descriptions, and all the details. 

This sounds like a lot of work.  It is.  It can be a pain but if it ultimately helps you produce a competitive product, it’s worth it.  As you write more books you’ll have to do less research if you write in the same genre. 

Researching your genre may not feel like it’s sexy but it is a key step which feeds into all levels of writing.  It can help you avoid overused tropes for your story and determine how long your story should be.  Research will aid you in formulating a marketing plan – yes you should be thinking about marketing before your book is published.  It helps to inform you in who is likely to read your novel and how you can reach them.  Research is key in many aspects of your writing.