The Power of a Drean

If you envision something, you are over halfway to achieving it.  That is the power of a dream.

When we were all a lot younger, as children we imagined all sorts of things.  “When I grow up…”
We were going to be astronauts, explorers, Captains, Doctors, World Class Athletes.  The sky was the limit, and even that didn’t hold us back.  Disney's Lion King illiterates this well.  The lion cub Simba dreams about what it will be like to be king:

Simba's dream was derailed, and our own hopes and dreams get side tracked.  Life has a way of interrupting what we would like to do.  Things didn’t always turn out the way they were supposed to.  Reality comes in.  Very often we settled for something else. We put the dream in a box, mark it "someday" and put it on a safe shelf to collect dust.

However, if there is still something you really, really want to do, it can still happen.

You have to envision what it will look like.  See yourself there.  My writing buddies all want to hold their books in their hands.  I have seen a few of my online writing friends do just that.  Now writing a book is a huge undertaking and most authors fail on their first attempt, but that doesn’t stop them.  They figure out what is stopping them, and find ways around it.

That dream, that vision of holding the book keeps them going.

So, if you are going to dream, dream big.  Think about it.  Daydream about it.  Think of every aspect you can imagine and work it out.

The mind is a powerful tool, and once you’ve set your mind to it, the mind works on ways to make the dream into a reality.

Years ago homes were being built near us.  I love to walk through construction sites.  I like to see homes being built.  I can see how the plan flows, and what the home will look like.  So I asked my wife if she would go look at the homes with me.

She said something that I’ll never forget.  She said, "No."

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because you’ll start dreaming about a new house, and I’m not ready to move yet.”

Wow.  That was a complement.  I loved hearing it.

We did eventually go walking through the buildings, and yes, I did build a home and we did move.  It was a lot of fun.

In fact,  I may start thinking about a new home…

“In today’s market?  No way!”

Ah, that is what stops the dreams.  Those who do not share in your vision.  If the dream takes hold, and you feed it, your mind will find a way around In today‘s market?

Do dust off the old dreams.  Where do you want to be?  What do you need to change?
What will you change?  What are your dreams?  I’d sure like to hear about them.

Olympics - Hopes and Goals - Determination

In my household when the Olympic Games begin, everything stops and we watch the games.  At least we have in years past.  My wife loves the Olympic Games, and after we were married I've learned that the TV stays on the Olympic broadcast, and no fair listening to the news, we have to watch the broadcast and see the moment.  So we have to be careful about news sources so as not to have any spoilers before we get to watch the games.

The 1992 Barcelona Summer Games had some fantastic drama in the 400 meter race.  Derek Redmond who didn't race in the 1988 games because of an injury made it to Barcelona.  The 400 meter race started, and he tore his right hamstring at 250 meters.  He got up off the ground and kept going, stumbled, fell.  His father came down out of the stands and told Derek he didn't need to go on, but Derek insisted he had to finish the race.  With the support of his father he crossed the finish line, last place, but sixty-five thousand people cheered.  Tears flowed freely.  A defining moment about determination.  The race was lost, the goal unfulfilled, but raw determination took him to the end, he finished what he started.

Part of success is simply raw determination.  I heard this poem in 1980, and then found a copy of it.  It has been folded and refolded and read and reread.  I share it now, it means a lot to me, I love the message, and it has helped me push on, even when I don't want to.  It has been a source of inspiration to me for years.

The sports world is full of stories, ABC Sports put it best with the Wide World of Sports, "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."  Life is full of setbacks, in so many areas.  My writing friends all fight up hill battles with their quests to be published, I include myself in this quest as well.  A published writer overcomes so much.  Business world has a lot to deal with, so many challenges, so much success comes through pure, raw, unadulterated determination.

“The Race”

--D.H. Groberg

"Quit!" "Give up, you're beaten!"

they shout at me and plead,

"There's just too much against you now,

this time you can't  succeed."

And as I started to hang my head

in front of failure's face,

My downward fall is broken by

the memory of a race.

And hope refills my weakened will

as I recall that scene,

For just the thought of that short race

rejuvenates my being.

A children's race, young boys, young men;

now I remember well.

Excitement, sure, but also fear;

it wasn't hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope. 

Each thought to win that race

Or tie for first, or if not that,

at least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side,

each cheering for his son,

And each boy hoped to show his dad

that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they sped,

as if they were on fire

To win, to be the hero there,

was each young boy's desire.

And one boy in particular,

his dad was in the crowd,

Was running near the lead and thought,

"My dad will be so proud."

But as he speeded down the field,

across the shallow dip,

The little boy who thought to win

lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself,

his arm flew out to brace,

And 'mid the laughter of the crowd,

he fell flat on his face.

So, down he fell, and with him, hope. 

He couldn't win it now.

Embarrassed, sad, he only wished

he'd disappear somehow.

But, as he fell, his dad stood up

and showed his anxious face,

Which to the boy so clearly said,

"Get up and win the race!"

He quickly rose, no damage done,

behind a bit, that's all.

And ran with all his mind and might

to make up for the fall.

So anxious to restore himself,

to catch up and to win,

His mind went faster than his legs. 

He slipped and fell again.

He wished he had quit before

with only one disgrace.

"I'm hopeless as a runner now,

I shouldn't try to race."

But, in the laughing crowd he searched

and found his father's face.

That steady look that said again,

"Get up and win the race!"

So, he jumped up to try again,

ten yards behind the last;

"If I'm to gain those yards," he thought,

"I've got to run real fast!"

Exceeding everything he had,

he regained eight or ten,

But trying so hard to catch the lead,

he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently,

a tear dropped from his eye.

"There's no sense running any more. 

Three strikes, I'm out...why try?"

The will to rise had disappeared,

all hope had fled away.

So far behind, so error-prone,

closer all the way.

"I've lost, so what's the use?"

he thought, "I'll live with my disgrace."

But then he thought about his dad,

who soon he'd have to face.

"Get up," an echo sounded low,

"Get up and take your place.

You weren't meant for failure here;

get up and win the race."

With borrowed will, "Get up," it said,

"You haven't lost at all,

For winning is no more than this

--to rise each time you fall."

So up he rose to win once more. 

And with a new commit,

He resolved that win or lose,

at least he wouldn't quit.

So far behind the others now,

the most he'd ever been.

Still, he gave it all he had,

and ran as though to win.

Three times he'd fallen,

stumbling, three times he rose again.

Too far behind to hope to win,

he still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner,

as he crossed the line, first place,

Head high and proud and happy;

no falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen crossed the finish line,

last place,

The crowd gave him the greater cheer

for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last,

with head bowed low, unproud,

You would have thought he'd won the race,

to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad, he sadly said,

"I didn't do so well."

"To me you won," his father said,

"you rose each time you fell."

And now when things seem dark and hard

and difficult to face,

The memory of that little boy

helps me in my race.

For all of life is like that race,

with ups and downs and all,

And all you have to do to win

is rise each time you fall.

"Quit!" "Give up, you're beaten!"

They still shout in my face,

But another voice within me says,

"Get up and win that race!"

BRoP Interview with Rebecca Hamilton Part III

Well my blogging friends within our Blog Ring of Power have another author interview on our blogs.  Today Rebecca Hamilton visits The Write Time and we will talk about where she gets inspiration and the creative aspect of how she writes.

You can read Part I at Em's Blog

Part II is over on Sandra's Blog

Today is Part III

Tomorrow Part IV is over on Terri's Blog

Part V wraps up the interview with Teresa on her Blog.

First off welcome to The Write Time, Rebecca.  Glad you agreed to join up with our Blog Ring, we like to call it The Blog Ring of Power.  So pull up a chair right here and lets talk shop and your creativity.  

Where do you get your story ideas?

This is such a crappy answer, but the truth is, “they come to me.”

Do you have a specific writing style?

I like writing from a deep point of view.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I am not sure how much I believe in writers block. Sure you get stuck, but a true writer’s block implies something else to me. It’s like the difference between having lost something or just having not found it yet. If you don’t look, you definitely won’t find it.

How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?

They also “come to me”. Sometimes I will put thought into the shallow details, after the fact, because it seems most readers care about things like what a character looks like or what car they drive, but to me, personality is the key. So I just write the character as I FEEL them. Then sometimes I take a personality test to see what their personality is if I need to get more depth into what kind of person they are.

Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser” (do you plan/outline the story ahead of time or write “by the seat of your pants”)?

I was a pantser. Plotting still doesn’t work for me. Usually I have some general ideas, but that’s it. What I’ve taken to doing (to make writing easier) is to keep handy some outlines of plot structures, but more “fill it in as I go”. In other words, I know I have to write an inciting incident at the opening. I don’t decide what it will be, but I make sure it’s there by time I’m through. I know I need to set up questions in the first act, develop character, and make sure the problems of the story and goals of the character are clear. I don’t know ahead of time what those things are, but I know to be aware of them when they come to me and to include them as I write. When I hit 25%, I know that I’m going into act 2 and that I need to build on conflicts. I don’t know what those conflicts are, but as I write, I look for them and include them. So I guess there is structure there, but it’s more like following a map without knowing what I will see or where I will turn as I walk the paths.

For Rebecca's fans, or new fans here is where you can find her online:

Blog:

Facebook page:

Goodreads author page: 

Twitter:

Amazon US: 

Amazon UK:

Smashwords: 

iTunes: 

CreateSpace: 

Amazon Print:

Oh, one last question:

Is your book in print, ebook or both? 

 Both.

Thanks for having me :)

Thank you for coming over and being a part of our interview.  It has been a real pleasure having you with us.

Book Blurb on The Forever Girl:

Publication Date: January 26, 2012

Sophia Parsons’ family has skeletons, but they aren’t in their graves...

Solving the mystery of an ancestor’s hanging might silence the clashing whispers in Sophia's mind, but the cult in her town and the supernaturals who secretly reside there are determined to silence her first.

As Sophia unknowingly crosses the line into an elemental world full of vampire-like creatures, shapeshifters, and supernatural grim reapers, she meets Charles, a man who becomes both lover and ally.

But can she trust him?

It’s not until someone nearly kills Sophia that she realizes the only way to unveil the source of her family's curse: abandon her faith or abandon her humanity. If she wants to survive, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.

Guest Blogger Robert McNeil Finding Time to Write!

I met Robert on Twitter. We shared a few tweets and I approached him and asked if he would be interested in doing a guest appearance here on the Write Time. He agreed, but he was off to Hong Kong.

Well it was worth wait, here is what he put together for us. Thanks for taking the opportunity to share with all of us here, Robert.

"FINDING TIME" TO WRITE!

A big question for many beginning writers is, "How do you find time to write?"

I've read advice by some seasoned writers who advise disciplining yourself to write a certain number of hours each day, or turn out a certain number of words each session. If that works for them, that's great. I know that approach would not work for me.

My problem is, I have never had time to write. I don't live a leisurely life where I can sit for hours at the computer crafting beautiful stories. In my "day job" I'm a conference speaker and dean of a graduate school. I also spend a lot of my time traveling.

For most of my adult life, a typical work week has been 70 or 80 hours. Every week! And there's always been more to do than I have time to accomplish.

I'm not complaining. I love what I do! I teach, I travel, and I speak. But it's a very demanding career.

Yet I've also had a strong urge to write. I always seem to have 4-5 books simmering on the back burner of my mind, just waiting for the time they can make their escape onto a printed page.

My first non-fiction book was written on vacation. The book had been burning inside me for months. So while my wife and kids relaxed and visited with family and friends, I sat with laptop open, writing.

My second book found its way to paper while I was stranded for two weeks on the Island of Cyprus, waiting for a kidney stone to pass (not a fun experience!) I didn't even have a laptop along, so I sat on the terrace of our friends' home, overlooking the beautiful Troodos mountains of Cyprus, typing my book on a PDA (remember those?) using a portable fold-up keyboard! (Turned out to be one of my best sellers!)

For me, writing always has had a pregnancy aspect. I have a book on the inside and it's growing and developing, looking for a time it can be birthed. And when that time finally comes, there's no holding it back.

Because of that, I find it hard to relate to statements from writers who have to discipline themselves to write a certain number of words a day. To me, writing is not a job or a chore. It's an all-consuming passion. It's not a task I must remember to do, like cutting the grass and cleaning the garage. The book growing within me becomes a living thing, demanding to be expressed on paper, threatening to explode if I don't let it out.

Let me share how I wrote Iona Portal, my first fiction book. Iona Portal is a Science Fiction thriller that views the ancient battle between good and evil through the lens of Science Fiction. I like to think of it as Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix. (As of this writing, it's the top-rated science fiction book on Amazon, and rated #2 for mysteries and thrillers.)

At the start of the project, I had a vague idea of what the book would be about, but not a clue as to any details.

I started with the characters. I wrote a biography of each one, formed a mental picture of what each one looked like. I even scoured the internet to find photographs of people that matched my mental picture of each one.

These people became more than names on a page. I knew their strengths and weaknesses, their struggles and fears... even what their voices sounded like. I knew them so well, I'd be walking through an airport and see someone walking the other way and think... "She looks just like Lys Johnston!" In short, these characters became real people to me. I CARED what happened to them.

Stephen King once said, "I try to develop sympathy for my characters, then I turn the monsters loose!" That was my next step.

Once I had the characters, I let the action start. Iona Portal begins with a gripping scene where our strong female lead, Lys Johsnton, finds herself driving a narrow mountain road in the middle of the night pursued by two strangers with blood-lust in their eyes.

I wrote the first version of that chapter with no idea where the story was going. Lys Johnston was in a dire situation., but I cared about her, and willed her to survive.

In the next scene, I added the next character. The characters began to interact. Then, as the story progressed, the direction of the book became clear. More characters were added, and "the plot thickened!" How would these people manage to survive and save their world from disaster?

And so the story gripped me. It burned within me. I didn't have to schedule times to crank out words.

I'd often wake up at 3 in the morning with the next part of the story running through my mind. I'd get up, turn on gas logs in the fireplace, pour myself a coffee, then lean back in my recliner ... and write. I had no choice! Lys Johnston needed me! She had to find a way to overcome the armies of darkness and save the planet from destruction!!!

So that's my advice for time management for writers. Don't allow your writing to become a mechanical chore. Don't let it be a job or an obligation.

It has to be a passion! If the story doesn’t grip you enough to draw you back to write, how will it ever draw your readers back to read?

So, be excited about what you are doing. Be passionate. And the time to write will come.

Find more about Robert David MacNeil at his website, http://ionaportal.com/

Find Robert's book, Iona Portal at http://www.amazon.com/Iona-Portal-Synaxis-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B005IA87WA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313854512&sr=8-1

Riley’s Handy Dandy List

Today Riley Redgate is my guest here on The Write Time. I am blogging over on The Mighty Jungle today.

I met Riley Redgate over at AQC, I was fortunate to have her critique my query when I put it up for review. It wasn’t sugar coated, but it was well said. So as I learned more about her the more impressed I became. Here is a bit of what I've pieced together about Riley: She is a competitive piano player; in a service club, leads an a cappella group, runs cross country, manages/acts with a theatre troupe, She is valedictorian, and right now she has two mss in the works and one steaming up in her brain that's crying out to be written! She claims to never sleep. I tend to believe that based on the time stamps on some of her comments on AQC!

Go check out her blog In The Jungle.

I told her she was a prime candidate to post on my blog, she has accomplished a lot. So here is Riley!

First of all, big thanks to Dean for inviting me here! Perhaps writing about time management will ... er ... make me better at it. Because yep, that's right, I'm not an epically efficient time wizard.

Actually, funny story! I used to be an epically efficient time wizard. Back in middle school, oh man, I was so good at time management. I had schedules for myself. I had blocks of time set up for 1) homework, 2) piano practice, 3) sports practice (soccer, tennis, softball), 4) rehearsal, 5) hanging out with my friends every so often, 6) reading, and 7) necessary bodily functions.

Just kidding. I didn't plot out my necessary bodily functions. I was/am a little neurotic, sure, but not THAT neurotic...

Anyway. Notice what's missing from that handy-dandy list?

Oh yeah, that's right. WRITING. My high productivity levels met a swift and messy end when I discovered something I enjoyed doing that took up tremendous blobs of time. And it was just a vicious cycle from there, believe me. Here's a little how-to guide for emulating my sophomore year (for those of you with whom I'm unacquainted, that's two years ago):

Step One: Get home from school; spend time writing.
Step Two: Start homework far too late; work into the wee hours of the morning.
Step Three: Wake up bleary and exhausted.
Step Four: Slog through school.
Step Five: Come home and spend time writing ... but since I'm exhausted, this takes far longer than it should.
Step Six: Start homework at midnight; spend hours doing what would have taken half an hour had I slept more the night before...
Step Seven: Wake up dead.
Rinse and repeat.

You can imagine how much fun that was! Yeah, not at all. But that's okay - I've come up with an easy, fun, perfect solution.

I have a pretty busy existence. Here's some quick math - every Monday through Friday, I have:

-cross-country practice for twelve-and-a-half-ish hours
-rehearsal for twelve-and-a-half-ish hours
-school for forty hours
-piano for two or three hours; chorus is the same.

So that's 70-ish hours absorbed out of 120 available hours. Subtract eating (I don't eat breakfast; so let's say a small 2.5 hours for food) and general hygiene (2.5 other hours) and I have 45 hours left to play with. According to my father, teenagers are supposed to have 9 and 1/4 hours of sleep a night (HA HA HA yeah right). That's already not feasible; that would require 46 and a fourth hours.

What's the easy, fun, perfect solution to this mathematical paradox, you ask? Where's the writing time coming from?

Tricked you! I was kidding - there is nothing easy, fun, or perfect about having to carve time out of nowhere to do the thing that calls your name 24/7.

What I do know is that going a day without writing would be more frustrating than going a day without food. And... er, yeah, I'm well aware that sounds WAY overdramatic, but it's no exaggeration. Eating doesn't give me any sort of spiritual fulfillment or intellectual satisfaction. After eating, I don't feel like I've gained anything or done anything of worth. Writing, on the other hand, is my outlet. It's what I wait for during those 8 hours of school and 2 hours of running and 3 hours of rehearsal. So yes, I'm willing to sacrifice sleep for it.

Weekends are another matter. More specifically, weekends are heaven. Provided I don't have too much homework, I will sleep and write and sleep some more and lounge around being slothlike and then writewritewrite.

Usually, though, it's a struggle. But hey - you give some, you get some. Personally, I'm way happier having lost bunches of sleep and gained a novel than I would be if I'd just been well-rested all the time.

That said, I don't budget writing time only out of my sleeping hours. I plan characters during my lunch period (yeah, I'm that weird girl scribbling in her car during lunch break), plot while I'm running my cross country workouts, and if a class is being particularly useless... well, I may just find an alternate activity. I maximize the output of every second I can get.

It's a big question, whether we're willing to give up normal activities (i.e. sleeping) for writing, especially when we're in the 'thankless' stage of the process (unpublished, unagented, un-everythinged). But in my opinion, writing is all about risk. How much time am I willing to give? How big a plot am I willing to write? How daring is my concept? Can I really sacrifice sleep and energy for the novel brewing in my mind? We have to put everything we've got on the table, write with reckless abandon. And sure, maybe it's reckless to abandon the conventions of studenthood to stay up typing and retyping the same sentence into Microsoft Word, debating whether the use of passive voice is appropriate here, wondering if my characters are well-rounded enough. These are not problems for normal people.

I guess I'm fine with not being normal.

Thanks again, Dean, for having me! Write on! =]

Take Care of Your Future Self – No One Else Will

This last weekend I had the opportunity to take a quick trip to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and my new grandson. Because of my time constraints with work, it was a down and back day trip. Thus a very early start, O’dark thirty. So I took the car and filled the tank. We packed what we eat for lunch. So the next morning we loaded up the family and took off. I didn’t have to stop and tank up, besides the gas station was not open yet. We were able to make our deadlines and had a great trip. One reason the trip went so well was due to some advanced preparations. My past self took care of my future self, as I like to think of it. No, I do not have a time machine; I do not control any time travel device. I’m very linier, just like the rest of us. I do try to think about what will happen later, and try to make arrangements to make things easier for myself later. I’ve made a commitment to this blog to have a tip on Thursdays. Typically, I am at work early Thursday mornings. Or I have to work late Wednesday night. Either way I do not have the opportunity to write a blog and post it Thursday. So I write the blog entry earlier in the week or, if I have time, I’ll write two or three posts, and then set them up to auto post. I meet my commitment to post weekly, and I am able to meet my other obligations. I try to do as much as I can before due dates, or put things in place for later use. I like routine where I can use routine. I change shoes and have hat, pen, and keys in the back of my car. I put them back when I am done. So when I get to work, hat, pen, shoes, and keys are ready. My old self puts things in place for my future self to use. Gas is in the car, instead of I’ll fill it tomorrow, I fill it now, so tomorrow I have a full tank. If I know I’ll have an early start the next day I try to lay out my clothes before I go to bed. I try to take care of my future self as much as I can. By doing these things, it helps me get other things done. I’ve tried to teach my children the same concept. I tell them, “Put your homework in your notebook, and put the notebook in the backpack now. Tomorrow when you are in class, you’ll open your notebook; and find the assignment is right there, ready to be turned in.” What can you do to help with your writing? Get research done, put the notes in one place. Keep your thesaurus, dictionary, and other things you need for your writing in one location. Then when you need an item, it is right there, ready for use. Take care of yourself, no one else will. If you can discipline yourself to do this, you will become more productive. With so many demands on us, anything we can do to give ourselves a bit of advantage helps. Finding the time to hammer out a few words, pages, or chapters is a challenge. So find those little things you can do to give yourself a leg up later on. You’ll find yourself thanking your past self for your foresight.

Interview with Amy Jarecki soon to be published author

I am pleased to introduce Amy Jarecki, a soon to be published author whom I met on Twitter. I’ve enjoyed her tweets and so I sent her a direct message asking if she would like to be a guest on The Write Time. To my delight, she agreed! You can see her blog here. She can also be found on twitter as @amyjarecki


So here is Amy:

What genre do you write?

That question is more difficult than you might think. Firstly, I write what moves me, and try to write about things I know. Aside from articles for the Chihuahua Connection Magazine, I only write fiction. I recently took an online author branding class offered by the Romance Writers of America, taught by Stephanie Bond. It made me take a hard look at my genre, and I came up with the tag line, “Adventure kissed by romance,” which is in the header of my blog. My debut novel, KOICTO, is a historical adventure with romantic elements. The book I’m working on now, CHIHUAHUA MOMMA, is a contemporary romance that takes place in the exclusive dog-show world. So, I would say that I write romantic adventures.

Where do you get your inspiration?

How much time do you have? To summarize, I try to always focus on the positive. My mantra – NEVER GIVE UP! I watch people and use life experiences to pull me through. I have a supportive critique group, and I recently attended Dave Farland’s Professional Writers Workshop where I met twenty-two aspiring writers. Every Monday we post our progress in a Yahoo Group – everyone is extremely supportive and encouraging.

In addition, my husband encourages me to follow my dreams. He patiently listens to my ramblings about my characters. He is the most positive influence in my life.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since the second grade. In the sixth grade I would write short stories in my spare time and hand them into the teacher for her editorial review. I wrote for my high school newspaper, and then got derailed by majoring in Accounting and pursuing an MBA because I thought it was more important to pay the bills than to follow my dream of writing. No regrets, here, however. There’s enough online & conference education out there to fill in the gaps that I missed in my college education.

Do you belong to any online or other writing communities?

Yes – I mentioned a few above – The RWA, my critique group and Farland’s writing support group. I am also a member of the League of Utah Writers and the San Francisco Writers University.

How did you find Beta Readers?

The thing about beta readers is that you have to be willing to pay them back. Other writers will read and critique your stuff if you repay the favor. I found a couple readers through Farland’s group, and I made a terrific friend – aspiring author, Mikko Azul, through the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. My mother and daughter read my stuff, but you can’t rely on feedback from family – they’re too close to you.

Did your query letter land you an agent?

Actually, my query letter landed me a publisher. KOICTO is a “niche” book, for which I had difficulty finding representation in New York. John Kremer, author of 1001 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BOOKS, has a list of the top 101 independent publishers on his web site, where I found Sunstone Press. They specialize in the Southwest and Native American books. I mailed them my query, they asked for a full, and sent me a contract.

I will be sending out queries for CHIHUAHUA MOMMA when it’s ready. Wish me luck!

When will your book be published?

KOICTO is slated to be published in “late 2011.” I should have an exact date for the release soon. It will be available both in paperback and e-book.

When do you find time to write?

With a full-time job, I have to be very disciplined about my writing. I write at night for 2-4 hours and I get up early on weekends. My goal is 4-5,000 words per week, and I hit it every week.

How do you balance your writing with your “real” life?

My kids are in college, so that helps. I never write on Friday nights – that’s special time with my husband. Also, when he gets up on weekend mornings, we plan our day – hiking, golf, biking. You have to set aside time for the people in your life too.

How do you schedule your writing?

In addition to the schedule above - writing comes first before blogging, Twitter and FB.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Keep learning and working on your craft. Get as many people to look at your writing as possible, and stick with it. Practice makes perfect!

To what do you attribute your success?

I think people make their own success. The keys are to know your stuff and approach life with a positive attitude, be disciplined with your time, use every opportunity to advertise, and always realize there is more to learn.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I posted a preview of my book trailer for KOICTO on my blog on July 28th. I’d love to get feedback. I’m going to post it on YouTube once the book is out for pre-release. My blog is http://amyjarecki.blogspot.com and you can find me on Twitter: @amyjarecki or Facebook: Amy Jarecki – I follow back!

Guest Blogger J Lea Lopez: Notes From a Procrastinator

I met J Lea Lopez at AQC. Yes AQC has been my go to place since February. She asked me to be a guest on her blog, and it turned into a great collaborative effort. So I asked if she would like to be one of my hall of fame guests, and she graciously agreed. She is the keeper of Jell-o World. She is also on twitter @JLeaLopez

So here is what she has to say about managing time.

Dean has become a great online writing friend through AQC(link here) and I was thrilled to have him offer my blog readers his tips on finding the time to maintain a blog. I don't have much sage advice in that department, so instead, here's my story:

Notes From a Procrastinator

When it comes to time management, I’m the last person to ask for advice. I seem to do well with it at work, but not so much when it comes to writing and personal life. (Just ask Dean how long it took me to get this post to him.) Maybe it's because I haven't fully embraced writing as a job or career, which I absolutely want it to be, eventually. Or maybe it's because at work I have a boss and coworkers relying on me to get stuff done on time. With writing, if I don't finish this chapter today, there's no one to swat me on the rear and send me to bed with no dessert.

Still, despite my penchant for procrastination, I do find time to write. Why? Because I love to write. I can't imagine not writing. I first started putting stories on paper in middle school. Partly as an outlet for all the what-if scenarios that bounced around in my head, and partly as an escape. I've always been introverted, so when the noise of life got to be too much, I would retreat into my head to see what stories I could tell. Being a teenager with no job and few responsibilities left me with plenty of time to write. Now, years later, I have a husband, a dog, two jobs, and the clutter of everyday life all vying to steal time away from writing. But I'm still that introverted girl who likes to people-watch, is fascinated by human interaction and relationships, and is continually wondering what-if? I still need an outlet.

So I write when I can, often at night, after I've exhausted my usual procrastination outlets (I'm lookin' at you, Facebook and Twitter!) and I've begrudgingly done the laundry or the dishes. I take my notebook everywhere, just in case – and yes, I mean a notebook with paper in it, not a notebook computer. I still write by hand. Every now and then I have to give myself permission to let the laundry or the dishes (or both) sit for one more day because I have to write today, no excuses – for the sake of forward progress, but also because I miss my characters after a while, as if they were real people. I miss digging into their lives, feeling what they feel, telling their stories.

I wish I could offer you more in the way of time management tips, but I'm afraid the badge of procrastination is indelibly imprinted on my forehead. Hopefully with Dean's advice, and the tips from his other blog guests, I'll be able to increase my productivity. Consider this my public plea to be held accountable! Just don't send me to bed without dessert if you catch me playing on Facebook, okay?

All About Time and All About Writing - Guest Blogger Greenwoman

Greenwoman was one of my first "fans" for my blog. She kept hounding me to get my blog going. I'll not give the phrase she said, it is a bit, risque. She has a whole guest blogger thing going on over at her blog. (Which gave me the idea of having guests for my blog.) I believe she is the source of the Meme's that are going around! I am happy she agreed to swap blog posts. So Thursday has arrived on Wednesday. You can read my post over on Greenwoman's blog. I'll also be on Cherie's blog this Friday.

Take it away Greenwoman!

SO, Dean has this fantastic blog all about writing, and time management. This is a good subject!

I have a confession to make. I'm TERRIBLE at time management. It isn't because I don't know how to do it--I've read an entire self-help section's worth of time management advice. The problem is that I am undisciplined. No, that's not true. It's worse than that. I'm REBELLIOUS.

"Well then," you're probably saying to yourself, "it's a good thing she doesn't have to work for someone else."

Well yes . . . and no. No, because it means I have no one to feel rebellious toward besides myself. (I imagine there's medication for this. I'm afraid to take it. It might make the voices in my head go away.)

SO, in order to get my writing done, I have to trick myself.
I figure I can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. I can even listen to my kids talk for 15 minutes. So, I employ a timer and a reward system to stay focused. (The reward is usually something like spending five minutes goofing around on twitter or making another cup of tea. I am a simple creature.)

I started using the timer method during NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) a few years ago. My writing buddy and I would have "word wars": 15 minutes on the clock, type as much as you can, the one with the most words wins. Okay, so you don't win anything, except an opportunity to feel smug. But you take what you can get. After a session was over, we'd spend some time chatting and comparing notes, shake out our wrists, and then do it again.

I wrote 100,000 words in 30 days--all in 15 minute increments. And the thing is, my family barely even noticed I was participating in NaNoWriMo. With short bursts of intense focus, I managed to get my daily writing done in one or two hours instead of sitting in front of the keyboard from morning 'til night.

Over the past two years, my writing buddy and I have inched our sessions up to 30 minutes. Longer sessions are a good idea when editing--it's hard to get editing done in 15 minute increments. And these days, sometimes our check in will go like this:

Me: "Time! How'd you do?"
Laura: "Good! I'm getting this chapter rearranged. You?"
Me: "Good, I'm on a roll. Want to jump back in?"

And off we go again. Sometimes, we even work WITHOUT a timer. Like when we write at a coffee shop or the library.

But sometimes when I'm working alone, I need to go back to 15 minutes. It's a way of psyching myself out. "Yes, I have 4500 other things I also need to do today. So I only have to concentrate on writing for 15 minutes. Then I can do something else."

Usually I only need the timer once. Because usually the real issue is getting my butt in the chair to work, and once I'm there, I don't want to stop.

I use a simple kitchen timer, but there are some options out there for writers like Write or Die (http://writeordie.com/).

The great thing about living by the timer is it makes everything feel more like a game. Sometimes I even use the timer for less pleasant tasks than writing. Tasks like cleaning. But let's not talk about that: I'd rather be writing.

Sophie Perinot talks about her new book, and how she finds time to write.

I’m excited about the new aspect of my blog. Guest Bloggers. I have several writing friends I’ve made at AQC willing to post, and some friends I’ve made on twitter. All writers, all with demands on their time. They will share their insights to writing and managing their time.

My first interview is Sophie Perinot who is about to publish her first book The Sister Queens. She has all the details on her blog

I met Sophie Perinot aka “Lit_Gal” over at Agent Query Connect (AQC) in some of the forums and in the Wednesday night chat room. She strikes me a very savvy and astute individual. Her posts in the forums are always informative and polite! I read many genres of books and I enjoy historical fiction. I write high fantasy and love medieval times. I admire historical fiction writers, because of the amount of research they need to do for the backdrop of their stories. Not an easy task. Research, writing, and blending it all together.

Overall writing takes a lot of time. So I asked if she would help me with a blog post on how she manages her time, successful writer that she is. She agreed to do a question and answer. Here is her interview.

Welcome to The Write Time Sophie.

First let me say I am delighted to be here on “The Write Time.” This is my first foray into blog interviews and I am glad to have a fellow AQConnect member on the other side of the virtual microphone. Now back to business.


What led you to writing historical fiction?

Historical Fiction was pretty much pre-destined to be my niche. I’ve been a life-long student of history (my undergrad degree is in history) and I come from a family of complete history nerds (my sister is a professor of history, my husband was a history major, my oldest child who has just started college is studying Art History. . .I could go on). As someone who studied French in abroad, and who is a hopeless devotee of Alexandre Dumas, père, French history was a logical starting point. So the manuscript that hooked my wonderful agent was set entirely in France, and the manuscript that sold to NAL and will hit shelves in March 2012 takes place about fifty-percent in France.


What time period, and location are your favorite?

I don’t have a favorite time period, except very broadly—13th century to 17th century—but I write books set in Western Europe. The novel I am working on now will again be set in France (16th century), but I have a project set in Italy planned as well.

How much time do you spend on research?

Lots :) But writers of historical fiction do have to be careful not to be sucked into research to the point where books don’t get finished. We are not writing academic history and the publishing schedule (the time span between publication dates for individual books) seems to be getting tighter in our genre. If you spend ten years researching each book it is hard for me to imagine making a go of it in publishing at this time.

I remember back at my very first Historical Novel Society Conference in 2005, the keynote speaker was Jack Whyte. During his address he said something that really stuck with me (and I am paraphrasing here because it’s been years) – “if your main character needs to do battle using a sword, by all means find out what type he would have used but you don’t need to learn how to forge one from scratch.”

What gives you story ideas?

One of the great things about writing historical fiction is that history is full of the fascinating, the bizarre, and the profound. It is a treasure trove of ideas.

Very often as I am researching I will come upon a fact or an event that makes me think, “wow, you couldn’t make stuff like this up.” So, I keep an eye open for ideas for future projects while I work on current ones. For example, the idea for my novel, The Sister Queens, came from a footnote in a history of Notre Dame de Paris that I was reading for a 16th century project -- a footnote about Marguerite of Provence, whose kneeling image is carved over that great church’s Portal Rouge, and about her sisters. I had never heard of these remarkable sisters from Provence and wondered how such extraordinary women could have largely slipped through the fingers of history. I started a folder with their names on it and began ruminating on ideas for a book about them.

Beyond the historical events included in my novels, the themes often come from my own life. I think the most important questions that we ask ourselves as human beings haven’t changed substantially in a thousand years. For example, One of the secondary themes in my current book is what does it mean to be a great man? Is professional competence the most important measure of “success?” Sometimes it can be more interesting and less “threatening” to examine “big issues” when they are removed from our everyday context and allowed to play out in the more remote setting of history.

When do you write?

Unlike many folks who are trying to do all their writing after hours, I have the luxury of daytime writing. All of my children are in school full time, so I can usually manage some time in my “writing lair” during the heart of the day. I don’t tend to write on weekends when my kids are home unless I have a deadline (I never miss deadlines – it’s a matter of personal pride for me). When I do have a deadline then weekends and even vacations or holidays are just “extra work days.”

When I am gripped by my muse I can (and do write any time and any where). I sometimes dictate portions of my work into a hand-held voice recorder. That gives me a lot of flexibility and allows me to “steal moments’ for writing. As a result, I’ve written sections of a book in the car and in the frozen food section of the grocery. I’ve also been known to get up in the middle of the night and creep off somewhere to dictate in the dark, lol.

How much time a day do you spend on your writing?

I consider “writing” to be all aspects of the process of getting a book to market – researching, writing, editing, and even some social networking or blogging (which falls under marketing). When you roll all that together I would say I try to spend at least 5 hours a day on my writing on weekdays during the school year. In the summer writing is more difficult.

How do you balance your writing with other aspects of your life?

When I first started writing it came second to pretty much everything else in my life. I was treating it like a hobby. I quickly realized, however, that if I wanted writing to be a job I had to start treating it like a job. So, I started to be stricter with myself (setting daily and weekly word goals) and with my family (telling my kids, “I am going to write for two hours, do not come to my office unless you are bleeding”).

Once I signed with my agent I became even more focused. I figured this was it – my shot. I didn’t want to fritter it away. So, while my agent was shopping one manuscript (ultimately unsuccessfully), I absolutely plowed through my next, completing it in substantially less time than my first. That extra push was worth it because that manuscript became The Sister Queens.

Despite being very focused, there are certain events I won’t miss for work. Where I draw that line today (as a writer) is different than it was when I was a lawyer, and that’s one of the reasons I stopped practicing law—to have more time for my family. The main thing I would remind other writers is that each person gets to decide on where the line is drawn in her/his life. I never compare my work habits or writing output with those of my writer friends. Their lives/circumstances are different than mine so of course they will arrange their writing schedules differently.

What do you feel is the key to your success?

Success – hm. On a major level whether or not I will be successful as a writer is still very much an open question. Yes, I have a wonderful agent and a super publisher behind me, but publishing is in flux, and the market is inundated with material. In this atmosphere many author’s first books become their last. When my book comes out in March 2012 I will have a very short time to “make an impression” on readers and book bloggers. I hope that I can do that, and I believe I’ve written a sister-story that will resonate with modern readers even as it paints a vivid picture of the high middle ages. But let’s face it, there are no sure things in this business.

The key to getting as far as I have, however, is something I feel competent to discuss. There are several important things I did that any other aspiring writer can do: 1) Learn everything you can about the BUSINESS end of writing. Don’t just spend your time on the artistic side. Invest in yourself as a professional—read about the industry; join on-line communities; attend conferences. 2) Be persistent but apply your effort wisely. Sometimes it IS time to set aside a particular project and move on to another. This is not the same as giving up, it is using your limited time in the manner most likely to yield the result you want, a publishable novel. 3) Write. Don’t talk about writing, or think about writing—do it. There is no substitute for practice. Writing is the only way to get better at writing.

Tell us about your new book and when it is out

My debut novel, The Sister Queens, is set in 13th century France and England. It tells the captivating story of medieval sisters, Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence, who both became queens — their lifelong friendship, their rivalry, and their reigns. While I certainly hope that fans of historical fiction will enjoy the book, I had a broader audience in mind when I wrote it. I am half of a pair of extraordinarily close sisters, and I wanted to write a novel centered on the dynamics of the sister relationship, exploring how our siblings mold us into the people we become. So, if you are a sister, if you have a sister, my book is for you.

The book comes out on March 6, 2012. For more information on the novel (including a back-cover blurb) or where it can be pre-ordered please visit www.thesisterqueens.com

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

I will refer readers back to the second paragraph of my “key to success” answer. I really do feel if you do those three things you are well on your way. I will also say, however, DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP when rejections come in. Writers tend to assume it’s them—their query isn’t catchy enough, their manuscript isn’t good enough—but the truth is this is a tough business and it is highly competitive. It is important to write because you love to write, not because you think it is going to replace your day job. I write because I just can’t stop.