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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Check out Holly Lisle's Article "Money from Nothing"

The full title to her copyrighted article from her website is:

Money From Nothing: The Economic Value of Writing Original Fiction

A Foray Even Your Mother Will Appreciate Into Why Writing Isn’t a Waste of Your Time

 

She sets forth good, inspirational arguments supporting authors and their creative writings, whether published traditionally or Indie or not at all.  I hesitate to post the link here only because of the wording of her copyright notice on her emails.  (I know, probably not what she intended.  But I would rather err on this side than to commit a copyright foul.)   

 

So go to her official website:  www.HollyLisle.com.  Click on the "Articles" tab, select "Writing Mind, Heart and Soul" from the drop-down menu.  There is no date on this one to distinguish it from the rest, but today I received her email linking to this "new" article.  Before I got this post up on my blog, there was already a newer article by Holly now listed above this one within her "Mind, Heart and Soul" writings.  

 

You can also do a search within her website.

 

Check it out.  It is well worth the little time invested.

 

Plus, if I could add anything to Holly's brilliant post, it would be to say this:  Even a reader has an impact on this world's economy.  Because as this blog post could theoretically add additional marketing efforts to Holly's, possibly one of my readers may be introduced to Holly Lisle and then even buy her books and/or courses, thereby funding Holly to continue offering books and/or courses . . . and the economic cycle completes yet another turn.

 

Monday, August 15, 2011

The Dreaded "Final Edit"

As I stated in an earlier post, I am doing a Final Edit on my debut novel.  Being a workaholic and a perfectionist, I want my book to be the best it can be.  In light of the current changes in publishing, I want my book to be the best it can be--especially since I will be releasing it as an Indie-published e-book.  As an author, I want my book to be the best it can be because it carries not only my name but also my words, my thoughts, my philosophy on life.

But I was having no fun editing with all this pressure.

I had to remind myself of a very famous writer with her seven-book series whose later books show her growth as an author.

We should all show our growth as authors.

Yet, her books were published and enjoyed by millions before she reached increased levels of perfection.

Kind of like a physician's practice (emphasis on the word "practice") connotes a lifetime of learning his art, so does it with us creators using our imagination and words to tell a tale with the art of written communication.

Plus, isn't this daily road trip on my way to my goals supposed to be fun?

Here's the distillation of these random musings.  I am not perfect (Gasp!) and should relax a little--hard for us workaholics to do.  Instead of waiting to publish when I have studied and learned all that is out there, not to mention implementing the entirety of that knowledge, I have realized that I would never be published in my lifetime.  No one would with that criteria.  Obviously, this does not mean putting up slop to sell.  I take great pride in my work. 

Besides there are those brilliant authors who break the rules and win over the readers and critics alike, all the while presenting their storytelling in such a way so as to effectively share it with us all.

So why take decades to study these "rules" if you can be persuasive with the written word without them?  I'm reminded of that oft repeated axiom to stop the research, stop the studying, and just act.  Good advice.

I'm taking it.

Again, I'm not advocating to ignore the Web11 spellings and definitions of words, nor the standard English grammar usages that encourage the art of successful communication.  I am saying there is no "perfect" time and I will yet to be perfect myself, so we should take the sum of our knowledge AT THIS POINT and use it wisely.  Go for it!
 
And for those who are interested, I'm enjoying my process so much more now.  With my new improved mind-set (yes, this is the Webster's 11th Edition way to spell it), I have worked through the first fifty-four pages of my two-hundred-twenty-page novel.  I'm not sure how many rounds I will need to polish my work, but I'm feeling my way to finding out.  For this book.  I'm sure each one poses its own set of guidelines and needs.

After all, I am a work in progress myself, just like my books. 

Monday, August 8, 2011

Re Quote of the Day

Just a quick explanation/disclaimer.  I am subscribing to one quote of the day service and they are choosing the quotes that you see here.  Some I enjoy; some I don't agree with.  I am not handpicking these from my stash of favorites.  I may even change to another daily quote machine.  FYI.  But I do so love quotes that I had to add this newest feature to my blog.  In fact, I check out my blog to see what the quote is.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Check out ThePioneerWoman.com

First, let me say "Thank you, honey!" to that lovely, organized, productive young woman buying canning jars who led me to this website--which I have added to my favs on the right-hand sidebar.

Second, a disclaimer.  I haven't even begun to mine all the gold in this newly found haven.  So if I misstate anything herein, forgive me for my lack of time to lose myself in this wonderful world.

Third, you gotta love The Pioneer Woman who describes herself as channeling "Lucille Ball, Vivien Leigh and Ethel Merman" all the while homeschooling, cooking, (still) loving and lusting after her husband, living on a ranch, completely adoring children and pets (hers and others), who somehow has time to blog, watch favorite movies and TV shows, PLUS maintains her sense of humor.  Her name is Ree.  And she's my newest Hero.

Despite not yet finding all the treasures of her website, I'm in rhapsody!  I've found a fellow soul mate who loves all the things I love, and you can tell "respect" resides deep within her soul.  I don't know who does all her photography stills, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out Ree is as great with a fancy camera as she operates within her other gifts.

Although I don't live on a ranch, in my mind, living in the country is a sometime circular goal.  If you were born and raised in a rural area, you probably couldn't wait to leave and get your taste of the "big city."  As you grow up, however, you may again yearn to live in the place where your roots began.

For others, it's more of a linear goal, made with the passage of time.

As for me, I was born in Baton Rouge and while it may have boasted 250,000 or so people when I moved, it was neither rural nor big city at any remembered point during my childhood and teenage years.  I guess that middle-position birthplace has me swaying from big city to small town, like my car-buying purchases range from two-door to four-door and back again.

Still, after living some decades myself, I find my choices of residence moving farther and farther out from the big city.  My current home is in a wonderful town/city that, at the time of my original purchase of my house, was a nice place with a small-town feel and yet big-city perks.  Now it's one of the fastest growing cities in my State if not one of the top fifty/one hundred in the whole U.S.  Not sure I like the possibility of losing the coziness factor due to our population explosion.

But regardless, I treasure my space and lots of huge old oaks and evergreen bushes and the occasional wild critter coming to my back door to eat up the rest of the cat food.  I don't see the sunrises or the sunsets because of my subdivision's housing development--and the aforesaid trees--but one day, I will own my dream (and go-green) home atop the highest hill on my five acres or more, just so I can be witness to each uniquely beautiful rising and setting of the sun.

That's one of my dreams.  I love people who inspire them, such as The Pioneer Woman.  Go find yours.  THAT is the fountain of youth.