HATS

What kind of hat do you wear? As writers, we are now  caught in a glut of increased responsibilities. No longer can we just sit back and write. Now we have to socialize on the Networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Now we need fan pages, landing pages, blogs, websites. Now we have to educate ourselves in editing, marketing, distribution. Now we have to become public speakers. All these things help us grow and hopefully help us to sell our books.

How many hats can you wear? Too many hats are bad when you are compromising so much of your time that you have no time to write. How to solve that problem? Just like in big business: Delegate. What do you suppose marketing specialists are for? Distributors? Publicists? They all have a function and are there to help.

But I can't afford it, you whine. Then you just have to pull up your big girl panties and learn to deal with things to the best of your ability. Ask fellow writers how they go about handling these tasks. Every encounter can be a learning experience. How do you handle all the hats of the publishing world?

VERISIMILITUDE

Verisimilitude is one of those twenty dollars words with a ten cent meaning: having the appearance of of being true or real. And that's what stories have to contain.

Right now, I'm reading East of the Mountains by David Guterson. It's not a new book (I seldom read a new book). It is the story of a doctor who has cancer and  runs off to the mountains to die. I'd no sooner read page two, getting caught up in the story, when I had  to check  the cover. It says  fiction; I had to affirm I wasn't reading a personal memoir. Another chapter. Was that right? I check again. Yep, it says fiction, but  it reads like a real life story, it feels like real life.

How does he do it? I believe it is tiny finite details: the emotions that run through the doctor, his thoughts about what to do with his dogs, how he keeps rubbing his side where the colon cancer pain is the worst, how he needs stool softeners for his constipation and more. I'm on a chapter that speaks of  the apple orchards in Washington State. The details of how the trees are taken care, the varieties of apples, the history of how the orchard began.Vivid, yet everyday details bring the story verisimilitude.

 I continually keep going back to the cover because it is to hard to believe this is a work of fiction. And that is what we should all strive for. We should  make our readers go to the cover for affirmation that it is a piece of fiction, a piece of verisimilitude.

MARCH TO THE FRONT OF THE CLASS

As writers we all get careless in our writing primarily because of the way we speak. Before long, faux pas in our writing shows up. Sometimes, we are just confused. Sometimes we feel we can't be bothered to hunt down the answer.

For instance, do you always know when to use:
in to vs. into,  on to vs. onto, they're-their-there, less or fewer, etc? Have you had dangling modifiers creep into your writing? Overuse of certain words? Although spelling has been my forte, I'll admit my grammar needs brushing up on.

I've found a couple of marvelous sites to help everyone. The first one is embedded in my sidebar (see Grammar Girl). The second one is www.dailygrammar.com In the archives section, you'll find over 400 grammar lessons. One of my favorites which is no longer available (unless you happen to run across a lesson through one of the many romance writers sites) is Grammar Divas. Annie Oortman gives valuable, detailed instruction in many troublesome areas.

A couple of books (if you're like me and like something in hand where you can flip pages) available through Amazon.com are:
There, Their, They're: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd    or

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes

VALENTINE'S DAY

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE . . .

A  red rose says "I love you"
A white rose says "I'm worthy of you"
A pink rose says "I'm appreciative"
A yellow rose "I care"
A coral rose "I desire you"

Did you hear on FOX News this a.m. the average man spends $150 on his Valentine? Where is THAT man? One of my fantasies has been to have an entire roomful of flowers. For that price maybe I could get a bouquet and spread them around the room.

However, I settled for a single yellow rose. Why? Don't I think I'm worth more? Definitely.  But after you've been married as many years as I have, red roses just seem trite.Even bouquets seem like overkill. It wasn't that hubby wasn't willing. He did offer  to get me a mixed flower bouquet, but sometimes a single rose says more.

When he heard what the average man spends he told me he thought he ought to do better. But frankly, I'm happy with my one yellow rose.

FEBRUARY FOOLISHNESS

My, my, how time flies. I cannot believe we are into February already. Time has moved so quickly, I've missed three important poetry contests. Sigh. Valentine's is around the corner and a Feb. 24th wedding anniversary. I actually had to look up the date. Why? When we got married, I remember saying, "If we marry the last day of February, it should be easy to remember." And I believe we DID marry the 28th, however the pastor left the marriage license on his desk for over a week. ( I think we picked it up March 8th and for years we celebrated our anniversary on that date.) When questioned about it, he said, "I'll just back date it, so it is still legal and you won't have to apply for another license." So after all these 27 years we still laugh whenever someone asks, "When is your anniversary?" We're really not sure. Guess that just proves it doesn't matter what the date is as long as you love one another.

Up, up and away in 2012

Another year. Each year I write down at least two writing goals. Most of the time I keep them. This year I not only want to finish my third novel, tentatively called Vestal Virgins, but I need to get back into my poetry. What is it about the two that do not seem compatible? My poetry is suffering atrociously. Maybe I can put on my Merlin cap and SHAZAM! write both.

Last year, Dec. 4th, I went to the Reynolds Library in Mountain Home, Arkansas for a book signing. There were at least 30 authors there and it was interesting to see what other authors were writing about.This is an annual event and one I look forward to. Check out the photo in the gallery.

This year I'm guest blogging at Joanne Troppello's site:http://joannetroppello.weebly.com/
My first blog is Jan 26th. Please stop by and check out her site.

Last year I guest blogged at my fantastic friend D'Ann Linscott-Dunham's site: WORDWRANGLERS (check the archives Dec. 13th) http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/

This year, marketing and speaking engagements are going to take precedence. More about that to come.

What are your 2012 plans?

GOOD, BAD, INDIFFERENT

Christmas is coming! Today I want your favorite memories and/or your thoughts on: Is Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy harmful to children? Weigh in. I'll comment later.