Author Archives: SwordBearer
You Might Be a Writer If…
Hello friends! Sorry I haven’t been around for awhile but having some major upheavals in my life is not that conducive to lots of blogging so I do apologise. You will love this humorous blog from Kristen Lamb. Have a fantastic weekend, and I will write again soon. Promise!
A lot of “stuff” has been going on in my life lately. Hard stuff. Heavy stuff. The kind of stuff that just makes me want to write massacre scenes….except I am so brain dead I had to google how to spell “massacre.”
Masicker? Missucker?
WHAT AM I DOING???? *breaks down sobbing*
I am supposed to be an adult an expert okay, maybe functionally literate. Fine, I give up! I have nothing left to saaaaayyyyyy. I am all out of woooords *builds pillow fort*.
I figured it’s time for a bit of levity. Heck, I need a good laugh. How about you guys?
We writers are different *eye twitches* for sure, but the world would be SO boring without us. Am I the only person who watches Discovery ID and critiques the killers?
You are putting the body THERE? Do you just WANT to go to prison? Why did you STAB…
View original post 1,289 more words
About 180 Days of Preparation are Drawing to a Close
Since I started this crazy mission to move to the United Kingdom with my in-laws and hubby life has been chaotic, to say the least!
It’s been a crazy ride – some good, some not so good – but through it all I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of achieving if I believe that the Universe has my back. I discovered the power of my mind and how easily I can achieve what I want, and also how easily I can sabotage my life. When making such a huge life-changing decision there’s no room to entertain negativity in any form.
Keeping the last book in my epic fantasy tetralogy going has been the hardest because to rewrite and edit one needs time – hours to just sit by myself and focus on it. Truth be told, time has been very scarce and I haven’t made as much progress as I’d like.
That being said, I know that there are other priorities in my life at the moment and that every cent (soon to be pence) I possess has to go into our move. That means I have to wait until we’ve settled down a bit before collecting the coins I’ll need to publish The Sword Bearer’s Ascension: Book 4. I don’t like it, I must tell you. Delaying the urge to publish and get out number four tugs at my heart every day, but for now I have to trust that it will get published when the time is right.
I have delayed everything from writing to blogging to promoting until my life has some normalcy again. I am both excited and fed up of this move, but like everything else in life that requires all your attention it simply must be done. Once I have the time back to refocus almost exclusively on my writing then the book will get finished and published. Patience is always something I have to work on, especially when instant gratification is my mantra (he-he, not really! I do have some self-control, you know).
I have learned to trust my intuition telling me to be at peace, that everything will get done at the right time, in the right way. Despite a few annoying obstacles, from our decision to move, to me getting my UK visa, to our belongings travelling by sea and arriving a whole month early, to getting the cats sorted to take with us (a scary expense!) it’s all gone pretty well. We’ll be flying from South Africa to the United Kingdom on Tuesday the 30th of September and arriving on the 1st of October with high hopes and great excitement for what the future holds for us. I reckon it will take about a month before I am fully settled to finally finish rewriting and editing Book 4 and then focus on the publishing process.
How has life been for you these days, dear Writer? Anything exciting to share? I encourage you to trust yourself and whatever Power you believe in to guide you to goodness and greatness at the right time like it has for me and my family. Through this tough process I have learned to let go of all the negative thoughts and emotions that want to drag me down. I am being taken care of and all I have to do is trust and set my intent for what I want. This I have done and now I watch with awe as it unfolds. I urge you to do the same, whether it be for work/writing or your personal life, let go… You’ll get a lot more done when there’s nothing in the way, including yourself.
The Indie Author Manifesto
I LOVE this! Please share. I think every Indie author and every reader should know this manifesto. I’m proud to be Indie!
Indie Authors.
Each and every one of us should post this on our websites, blogs, etc.
THE INDIE AUTHOR MANIFESTO by Mark Coker @ Smashwords:
THE INDIE AUTHOR MANIFESTO
We indie authors believe all writers are created equal, that all writers are endowed with natural creative potential, and that writers have an unalienable right to exercise, explore and realize their potential through the freedom of publication.Â
I hold these truths to be self-evident:
- I am an indie author
- I have experienced the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from self-publishing
- I have a right to publish
- My creative control is important to me. I decide when, where and how my writing graduates to become a published book.
- Indie does not mean “alone.” I choose my partners.
- I shall not bow beholden or subservient to any publisher. In my business relationships, I seek partnership, fairness, equity and mutually aligned interests.
- We indie…
View original post 118 more words
Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules
More great writing advice. Simple and easy to remember. I agree with all the points. What say you, dear Writer? Are there areas in your writing that need tidying up and analyzing? I have learned over the years how to tighten up my writing and make it sound less like writing and more like storytelling. Is there a difference? I think so. Do you?
Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules
Among all the lists of writing rules and advice, this one ranks high, in my opinion. Simple, yet so important.
- Â Never open a book with weather.
- Â Avoid prologues.
-  Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
-  Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
- Â Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
-  Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
- Â Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
- Â Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
-  Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
- Â Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
 * Excerpted from the New York Times article, “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle”
Some…
View original post 25 more words
“When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am.”
Wonderful words from the incomparable Maya Angelou! Let’s celebrate the life of this phenomenal writer and artist!
Maya Angelou by Spanglej, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.
Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin, or the music of Chopin — find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that it was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less.
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.
When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we’re capable of, how…
View original post 503 more words