Wednesday, July 3, 2013

updated msh blog tour posts

Week 3: (June 9 thru June 15) Describe your writing routine. Are you more creative in the morning, evening? Do you write when you can? On your commute? Do you have your own workspace or share an area?


I’m not sure I have a strict writing ‘routine,’ which is probably why I don’t produce regularly. I am not a morning person, so I am not creative in the morning. When I have a story to tell, I write almost constantly. I talk to myself. It’s how I write dialogue. I write on my laptop, but I have also been known to write on legal pads and notebooks while on the clock at call centers, between calls. I write while listening to talk radio, listening to music, and listening to audio books. I use these things to distract my conscious mind and let the stories come out.
The source of my stories is usually my own baggage. I have an idea for a story about addiction. I have issues. I don’t smoke. I drink occasionally. I have been known to smoke a little weed, but I can count the number of times I’ve done it on one hand. I realized a few years ago that I was addicted to anger. Running on the adrenaline of anger was the only way I felt strong. When I crashed, I was so worn out that I had to get  more angry the next time to compensate. There’s something there, but I haven’t figured out what to do with it yet.  I do know that, because of my disability, and my addiction to anger, my adrenal glands are over-active, and therefore exhausted. I have to feed those organs in order to feel awake, healthy, and mentally sound.
A lot of writers have issues. Dashiell Hammett was in poor health a lot. So was Edgar Allan Poe. Our own Aurora Martinez has issues of her own, so I’m in good company. If you have physical issues that get in the way of your writing, so are you. Take heart. Stay encouraged. Don’t quit.

Week 4: (June 16 thru June 22) What are your pet peeves as a writer? Is it bad grammar? Poor plotting? Narrative voice? Telling versus showing?


I used to have a lot of pet peeves as a writer. I have recently gone through a shift that has removed most of them. The only real pet peeve I still have is ignorance. My own, as well as others. The interesting thing about that is that I came up with a statement regarding ignorance, stupidity, and foolishness. Ignorance = don’t know. Stupidity = don’t know and don’t care. Foolishness = don’t know, don’t care, and proud of it. Writing ignorance can be cured by two things: reading and practice.
Basic rules of grammar are critically important. Basic rules of punctuation are more than critically important. People may not be conscious of what they know, but they know when they’re reading something that’s grammatically and punctually incorrect. A writer that can tell a good story but that can’t write loses credibility. Spelling is also important. If you choose to misspell words, do it in dialogue, don’t do it in your prose.
If you have a writer you look up to, steal. Read everything they’ve written. Write like them. Start with two paragraphs of their stuff, and run from there. Read wider. Read stuff you don’t like. One of the best books I’ve seen about grammar is The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need by Susan Thurman. Read Aristotle’s Poetics. That’s the bones of story. Plot is tops. Everything else serves plot. A lot of green writers think that putting words on paper makes you a writer. This isn’t necessarily true. putting the right words on paper makes you a writer. For advice on that, consult Elements of Style.
The thing that improved my writing most drastically and most quickly was when I realized that the thing I needed to be most conscious of was how I wanted my reader to feel. To control that, I have to be vulnerable as a writer. Nothing is off limits. Don’t say how your character feels, show it.  

Week 5: (June 23 thru June 29) What are your top ten favorite and most hated books? Brief discussion of why on each one. (Or at least 2 or 3 of them off each list)


     I don’t know that I  have a top ten favorite or hated books. I hope I’ve never read a book I hate. This sounds terrible, but there are books I’ve read that I’m sure I could have written better. The most glaring example of that is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The story she wrote could have been written in about a third the pages of the novel. Of course, it sold millions of copies, and she’ll be remembered forever, so I’m sure I’m wrong. Mystic River is a great book. The twists really sell it. Shutter Island is a great book. I know it was good because it took me twice through it to understand it. There are books I wish I had read. One of them is Forrest Gump. If Next, with Nichols Cage, had been a book, I would have read that. I also wish I had read The Life of David Gale.

Friday, June 7, 2013

My guest for the week of 6/3-6/8 (belated as it is, for which I apologize effusively ) is Pamela Foreman for the MSH Blog Tour. Enjoy




You're Right, My Love

Pamela Foreman, Published Author

Genre: Romantic Fiction



SYNOPSIS: In a perfect world, David and Annette would never have met. Their spouses would still be alive and well, supporting their families in their endeavors. Their children, seven between the two, would not be spiraling into deep depression with each passing moment.

But their world is not perfect and both must struggle with their spouse's deaths, raise their children and deal with their new-found relationship with each other. Can David and Annette learn to love each other despite their differences? Can they look into the future instead of the past? Will their own children force them to part?

Purchase Link: http://tinyurl.com/bqqskbd


Author Bio: Pamela Foreman is a wife of seventeen years to her high school sweetheart and the mother of four children. Having grown up in Texas, Pamela currently lives in central Virginia. Pamela received her master’s degree in accounting from Liberty University and is an avid reader. She enjoys sewing, crocheting, knitting and scrapbooking when she is not involved with her children’s activities and spending time with her husband.

Pamela is the author of the Nebraska Holds series, a series surrounding the lives of David Anderson and Annette Miller, middle-aged adults who have both gone through the sudden deaths of their spouses and each have children to continue to raise. The series currently has three books, You're Right, My Love (December 2011), Not Again, My Love (January 2013) and the third book is Secrets Abound, My Love, will be  published in July 2013.



Author Links:

Website: http://www.pamelaforeman.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamelaforemanauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamela_foreman
About Me: http://about.me/pamelaforeman
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111814691744564977712/posts






What inspired me to write this book?


My inspiration for writing this novel honestly came from a challenge. It was husband who found a site online where you were challenged to write fifty thousand words during the month of November. The first year I tried it (2005), we were in the middle of moving from overseas back to the states. I didn't write enough to win. But I tried again in 2006 and 2007 until finally, in 2008, I won, making it past the fifty thousand word mark. It was at that point I was determined to not only win the contest, but to compete and finish the novel with the goal of publishing the book. The inspiration simply came from having a goal and completing it, but also making it a worthwhile story while doing so. I've always wanted to see my name in print, to pick up my book, marveling at it, holding it in my hand, feeling the ultimate satisfaction that I have created and done something very few people have the pleasure of being able to do. It's a combination of my competitive nature and being able to get all my feelings and emotions put into a work of art for all the world to read and see.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013


Announcing the Mountain Springs House Blog Tour


I'm an editor on staff at the publishing house, and I'd like you to check out our page, and like ushttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mountainsprings/


I'm new to the blogging world, and tours like this. I hope to get comfortable with expressing myself in this format and meeting new people. 

I am single, a big brother to five, uncle to eleven, and nephew to twelve, and was grandson to six. I was born in Ft Lewis, Washington, which is in the opening credits of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman.  I am  an avid reader who likes to draw, make jewelry, listen to music, and watch TV. I am a life-long Hoosier who likes to bowl and play pool. I live in Carmel, Indiana  with an aunt and her two cats. I want to write at least one best-seller, and see it made into a movie. I would like to become a pastor  direct a play, and direct a movie. I would really love to  meet at least one of the cast members of The Big Bang Theory. Hopefully,  coming soon, is a young adult novel about the magic of leprechauns, tentatively titled The Summer Castle. 

One of the reasons I love to write is because it's very liberating. Anything can happen, as long as it makes sense to you (and your editor). :) The best moment in a story, for me, is when a story surprises me by going somewhere I didn't expect. It can pose challenging plot, structure, and character questions. It can also create interesting corners for me to write my way out of. 

I use writing for therapy. I put somebody else's face on my problems and watch them work it out. It helps me. 

One of the ways I come up with ideas for stories is the names of Catholic Patron Saints. If I know what issue drives my main character, I find the name of the saint for that issue. Whatever that name is, it usually presents a conflict issue at the same time. Built in drama that can drive the plot.

If you're a writer that struggles with writer's block, like I do, I've found that the solution suggested by Sean Connery's character in Finding Forester often works. Typing the words of another writer does get the juices flowing. I did try it another way. Listening to audio books helps me. After a few minutes, I barely hear the story. 


Wednesday, May 8, 2013



I can't believe I won this award. It's such an honor. It also surprises me more than a little.It's fun.


1) Who is your hero and why?

I'm not sure I have a specific hero. I have a lot of respect for soldiers, in all branches of the military, firemen, policemen, and EMS first responders. Historically, I would have to say John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Regan.



2) Why did you become an author?

I was born with a disability, cerebral palsy, so I spent a lot of my childhood obsessed with things I couldn't do. Writing helped me deal with that because, in my mind, not only were all things equal, but I could be my own version of a superhero. 




3) Who or what inspires you?

Reading, music, necessity. Audiobooks. Conversation.




4) If you could encourage your fans with one phrase, what would that phrase be?

Do what you love, even if it scares you. 




5) What is your favorite genre to read? Why?

I try not to limit myself to a specific genre. When I was younger, it was sci-fi and fantasy, and Stephen King. Now, the wider my reading range, the more I learn.




6) What is your favorite genre to write? Why?

Again, I try not to limit myself to a specific genre. I think in terms of story. If the story is good, genre may not matter, except in identifying it for other people to stimulate interest.


7) If you could be any superhero for a day who would you want to be and why?

Superman. I want to be able to fly, run really fast, and stand in line for as long as I can without breaking a sweat and getting breathless.




8) Quick: Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

Chocolate



9) Quick: Favorite Candy Bar

Snickers



10) You have only ten seconds to save an item in your burning house. What do you take and why?

My wallet, because it proves who I am legally, and my Kindle, because of my book collection.



11) Who is the greatest figure to have ever lived and why?

Jesus Christ. Enough said.



11 Random Facts about Me:

1) I like Star Wars and Star Trek; I actually believe they could    exist in the same universe.

2) I am a Johnny Cash fan; If I had the money, I would buy one of his autographed guitars. 

3) I am a huge Peanuts fan; If I had the money, and could find them all, I would buy the original Schultz sketches that were released on the birth dates of all my siblings, and give the drawings to them as gifts.

4) I love roses and orchids.

5) I think Yoda is the bomb.

6) I won 1st place in a Special Olympics swim meet doing the backstroke when I was in elementary school. 

7) The thing I am looking forward to most when I am a best-selling author is giving a lot of money away to evenagelical ministries.

8) I make jewelry.

9) Animal is my favorite Muppet.

10) I want to be a preacher.

11) My favorite TV show is The Big Bang Theory.


11 Questions

1) Have you read a book that you wish was made into a movie? If so, name it.

2) Who is your favorite character from Friends? Why?

3) Who is your favorite character from The Big Bang Theory? Why?

4) If you could write a TV show about anything, what would it be about?

5) Is there such a thing as an author you wish you liked? 

6) What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

7) Would you ever consider running for public office?

8) What is your favorite genre of music?

9) Do you have a favorite historical figure? Who is it?

10) What is your favorite restaurant?

11) Who is your favorite musician/band?