What's Your Excuse?

Excuses. We all have them. In fact, they run rampant for not finishing our novels, but today, I was inspired by a very successful author and hope you are, too. Keep reading.

Gazillion-selling, world-famous author Nicholas Sparks was interviewed by Anderson Cooper. I was amazed by his story. He is married with two children and previously worked in pharmaceuticals. He decided to "try" writing fiction "one more time" after seeing the finale of the TV show Cheers. Since he had a family and a mortgage to pay, he wanted to be realistic so he kept his day job.

Nicholas said he continued to work full time and wrote from 9 p.m. until midnight 3-4 nights per week. That's it. And he managed to complete THE NOTEBOOK during that timeframe in just six months! Unbelievable, right? The Notebook is one of my all-time favorite books and movies. If you haven't read the book nor seen the movie, do so immediately. You won't be sorry. I promise. But have a hanky nearby.

Other books by Nicholas Sparks include Message In A Bottle, Dear John, A Walk To Remember and in movies and bookstores now: The Lucky One. Nearly all of his books have been made into wonderful movies starring big-time celebrities. Sigh. Swoon. Dreams do come true.

Inspired? Me, too. No more excuses. Let's write now!

ORA Con 2012 This Saturday

ORA CON 2012 is this Saturday, June 23, at the Howard Johnson's on S. Glenstone in Springfield, Missouri. Presented by Ozarks Romance Authors which just happens to be celebrating its 25th anniversary, you won't want to miss this conference. But it isn't just for romance writers. Oh, no. We'll have authors, speakers and agents who represent westerns, paranormal, non-fiction, YA, thrillers, and of course, romance. Sigh.

Two big-time agents, Lucienne Diver, The Knight Agency, and Cori Deyoe, Three Seas Literary Agency, will be taking pitches. Breakout workshops are shown below and there's even a query letter gong show which I'm can't wait to see. Check out this link to register for Saturday's conference http://ozarks-romance-authors.com/ora-2012-conference-details/ or just pay at the door but the caterer would really like to plan enough lunches for everyone.

We begin with a booksigning on Friday, 4:30-6 p.m., at the Springfield, Missouri, Barnes & Noble. Now, where can you attend one booksigning featuring an award-winning western author, romance author of over 80 books, a paranormal author and international bestselling thriller author? I can answer that. No where. So join us! The booksigning is free. You'll have a chance to mingle with these authors, as well as local authors and win prizes.

2012 ORA CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

8am: Breakfast and Raffles
8:45am: Introductions and Opening
9-12pm: Pitch Sessions with Cori Deyoe and Lucienne Diver
9-12pm: Critique Sessions with Rob Thurman
9-10am: Leigh Michaels – Workshop: Self-Publishing – Tips, Tricks, and Tripwires
10-11am: Jennifer Brown – Emotion in Writing: Beyond the Heavy Sigh
11-12pm: Steven Law – Workshop: Publishing and Publicity
12-1pm: Lunch and Raffles
1-3pm: Pitch Sessions with Goldminds Publishing
1-2pm: J. Brown, C. Deyoe, R. Thurman and L. Diver – Panel: Negotiating the Agent/Author Relationship
2-3pm: Leigh Michaels – Craft Workshop: Plotting Without a Net
3-4pm: C. Deyoe, L. Diver – Query Letter Gong Show
4-5pm- All Speakers – Q & A Panel
5-5:30pm Raffle Drawings and Presentation of Awards.

Hope to see you at one or both events.

Mt. Bliss (A Friday Fictioneer Story)

It's Friday Fictioneer day compliments of Madison Woods at http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/desolation/ Read and post your flash fiction here and on her site. This week's breathtaking photo is by Doug MacIlroy, from Hawaii.

Martha stared at the snow-covered volcano. Ethan adjusted his backpack. “Ready?” Martha patted her pocket to make sure her phone was inside--just in case. After several hours, she said, "I’m starving." Ethan fished inside his parka. "Beef jerky?" "I'm a vegetarian." Ethan shrugged and bit off a chunk. Martha glared at him. "After ten years of marriage, you still can't remember that I don't eat meat?" "Actually, I do remember. I also have almonds but you're allergic to those. Good luck, Martha. I told you I wanted a divorce but you—" Martha had a feeling this hike wasn't to make amends. She shoved Ethan into the giant pit using Catwoman-like strength.

Back In Business

Seriously, I will probably type this to no avail. After a full month of no email and not being able to sign onto my blog, it seems my email is finally working. It's a long story. Short version: I was hacked and Hughes shut me down. I was able to receive emails but couldn't reply to them. For a month. Did I mention I was down for 30 DAYS? Then, Blogger decided to go and change itself. Come on now. Be nice to this non-techy girl. It told me to download Google Chrome which I did and Google Chrome even told me I was "awesome" for doing so. Okay, then. Work. Let's see what happens.

Girl Scouts' Six-Word Memoirs - Please Vote!

Recently, I had a book signing at the Believe In Girls Expo to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts. (We promptly went on a two-week vacation the following day, so I'm behind on getting this posted.) One of the activities at my booth was for the Girl Scouts to write a six-word memoir describing why they enjoy this sisterhood.

Nearly 80 Girl Scouts stood at my booth all afternoon, pen in hand, looking upward, shrugging, smiling, and saying how hard it was to write just six words. I overheard one dad telling his daughter, "Just write six words or less." I informed them it had to be six words exactly and explained the six-word memoir project. So, the girls did it. All 78 of them! I've narrowed the entries down to ten finalists. Please help me vote for two winners.

One will receive the book, I CAN'T KEEP MY OWN SECRETS, a six-word memoir book by teens famous & obscure, edited by SMITH Magazine. The other winner will receive a packet of Palace movie tickets. Without further ado, here they are:

"Girl Scouts better than Boy Scouts!" ~ Brianna
"Best memory of my entire life." ~ Emily
"Doing new things with my friends." ~ Kenzi
"Making friends that last a lifetime." ~Amanda
"Nobody can live without cookies, NOBODY!" ~ Dani
"Learning to be a great girl!" ~ Alley
"Girl Scout camping! Fun and Kool!" ~ Kayla
"Camping, friends, 100 years of fun." ~ Kaitlynn
"Thin mints are my favorite cookie." ~ Hannah
"Cooking, camping, cookies, s'mores and friends." ~ Joanna

Aren't they great?! Please vote for your two favorites by Fri., April 27.

Finally, I had a big basket for one lucky winner which included my picture book, nail polish, lip gloss, bookmarks, green and white socks, colored pencils, hair bands, toys and more. The lucky winner was Sierra pictured below. She was a delightful little girl whose dad, Danny, patiently spent the entire day with her around hundreds--possibly a thousand--excited, energetic little girls. She also told me she was going to share the basket contents with her brother. What a sweetie. Congratulations, Sierra!

Friday Fictioneers: Shell Shocked

The hard bench must have made a permanent indentation by now. I glanced at the tunnel that seemingly led to nowhere—or anywhere. I wanted to walk inside and escape.

I replayed our conversation. At the guardrail, Jonathan had slowed to a crawl. “We need to talk.”

Four words no one wants to hear.

“It’s over. We’re over.”

I stiffened, staring at my emerald-cut diamond. Tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t speak.

“I’ve met someone else.”

My heart plunged. Anger surged. I grabbed the handle. “Stop the car.” I flung the door open and glared at my fiancé. “What's her name?

Jonathan stared ahead. “Mark.”

Inspiring Children

In late March, I read to second graders at Greenwood. Their curious minds always delight me and remind me why I write children's books in addition to novels. I always leave schools with a smile on my face.

After I read my book, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?, I asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. After all, I wrote this book to inspire children to dream big! One by one, they answered very specifically with careers such as professional tennis player to marine biologist to attorney. These were high achievers!

Then, I explained how to create a story starting with either a plot or a character. We decided our main characters would be a pig and a dog. The students named them Petunia (the pig) and Cookie (the dog). I talked about using the five senses when writing so the reader could really put themselves into the story--to show the story and not just tell it. I also talked about creating conflict to make the story interesting and a bit about pacing (i.e., removing the boring parts). When we talked about conflict, the students came up with some hilarious situations for the animals, and storylines took off in many directions.

I suggested they each write their own ending since they had the "bones" of the story. I was delighted when a boy (toward the end of my talk after we had moved on) raised his hand with yet another suggestion about the pig and dog's dilemma. He was really thinking about his story--and HE was the one in the beginning who told me he didn't like to write! Success.

Toward the end, we danced to a theme song that I'll talk about in a future post. Finally, there was a short Q&A where the students had insightful questions such as: "How did it feel to become published?" and "How long did it take to write your book?" and "How did you work with the illustrator?" in addition to many more very grown-up questions.

It was a great day. Thanks to Cecily Cornelius-White and Avery White for inviting me--and for taking me to lunch afterward!