Still on break

In some ways, I don’t know what to do with myself, but I’m falling into the routine a little more each weekend. I have two of three critiques back for the ending of The Ballad of Mrs. Molony. Once the last one arrives I’ll address those.

After the critiques, it will be time to read HMS Lanternfish. I haven’t looked at it for a month, so there are bound to be things to repair. I can also do my word searches for corrections that I always seem to need.

After Lorelei the Muse visited, my head is full of ideas, but they aren’t immediately helpful. I’m really excited about The Hat books five and six. However, it’s book four I need to storyboard properly. I know that story, but it needs more structure than the others. It’s going to involve an event that will shape the future of these stories. It needs to have an emotional tug to it. That might sound funny for a series that’s dedicated to dark and snarky humor, but it works within the framework I’ve established.

I also added some fun ideas to a couple of storyboards for some stand alone novels I want to write. There is also an outer space related story bouncing around in my head, but it hasn’t earned a storyboard yet. Muses are great, but more pertinent help would have been better.

If nothing else, once I figure out the issues with my next two books, Lanternfish and Hat #4, I will be ready to scream along on future tales.

In other news, I worked on one of my cowboy hats a bit. Long term readers might remember when Old What’s Her Face and I went to Jackson Hole. There used to be a wonderful hat shop there, and I bought a nice beaver hat. I posted about cutting the brim down, steaming & shaping the brim and crown. Then I used a stitch puller to remove the hatband.

After that, I had my brother make me a copper hatband. This has worked well for years, and it’s my go-to outdoors hat. The band is held on by friction, but it will come off when doing some hat related chores, like fanning the campfire to get it going.

Today, I took some tin snips and some copper pipe and made a couple of staples. It took some effort to get them placed and puncture the hat body, but I don’t think my hatband will be coming off any time soon. Oddly enough, closing the stables was the hardest part. Not a lot of room to swing a hammer inside the crown of a hat.

I’m sure the staple will age and patina to catch up with the rest of the copper eventually.

I also broke down and ordered a new hat. I doubt the cowboy hat will be retired, but I wanted a campaign hat. This will be the third one I’ve owned over the years. The first one was cheap wool, and wore out back in my survey days. I allowed a bar tender to hang it on the wall in a tiny little place called Midas, Nevada. (Hope it’s still there.) The second one got borrowed by one of my son’s friends when they were in high school. They were a bunch of druggies, and once he gave it back I threw it away. Lice happen and I wasn’t about to take a chance.

This campaign hat is slouch style, and made of much better rabbit fur. It will come with the cavalry style acorn band, but I got the officer’s version with gold and black since it was an option. (I already have a hat with gold acorns.)

Years ago, in my part of the world, cowboy hats were everywhere. I’d kind of like to pick up a decent used one to experiment on. I can’t believe how difficult and expensive that process has become. I used to see such things at yard sales, but no more. I’ve learned how to sterilize and clean them up, and have a couple of experiments I’d like to try.

Dealing with Writer’s Block #RRBC

As a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club, I get the opportunity to host some wonderful authors on tours. I particularly enjoy the posts where they teach us something about the craft of writing. Today, welcome A.M. Manay who is here to discuss Writer's Block.

“Bashing Writer's Block“ by A.M. Manay

I don't know about you, but sometimes I just get stuck. I do some outlining before I begin writing a new book, but I really only have bare bones when I get started. Sometimes characters have their own ideas of where things should go, and it takes some thinking to work it out. Sometimes I can't quite pick out the right path to the next peak in the narrative. I suspect most of us have at least some experience with writer's block. I'd like to share with you some of the strategies that have worked for me in the past.

1) Take a Break

There is value in allowing yourself to take a few days or weeks off to allow your mind to recharge and your energy to return. I hit a mental wall about 3/4 of the way through writing She Lights Up the Dark (November Snow Book 2). I gave myself a few weeks over the Christmas holidays to rest and let my mind wander. Somehow, my tangled thoughts worked themselves out, and in January, I was ready to bang out the last 4 or 5 chapters with no problem. There is value in rest.

2) Write something else

Do you have an idea for a short story, poem, blog post, or new series? Take a few hours to explore it and get the juices flowing. Sometimes that is enough to shake things loose on the original project.

3) Write out of order

You have an idea for a cool scene, but your narrative isn't quite there yet, or you don't know quite where to put it? Write it anyway. It will help you clarify your thoughts and help keep the process fun rather than tedious.

4) Try fan fiction

Do you have a favorite book, movie, or television show? Write a story set in that universe. Maybe you won't be able to use it for anything, but you never know what images, personalities, phrases, or arcs you might come up with that you can incorporate into your “real work” later.

5) Talk it out

Sometimes describing your dilemma to a spouse, friend, or fellow writer can make the solution just appear before your eyes. Writing can be such a solitary pursuit. There is value in community, especially the kind of community we have here at the Rave Reviews Book Club.

The next time you're staring blankly at the screen, I hope this list will give you a little push in the right direction. Do you have any tricks of your own for combating this scourge? Share them in the comments!

In addition to her work as an indie author of paranormal fantasy, A.M. Manay is a former inner-city chemistry teacher, a singer, a yoga enthusiast, a Clerk of Session in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and a mother through domestic open adoption. She has a passion for increasing diversity in popular culture and for strong heroines who stand up for themselves, make their own decisions, and don't depend on romance as their reason for being.

Author Links for A.M. Manay

Website: www.ammanay.net

Blog: http://ammanaywrites.blogspot.com/

email: author@ammanay.net

Facebook: facebook.com/ammanaywrites

Twitter: @ammanay

Instagram: instagram.com/a.m.manay

Fan email list November's News: http://eepurl.com/bzCa9r

Blogging, writing, and rambling

This is going to be one of those rambling posts. I learned about a writing exercise called “free writing”. This is where you just write, without any outline, specific plot, or preconceived outcome.

Apparently, I’ve been doing it with my blog. Whenever I write about my Muse, or my characters, I’ve been free writing. This isn’t to say that I don’t check my spelling or give it a quick proofread. I want everyone to enjoy it. I’m just not doing a deep edit and spending hours making it just so. I even found an ly adverb in an old post.

This isn’t the same effort I put into my fiction. I’ve been working over some of those stories for years. I learn something new, then give an old story another read. They ought to be pretty decent when I finally get them online.

I’m reading an older book that was quite popular. (No names) The author made a lot of mistakes. It gets hard to tell who’s speaking in several places, and I’m having a hard time visualizing what he wants me to see. The formatting is awful. I won’t blame him, since he died before ebooks existed. There are places where two or three words don’t have spaces between them. Words like ‘in’ became ‘m’, and ‘f’ was translated to ‘t”.

I pray for the skill to format my manuscript such that I don’t irritate readers. I also want to make sure readers can see what I need them to, without being annoyingly descriptive. (Look an ly descriptor)

I was told (ordered) to read Stephen King’s On Writing. I was really struck when he said writers need a special place, a far seeing place to just ruminate and receive new ideas. I’ve been telling you about my imaginary writing cabin in some of my old posts. I guess I’m getting some of it right.

No one wagered a guess at last month’s background image. It was a group of trees covered in mistletoe. I changed my background to one of ice for January. No need to guess, in my mind January means ice.

I am starting to see a lot of re-blogs in my Reader. There are a couple people that re-blog a dozen or more posts per day. This probably goes back to my fear of blowing up your timelines. I promise not to re-blog something unless I think it’s particularly interesting. One of them re-blogs exclusively, there is never any original content. I promise to provide original content. I figure you can surf around for interesting stuff as well as I can.

I had a secret dream to get 100 followers by 2014. I wound up with 92. Since I’ve only been blogging since September, I’m actually very happy with this number. Hello and welcome to the visitors I had from Germany and St. Vincent. I’m embarrased to say I had to Google St. Vincent. It looks like a cool place. I love seeing my map expand showing the international visitors.

I have plenty of work to do in 2014. I need to make changes based upon my critique group, then take up the more serious tasks I got from the editor. I want to read more, which is easy enough. I also want to keep working on my new story. My word count is in the toilet now, but I’ll get back on track. I also need to take the editing lessons and apply them to my old work. Somehow, I’m going to get them up on Amazon this year. Then there’s the need of my real job, you know, the one with a paycheck.

I don’t do New Years resolutions. I can attempt a change any time I want. I like to have a kind of task list though. I suppose this post was a step in that direction. Happy New Year.