Grateful For Writing Opportunities

Inkbok is launching today! Now, please don't mistake this blog for another commercial site, but their whole gig is another way for self-publishers to share their work and get paid for it. So, the real purpose of this blog today it recognition and appreciation for the many avenues that are now available for writers to support themselves by doing what we love to do--write!!  Here are examples:

Inkbok is like an on-line library ($5 bucks a month) that readers can go to and read any posted book. And there is a huge selection. I downloaded Red Nectar, and Scout and Ellie on there are few weeks ago. So, if you are a member, you can read my books and all the other listings whenever you want. They give the authors a percentage of the earnings. Also, the more people who click on books by Heather Leigh, more more money I get. Yowza!

Next is GoodReads--I love them! Members (this is free) get to read reviews posted by other readers so that they can know if a particular book is something they want to spend money on. And then you can also leave a review. There are book chats going on, and you can follow other readers that have similar taste.  Again, my books are on there so this gives me advertising and I can read the critiques about my books, helping me know what to improve upon.

Through GoodReads, I've also done two book giveaways.  Feels awesome to give away my books, receive reviews, and be promoting all at the same time.

Kindle and Amazon work together to offer discounts to people who buy both the ebook and paperbacks, further supporting authors.  In addition, I've done their promotions of free downloads and discounts to spread the word about newly published works.

CreateSpace is available to self-publish your book for free as a paperback. You spend nothing, unless you want to pay for extra services.  The books are available for purchase and are not put together until they are sold. They do all the shipping stuff.  You just promote and let people know about your books and where to find them. I know you've heard of social media!

There are other self-publishing sites, but I chose CreateSpace because they link to Amazon and offer a plethora of promoting tools.  Lulu is great for different formats of your book, like the old classic--the hard cover.

And I can't possibly leave out Facebook as a way to spread the news as to what I am up to with the book situation, as well as support other artists and writers.

This blog is a way for me to express my thoughts on writing, and stories that come up in my life.  It's a great way to share.

My aunt and I have a free blog with illustrated children's stories. She illustrates and I write them. It is our way of giving back to the community at large. Check it out with some kid you know: www.thechildrensstoryplace.blogspot.com   There is a new one posted about Alexander Pig and what he is complaining about.  How fun is that, a free site for kids to read stories.

So, I say thank you, thank you, thank you for all the opportunities that are available for writers and artists in todays computer world.  It is a great time to be a writer!

Heather Leigh

The Insanity Of Writing

My friend, Melissa, told me that she loved that I was the ‘mad’ writer, sitting at home, writing away. She asked what inspired me. I asked what inspired her to own a day spa. She replied, “insanity”.

I took a step back in my thoughts and realized that it was the same for me. Writing as a profession is insane. I'm sticking my thoughts to letters on a keyboard and talking to people whom I cannot see—hoping or assuming that they will read it in the future.

Story writing is even more insane. Plucking words out of the air and making a story out of nothing. Following the lives of characters as if they were real.  Discovering plots and actions that are derived from nothingness and spitting them onto the page as though these journeys had actually occurred to real people. My characters have never drank a smoothie or read the newspaper or held someone’s hand and yet I listen to their conversations as though I were sitting at a table next to them, copying down tales of their lives.  Shouldn’t that be classified as psychotic?

If you are doing in your life what gives you pleasure beyond just working for a paycheck, then the same thing inspires us.  Of course, it is acceptable to keep your desire as a hobby and remain at the ‘day job’ to pay the rent. But partaking in your creative side is a must for your health, sanity and happiness.

The creative side does not have to be writing, or decorating a spa, or molding clay on a potter’s wheel. Cleaning houses is filled with beauty if you are imagining how the end result will be—the feeling of contentment that being in a house with everything clean and clutter-free is it’s own relaxation.  I used to love being a food server and bring people an hour of fine food and keeping their needs met.  But really, my guess is that most people have a creative side that they are ignoring.  Rip yours out of the dark hidden cave within and expose it to the light.

I was able to win the life-career lottery in that I found what I love to do before my life was over.  I wish you the same insanity.

Heather Leigh

Surprisingly Terrific Idea

Last week, a friend sent an e-mail that she had a story idea for me. Now, in the history of me telling people that I am a writer, I have received an average of 99% percent of the time being told that they have a great story idea that I should follow up on. While I appreciate their offer, I've never received one that fits what I am into writing about. So I always suggest that they write about it

So when CJ, whom I know because our boys have been friends since the third grade, e-mails me with her idea, my first thought is that I am being spammed, or sent a virus. At the very least, I think that I will be politely telling her that the story is something that she should follow up on--not for me.

Boy, was I wrong.

Not only was she not a spam or a virus, she has a terrific idea that we are running away with. We met for an official business meeting the next morning over coffee at Starbucks (she had coffee, I just kept talking). After presenting her idea in full, I ran off at the mouth of what I had been thinking of to go with her suggestion and then couldn't shut up with what I wanted to do with the characters.

We started out, feeling around in the dark, molding the elusive plot, crafting characters out of thin air, and laughing at the silly things the hero and protagonist could do together and against one another.  Turns out, this is going to be a really fun book to read and write.

The extra whipped cream on this whole shinboggon is that CJ is a born media marketing genius.  That woman knows how to get the word out to the right audience about any subject known to man/woman/animal.  And she enjoys doing this. In my mind, that is a crazy awesome skill to possess but more difficult than gaining and keeping the respect of my teenage sons.

And if I am able to write half as well as she seems to think I can, well, I can tell you that we would be on Oprah for our success story if Oprah were still on television. Perhaps our story will be so danged impressive that she will do a special on the Internet about us. Could happen.  Or maybe Ellen Degeneres because I always thought she was a funny woman. Oh, no wait, on that show by Zach Something--the guy from those Hangover movies who is hysterical.  My son just showed me a YouTube video of him interviewing Obama and Zach Something is a comic genuis. Well, all these interviews I'm dreaming about could come to fruition, could happen. Of course, I have to write the story first. There is always that.

But I did start writing it and the beginning is really funny, the middle does not entirely suck and the ending (which I will write this weekend) has great potential.

I wrote most of it so far in the format of a boy just telling non-stop what has been happening to him. There are some pretty good lines and I think there may even be something that might possibly make somebody laugh someday. Could happen. Once that is done, I'll go back through and see what format it will go in. Also, have a more firm grasp as to the main character's personality.  This is backwards from how I am supposed to work. I should start with the personality, and then write the book. But when I got to the page to start an outline and write out personalities of the characters, my fingers started to type a story and then as I was reading what my fingers were typing, I found that I did not hate what was going on.  When people ask how a writer writes, I think the truth is that we are all just idiots feeling our way in the dark and trying to figure out how we write and then hope that what is on the page doesn't suck too badly.  At least, that is the truth for me.

So, as soon as possible, probably within a few months, I'll have a story that is ready to be critiqued by a writing group. I'll let you know if any big epiphanies come up as to the story and how to write a story. But don't hold your breath. I don't want to be responsible for you winding up in an emergency room from lack of oxygen.

Heather Leigh

Not Insanely Bad Rough Draft

After writing the rough draft of Black Nectar by writing, writing, writing with no stopping for editing or revising, I was scared to read what I had written.  Thought I would open up over two hundred pages of babbling mess and run away to hide.

But guess what? Surprise of all surprises, I like what I have written. For some backwards crazy reason, the stuff is pretty good.  The revisions I am now making on it are minimal. Why didn't someone tell me this wild way could actually work? Or maybe I was told, but like my inner teenager, I did not listen.

Writing the rough draft straight through was brutal. Felt like I was creating words by pulling them directly from the inner lining of my teeth.  My back ached and my forearms screamed at the end of each hours long session.  There was no rest for this weary writer. Only mockery that I thought writing a story could ever be an easy venture.

Sometimes in the midst of plucking out the keys that would form the words that told the story, I would remind myself that this was fun. That this was the career path that I had leaped to with love and joy in my heart.  Are all writers this delusional? Or do we have a split personality? One that believes writing to be fun, and the other than knows the wickedness of an addiction that has me clutching a story plot out of thin air.  Where did this madness come from?

Perhaps I could stoop to the level of blaming my mother as she possesses the writing addiction also. But I am too old and no longer naive enough to blame Mom for my issues.  Besides, she would just laugh and roll her eyes and let me know I was being ridiculous.  Writing addiction is not an inherited disease.

So in this past week of discovering that the rough draft to the sequel to Red Nectar is not something that I will run away screaming from like I did when I went to see Heath Ledger playing The Joker (he was scary!), my joy has been extreme.  I could just kiss every word that actually sounds not half bad in the way that it was placed in the creation of a new story.

Next story that I write with the hunker down and right the rough straight through method will be met with a glimmer of hope at the end of each chapter.  I will know that the efforts do pay off.  There can be gold within the time spent picking out the story.

Now I just need someone to critique it for me so that I know I am not just lying to myself. Telling myself that it is a decent young adult novel so that I won't fling myself over the Coronado Bridge after all the time and pain invested.

Rough drafts, revising, critiques. Let me remind myself again that the entire process is joyful and easy.

Heather Leigh

Being Thankful

Some friends and I are doing a twenty-eight day being thankful process through The Magic by Rhonda Byrne.  Everyday, we are given some thing to do that will enhance our mode of being thankful.  The reasoning is that if it is hammered into us for four straight weeks, SOMETHING will have to stick and we will be happy campers for the rest of our lives.

Well, truth is, I've done this last year and it helped me immensely.  It became an ingrained system of being thankful for every situation that I encounter.  But over time the toy of gratefulness was not as shiny and pretty as it was when I first unwrapped it. So we are re-opening the gift of her book and doing it again.

It can be a creative challenge to figure out how to be thankful for EVERYTHING that comes my way. For instance: this weekend I came home overly tired and when my sons started arguing about who was going to take the dog for a  potty break, I yelled at them.  How do I be thankful for that?  Well, the look of shock on their faces at my raised voice told me that they were not accustomed to being screamed at. So, okay, I am not a total failure as a mother, just an occasional one.  And one who can say I'm sorry a few minutes later, so I am doing okay as a person, too.

 When I have to clean up dog poop? I'm thankful for having a wonderful Australian Shepherd.

When the car almost over-heated? I'm thankful for a mechanic neighbor who came to look at it and found it was a cheap and simple repair job.

When I have to wait another year for the next series of 'Sherlock Holmes'? I can be thankful that the darned show exists--there is something about those quirky characters that makes me love that show.

When I realize that my movie star crush, Alan Rickman, and I will probably never meet in this life-time? I can be thankful for all the movies I can watch him in (thank you Jane Austen for Sense and Sensibility).

As an author, being thankful in this time period is easy breezy lemon squeezy.  There is a plethora of opportunity in the self-publishing kingdom.  And social media is everywhere for promoting.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for Kindle Publishing and CreateSpace.  Next I'll be trying out the soon-to-be-opening Nokbok, like a library for on-line readers. Oh, and Goodreads, can't forget them.

We all have mucho to be grateful for. And if you are finding it too difficult to be thankful for a challenge in your life, appreciate that 'this too shall pass'.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading this blog!

Heather Leigh

Roughing It With Scout and Ellie

Scout and Ellie, the characters from my middle grade chapter book, just finished telling me their story in rough draft form.  They were on a crazy adventure of getting Ellie ready for the Miss Dainty Flower Beauty Pageant. Can you imagine watching a beauty pageant and seeing an elephant come on stage as one of the contestants? Walking in a fancy dress, then bathing suit, and finally juggling peanuts?

I have fun writing about the antics of this human-like elephant. Although I write an outline of what the pair will be doing in each chapter, Ellie is the wild card that keeps the outline from getting too specific. Truth be told, I don't know what she is going to do, or how she is going to react to each situation until I am with her in the chapter.  Going to get her nails painted? Oh, sounds innocent enough. Until there is another store she decides to visit along the way.  And how will she react if laughed at, loses, or wins?  She is like that inner raw emotion inside of us that we don't know quite how to control.

Scout gets stuck with helping her get ready for the contest.  All that poor kid wanted was a new toy. He didn't ask to get dragged into Ellie's emotional roller coaster life.  But then again, roller coasters can be fun.  Just hope this one doesn't get going too fast and fly off the rails.

This weekend will be spent recharging for the next writing adventure--revising the rough draft of the sequel to Red Nectar, the young adult novel about Emily, girl with dangerous telepathic powers.  She's not crazy wild like the elephant, but I do enjoy watching her mature.

Revising is easier than writing the rough draft.  It's more like fine tuning a piano that already exists as opposed to building one from scratch.  Well, maybe it is just as challenging but in a different way. In writing a draft, I don't worry about the details. I just figure they will get the magnifying glass treatment later. So now is the inspecting and fretting time. The time to make sure my 'i's are dotted and the 't's are crossed.

Wonder what I will end up doing this weekend? I have an outline of events to cover and will probably stick closely to them.  Because to my misfortune, there is no elephant in my life to screw everything up.

Heather Leigh

Long Live Coincidences

I read a facebook post recently in which someone wrote that writers use coincidences as a cheap and easy way to get out of a difficult plot situation.  At first I thought that sounded like a half-way true remark, but then realized that life is full of coincidences so why wouldn't they be a part of storytelling?

For instance, yesterday, after leading my dog over to do her morning business in the McDonald's grassy area (we live in an apartment with no poop place), I ventured over to my car to attempt to learn why it had, almost,  over-heated the day before.  As I was peering under the hood, hoping that the location of the radiator, and where and how to check the coolant level, would jump out and announce itself, a neighbor walked by and asked if I needed help. I had only been standing there for 30 seconds and he was walking by on his way to work. I've never met this neighbor.  Turns out he works in an auto parts store and knew all about radiators and how engines work and had way more knowledge of the automobile than my narrow vantage of where the gas goes in.  With in a couple of minutes, I learned how to check the coolant level, about the reserve thingie, and where to buy the necessary fluid; it was almost empty.

So if that was not a coincidence, than I need to relearn that basic word.

And haven't we all experienced those random, lovely happenstances in which the seemingly impossible suddenly works out because of some accident of fate, being in the right place at the right time, or stumbling on a new situation at just the correct moment in our lives?

So phooey and blah to those who think coincidence should be shoo-shooed out of books. If they happen in real life, they need to be in stories.

Heather Leigh