Motivation

01 Aug 2012 43 Comments

My Dirty Little Secret

by Kerri Carpenter in Kerri Carpenter, Motivation

 Not to worry. I’m not going to reveal some Fifty Shades of Grey-type secret here.

But I have been keeping something to myself lately and holding it in is starting to feel unhealthy. My dirty little secret? I haven’t written since the beginning of May. Not a word. No fiction. No blog posts. Even getting this post together was brutal.

Why am I sharing this?

I feel a lot of shame about not writing. Writing always came very easy to me. I never had to think about it.

But now? I sit in front of the computer and … nada!

I’ve read so many blog posts and articles about how if you are a “real” writer you should devote time to your craft every single day. Butt in the chair, write all the time, you know the drill. So what happens when you can’t do that? What happens when life gets so crazy and gives you so much to deal…
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11 Jul 2012 9 Comments

The Ultimate Sacrifice

by Alethea in Alethea Kontis, Motivation

This was so much easier when I lived alone.

It took six years for Enchanted to go from being a published short story to a faced-out hardcover at Barnes & Noble. I had the luxury of dropping the manuscript whenever I wanted to write a short story in Excel, or scold Dark-Hunters, or help my friend Janet with an art show. But when I finally made the push to finish the novel, I drove to Starbucks every evening after work and didn’t go home until I had written at least 1000 words. Some days, I only had coffee for dinner.

That doesn’t really fly when you have a family.

First of all, the only decent Starbucks with a sitting area is 5 miles from the house, and it is PACKED night and day. Going there is a commitment in which I must stalk one of the oversized…
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19 Jun 2012 12 Comments

Driven To Distraction

by Dana Rodgers in Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Motivation, Writing

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was summer break…

Does it ever seem like the sun, the moon and the stars are aligned against you? Like life goes out of its way to throw obstacles in your path? That your family just doesn’t equate writing with working? Well, it sure as heck does at my house! Especially in the summer when my kids are home from school.

I swear some days it feels like no one wants to talk to me until I sit down at the computer. Then, of course, the phone rings, someone comes to the door, the dog is barking and the kids are peppering me with questions—all at the same time!

A typical day in my house involves my youngest daughter walking into the room and breaking down, in minuet detail, how some computer game about dragons’ works. I’m sure this is very important in her twelve year old brain,…
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13 Jun 2012 17 Comments

What I Love About Writing Romance

by Avery Flynn in Motivation, Writing

So a while back, I had a post on my blog about how there are days when being a romance writer sucks big hairy ones. I won’t say what those ones are, because this is the Waterworld Mermaids and the lagoon isn’t like that. 🙂

And it’s true some days the keyboard kicks me in the shins. However, there is so much to love about being a romance writer and I wanted to share 10 of my favorites. Add yours in the comments section and we’ll blow the Internet apart with our love. Hey, it could happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, you’re turn. What are your favorite things about writing romance?

23 May 2012 13 Comments

Time To Recharge

by Dana Rodgers in Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Motivation

Last weekend was definitely stacking up to be busier than usual, and that’s saying something in my life.

Friday—Pick up race packets for my husband and fifteen year old daughter for Sunday’s Fredericksburg Historic Half Marathon. Translation: Drive over an hour through I-95 traffic, which is typically thicker than molasses, then wade through crowds at the Fredericksburg Convention center to pick up race numbers, etc. then fight I-95 traffic, again for over an hour, get back home where my fifteen year old daughter would be getting off the bus along with friends for a study group/sleepover combo (this is an every other week event and it was our turn to host).

Saturday—More teenagers coming over to work on major English project due this week. Translation: My house is going to be invaded by teenagers eating me out of house and home while they make a movie for a school project.

Sunday—Husband and daughter running Fredericksburg Historic Half Marathon. Translation: Get…
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16 May 2012 24 Comments

Keep Yer Chin Up, Babe

by Susan Jeffery in mermaids, Motivation, Writing

Two Thursdays ago, I fell down the stairs.  Really!  There I was, happily carrying a discipline slip to the Deans on the first floor (yes, filling out those blue cards does fill me with a sense of justice).  I was wearing my favorite orange heels from Talbots.  Dressed impeccably (bien sur!), I was sure of winning Best Dressed Teacher for the day at school.  It was a wonderful day, beautiful weather.  And, I’d just received a note from an editor, asking for more!

Yes, it was a lovely day. Until my heel went out from under me on Step #1. It hit Step #2, slipped again and then (oh, misery!) slipped on #3. At which time my butt hit Step #1 and I threw my hands out, flailing against the cascade of events that was Ruining My Day. Read the Rest…

02 May 2012 17 Comments

Help! How Do You Restart Your Story After a Critique?

by Loni Lynne in mermaids, Motivation, Writing

This may sound crazy but have you ever gotten to a point where you know you need to re-start your story and you don’t know where or how to re-start it?

Let me explain (no, let me sum up):  A Fast Draft of 50,000 words, a critique in which the first chapter needs revamped, and the revamping will effect the rest of the 50,000 words to a big extent.  Frustrating, yes–but needing to be done.  Or maybe I’m looking at it all wrong.

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who has come across this situation whether by critique partners/editors or even your own gut instinct.  I’ve done this a time or two also but always ended up agonizing over it (like when I used to agonize over Algebra problems in high school–no, I’m not a Math person).  I would over think the problem until my brain wanted to explode. …
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23 Apr 2012 22 Comments

Going for the Gold — Again

by Diana Belchase in Diana Belchase, mermaids, Motivation, Writing

This is my first post for Waterworld Mermaids.  Since we’re celebrating our first year anniversary, you might well ask, where have you been all this time?  Was something fishy going on in the Mermaid Pond? So here are the possibilities.

Diana Mermaid was:

a.  Sitting around eating bonbons?  (The completely delicious, fat-free ones that never add an ounce of weight)

b.  Traveling around the world with a really cute and rich guy? (Imagine castles in France, the casino at Monte Carlo, the Yacht moored off of Mykonos.  <sigh>)

c.  Leaving all the work to her sister mermaids (because she is as prolific a writer as Nora Roberts and just didn’t have time)?

d. Late to the original meeting where the mermaids met, didn’t sign in, and thus didn’t get an invitation, until just recently, to join?

Anyone who knows me, will guess, yup, she was late — which I really, really try not to be.  But I’m here now, and letting out a great big SQUEE!!!  I have enjoyed every…
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19 Apr 2012 16 Comments

The Spark: Sizzling at First Contact

by Carlene in mermaids, Motivation, Writing

You know how when the hero and heroine have their first meeting, and at least one of them, but usually both, have that “feeling” they can’t always describe.  They don’t know where it comes from.  And they’ve never felt it before.

It’s just that something special.

That spark.

A shock of electricity, a quiver of their insides…those feelings.

We as readers recognize this as the age old sign that they are soul mates, whether they know it right now or not.  I love that.  In fact I just tilted my head to my shoulder and sighed for the potential sweethearts.

But is that electric current passing through their fingertips always believable?  I am on a quest to find more examples of this indescribable feeling, this spark, the lovebirds get when they first meet or come into contact.  My current H & H feel a connection when…
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05 Apr 2012 24 Comments

What’s Zmeu with you? Or How Research Helped Me Find My Story Nitch

by Loni Lynne in mermaids, Motivation, Writing

Okay, I know it’s a silly title but trust me on this one . . . it fits!  🙂

As many of you know (from my agony over the past month) I’ve been stuck in a rut with my story.  I’ve known about the story, actually wrote it a few years back, only to find out it just doesn’t have that certain, whatever it is a good story needs to have.

My idea for the original story came from a research session into the history of my ancestors.  My paternal grandfather came from Romania, the land of Transylvanian Alps (Carpathian Mountains), Vlad the Impaler, Bram Stoker’s- Dracula and various other mysterious stories that have been sensationalized.  But with all the fiction and history the general  populace know of, I wanted to delve deeper.

Two years ago I researched a bit into the early days of Romanian history, back before the Roman conquest, and found out about the Dacian clans who had ruled in the late B.C. to early A.D.  What I could find…
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