Category Archives: Writing

Pick-Me-Ups, Inspiration and Writing Friends

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, ,

When I’m feeling like I need a pick-me-up or inspiration, I usually find those in a couple different places: awesome quotes by people/writers I admire; talking to writing friends who understand my special brand of crazy; or drinking–preferably with writing friends who can commiserate. 🙂

Kim and Kerri out of the Waterworld Mermaid Lagoon and on dry land at Mike’s American Grill, clearly brainstorming story ideas and NOT drinking mojitos.

 

Here are some of my favorite quotes that have been tacked up on bulletin boards/dry erase boards in my house or scribbled into countless notebooks.

Some of these are writing related, but most of them are just quotes that make me feel warm and fuzzy. But that could be the mojitos. That’s a real possibility.

 

“You don’t have to see the top of the staircase to take the first step.”–Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”–Mahatma Gandhi

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”–Mahatma Gandhi

“I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.”–Vincent van Gogh

“Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.”–Vincent van Gogh

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”–E.L. Doctorow

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”–Stephen King

“Writing is like giving yourself homework, really hard homework, every day, for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter at the computer screen.”–Katrina Monroe

“You can fix anything but a blank page.”–Nora Roberts, my Queen

“Every time I hear writers talk about the muse, I just want to bitch-slap them. It’s a job. Do your job.”–Nora Roberts, my Queen

“If you don’t step forward, you are always in the same place.”–Nora Roberts, yes, still my Queen

 

My other forms of inspiration and pick-me-ups (other than mojitos) would be lavender bath salts, Burt’s Bees lip balm, chocolate, and ice cream. I’ve been trying to steer clear of the last two, and that has made me surprisingly bitchy. Just keeping it real here among friends. 🙂

Thanks to all my writing friends who bitch-slap me when I need it, give me encouragement and support when I need that, celebrate the good news, and generally give me an outlet to vent when the occasion calls for it. You guys are my rocks. And you know who you are. 🙂

Savvy Seven, YA finalists in the 2013 Golden Heart class, who will always have a special place in my heart.

 

www.kimmaccarron.com
Twitter: @KimMacCarron

Mermaids & Friends: Sonya Cooke + Book Giveaway!

Book Review, Carlene Love, debut release, Giveaway, mermaids, Mermaids & Friends, new release, Writing, , , , , , , , ,

“Avoid boxing yourself into choices without allowing yourself a period for discovery.” ~ Sonya Cooke

Carlene and Sonya celebrating the release of Seven Pillars Acting.

Sonya and I haven’t known each other for very long, which says a lot for the amount I’ve already learned from her. We connected this past September when she was in need of a last minute proof read of her book which she was very close to having published. My friend Kathleen, who I had edited for in the past, was a student at Sonya’s Acting Studio of Orange County and when she heard of Sonya’s need, she graciously thought of me. I happened to be free and it was within a few days’ span of working with Sonya that I realized, someone very special had crossed my path.

Author, actor, founder, & teacher Sonya Cooke.

I will do my best to list the plethora of hats Sonya regularly dons. She is the Founder/CEO/Owner and Head Teacher of Seven Pillars Acting: LA Studio and the Actor’s Studio of Orange County. She is also a Film/TV, Commercial and Voice-Over Actor, a producer, and the creator and author of Seven Pillars Acting. What a busy lady! Pursuing, creating and involving herself in so many wonderful endeavors. When the opportunity arrived to get to meet Sonya in person this January, I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Not to belittle myself, but sometimes it can be intimidating to be in the presence of someone who is so accomplished with so much charisma and ambition and drive. Well, it turns out I had nothing to be nervous about. Within seconds of meeting her, I learned Sonya is all those wonderful things, but she is also more… She is warm, and grounded, and kind hearted, and gentle and incredibly nurturing, and supportive of those around her.

The wall of the Seven Pillars at Sonya’s LA Studio.

Her book, Seven Pillars Acting, the one she wrote to encapsulate the comprehensive technique she designed for the modern actor, is BRILLIANT. I remember thinking to myself as I was proofing it that not only was it absolutely going to help actors become better at their craft, but there was a significant amount of material that would be spot on and superbly helpful to writers.

To quote Sonya: “Acting is not an escape; actors put themselves in the line of fire, exposing themselves to tremendously high stakes to tell a story.” Which is exactly what we do as writers, too! When Sonya equates creating a role with building a house, light bulbs instantaneously go off in my head. “You have to build a house before you can live in it, right? It’s much the same for the actor creating a role. In order to bring the character to life, the actor must craft his circumstances, history, and life conditions.” ~Sonya Cooke

Sonya’s book detailing her acting technique, Seven Pillars Acting.

The beautiful thing about this book is that it goes even a step beyond. Not only will an actor or writer benefit from Sonya’s experience, tips and philosophies which she shares in a very organic and natural way–not formulaic or mechanical, but so will non-actors and non-writers as she touches on the heart of communication and the human experience. I’m not sure how she managed it, but she has truly written a book that while intended to help actors, ends up being for every one of us! There are so many more passages of this book I have earmarked to quote (like my favorite section which explores the lifespan of a human emotion…pages 183-187). My hope is that if you are looking for answers or assistance or a fresh perspective on how we as humans operate and affect each other, you will check out Sonya’s book. I honestly feel you will not only benefit from reading it, but you will be touched, inspired and entertained as well, just as I was.

GIVEAWAY: Thank you so much for stopping by the mermaid lagoon today and learning a little more about a wonderful book and its author! In celebration and appreciation, I am giving away a signed copy of Sonya’s Seven Pillars Acting. All you need to do to be entered is leave a comment below. The winner will be randomly selected one week from today on the evening of Friday, March 2nd. Good luck, everyone! (Continental US mailing addresses only please due to shipping fees. Thank you so much for your understanding.)

Have a productive and inspired day!

Fishy kisses,

Mermaid Carlene

 

Finding Your Flower in the Cracks (Productivity Tips)

Carlene Love, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , , , , , ,

Greetings from San Diego where it is a crisp 35 degrees Fahrenheit right now. (I’m eyeballing the fireplace and seriously debating….)

As I think warm thoughts and wiggle the ice caps from my morning toes, I’d like to share with you my favorite tips for writing/productivity/pick me ups when you are down. There are hundreds of things I could include in this post that serve this purpose, and I’d be willing to bet you have just as many, because each of us are so unique and therefore what we find inspiration and hope and magic from is equally so. This is perhaps the best, most important arsenal to have and one you want to be diverse and plentiful. I was going to say that I hope these things that lift you up happen to cross into your path when you need them. While I do hope the universe serves you in that way, I’d like to acknowledge and respect the importance that we have of honoring ourselves, and doing for ourselves. So what I’d really like to say is: Don’t wait for your pick me ups to cross your paths. Go put yourself in the path of your pick me ups. Seek them out, find them and spend purposeful time with them. Whatever they may be. Wherever they may be. These are a few of mine…

Animals, bright flowers, sweet flowers, smiles, trees, Orion, curly hair, lipstick.

Gandhi. Drew Barrymore. The Dalai Lama. Logic. Jim Henson. Dolly Parton. Jesus.

It was a simple flower growing up through a crack like the one above that inspired my first published book, Sidewalk Flower. I had gone for a walk, something one of my favorite authors suggested doing when faced with stilled creativity (she didn’t want to use the word writer’s block). And there it was. A little yellow burst at my feet. “What a fighter.” “How many times have you been stepped on?” These were the immediate things that popped into my head in that moment. “You are beautiful.” My “Sidewalk Flower” ended up being a woman who although fictional, in many ways became one of my real life heroes. Her name is Trista Jean Hart. I am honored to be her author. You can find her story HERE.

I’d like to leave you with this quote…

I’d love to be inspired by some of your pick me ups, so please share in the comments. Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Fishy kisses,

Mermaid Carlene

 

Always give credit where credit is due… 

Flower photo: Copyright: <a href=’https://www.123rf.com/profile_ipopba’>ipopba / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Elephant photo: Copyright: <a href=’https://www.123rf.com/profile_melpomen’>melpomen / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

 

The Hungry Traveling Stuck Mermaid

Carlene Love, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , ,

November Greetings to you all and thank you so much for stopping by and reading our posts. We truly appreciate your time and hope you always leave the lagoon with a smile on your face, a hug in your heart and a new, hopefully helpful thought in your head.

This month the Mermaids thought it would be the perfect time of year to share our favorite comfort foods and find out about yours.

I love this theme, however I have to admit that today, I’m having a hard time getting the words to a story I’m working on to come out. Which kind of makes me feel a little down on my capabilities as a professional writer. I do feel a little stuck and it’s definitely a little frustrating. The good news is that contrary to the graphic I’ve put just above here, I know there are many ways, not just one way, to get around that “stuck” feeling. And thank the stars above, that some of those solutions fit into the Mermaid theme! I would love it if you shared some of your tricks with us today too.

Sometimes when you’re hitting a proverbial brick wall, or a blank one for that matter, the simplest of things can get you back on track and into your natural groove.

So, comfort food. I’ll tell you what, I just got up from my laptop and the writing of this blog post, went into the kitchen, got out my now teenage son’s childhood Sponge Bob mug, and filled it with milk. I then plunked two crunchy granola bars into it. It was pretty darn good. Comforting. Hey, what can I say? I’m easy. See? That took all of two minutes of my time. Most importantly, I’m back here with you, ready to write some more.

Whether you’re filling your cup with coffee, tea, juice, water or yes, a soggy milk-drenched granola bar, I say go for it. Treat yourself every now and then. Prepare and eat your favorite, good memories-filled foods. The ones that take you back to friends and family you may not get to visit right now, this very second. The places that you can still see as clear as day when you close your eyes and relax, recalling the landscapes and smells and sounds of the places you keep dearest to your heart.

And then guess what else? Go.

Go see those people and places. Sometimes it might seem like we would never be able to take the time off from work or afford a trip or synchronize it into our busy schedules. In January of this year, if you’d have told me I was going to travel to places like Italy and Vermont and Boston in 2017 and have people I adore come see me all the way in San Diego, I would have said, well that would be really nice but….not likely.

Yet it all happened. I have no idea how, it just did.

I’m not saying it will be easy to get unstuck, but there is something magical about the month of November. I can’t tell you how I know this, I just do. You’ll have to trust me.

So make some plans, eat some really good stuff, look at pictures of loved ones you miss and thumb through those vacation destination magazines, and remember that every single day is a brand new day.

You’ve got this.

~Mermaid Carlene

 

The Slippery Slope of First Manuscript Madness

mermaids, Writing,

I could talk about the tons of small projects during childhood and adolescence that I wrote as my first manuscript, but my first novel which I started at age twenty-one was just all kinds of wrong. That should be the title of the book. “All Kinds of Wrong.”

The idea started out sweet and easy. It was supposed to be a cute romance about two people who started out as childhood friends at a vacation lodge and how they fell in love as adults. Picture the setting as Dirty Dancing, minus the dancing.

Then I began to think about all the obstacles, the family members, the friends, hell, even the staff and local residents. My cute vacation romance started the slippery slope into wanting all my secondary characters to have lives, too. I could picture these characters with posters, protesting their one-dimensional lives.

So I took the first step into All Kinds of Wrong, my first spiral into Manuscript Madness. I gave them all extensive backstories and lives outside of the main story. Then I realized that I was paying too much attention to them instead of the main characters. I had to give my hero and heroine more than just a backstory. Enter a shit-ton of flashbacks and flashforwards and information dumping.

And that was in the first chapter. I’m not joking when I say that I had my hero driving up winding mountain roads in the first chapter, just reminiscing and flashing back to how he first met the heroine when she was six and he was twelve. It’s painful to read this first chapter. But, hey. I didn’t leave out my heroine. She got the whole second chapter of raking her bittersweet memories over the coals. I gave her flashbacks equal time.

What started out as a sweet, short romance turned into a crazed mashup of The Thornbirds, War and Peace, and every Judith McNaught book I’d ever read. It was epic. It was 150,000 words of epic.

It was Manuscript Madness.

I had whole paragraphs detailing the walk down to the lake where the hero and heroine would meet for the first time after many years. They both started from different cabins, each taking a break beside different trees while flashing back to the last time they had apparently touched that same bark on those same trees before revealing a momentous memory. Something that had happened that changed them both.

I guess I thought at age twenty-one that a first kiss and (years later) the loss of virginity were momentous occassions and crazy obstacles.

What were the things I learned about that first epic manuscript where I descended into madness and All Kinds of Wrong?

You don’t need to put on the page every single character’s backstory and life. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make them three-dimensional characters. It just means they aren’t the main focus.

Weave in backstory in sneaky ways. Don’t dump information. Not everything is important.

Touching the bark multiple times along the journey might seem bittersweet, but years later it’s cringeworthy. Take my word. First manuscripts are learning opportunities. Even second and third ones. Or, as in my case, the thirteenth.

When I start a new manuscript now, I still have to push my secondary characters out of the way. I don’t care if they sign petitions and organize protests or they try guilting me into writing them into the story more.

I have to tell them: “If you deserve your own story, you’ll get one. Wait your turn.”

That’s my first manuscript story. What things have you learned from your first manuscript attempt? Did you ever descend into madness? Did you ever feel like a manuscript (not just the first) went All Kinds of Wrong?

Please share. I can’t be alone in this. Right?!

www.kimmaccarron.com
Twitter: @KimMacCarron

Happiest Book Release Day to Mermaid Princess Alethea!

Alethea Kontis, Books, new release, Writing, , , ,

 

“Hearts don’t have to touch to fall in love.”

What simple yet extraordinarily beautiful words my fishy sister, Mermaid Princess Alethea Kontis, has written for us in her brand new book, When Tinker Met Bell. This is her second book, I believe, in the Nocturne Falls Universe, and I am 100% smitten with it. When Alethea told me I was really going to love it, I thought to myself that of course I would enjoy it. She’s a great writer! Oh, but she was sooooo right. I absolutely adore this quirky, heart-squeezing book. That line I’ve shared above is one teeny tiny example of why. I asked Alethea if there was anything special she could share with us behind the writing of those particular words and of course, she said yes!

From Alethea…”OMG YES I remember writing that line. I remember that whole scene. I was already crying by the time I wrote “Hearts don’t have to touch to fall in love,” and when I did, I had to step away from the computer for a bit. Not only to process all the emotions I was feeling (and sob and blow my nose like Joan Wilder), but to consider, “Do I *really* want the major tear-jerking scene to be in Chapter Three?? At which point I realized that I loved the story so much, I didn’t even care. I was going to tell it the way it needed to be told, and people were either going to love it or hate it.”

 

I know Miss Alethea is going to generate and receive tons of love from this book. I cannot wait to share it with you all on her behalf. And so, without any further ado, I give you When Tinker Met Bell, out now!

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Everybody knows that goblins and fairies can’t be friends. But that never stopped Tinker and Bell.

Bellamy Merriweather Larousse isn’t like the other fairies at Harmswood Academy, with her giant wings and their magical dust. “Southern Bell” works as a barista at The Hallowed Bean to help pay her tuition and remains active on the cheering squad, despite her insistence on associating with the unpopular crowd. Every day is sunny in Bellamy’s world and every cloud has a silver lining. The only way to upset Bell’s stalwart optimism is to threaten one of her misfit friends…or try to take one of them from her.

Unbeknownst to everyone–including him–outcast Ranulf “Tinker” Tinkerton is about to be named heir to the throne of the Goblin King, making him ruler of his fellow Lost Boys and the labyrinthine city they inhabit. Now that the time has come for Tinker to leave Harmswood behind, will he be brave enough to share his feelings for Bellamy? It’s no secret that he’s held a torch for her since the fourth grade, but no matter how long they’ve been friends, goblins will always be allergic to fairies.

Or will they?

You’ll definitely be a happy reader if you pick up your very own copy of this gem. I hope you will, xoxo. Learn more about Alethea’s fantastic books HERE!

Brand New Release for Harlequin Author Kerri Carpenter!

Giveaway, Interview, Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, new release, Writing, , , ,

Psst… it’s me, Carlene Mermaid. Sorry for the whispering, but word on the waterway is that there is a mysterious person purporting to be the Bayside Blogger while at the same time purporting to not be the Bayside Blogger. (Scratches head) and they are lurking in the lagoon, trying to stir up trouble. I don’t know if he/she is the real deal, but I’m not about to let this sneakster steal the spotlight from our fishy sister on her big day.

Today will be a glittery, sparkly day of book releasing celebration if it’s the last thing I do! Join me in this effort, fishy friends! All right, so I’ve just had a swim around and our waters once again seem peaceful. Let’s sit down and tune in to the Bayside author herself, Miss Mermaid Kerri Carpenter, as she gives you the exclusive and ever-so-dazzling scoop on her brand new Harlequin release (and some tips on disguises that perhaps our mysterious person of interest should have followed):

Thank you for answering all my tough questions, Mermaid Kerri! You are MY hero. Maybe when our mysterious blogger’s book comes out later this year, you and said blogger can visit the lagoon together, out in the open. Until then, I know I am so excited to get my hands on and read the next installment of the Saved by the Blog series, Bidding on the Bachelor which is out RIGHT NOW! Click HERE for more info on Kerri’s books.

So readers, with dress up season just around the corner, are costumes a yay or a nay for you? One lucky commenter will be randomly drawn and will win a free copy of Bidding on the Bachelor. Good luck!

A Bit More About the New Release…

Another roll of the dice
Big news, fair readers! Bayside High’s favorite It Girl is back. Would you have bet Carissa Blackwell would ever return? Ten years ago, she crushed Jasper Dumont’s heart under her Jimmy Choos and left town for a bigger, better life. Her return raises one question: What is she running from (or is it to) now?
Perhaps Jasper knows? One look at Carissa and he fell in the bay! (Rich, single and devastatingly handsome, Jasper’s our catch of the day.) That icy plunge should have brought him to his senses, yet “Casper” has been spotted together all over town. Does this mean Bayside’s legendary couple may reunite? The stakes are high, but the Bayside Blogger’s money is riding on love!

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo / Harlequin Page
Look for books 1 and 3 in the Saved by the Blog Series:
Falling for the Right Brother, Available now
Bayside’s Most Unexpected Bride, December 2017/January 2018

My first book: Carlene Love

Carlene Love, mermaids, Writing, , , , , , , , , ,

first things first

Hi.

How are you doing today? Whatcha reading? Are you liking it? I would love to know so please share in the comments section.

I’m currently reading a few interesting books. Ever heard of “Mating in Captivity” by Esther Perel? A good friend who attempts miracles on my hair and is also one of the most dynamic people I know, suggested that one and I have to say, it’s worth a look. I downloaded the Kindle version (after first reading the free sample, which held its own and had me hooked).

So this is slightly random, but I’m curious to know if any of you out there read things solely because some intriguing person has read it? I find myself doing this quite often. Stalking the favorite reads of people you hope to learn more about. Confession time. “The Ballad of the Sad CafĂ©” was a wonderful read which I am happy to have discovered  after obsessing over Robert Pattinson between 2007 and 2014. He may have mentioned reading it in interviews I may have scourged the internet for.

Robert Pattinson Gives Oprah His Favorite Book from Pattinson Online Network on Vimeo.

It doesn’t end there. I’m guilty of doing this with friends and family too, as evidenced by the stack of wizardly books in my “to read” collection. I’ve even got a Jude Deveraux title because I know she’s a fave of our own Mermaid Princess Alethea.

Oh, and then there’s one I’m truly loving called “Under Her Skin” by Adriana Anders. This one had me from the first page and I owe close friend and fellow author, Lynne Silver, a huge thank you for the quirky recommendation. The lead character is Uma and the hilarious opening lines are:

“Old hag in need of live-in helper to abuse. Nothing kinky.” Uma read the ad again.

I absolutely love those lines. What do you think? Catchy? They had me from the start. I could go on and on about Uma and her adventures in want ads but….

……. hemming

………….hawing

………………..tapping toes

Alright, I confess. I’ve been stalling over talking about what I’m really supposed to be talking about which is … the first book I ever wrote. It’s just that it was 1984. Las Vegas, Nevada. I was ten. It was a choose-your-own-adventure style story about a veterinarian whose boat becomes stranded in a dangerous jungle. I’m sure I had great intentions, but reading back through all seven pages of it, I see where I quite literally may have missed the boat on my first literary endeavor. Even still, I am very proud of the little guy. It has a beautiful blue hard cover with a gorgeous orange lion on the front. I made it by hand in my fourth grade English class and it currently resides with my mom for safe keeping.

Jungle Book

 

CarleneThank you for letting me share this blast from the past. And I meant it up above when I said I’d like to hear about your current reads. Oooo, or if you too have a special little literary gem lurking in your past.

Be well, all.

Carlene Mermaid

 

 

 

My First Novel, by Alethea Kontis

Alethea Kontis, Writing,

Princess Mermaid Alethea

There are authors I know who would rather die than ever show their first attempt at a novel to the world.

I am not one of these authors.

In the Fall of 1987, my English teacher decided that she wanted our class to write in a journal every day.

I did not like this teacher.

I did not want her knowing anything personal about me, so I announced in my first entry that I would be writing an ongoing story for the duration of the class.

This teacher (whose name escapes me) cared far less about the assignment than I did. If she noticed the speed at which my writing improved and my journal entries lengthened, she never mentioned it. She did not care what I wrote (if she even read it)–it only mattered that there was a date listed beside every entry so she knew where to make her check mark. She never spoke to me about my broken idea of plagiarism, this fear of copying someone (in this case, Lois Duncan and HG Wells) that kept me from writing at full speed until many, many years later.

And yet, despite all that, I thank this teacher. Because, at the heart of it, and though it wasn’t her intent, she taught me how to write a novel.

The Golden Band Cover Illustration by Casey Cothran, circa 1988

The Golden Band
Cover Illustration by Casey Cothran, circa 1988

I was eleven years old.

(Granted, I’d already been writing since the ripe old age of eight or so. I read every book I could get my hands on…and saw just about every film that came to my family’s movie theatre…so I had a pretty decent grasp on storytelling, if not proper manuscript formatting.)

In 2013, a fellow author introduced me to WattPad. This site seemed the perfect home for a project I’d had on the backburner for years: to post my original novel, in its original form, complete with Author’s Notes and Teacher’s Comments. (I’ve put those in the comments section below each chapter, for ease of reading.)

The Golden Band  is now published there in its original incarnation, as I wrote it in my journal in 1987. It’s entitled The Golden Band (7th Grade Edition).

The 7th Grade edition of this novel only runs through Chapter Seven — at that point, in the summer before 8th Grade, I decided I could go no further until I had fixed certain elements at the beginning of the story that just didn’t fit anymore.

Once I fully entered the 7th Grade Edition, I started posting the new edition: The Golden Band (High School Edition).

Transcribing this latter version got me through my little sister’s spinal surgery a few years ago — I couldn’t concentrate enough in the waiting room to write new fiction, so I set to work on this. However, she came through with flying colors and the project fell by the wayside. Now I just need someone to come over to the house and help finish transcribing it for me!

Any takers?

***************

Follow Alethea Kontis on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/princessalethea
Peruse the Gallery of Alethea’s Books on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vxeWwp

My Favorite Writing Spot: Carlene Love

Carlene Love, mermaids, Writing,

Carlene Love's Favorite Writing Spot

Citrus Skies and the Wild Trees

Ancient Tides for my dusty feet

To think I did not want to meet

A girl now begs, write your name on me.

~Carlene Love

 

Buon giorno, readers. Thank you for being here today and for having stopped by the past several weeks to read our posts about our favorite writing places. While my mermaid sisters were blogging on this topic, I was in Italy with my family and so I asked that I be scheduled last to allow for time to return to the States and in turn, to my laptop. Yes, I went to Italy for two weeks and didn’t bring so much as a note pad. I guess I just needed to be away and on this great escape more than I needed to write about it.

Took this of the magical, mystical seaside town: Manarola.

Took this of the magical, mystical seaside town: Manarola.

One thing I love about being part of the Mermaids is that we are all organically at different places in our lives in general, and also, in our writing lives, yet we come together, just like family. Continue reading →