Category Archives: Writing

Back to Work

Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Writing, ,

598931_442334515849916_239845262_nAs you read this I’m embarking on an exciting journey… I’m returning to the workforce. Today is my first day at my new day job.

After years of staying at home with my children, volunteering at school or helping out with a field trip at the drop of a dime, and writing, always writing, today I’m returning to the land of the gainfully employed. It was a tough decision but one that’s been in the works for a long time. Now that my oldest is driving, my youngest is in high school and all those fun college bills are a heartbeat away—it seemed like the right time.

I kind of remember what it was like to collect a steady paycheck and receive a W-2 at the end of the year, but it’s been awhile, and I’ll be honest, I’m a little terrified. I’m not sure if that is fear for myself, or for the unsuspecting folks I’ll be working with. After all, these are relatively normal straight-laced business suit wearing people who probably don’t have strangers stopping mid-chew to stare when they realize you and your lunch date are casually discussing how to kill someone and dispose of the body over enchiladas. And yes, I have had this happen. Hahahahaha… you should have seen the looks we got.

I know it’s overly optimistic, but my goal is to get through the first week without doing anything too embarrassing. I wore slacks today so I think I’m safe from the old tucking your dress into the back of your pantyhose thing, but who knows if I’ll make it through the day without referring to any fictional characters as if they were real people. I just hope I can hide my fictional addiction long enough for my colleagues to get to know me… then maybe they won’t feel the need to whip out a straight jacket when some of my more creative personality traits surface. 🙂

If you have any suggestions as to how I can blend in to the workplace with normal, non-writerly type people this week please share. I’m looking for all the help I can get!

Risk Takers: What Romance Authors Do for Love…

Denny S. Bryce, mermaids, Writing

Denny's MermaidsThis morning I decided to follow-up a week of amazing posts at the Waterworld Mermaid blog with a post about taking risks. Yep. You  know who you are – you jump off the deep end of the pool blindfolded, you sky dive, you climb mountains, you run marathons, you raise kids, you quit your job to write full time (and haven’t sold a book) – okay that last one is crazy, but she sounds a lot like me:)…

So here’s my list of risks that romance authors take for the love of writing books!

  1. I took a sabbatical from my full-time gig and for the next few months, I am a full-time writer ! And no, I haven’t signed a contract with a publisher (or plan on self-publishing), but hey, I have faith that if I focus good things will come from this decision. I am fortunate. I can afford (kind of) to take the time away from my EDJ (Evil Day Job, which isn’t evil at all), but I can’t afford to do it for as long as I’d like – forever (risk). But now I have two books with completion dates set in stone (I have no excuses) and another book I want to write so badly I dream about it! But still, taking a sabbatical to write romance books is a risk!
  2. I am in love. Yes, his name is Ray. Yes, he is a character in my book, Chasing Damn. Yes, Ray is also the  first name of one of my ex-lovers (one of my favorites) and what in the hell was I thinking?!! Memory lane is a risk!
  3. I moved out of the city to the country – okay, not so much country (see photos). There are no cows, pigs or horses (on my block at least), but the quiet, the calm, the solitude…I could lose my mind out here and no one would know. So far, though, I love it. So moving to the country with geese and lakes and sunrises to die for – risk! (why? what if I stare out the windows for the next four months and don’t finish the books!)…Gah! Moving to the country is a risk!
  4. I have author friends who have  six books due in the next year. I love them dearly, and hope I am able to be in that situation one day (soon, please:)…but the risk for me – not my author friends – would be confidence. The dreaded question would plague me – can I do this? Which takes me back to my sabbatical and the reason I made the decision to write for four months – so far – its harder than it sounded. Risk: Getting to do what you love to do is a risk!
  5. Why do stories have plots? Can’t they be streams of consciousness that readers buy just because the character is clever and witty and tragic whenever they choose to be? Why do books have to have plots!!!???? Okay, I am a plotter (double risk) and these damn WIPs have plots that have to be authentic (and yeah, in contemporary romantic suspense I can’t just add vampire mythology to replace plot, gah!). So another risk – writing books with plots (and having to do research!). Plotting is a risk!
  6. I like taking online courses and entering contests. Both keep me focused because of the deadlines. I’ve been existing on deadlines my entire professional career. It has been my motivation for all things work related. To me, writing is art and passion, and all that good stuff, but it’s also WORK! Dare I say, a job. Therefore, to help me stay on task I take craft classes and enter contests. However, the other side of that coin is feedback from fellow students and/or judges. Lately, I’ve been fortunate on the contest front, feedback from the contests I’ve entered has been good, critical but good. As a contest veteran I don’t take everything to heart, but when you see the same comments or a certain remark that rings true – you go with it. But now and then you get a comment or feedback and you’re like – searching for these people, looking through their websites, basically stalking them (without telling them) because how could they say that about my story! Retaliation is a risk! No, I meant to say Contests and online Classes can be a risk…
  7. Many if not most of the visitors to this blog are writers, and we love to write. As my ex-lover (mentioned in bullet point 1) used to say – time spent shows how much you care about a person because as humans time is all we have to offer, etc…(and the reason we aren’t together now has a lot to do with time:)…but as writers, we spend hours, weeks, months, years, writing, thinking about writing, researching writing, taking classes on writing, judging contests, entering contests, selling books, talking about writing, writing…with that much time spent, you know we love it. And yeah, it is a risk. But who cares. It’s what we love to do! Even if the book has to have a freaking plot.

Hey, gang, what have you risked for love? Yikes, if that’s too heavy just say hi! We’re taking a break (Waterworld Mermaids blog) for a week beginning Monday. End of summer. Need to refuel and map out the game plan for the Fall. So comment below! We always enjoy hearing from you!

(See photos of the view from my writer’s office):Denny S. Bryce

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Learning to Keep Your Balance

college, generosity, mermaids, Susan Andrews, Writing, , , ,

Did you ever have a moment where a challenge you’ve known of for a long time seemed seemed to suddenly, magically resolve?Susan Mermaid

My lovely, talented, rapscallion son, Skitch, graduated from college two years ago.  He needed five years to complete his studies in engineering.  I was happy to give him that extra year – he chose a very affordable state school and I had (at the time) sufficient funds to help out.  We were thrilled when he was ready to fly the coop, get a job and spread his wings.

squidolin6But the graduation gift…  what to give this only son, who spread himself among so many interests and passions?  He suggested, and hubby liked the idea of, an electric violin.  But the best electric violins cost many thousands of dollars.  They need accessories, expensive ones.  We don’t know anything (much) (nothing) about electric violins.  And even Skitch wasn’t sure which one he might want.  Or how much he would use it.  Did an elementary school viola career equal (merit) the cost of such an expensive instrument?

Plus, the family was now short on cash (thank you, recession).  Our dearest son didn’t press, and the idea was dropped.  His father fretted from time to time, feeling we were being ungenerous.  A graduation gift is customary.  We’d let it slide.  Were we good parents?  Over and over, I assured him that we were, our son loved us unconditionally, and a gift would eventually be discovered, procured and delivered.  And we would forget all about it again for several months.

Last month, I exited CVS with my usual mix of necessary (toilet paper) and unnecessary (lipstick) items.  New York, for once, was enjoying a perfect blend of sunshine and mild weather.  I glanced left and, as usual, and saw the rows of bikes outside the village bike shop.  Bikes.  Surely, after all this time… Could it be so easy?

My request was simple:  bike for 25-year old man.  Needs more than a sidewalk cruiser, but not that $2000 cliff jumper over there.  No tricks, or challenging courses, no big drops.   Young man in question still gets crazy ideas, so it needs to be able to take a beating.  And he still lives in a college town, so any lock or cable needs to be able to survive that caliber of thief.

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Forty minutes later, I was texting my son with questions and sending photos.  Two weeks after that, we arrived at his apartment with a bike, carrier, helmet, tire pump and (most important) a gnarly cable lock.  Since then, he’s gone riding several times a week, hoping to build up enough mileage to cycle-commute to work and back.

Happy boy, happy and relieved father, brilliant mom.  Thus, the saga of “what do we get Skitch for graduation?” closes.

Which brings me to the real topic today:  how many grand plans for our writing have we made that go unattended?  How many minor disappointments do we harbor?  In some ways we allow ourselves to construct these disappointments, all on our own, simply by allowing the time or opportunity to slip past.  Okay, circumstance occassionally visits them upon us and we watch, helpless, as all our lovely plans are shattered.  The editor or agent request gone stale.  The rejection that continues to sting and fester.  The rewrite that goes so badly we give up – and can’t forgive ourselves, even when we know it was for the best.  Or, the story that’s dry, parched, neglected and, sadly, left alone (thank you, dearest husband for that addition). Sometimes we allow ourselves a little moan but, mostly, we let ourselves “live poor.”

In Skitch’s case, the lack of knowledge, compounded by lack of money bred the lack of gift – a kind of “living poor” that wouldn’t let go.  We don’t have the money for a violin.  We don’t know how to buy a violin.  Hubby let this fester and I tried, very hard, not to absorb his disappointment as my own.  I had to believe that one day we would be able to solve the problem.

Enter Bikeway!  I do have the money for a bike, Skitch already knows how to ride a bike, I can afford a bike!  Once I had the Smaller Gift idea it happened.  I even used my new “live with the money you have” mantra and paid cash.  Well, debit card, but it really was “cash.”  My bank account knows the truth…

Having gone through this now, I want to bring this lesson to my writing.  Enough disappointment with what I have not accomplished.  More celebrating the tiny steps.  The finished (begun) paragraphs, pages, outlines, scrawled notes, gathered ideas.

This journey as a writer is a process of discovery all its own.  The more I know about my writing, the more I try (and fail), the better I know myself.  How can I mine this newly realized (lesson) (discovery) knowledge of “small victories” and use it to conquer “living poor?”

What would you do with this discovery?

SusanMermaid

Authors Want to Find Readers? Well, Say WATTPAD?

Marketing, mermaids, Writing, , , ,

imgres-4Wattpad.com is a website that claims 15,000,00 monthly users and has a tag line that calls itself – The Future of Reading. If you already know about Wattpad, please share your experience, thoughts, opinions. But I didn’t know about them, so I did some reading and am summarizing my findings here.

My headline is a bold statement that sounds as if  I’m endorsing WattPad, but no, not endorsing, but I got curious. And if you already know all about it – and have experience with it, positive or negative, or found it wasn’t quite ready for authors – please comment below – because WATTPAD has potential as a place to find romance readers IMHO.

True to my last-to-know world, I was introduced to Wattpad at RWA National Conference 2013 at a workshop called Marketing Outside the Box with Darynda Jones, Angie Fox and Kieran Kramer and Stephanie Dray. It was an excellent panel, got smart insights on street teams, super fans, etc. But there was also a rep from Wattpad (sitting next to me) who was introduced by one of the panelists (Stephanie, I believe) and I was like – what?

So since Nationals, I spent a few minutes looking around the site, joined, and here’s what I discovered:

  • Its dominated by young people reading and or submitting fiction
  • Its global (seriously global)
  • It is a site where the author UPLOADs their own work or excerpts from an upcoming novel (promotion), so FREE reads means the reads the author wants the reader to have are the words posted (Wattpad is so NOT a pirating site in other words). It’s smart and reminds me of the some of the old fanfiction sites, completely driven by an author who chooses what to upload, when to update, and what keywords to select to attract readers to their work.
  • It doesn’t have a huge number of romance authors that I can find. But here are the links to names I did find! Stephanie Dray and Meg Cabot (check out what she did, including create a book club).
  • Lots of FanFiction (LOTS of real person fan fiction, which scares me:, although I used to write it in my fanfiction days:)

With 15,000,000 monthly users (that number sounds a bit fantastic – and doesn’t really say unique users, repeat users, or any of the other good stuff stats tell you about a website), I think Wattpad visited RWA13 because they are looking for more authors to use them as a vehicle for finding readers/promote their books.

Denny's MermaidsDrawbacks? Is it worth checking out?

In my humble opinion, you bet its worth checking out! The set-up is easy, no different than uploading to a WordPress website. So if you have a book to promote, why not check it out? And if you manage to sell 10 books via Wattpad (or 10,000:), the folks who are reading on wattpad now are READERS…as well as writers, authors, and more, so no harm no foul. I know when I get published – I’ll be on Wattpad:)! So yeah, maybe this was kind of an endorsement:)…

 

 

Unwind…

Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , ,

Image How can it possibly be August already? Vacations are winding down, and before we know it the kidlets will be back in school. Orientations, school supply shopping, and Back to School nights are right around the corner. As well as soccer/ football/ cheerleading/ field hockey practice/ symphony rehearsals/ robotics and homework. But this year my children aren’t the only ones preparing for a change in schedule and workload… Due to furloughs and the skyrocketing costs of college (I have two teenage daughters) I will be returning to work full time in the very near future. In addition to writing, this summer I have been taking online classes to increase my marketablility in preparation for this eventuality. I don’t mind returning to the workforce. In fact, most writers have a “day job.” But this summer, between the kids, the online classes and certifications, preparing and shopping my resume and trying to fit in writing time… I’ll be honest—my brain is full.

Image 3Every year we take a few days to get away, relax and chill out. This year I’ve been looking forward to this family time for weeks. As a last hurrah, we are living it up at Massanutten Resort this week. I’ve enjoyed spending time with family, long walks, movies. I’m even reading “Shanna” by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. Again. What can I say? It’s a beloved classic, and one of the many books that cemented my love of romance.  But the thing that I loved the most about this week was canoeing down the Shenandoah River with my family. That may not be everyone’s idea of relaxing, but for me, a peaceful day on the river soaking up some rays sounds about perfect.

photoIt doesn’t matter whether I’m overwhelmed with kid stuff, job stuff, or the WIP that I loved three weeks ago that has now come to a screeching halt. Taking a time out from real life helps me clear my mind and regain my sanity. And often, my inspiration.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a weeklong vacation in the islands (okay, it really does matter if I’m not invited!), or hanging out with friends for a few hours and enjoying a bottle of wine. It’s amazing how taking a step back helps me see the bigger picture and hear what my characters are telling me. I find when I step away for a short time and contemplate my story—because let’s face it, a creative person’s brain never sleeps. In fact, most days mine is Image 2set to turbo juggling two thousand ideas at once—that I figure out the best way to refine my character’s motivation, how to up the conflict, or decide who’s POV is going to give the most punch to a particular scene. And that is when the magic happens… when I go back to the computer and my fingers fly over the keyboard.

 

What about you? What do you do to unwind, de-stress, and get yourself back on track?

Writing the Synopsis with Diana Cosby

Dana Rodgers, Guest Post, mermaids, Writing, , , ,

Dana MermaidNot so long ago, I was certain that no one on the planet despised writing a synopsis as much as me. I would rather have put my beautiful, complete manuscript in a drawer, and moved on to write another entire book than to condense a 100k story into the 3-5 pages necessary to submit my work to an editor or agent. I always found it difficult to know what to put in and what to leave out, or how to convey the ever-important backstory that makes the hero and heroine who they are, without overshadowing the story actually being told. And then, I was fortunate enough to win a synopsis and three chapter review from the fabulous Diana Cosby, an international bestselling author who also happens to teach a class on writing the synopsis. Besides being one of the nicest people on the planet, she did such a wonderful job of helping me to understand and conquer my fear of the synopsis that I begged her to swim over to the mermaid pond and share some of her secrets with us..

Diana Cosby

Diana Cosby

A retired Navy Chief, AGC(AW), Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense.  Her award-winning MacGruder Brother books are available in five languages. Diana has appeared at Lady Jane’s Salon, in NYC, in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happily Ever After,” MSN.com, and in Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. In August 2012, Diana released her story in the anthology, “Born To Bite,” with Hannah Howell and Erica Ridley.  Continue reading →

Who You Calling Crazy?

Avery Flynn, Motivation, Writing,

My love for Mary Jo Putney grew exponentially this month when I heard her speak at RWA Nationals. She received the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award and gave one of the best speeches about the writing life that I’ve ever heard. My favorite line? This one:

You don’t have to be crazy to be a writer, but it sure helps.

*Cue lots of knowing laughter.*

Ah, the writing life. It makes us all a bit batty even if we weren’t before. Why? Well for us planners it’s because we work things out in our heads (or our forrest-killing line of Post-It notes) and then this happens:

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If you’re a freak like me that makes you do this:

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But that never gets the job done, so I suck it up and make a new plan. This is what I tell my characters:

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Thank God, they say yes. (Yes, I know the characters aren’t real, but the muse is and sometimes she’s a real diva.) Then the words start flowing and this is how cool I feel:

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And it all works out in the end with even the author getting a happily ever after. And if I have to be crazy to make that happen? So be it.

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Because the crazy amongst us are in good company. I say go forth and wave your crazy author flag.

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RWA Nationals, Research, and I Think I’m Writing a Book about Firefighters:)!

Conferences, Denny S. Bryce, mermaids, Writing, , , , ,

One of the things I enjoy about RWA Nationals is that each year I not only meet new people and connect with old conference friends, but now I’m joining RWA Chapters and actually know why I’m joining them. And yes, it has taken me a while to get with the program.

Today, I’m writing about the RWA mystery/suspense chapter, Kiss of Death – KOD. Where have you been all of my life?

I joined KOD a couple of months ago after fellow Waterworld Mermaid Avery Flynn (the organization’s President-Elect) suggested I check them out since I was polishing my contemporary romantic suspense, CHASING DAMN. Well, I spent yesterday with the gals and guy from KOD, participating in the first leg of the KOD Conference – the TOUR (which was spectacular) and attending the annual meeting and dinner last night.

DSC_0284I believe I may be in love with RESEARCH – as well as the fantastic firefighters we met at the Station in Atlanta. To the left is my favorite photo taken yesterday (kind of dark, I know, but if you were there, you’d know this photo captures the energy of this man). The fire fighter was entering the building after returning from a call, taking off his coat, but the metallic-like fiber in his suit, caught the light.

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What is the biggest thing I learned about fire fighters and research? You don’t  need to be writing about fire fighters to get a lot of story ideas when doing research. The emotional toll of a profession, the sense of pride, and if you listen carefully, the conflict – passed off as humor or apologies for ‘getting too intense’ communicate a lot. So no, not adding a new contemporary about fire fighters, but hope to add the emotional context I heard and felt from all of the captains and lieutenants and fire fighters we met yesterday.

Then at the annual meeting that evening ran I sat next to another Washington Romance Writer (WRW) member – Gwen Hernandez. Also, at the table was the dinner’s special guest speaker New York Times and USA Today Best Selling Author, Jenna Bennett (Fortune’s Hero) – see Avery Flynn and Jenna to the right.

Today is Literacy Day here in Atlanta. I will get in some swimming, shopping and writing. Will be back tomorrow with more news, and up very early – tomorrow the conference ups the volume to a roar! If you’re here – give me a growl:)!

#RWA 13 National Conference in A.T.L – Day 1 (A Day Early:)!

Conferences, Denny S. Bryce, mermaids, Writing, ,

Denny's MermaidsReporting from Atlanta and the RWA 2013 National Conference – it’s Mermaid Denny! Here we go, people!

Okay, I was supposed to post yesterday, but after a long drive (started our Road Trip Saturday from DC to Greensboro, NC to Savannah, GA to Atlanta), we did dinner and went down! I did, however, take a couple of iconic shots (yes, I am labeling them as such), which you will see bunches of (I’m just betting) online. Those shots – the hotel lobby ceiling (space ship futuristic and wonderful) and the cool elevator promotions – last year’s signage inside the elevator has given way to a whole new bag of book/author promotion that I just LOVE (the marketing girl in me Salutes RWA for this very cool signage).

Even this early in the AM, I give you the unexpected:

I won’t be able to share these photos because CRAZY Instagram doesn’t give you access to your own photos after you’ve uploaded them to the magic Instagram portal. Oh, I found them on my phone! (Obviously since you’re looking at them. I had to go get coffee and now I’m better).

My website crashed (the Denny S. Bryce website, not this one, thank goodness). So far, it’s still visible, but I can’t post from it because the dashboard went bonkers. (Okay it’s 7:30 AM, and I’m trying to get this posted So I’m a little scattered here!)…

Denny S. Bryce

My First Day:

I’m up early to get some writing in, but also because I’m participating in the Kiss of Death (KOD) Conference, which kicks off this morning with a tour. It’s a bit hush-hush (or I just didn’t read the fine print, so I’ll share later). So today is all about KOD!

RWA Registration opens today, so later expect photos of the conference bag and all of the goodies. I’ve gone through my schedule for the week like six times to make certain I have it blocked the way I want it. Let’s see how close I stick to it.

Are you here? When do you arrive? What do you want to see?

(Gosh, I already feel breathless…:).

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RWA Nationals Road Trip: Are You Prepared for Awesomeness!

Denny S. Bryce, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , , ,

Denny's MermaidsI’m taking off for Atlanta this weekend to attend the RWA National Conference and I’m super excited. I’m going to spend a week with 2,000 other romance writers – sounds like heaven, right? In a hotel with an entire floor/lobby dedicated to mingling (okay, there is a really big bar at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis), and I guarantee I will be informed, inspired, surprised and exhausted within 30 minutes of checking in. And no, I’m not trying to make anyone who is not going jealous – but I’m excited and want to share.

Speaking of sharing, I volunteered (two years in a row:) to serve as the official Waterworld Mermaid reporter blogging LIVE daily from Hot-Lanta! But expect some of the other Mermaids to pop in, too. A bunch of us will be in town, and will either post here or on our own blogs – so stay tuned.

But I said ROAD TRIP in the headline  – so yeah, I’m getting from here to there by jumping in my car and taking off on Saturday! Joining me is my long-time friend, writer, poet, singer Xio Axelrod, who will be attending her first RWA National Conference.

We plan to make stops in North Carolina (visiting my mom) and Savannah, GA (because it is one of the most beautiful cities in the USA and I haven’t been there in 10 years), with our arrival in Atlanta set for Monday.imgres-1

If you’re traveling to RWA Nationals let us know if you’re packed:) – so I can be jealous – and if by chance, you too, are doing the ROAD TRIP thing. If you aren’t attending Nationals in 2013 – what would you like to read in the Waterworld Mermaids’ daily blog post? Although, if I’m reporting, you’re going to have to deal with my FRANTIC schedule (will share more about my first year as a PRO and a finalist in two contests, both to be announced in Atlanta!).

You may have noticed that every now and then throughout this post, I’ve felt like shouting (ie, the CAPS sprinkled throughout), but I am excited so a little shouting is a good thing, RIGHT!

mwiOBO0RRcIXCkbU64QuTcQCOUNTDOWN TO ATLANTA! HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.