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everyday insanity

Art palooza….

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I have another site, Clark Arts and Crafts, and this month I am posting about all the swag and art projects (and anything I see that I think is beautiful)…

but as most of the people that visit one site don’t necessarily see the other site, I wanted to share a few of the pieces with you guys… this is just some of the bracelets… I don’t have the other projects photographed yet… and as you can see, there are a lot of bracelets… I find it soothing to make them… other projects require you to bend over a table while you work…

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I also have some friendship bracelets … made from both hemp and embroidery thread… but I really like the beaded necklaces that I put together…

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okay… that’s it… happy wordage everyone, tracey

 

book progress

Drum roll please

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my second book cover… I love the look and feel…

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Marin doesn’t know what to think when Makayla LaPine, the office beauty queen, suddenly wants to go out for a bite to eat. As far as Marin knew, Makayla had always believed her to be a waste of oxygen, so why the invite. Curiosity killed the cat… Marin just hopes that her curiosity doesn’t kill the Finder. Could Makayla be a Fae assassin hiding in bitchy southern-bell clothing?

Makayla can’t believe that her life has been reduced to this… asking the flighty office girl for help. Could Marin really be the help she has been searching for? Out of the blue, everyone at Finder’s Keepers have been turning to Marin for answers. If she hopes to ever find out what happened to her twin brother, Makayla will be forced to do the same. She wants answers. With her goal within reach, she will take a chance on Marin and avoid all distractions, namely the overwhelmingly sexual stranger begging for her attention.

Quaidin wants to get in, finish his mission, and get out. Anything to get back to Out-realm and as far from Earth-side as possible. His band of mercenaries, the Fianna, have one goal… to locate Marin De Platadreki, the highly sought after Fae Princess, and see to her protection, hopefully back in Out-realm. As the Incubus on the squad, he needs to focus on persuasion and manipulation. The mission should have been a walk in the park. He never saw Makayla coming. A woman with enough sexual attraction to bring him to his knees…

The Blurb still needs a little work, but you guys get the picture… I love Makayla’s character… she is seriously sassy and a little rude, but she is so much more than the front she shows to the world… And Quaidin… sigh…. who wouldn’t want an Incubus hottie chasing after them…

this is the cover design I got from Reverie… the woman in charge is an amazing graphic artist…

1 head to her Facebook Site or her Website to check out her goodies…

I already have two covers and this awesome banner for book signings…

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 happy wordage everyone… next month I hope to present the cover of my first contemporary romance, out of my new Skymann series… tracey

prompts

4-30-2016 #Writing Prompt – Wrap ups

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woowho…. so, this is the last day of CampNaNoWriMo … if you didn’t participate this time, not to worry… camp happens in april and july … and NaNoWriMo comes every November … the best part about camp is get to choose your writing goal… so those of you that don’t feel you can read the 50k goal (a must in nov) can still win all the goodies available …

but back to the writing prompt… Wrap Ups… since this is that last day, I decided to give you all a quick prompt, and then a guide to improve and play with your novel once the first draft is finished… sooo the prompt??

take one of your secondary characters and work on dialogue and actions… you can use them to more the story along, add humor, lighten the mood after a serious moment, spark a fight or cause the MC to need to save them… again… 😛

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lol… I love sarcasm… now for the warp up – prompt… use the following pinterest pics to work on showing vs telling … body language and word usage… I also suggest The Emotional Thesaurus and other similar books…  I also like the ones on positive and negative traits…

now… instead of grouping photos like I have been, I am putting each one up by itself… I’m not sure if this will make things easier, but hopefully, you will able to save them and then print them out if you want…

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Body description…

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some of these are good for non-fantasy characters… if you know your characters job you will be able to picture what they look like, what type of gestures they may use more than others…

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don’t make your  characters perfect… good or bad guys, add a flaw or two… muhahahahaha

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work on word usage in your wiritng…

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what does your MC’s pain feel like…

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there are all kinds of ways to take your novel to the next level… these are just a few of them… I hope they helped… just remember to enjoy your edits… I have found that playing with showing vs telling and using examples like these help make the editing process fun… and I seriously hate edits.. lol 😛

that’s it for this month of nano writing prompts… here is your pinterest prompt to wrap things up… happy wordage, tracey

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4-29-2016 #WritingPrompt – Location

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today’s writing prompt is very important… if not for your story line then to help get you in the head space to know what you characters will do and say… where they will go, what areas can provide the prefect backdrop for dialogue, or what hiding places are available for you villains… today we are using Location

I had the opportunity to travel to Europe as a teen… and hopefully one day I will work those wonderful destinations into my novels… I find that experiencing an area firsthand helps to bring it to life when you are writing… in this day and age, the internet can do a lot for you, but being there and experiencing it for yourself is always better…

make it fun… before you go into your edits, take a road trip tot he area you want you MC to come from… not only will you be able to add important details to your story, you just might be inspired for your next novel… going before you write is good, but it is never too late to take that trip… not until you put ‘the end’ on the last page…

now I have some USA maps here, but that is because that’s my home country… it is always easier to start with what you know… what you love…

what area does your MC come from… what landscapes and hometown treasures can you incorporate into your story… people love to learn little know facts, especially if they are weaved into a story without becoming an informational text… you have the perfect opportunity to show something/someplace that you love/enjoyed through your novels…

for me that will always be Kentucky… I love my state… from the caves and the lakes, the horse and the bourbon… the waterfalls, changing leaves in fall, and the Appalachian mountains…. I love it all…

I had someone ask me once ‘why Kentucky?’ for my story… and I had to ask ‘Why not Kentucky? Kentucky rocks…’ lol… so where is your MC from…

okay… that’s it… tomorrow will be our last writing prompt as Camp NaNoWriMo comes to a close… for now… here is your pinterest writing prompt… happy wordage, tracey

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prompts

Magical Eyes

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oooo…. this is another month with five Fridays … and this seemed like the perfect writing prompt to share… I know I already did one on eyes… but fifth Fridays are all about beauty and I found a few more eye pinterest pics… I wanted to put them human/animal side by side… it is easy to see that a human can have ‘animal eyes’ and an animal can hold human intelligence in there gaze… 😛

I love visual aids for descriptions… no matter if I am sketching out something for myself, or stealing some cool pics on pinterest… like these… eyes and people/animals come in so many shapes and colors… it doesn’t matter if you are writing something otherworldly, or creating something from the more contemporary genres… eyes are still magnificently varying, no matter what you write…

sooo have fun with it… anyone can write about blue or brown eyes… give me eyes so dark they resemble chunks of coal… or eyes the bluest of blues, like a clear summer day…. because even when you change it up with ice blue, it is great to have a picture to look at so that you can continue past those two little words… an icy blue so pale the whites seem to merge and mix with the shocking color… and animals… give your human shapeshifter the eyes that their animal would have… not a must, but it could be fun and shocking for your characters…

whatever you do, have fun with it and happy wordage, tracey

prompts

4-28-2016 #WritingPrompt – Communication

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today’s writing prompt is Communicate… how we communicate with the world, with team members, with ourselves… how we use nature and animals in communications… and how that can be used in our writing…

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it seems that the alpha male always comes with a way to silently communicate with team members, but how do we writers communicate his actions so that the readers can visualize what is happening in the story… I saw these and just had to share… if you can practice a few of these hand signals, it will help you to write them down when they are needed in your story…

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or morse code… your MC could be trapped in a  building, locked in a room with no way out, but their are pipes leading through the building… pipes that can carry sound to the rescue party searching above them… muhahahaha… or a victim you MC doesn’t know is there, can tap out an SOS…

I have never done this before…but on tv, it is described as longs and shorts… so G would be two long, one short…. and so on… you victim/MC could use a walkie/some kind of radio to tap out morse code with the  static… or the bad guys could be communicating over the radio… they could hijack a radio station, and every hour on the hour they could have ‘technical difficulties’… but really it is a message in the static/song cutting out…

so we have hand signals and signals in sound, but what if you can’t see the signal???

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Your MC could make/use invisible ink to pass secrets/coded messages … or maybe your MC finds a messages that was used by the bad guys… or your MC finds a coded text in invisible ink on something really old… is your MC a treasure hunter???

other than invisible ink and morse code, your characters could use wind talkers or cryptography… when it comes to cryptography, I get a little lost, but I wanted to include it just incase you guys find it interesting and want to add it to your story

wind/code talkers on the other hand, have always been close to my heart… my background is Cherokee, not Navajo, but I have always respected these brave souls… they helped this country, even after all that they had lost at the hands of the white man… now I am as pale as pale can be, but my grandfather had a reddish brown tan to his skin all year round… my contemporary series is full of men with American Indian genetics… I love the skin tone and wanted them to have that year round beauty…

alrighty… two more forms of communication to go… what if you character is deaf or mute??? you still need a way for them to add dialogue to your story… knowing a little more about sign language can help you to show what is happening in your novel, instead of just telling…

and last but not least (I am sure there are many other forms I have missed) nature… let your character track someone or something through the woods…. let nature speak to them… use broken leaves/twigs and especially animal tracks…

that all for now… I hope something has helped to fire up your imagination… now for the pinterest writing prompt… happy wordage, tracey

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4-26-2016 #WritingPrompt – Alibi

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muhahahaha… will your villain get away with murder??? today’s writing prompt is Alibi… if your story contains a crime, especially murder… be sure to add in a few of the fun facts that will help to make your story believable…

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I’m not suggesting that you overload your story with facts… unless you’re writing for CSI fans, you might lose readers…

but if you come across a fact or two that make you stop and think “wow… cool…” then definitely add it to your novel… then drop in a few of the other facts that will help to move the story from ‘oh, crap… a murder…’ to ‘you’ll never get away with this sucker’

your MC might focus on one piece of evidence while others gather the rest… but that one piece, maybe something that seems unrelated, will play a part in catching your bad guys, or stopping the villain from getting away… or maybe it will be something that they notice and focus on while thinking/talking about something else… then, bam, they remember and save the day…

maybe your MC is new to crime scenes, shocked by the wounds to the body… or in paranormal, shocked to see something that doesn’t make sense… or maybe they are really good at figuring out the crime, but the crime scene is something they can never get used to…

but if you add a fact to your story, make sure that it is correct… I love learning something fascinating from my stories, from a fact about car safety to the number of cave systems in the state of Kentucky… but we’re talking about alibis here… and your villain can’t have a false alibi you break down if you have your facts wrong… and discovering a fact like DNA or a blade wound that matches a purchase made by the bad guy can force your MC to take another look at them, despite their alibi… and then they can work to break it…

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I haven’t checked out this checklist yet, but it sounds interesting…

Source: National Academy of Sciences: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

you can find facts, then find ways to screw with them… like how could a bite mark mislead an investigation??? or you could look at the ways a crime scene can be delayed, so that the time of death is off… something the villain could do to have time to set up his alibi… play with your crime and have some fun with it…

alright… that’s it for today… here is your pinterest writing prompt… something that has nothing to do with crimes/alibis… does your MC have a routine they go through every day, or once a year before swimsuit time??? does it make them happy/full of energy, or crabby/full of complaints… happy wordage, tracey

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4-25-2016 #WritingPrompt – Killers

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what do your villains look like??? where can you find inspiration??? today’s writing prompt is Killers… muhahahaha

Mythology can give you either an overview or a how to guide… what are you looking for??? are you writing paranormal/fantasy??? or contemporary??? even the contemporary writer can read through myths and legends and then make the stories more realistic… or for the fantasy lover, you could find something that will help you tape into your imagination…

reading about serial killers can help to take your villain from bad guy to down right evil… they guy (a 16 year old kid actually) that killed as if he was a vampire… now that story is down right scary… and just proves that even reality can come across as mystical and unreal…

what do these killers look like… well, hell… from dad of the year to the happy couple, from demonic ogre to knife wielding teen… these are all pictures of actual killers… so how will the average person pick them out of the crowd??? they don’t and that is how you make your villain real…

okay… this was a relatively short one… but here is your pinterest writing prompt… happy wordage, tracey

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book progress

woo who… backflips

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I am happy to report… I reached my 50,000 word count goal yesterday… oh, yeah…

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I told mom, my version of a first draft is fast-and-dirty… lol… even if I plot out my story with a story board first, I am always surprised to see where it goes… because, if my first draft is fast-and-dirty, my rough drafts are nothing more than drive by quickies… lol…

when I start typing things up, I get little surprises that tackle me out of nowhere… and I go “omg… that will so work… I can see the ending now…” yep… I have no idea how it will end… in a broad sense I do, but it is really those little things that matter… I mean… they bad guys loses??? but how and where and what lead to that point… and my MCs get a Happily Ever After??? but why do they decided to take the chance, choose each other, what quirks lead from lust to love….

okay… I’m getting sidetracked…lol… my point was, I won camp NaNoWriMo last night.. buttttt…. because my first draft is fast and dirty, I only had 40k words when I reached that end of my story… now, when I go into edits I know that sucker will grow… I figure it will end up being 50-55k words… but instead of doing my first round of edits now, I opened up a new document so that I could start on the next novel… so my 50k is comprised of the first book and 10k words from the second…. that makes three books in the Skymann series… and now you see why I am doing cyber backflips…

Mary has book one of the Skymann Series, book two is in first draft stages, and book three??? I will continue writing and adding to my word count even though I have already reached my goal… my new goal is to get as much of book three typed up in first draft stages before the end of the month… sooooo yes, you can think it…. I am insane 😛

happy wordage, tracey

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4-24-2016 #WritingPrompt – Naming

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OMG… you book is about to be published (traditional, self-pub, indie, etc) … which means you are about to give birth to dozens of characters… which is why this writing Prompt is so important… Naming… how do you decide on the perfect names…

unlike other parents, you already know a little about you babies… will they change over time?? sure… but to start with, you know what they look like, what state/country they were born in, how their basic personality affects their actions/thoughts/speech … you know their genetic background… like if their mother was from Russia???

or maybe your character was born in Ireland… would they have one of the names that just scream ‘hello, I’m Irish’, or would it be a more universal name…

how would you visualize your character as a child, when physical characters are more set… before things like hair dye and makeup come into play… I think that seeing your character as a child can help to describe those features… once you have a basis, you can age them, give them individuality, add in the features that mark adulthood in most people

when you know more about your character’s heritage, you can envision their habits… a Russian would always know the best borscht vodka and what the heck was in borscht, an Irishman might have a hot temper and a fast right hook, your Frenchman would definitely be found in the most sexually compromising positions… and your Germans??? they will always have a bottle of Schnaps handy, they will enjoy building/fixing things (maybe make them good at woodworking, and lets not forget Octoberfest (cheers)… and one more German trait that I found extremely odd as a gal from the US, esp one from Ky??? the men sit while peeing…

(lol… just had to add the german shepard… I found more of them than names/babies on pinterest for germans)

but back to the peeing issue…dude… half the men I know not only stand up, they will walk outside and just let the urine flow… okay, that definitely a hayseed way of life…

which reminds me… finding the right name can come from anywhere… religion, dead languages like Latin, or a generalized way of like… in the country you would expect Samantha (Sam), Andrew (Andy), or Katie… pick a name that speaks to you… but avoid going to grand (though some names are just fun.. I have a Sabastian, Joffrey, and a called Hawk… I may have gone too grand, but it didn’t feel that way… I just loved the names) … and definitely avoid the boring… boring means it didn’t speak to you and your reader will easily forget it…

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okay… one more and then i’ll quit, but by no means to the possibilities end here… don’t be afraid to stereotype your characters… you want the reader to visualize them… get a feel for the world they are reading about.. I mentioned the French (they love love), but they are also rude… sorry dear Frenchmen, but when I was in France I realized that quickly… the Germans and the people of Switzerland were laid back and kind… heck a little old lady (not speaking any English) in Switzerland gave me some of the fresh blueberries she carried, a big smile on her face… The French love beauty and fine cuisine, but can be a bit snotty…

alrighty… I focused on names by country, because that is one of the easiest… but find your own way… a way that speaks to you… and have fun… these are your babies… now here is your pinterest writing prompt… happy wordage, tracey

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4-23-2016 #WritingPrompt – Realization

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Today’s writing prompt ‘Realization’ (at least the way i’m looking at it) can move your MC along, cause growth… self-realization can either hobble a person, or inspire them…

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when your character learns something about themselves that they had overlooked, or ignored most of their life (like my MC-Marin… and the verbal abuse she learned to avoid and expect from her aunt as a child… ) not all realizations have to be big, but each one can change your character/challenge them…

other than emotions, your MC can face and deal with fears… a fear is only silly to those that have never felt one… facing and pushing past a fear can be uncomfortable to dang near impossible… is there anything that you MC would rather sky away from if possible?? check out the writing prompt on fear if you need some help freaking out your MC… muhahahaha…

also… realizing there is something that your MC truly hates/enjoys can help you to put them in uncomfortable situations, or put them in a relaxing/rejuvenating space where they can think… or… a place to ambush them… muhahaha… apparently I’m feeling a little evil today…

realization can come out of nowhere… you can have another character point something out to your MC, but you can also do self-realization… it all helps your characters to grow…

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Alrighty… here is your pinterest writing prompt… I see it as the way that your MC can hide aspects of their character from others, or even from themselves… and break… 😛 happy wordage, tracey 

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4-13-2016 #WritingPrompt – Emotion

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Showing that your MC has emotion/feelings/passion is one of the most important ingredients for great writing… I know I enjoy a story that has emotion over something flat and informational… think of the children’s story ‘Jack and Jill’… while cute and fun to read as a child, as an adult wouldn’t it be more interesting to know what Jill was thinking, how the hill felt as she tumbled down after Jack, what emotions were evoked by the fall…

for this writing prompt, I suggest you take an emotion that you don’t feel at home with when writing, and play with it… push yourself to learn more about that emotion and then write the a scene with it…

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Emotions can be seen and felt… from quiet pain/loss, to overwhelming grief… what type of character are you dealing with…  does your MC hold it all in, or wear their heart on their sleeve???

and while you are learning more about your chosen emotions, remember to look up some visuals… these are just a few I came across on Pinterest…

if everything you write down still doesn’t feel right to you, remember that there are times that what your character shows to the world is only the tip of the iceberg… from stoic on the outside to explosive on the inside, or maybe your character is frozen in helpless tears by on the inside those tears are a release, a freedom…  

okay…. now here is the pinterest writing prompt… lol… I thought it went perfectly with this post…. why??? because sometimes your emotions can lead to behavior that is out of character… at least that is what I thought of when I saw this… what do you see…. happy wordage, tracey…

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4-12-2016 #WritingPrompt – Dream

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all writer’s are dreamers… we dream of love, adventure, chaos, heartache, reality, and the unbelievable… we dream up stories and we dream about the readers that will enjoy them… but because I know personally that ‘writer’s depression’ is very real, here are a few quotes and sayings to keep you going… and then back to the writing prompt…

Does your MC have a specific place they go to in order to dream??? like a child’s clubhouse, do they have a place to get away from it all and dream??? do they dream of that perfect vacations or home improvement like an upgraded kitchen??? or maybe a library to beat all libraries???

What does your MC do in order to save up for their dreams??? do they have a system that can add some quirk to your story??? orrrr, if there is evil afoot, what happens when their hard earned savings are stolen???

And finally, I had to add dreamcatchers to the mix… I don’t know much about my Cherokee heritage, but I have always loved dreamcatchers… in a paranormal story, you could have a mystical dreamcatcher that protects your MC from evil… or your dreamcatcher could transport you to another realm… or in a contemporary, you MC could make them… I have had some beautiful ones in my lifetime… play around with it, and give your MC a ‘Dream’….

And for the Pinterest writing prompt, here is something that most people consider the opposite of dreaming… Spring cleaning… does your MC enjoy this yearly task, or do they despise it… do they need help, or do they prefer to take it all on alone… happy wordage, tracey

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4-11-2016 #WritingPrompt – Build

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I love words… one simple word can be taken in so many different directions… take today’s writing prompt ‘Build’… for starters, I’m building this post… build is a word that can be applied physically, emotionally, or even mentally… soooo many different ways…

you can have your MC be a master craftsman, or a newbie attempting a DIY project… or just have the act of building be something in the background of a dialogue … you can build a garden, furniture, a home, a greenhouse, decorations or items to sell…

or your character could be building a relationship (either romantic or friendship or unknown)… they could be building a fighting group, a band, a working staff, or any number of groups… but mainly, as a writer, you are building your story… and if you write series, with each book you build your characters and your world… I like to introduce characters that will have a front seat as the MC in previous stories…

A writer is always building… we sit in a place that relaxes us and allow our minds to wonder, to build on the story we’re working on… I like to take a relaxing bath and just dream about my characters… we build worlds for others to enjoy… but never give up… building a story is a process… the first draft is merely your first building block…

And now for a Pinterest Writing Prompt… you can use this to build a character that appears bad, but underneath is redeemable… muhahahaha … happy wordage, tracey

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4-10-2016 #WritingPrompt – Wedding

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For the most part, it seems that wedding scenes are useful as quickly mentioned and then something happens… like the reception, or the honey moon… or their can be a short story about a hiccup that almost derails the nuptials… the point is that most people want to get through the vows as quickly as possible, and if you don’t enjoy something in real life, why in the world would you want to read about it… so who can you add a wedding scene without losing some of your readers…

a scene from the dressing room, the nervous, the cold feet, or even the giddiness… then in the next chapter, summarize the vows and get to the good stuff… the shower or the honey moon…

and why are they getting married… is this a true love match or is it a one night stand that resulted in pregnancy but after getting married they will fall for each other… or is the marriage all for show (because of work, family, green card) and then there is love… or a drunken night in vagas… what caused the wedding and how do they deal with it…

and just for fun, here are some Oh-crap moments that I found on pinterest… some can be added into a wedding scene but most are for any story you are working on… happy wordage, tracey…

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4-9-2016 #WritingPrompt – Activity

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What activities fill your MC’s down time… since spring is here, here is a list of spring related activities for you character to be involved in… you could start a scene with either an activity that will relate to the story, or just something random everyday activity that will be interrupted by either the villain or the love interest… something on the list that a lot of people feel the need to do as soon as the sun starts making itself know is ‘wash the car’… buffing up and making your ride shine is a ritual that some hate, and some seem to enjoy…

if the love interest interrupts it can lead to water fights (the inevitable wet t-shirt issue), or the villain can interrupt and the MC will be more worried about avoiding bullet holes in the car than being shot…

think about the time of year in your story, and then sit down and make your own list… how can those activities work in your story… like my MC paints with oil paints, she loses herself in the activity, but she uses it in her work (as well as artistically) … the paint gets everywhere, it takes forever to dry, and is very forgiving and easily to fix when there is a mistake… and if you use something you do often, you can add the little insights into the activity that most people don’t think of..

I would use a side character to screw up with his first time using oils… trying everything to dry his painting (sun, fan, hair dryer) but I would have it in the underlying story… the MC would mostly ignore while he complains or whines…

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having an underlying activity can help to move the story along… I mean.. you don’t want your MC just standing in the room for every scene…

and what about your Villain??? what is their motivation??? why are they striking out??? for most stories, the emotion and understanding comes from the good guys, but the villains are there, and if you understand why they are attacking your MC you can better write their actions and reactions… so ask yourself to give your villain a motivation… here’s a list to go by… just have fun with it… their motivation can be typical evil logic, or you can take something that can be found in your MC, like romance or justice, and twist how the villain goes about to achieve their goal… muhahahahaha…. happy wordage, tracey

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4-7-2016 #WritingPrompt – Passion

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ooo la la…. today’s prompt is Passion… that blush of a first kiss, the love at first sight that grows into a need to grow old together, or a blazing heat that never seems to cool… every time you touch, a tingling breaks out and catches fire…

but passion doesn’t stop there… you MC could have a passion to create, a passion for justice, or a passion to explore/to find answers… not all passion is about sex… it is about a need that refuses to be ignored… have your MC cross a sign that clearly says Danger/do not cross, just because they want to know what happened… have they stop an attack without thought or reservations for their own safety… or maybe climb down the side of a cliff to the ledge below because there is a picture/stone/animal that they just have to help or have for their art… find your MC’s passion…

and finally… here is the pinterest writing prompt… you can use fear while looking for your MC’s passion… what do they have to face in order to accomplish their goals… (I’m sure there are more fears… just play around with it) make your MC as real as possible… happy wordage, tracey…

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book progress

Self pubbing???

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Southern Discoveries…

well … it looks like Finder’s Keepers Book Two : Southern Discoveries will have to be a self pub novel… the first book got some positive attention but not enough for my indie publisher to spend more on book two, even though she read it and enjoyed what she saw… thankfully, she also read my contemporary romance and loved it… so while she helps me to publish my first Skymann novel, I will be learning about self-publishing…

it is my goal to become a hybrid author… getting my books out there through indie publishing, self-publishing, and eventually traditional publishing… one would think that this would be a perfect time to query publishing house to try the traditional route, but I don’t want my readers to have to wait for me to find an agent/publishing house… especially when I fear they will want the rights to the character/series… I would rather try them with a book that doesn’t touch either the Finder’s Keepers novels, or the Skymann novels…

so for now, Southern Discoveries will be in my unknowledgeable hands… wish me luck… I already know how the Ebook format works, but I will have to look into the paper back version… especially since I would like to get both Shocking Finds and Southern Discoveries ordered in paper back for my coming book signings…

okay… I need to go because I have been blogging all night on my Multiple Sclerosis site… and I am exhausted… later guys…

happy wordage, tracey

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#EggcerptExchange – Adam Mann

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Eggcerpt Exchange: This is our last Egg-crept… then everything will calm down… 😛 or maybe just go back to my normal insanity… lol…

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this reminds me of my pug Moe-moe… he used to steal anything he could get in his mouth… pillows, underware, shoes…. usually items too big for him, but he grab them and run off to his crate… lol… one time he grabbed up my house-shoe and bolted for the bedroom…but he had his mouth on the rim of the shoe that goes over the arch area of your foot… meaning the shoe flipped up in front of his face… and as he ran from the room, he slammed into the wall…

now back to the Eggie exchange… by now our egg baskets are pretty full… but there is room for one more… Adam Mann is here with his novel The Road to Beira…

 Third Book

The Road to Beira

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Colin and Monique meet one another on a dusty road about one hundred miles from Beira in Mozambique. They had previously known one another when they were students but that was over twenty years ago, and then their lives had taken completely different paths.

Monique had just been through a nasty divorce, and had settled down to raise her two children whilst getting on with her career as a recruitment specialist. The tall dark Colin still attracts her and she realizes that she would have to take the lead if their relationship were to develop and romance were to blossom! Can her glowing auburn hair, her attractive breasts and passionate body win the battle? It works!

But her life is complicated by the lawyers representing her former husband who try to stop her relationship with Colin. Her children are a very necessary consideration and then she realizes that her fourteen year old daughter has a brain like a computer, whilst her son is won over by anything technical.

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Excerpt:

The engine was diesel, which usually is very reliable, and the driver got out to open the bonnet. He was not an engineer so he just poked around at various parts of the engine, checked the water level in the radiator, and looked around for help! He was lucky, as another 4WD vehicle was just approaching.

The driver stopped and a tall thin European got out and approached them, seeing the vehicle bonnet open.

“Can I help?” he asked in English.

“We stopped for lunch and now it won’t start again,” explained Hugh.

“Colin!” exclaimed Monique, “what are you doing here?”

They all looked at Monique, and then the new arrival.

“Monique?” he said, “perhaps I should ask the same!”

Monique turned to the others; “we’re in luck, this is an old friend of mine from university days and his name is Colin.” and then she turned back to Colin.

“What are you doing here?” she repeated.

“I work here,” Colin explained, “I’m doing a survey for a new community development plan,”

“What about you?” he added. Colin could remember the attractive student he had met so many years ago, but circumstances in those days did not allow them to do more than meet for an occasional coffee.

Purchase links:

The Road to Beira

https://www.amazon.com/Road-Beira-Adam-Mann-ebook/dp/B017MOJRCI

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-road-to-beira-adam-mann/1122912861

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theroadtobeira-1921887-149.html

http://www.mundania.com/book.php?title=The+Road+To+Beira

Author bio:

I’ve written twenty four romance books all based in parts of the world where I’ve lived and worked. As a result five are in sub-Saharan Africa, eleven are in South or East Asia, and only seven based in the UK. One is still in draft form.

I’ve been married four times, my first wife died, the second divorced me, the third marriage was annulled as that wife had forgotten to get divorced, and thank goodness the fourth wife is fit and well. We have between us seven children and four grandchildren. As a result I think that I know a bit about life and loving.

Author Links:

Click: www.adammannauthor.com

Twitter: @adammannauthor

www.lordmaity.com

Twitter: @Lordmaity

@ButterflyBooks9

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Author’s Questions:

1. Nickname Mai (local name for Mike)
2. Job Retired, now writing full time
3. Level of schooling, or self-taught Masters
4. Birthdate 20 FEB
5. Birthplace Shoreditch, London
6. Currently residing in… Yen Bai, Vietnam
7. Favorite type of pet Large breeds of black dogs
8. Favorite place to visit Mountains rather than Coast
9. Significant other Beautiful Wife
10. Most important goal Sell a few more books
11. Worst fear or nightmare Family member dying
12. Favorite food Roast meat
13. Wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between? In between
14. Secret desire or fantasy Meet Monica Bellucci
15. What would you do if you won the lottery? Make sure that each member of my family had security for the rest of their life.

 

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#EggcerptExchange – Cheryl Carpinello

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I haven’t read many novels involving time travel, but this one sounds very cool… ancient Egypt… and look at the GIF I found on pinterest… lol… it isn’t from Cheryl Carpinello, but I saw it and thought ‘hmmm Egypt + time travel… that sounds like magic to me…’ and this fast moving sky show looks like Egyptian magic to me…

her novel is full of historical time travel for YA readers… I’ve never been to Egypt but there is something soothing and magical about desert landscapes to me… and I have always been in awe of the tomes and sculptures… not so much the whole slavery to get the back braking work done, but the end result is breathtaking …

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And now lets check out Cheryl’s Eggcerpt goodies…

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – Sons of the Sphinx

SERIES – The Quest Books

AUTHOR – Cheryl Carpinello

GENRE – YA Historical Time Travel

PUBLICATION DATE – October 10, 2014

LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 192/36,000

PUBLISHER – Beyond Today Educator

COVER ARTIST – Bernistevens Design

From Reviews

“A seamless time travel historical adventure for middle grade, teen readers and adults.”

“If you are looking for a great time travel book; give this one a try!! This would be a perfect gift for the teen in your life too!”

“Prepare yourself for an incredible adventure in ancient Egypt.”

“A titillating paranormal adventure that takes readers on a wild journey through ancient Egypt to help the ghost of King Tut find his Queen.”

Those are some lovely Review Eggs Cheryl has in her basket… 😛

Summary

Time Travel Thriller in Ancient Egypt—

When15-year-old Rosa agrees to help the ghost of King Tut find his lost queen Hesena, she doesn’t count on falling for him. Once back in Ancient Egypt, Rosa discovers that finding Hesena is not all she must do and is not as easy as she thought it would be, even though she carries part of that lost queen in her soul. She must also keep out of the reach of the living Horemheb–who crosses mortal boundaries using Seth’s evil magic–if she is to stay alive to make it back home. 2015 Readers’ Favorite Finalist YA; 2015 IAN Book of the Year Finalist YA; 2015 CAL Book Award Finalist YA Fiction; 2014 Literary Classics Silver Medal for PreTeen/Tween; 2014 Literary Classics Seal of Approval

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EXCERPT

From Chapter 13:

Before us, nearly filling up the room and taller than either of us, stands the golden shrine of Tutankhamun. I remembered what else lay in that room. Inside that shrine are three more, each a bit smaller than the outside one. All tucked inside each other like those nesting dolls from my grandmother’s childhood. Inside the last shrine were the four sarcophagi of Tut, each displaying him in golden and jeweled splendor.

The last one holds the famed mask of the golden boy. And beneath that, the body of the young pharaoh who now stands here before me. Beyond my understanding, he has been given back his human form, allowed to return one last time to restore honor to his family, one last time to find his true love. And here I am, trying to help, trying to understand, trying to stay alive. Will I ever be able to go home again? Or will I become as lost as Hesena?

BUY & TBR LINKS

cheryl

AUTHOR BIO

I am a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those young-at-heart to read more through my Quest Books set in these worlds.

Also please visit my other sites: Carpinello’s Writing Pages where I interview Childrens/Tween/MG/YA authors; and The Quest Books where I’ve teamed up with Fiona Ingram from South Africa and Wendy Leighton-Porter of Abu Dhabi to enable readers to find our Ancient and Medieval quest books in one place.

AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS

Alright… I hope y’all enjoyed Cheryl’s Eggcerpt… we have a little over a week left for Eggie Exchanges… see you guys later… happy wordage, Tracey