I Too Can So Write: 2/22/17

As per the norm, we have the requisite I Are Writer! post, which you really should check out. If you've always been curious on how I create, or this case re-create, characters, then this Tumblr post is for you. Additionally, it ties with my latest project The Friendship Has Begun, which is currently sitting with a couple of beta readers.

In other writing related news, I managed to get a couple of my titles into a small-publisher's bookstore. The publisher is called Pipe & Thimble (located in Torrance CA) , and they are looking for indie authors and small-press authors for their upcoming bookstore. Details to be had on their website and their Facebook page. They accept all genres except erotica for consignment.

We finish off today's post with a very small rant. Unless your head has been in the sand or you've been in a medically induced coma for the past three months, people are off and running with a four year protest against the President. Whether domestic (people who voted for Clinton), nationally domestic (the Democrat toddlers) or international, there has been no escaping the temper tantrums.

As much as I've been able to dodge some more putrid verbiage polluting my FB newsfeed, I finally cried uncle this weekend. With some glee, I unfollowed a couple of author pages and unfollowed a couple of friends (not unfriended). I just couldn't take any more of the collective stupid that was spewing out everyone's mouth.

I get and understand that some of you are upset. But there is wrong way and a right way to show your displeasure. Believe or not, there are some celebs/writers out there that I still follow even though they have strong anti-Trump feelings. Why? Because they temper those feelings with a good double dose of common sense & humor.

I leave you with a question that I may start asking pretty soon on my FB wanderings, just to see what kind of response I can get.

"Trump has been office for about a month. How has his executive orders personally affected you or your family? Not other people that you feel it's your sworn duty to get hysterically outraged over, but you personally."

And no, I don't troll. I'm just a singular voice of reason swimming against the strong tide of factoids and biased news coverage.

(c) 2017 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

I Too Can So Write: 2/15/17

As per the norm, here is the latest for I Are Writer!. Not much in the way of substance as we hit a minor lull in writing, but there is one very good nugget of information contained within that post that is really good news for me and quite possibly for other writers.

For today's weekly tidbit, I bring to one and all, a couple of pictures of my lovely daughter Jenelle, who at this same Panic! at the Disco channel next week, will be 16 years and one day old {I link to the band because this is her FAVORITE GROUP} and will be seeing the band at Mohegan Sun at the end of February.

I tell ya, it's tough being the parent of teenager these days. But, at least I got all of the mistakes out of the way with the 1st child, so I don't quite make the same type of mistakes with the 2nd.

Oh, in other exciting news, I will finally get to meet the boyfriend and his parents at dinner next week. Not sure what restaurant it will be, but considering that she is a vegetarian and he isn't (I think), it should be very interesting....


(c) 2017 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

I Too Can So Write!: 2/8/17

As per the custom of this blogger, we give you the latest from I Are Writer!, in which we explore how to milk an old story until it screams for mercy like an angry adult toddler. And as per the custom, you can comment here as opposed to there.

Today's random thought ties in with the Tumblr post, in that we are in hip deep inside a writing conundrum. By conundrum, I mean I'm stuck between wanting to write to keep myself occupied while waiting for some final thoughts from beta readers on my latest project {one of which decided to gracefully bow out due to a slight misunderstanding, but gave me good advice from what she was able to complete} and looking to start on a potential project connected with this novel/novella that will ultimately {I believe} force me to scrap some 32 pages/4 chapters of a rewrite to a previously published novella.

Fortunately for me, I have other things to help me postpone a decision for a few more....weeks.

sigh

In any event, I leave you with this fantastic cover of the song "In Bloom" by Sturgill Simpson. First heard this on a local collage radio program and it blew me away.

(c) 2017 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

I Too Can So Write!: 2/1/17

As per the norm, we have a fresh post up at I Are Writer!, where we explore such things as editing, asking for help and milking an old story. And as always, you can read there and comment here.

In other exciting news, you have been chosen for a mission impossible, namely, reading a an honest-to-good-Ethel-Mertz post of epic proportions. What follows is not for the faint of heart nor for the weak of mind, but for the strength of spine and courage of conviction.

Today, is Wednesday. And while it's not Prince Spaghetti day (because there are better pastas out there than Prince), it is time for the monthly post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

IWSG

Are you a writer? Are you insecure? Do people mock you for writing? Well, come join yours truly as well as many many many many others who dare to say HA!!! in response to those shallow people who mock us.

Since I recently turned into a writer of leisurely pursuits, I often need a kick in the tushie to perform a jumping-jack start to my blog posts. Today is no exception. So Behold! Be Unified! Be Daring! And read the QUESTION! OF! THE! MONTH!

Today's question is brought to you today by the entire alphabet, who is chomping at the bits for April Fool's Day.

How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

Well, I'm not quite sure how me being a writer has changed my reading experience, but hey, this should be an interesting answer.

I've always been very strange with my reading habits, like really detesting an entire genre of literature {literary fiction & non-fiction}. But I think after pursuing the writing life for the past dozen years, it has sharpened my attention span to the tricks of the trade that I semi-tolerated as a straight reader but now loathe as a reader who writes.

As I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, I detest the literary genre like some people detest the new President. Everything that turns me off as a reader is used in extreme excess by literary writers. I do not need to read fifteen pages of backstory per chapter when I'm reading a novel; I do not need to read a book of non-fiction that ultimately reads like a master's thesis and is drier than Death Valley; I do not need to read a book that starts out with a fantastic premise only to quickly dive bomb into a treatise about your undiagnosed bipolar disease and your journey self loathing {I can back this up and cite you the title in the comments if you so desire}. I do not need to read a mystery that within 30 pages tells me the solution and spends then next 150 in a long-winded psychological info dump of the two main protagonists.

If this sounds like a long rant, I do apologize. What it really boils down to is this: Whereas prior to being a writer, I read for the pure enjoyment of the story. Nowadays, while I still do read for the pure enjoyment, I also read with the dual thoughts running in the background of "How is this particular writer holding my attention? How are they not holding my attention and turning me off?"

As a writer, I always strive to hook the reader from page one and to keep them hooked to the very end. So ultimately, my goal is write what I like to read. Not necessarily from a genre standpoint {I write adult paranormal/fantasy fiction that crosses into erotica}, but from the overall perspective of "hey, this jacket blurb looks interesting, let's crack it open and read a page or two". And really, isn't that the one solid goal that any writer wants to achieve: to write what they read and to consistently have a product that people will pick up, explore and buy.

(c) 2017 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.