Let's Share! -- Who are You?

Happy Friday everyone!

The year has passed by to quickly and we're already in the last couple months of 2010. November, as we all know, is a time to be thankful. Our blessings make us realize how fortunate we are.

This year one thing I'm thankful for are my blog readers! Yes, that's right. Each and every one of you. You have shown me encouragement and support, you've challenged me to be better and delve deepers. You've cheered with me and prayed with me--you've witnessed me at my best and at my worst.

I could not have asked for better friends over the last year.

Then I came to realize...I don't know all of you that well. So, for this week's Let's Share!, how about we turn the tables. I want to get to know you! Share with us a thing or two about you and let's get to know each other better.

Have a FAB weekend!

A Personal Q&A

What's your greatest fear?

Well, on the surface, it would seem that spiders are my greatest fear. Yes, I am very arachnophobic. I can still remember my sister chasing me around with Daddy Longlegs and screaming my head off.

If you look deeper, though, you’ll see my greatest fear is linked to my greatest desire—to make a difference. My fear is that I will not make a difference, that I will be ineffectual.

What was the most dangerous thing you ever did?

Most dangerous? Oh, I am so not a risk-taker like that. Sleeping on a dock with nothing to keep me from rolling into the water is the only thing that comes to mind. Well, that, and getting pregnant in spite of all my health issues.

What's your dream?

Besides becoming a published author and making a difference? My dream is to raise my wonderful children to be considerate, loving adults who trust in God the same way I do now.

How many manuscripts do you have under your belt?

Technically, I’ve written four novels. Two of which will probably never see the light of day if I have my way. One which I wrote, revised, and pitched—but then put on the back burner. My current WIP is completed and in the editing process.

Name the top 10 people you would most like to meet in the world, in order of preference?

Number one would be Alex Lidell. She is one of my favorite writing partners and although we’ve conversed for about three years online, we’ve never met. The rest are in no particular order:

2. Beth Moore—her Bible studies are the main “human” reason I am where I am in my relationship with my Savior.

3. John B. Olson—I loved his novel, Shade, and look forward to reading Powers. He writes in the same genre as I would like to.

4. Dawne Dominique—A lady who has been so supportive and encouraging as I explore this crazy world of writing and publishing.

5. Annie and Jay—Part of the East Coast Trio (including Alex Lidell), these two are great writers, fab reviewers, and well, just all-around good people to know.

6. Ren Black—Another critique partner, her and I both hope to be published by the same publisher one day. We also have a lot in common when it comes to our lifestyles—from writing to homeschooling.

7. The Ladies of The Writer’s Alley—One of my favorite blogs, each woman is so unique and fun, I’d just love a chance to meet them all one day.

8. Sandra Byrd—My mentor in the Christian Writers Guild Apprenticeship program, she has helped me grow so much over the last couple of years. I’d love to meet her one day and give her a great big hug!

9. Sara Horn—Founder of Wives of Faith, a ministry focused on supporting and encouraging military wives. I’ve always had a heart for women, but recently found God leading me to encourage those who are just like me, which is why I’ve been so blessed to be a blogger for Wives of Faith.

10. Oh, and I guess I want to meet Kurt Chambers too. He’s a rockin’ MG writer and a fantabulous friend.

Those are my answers to your questions. Now you know me just a little bit better. I’ll meander in a few times today, so if you think of anything else you want to know…leave a comment!

Gimme Your Best Shot!

Last Friday I left an open post. Ask me any question you've always wanted to know, and I'd answer that for tomorrow's Get to Know psot. So far, only one person stopped by to comment and leave a question (or three). Now, that isn't going to make the best kind of interview.

So, for today, I say the same. Leave a comment with your burning questions and we'll see what tomorrow's post will look like!

In the meantime, Happy Monday!

Get to Know: ME

Well, I've been immersed in this blogging world for a couple of years now (off and on, different blogs), but I don't think I've ever given my followers the chance to get to know me.

I mean, you all know the basics. I'm a Christian, and a SAHM with three kids--2 girls and a boy. I married an Army soldier and we're about to move to Hawaii. :)

But what else do you want to know?

Post your questions here today and on Tuesday for my normal "Get to Know:" post, I'll answer them. Be creative, silly, funny...or serious.

Oh goodness, what am I getting myself into?

Get to Know: Writing.Com

Four years ago, in July of 2006, I made the big decision. I wanted to be a professional writer. I’d been piddling around with a story for a year or so “just for fun”. Now here I was with a newborn—my first time without a job since I turned sixteen. What better way to spend my free time than pursuing my lifelong passion of writing? (And yes, I realize “free time” with a newborn is an oxymoron, but that’s another post altogether!)

So, now I’d made this big decision. I wanted to write with the intention of being published one day. Where do I start? What does being a professional writer entail? Where do I even get started?

Well, I believe I typed the words “fiction writing” in the Google search engine and hit enter. One trillion gazillion hits…great. That was a lot of help. So I pulled on my big girl panties and started clicking on every link.

One of the first websites I visited was Writing.Com. At first glance, it was a little intimidating. An interactive site where writers share and critique each other’s work—did they expect me to share too?

After some consideration, I decided to create my own account and portfolio. I had some poetry and short stories, plus several chapters of my novel that I could upload to test out the site. I was having a blast exploring and giving writers very short opinion statements along the lines of “I really enjoyed this” (b/c who was I to critique anyone, I didn’t know what I was doing).

Then it happened.

A couple of days in, I ran across The Novel Workshop. A workshop created for novel writers (a lot of WDC is made up of shorter pieces: poetry, short stories, articles, etc.) with the goal of helping writers pursue their dreams of publication through critiques and workshops. Broken down by genres for critiques, but brought together for the workshops, this was right where I needed to be.

I joined the YA genre (my first novel was a mainstream YA) and very timidly wrote my first review of a fellow member’s chapter. This is what you have to do first to get your novel up on the forum board to be reviewed. Hot dog! It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought with their required review layout.

And then I was hooked on WDC.

I’ve participated in many groups and activities besides The Novel Workshop. Writing.Com offers a wide variety of activities for writers of all levels. From contests and writing groups to classes and support groups, there is definitely something for everyone.

So, how does it work?

When you get on Writing.Com, you first register for an account/portfolio. WDC offers free accounts, but there are paid ones as well that allow you to do different things. The paid ones offer such amenities as larger portfolios, less/no ads, the ability to host your own group/forum, even have your own website from their server.

Once you’ve registered, you can create items in your portfolio. With each item you have total control over everything from presentation to privacy. So many people are worried about privacy on sites like these, as we don’t want our work stolen. This isn’t as big of deal as we may think, but to ease your fears, WDC offers levels of privacy. You can make your item available to everyone, or restrict it to WDC members of a certain level or a certain group. You can even make it private with a passcode that you give out to those you want to review your item.

Each item can also be critiqued by others. With a scale of 1-5 plus a text box, people can leave their feedback and/or gift points (GPs I’ll explain in a minute). This is a great way to gage where you are in your writing. Granted, each review should be taken with great discernment. Some reviewers are brand new writers, some experienced with their own published books. Some people know what they’re talking about…some have not a clue, but like to act like they do. The best way to get reviews is to give reviews! People are usually pretty good about returning the favor.

WDC is a lot like its own little community, complete with its own monetary system. Gift points (GPs) are a currency that allows you to do a variety of things. You can use GPs to purchase sigs, raffle tickets, or items from the WDC store. You can even use them as a reward for reviewing, or as a gift when you review something really awesome.

WDC is very dear to my heart. It’s where I got my start in writing, and where I learned enough to get me on the right track. I’ve participated in contests…even hosted a few. I’ve been a member of several groups, from The Novel Workshop to Open Door to Grace (a prayer group for fellow writers) to Freelance Lighthouse (a group dedicated to helping start your freelance writing business). I’ve enjoyed getting to know other writers through the IM, chat, and email program. I’ve made friendships that are very precious to me. I have a handful of critique partners that I love and trust…even one in Canada and one in England!

I highly recommend that you take the time to check WDC out! You may get hooked—just like me! Oh, and if you’re not a writer, you can still create an account just to get in there to read and review. You’ll never run out of things to read!

Get to Know: Alex Lidell

Welcome to the next installment of Get to Know!

As you all know, I belong to an online critique group called The Novel Workshop. One of my most dedicated and favorite critique partners is Alex Lidell. Like Cathy Bryant, Alex and I don’t write in the same genres, but that doesn’t bother us. I love that Alex makes me think and always challenges my thought patterns (and she keeps me from being too preachy!).

Alex was one of the top three finalists in the Amazon Breakout Novel Contest this year. Her YA fantasy, Service of the Crown, is one of my favorite reads! Although she didn’t win the Amazon contest, she did win over an agent, who in turn got her a contract with Dial Books for Young Readers (a Penguin imprint). I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for her.

Welcome to Faith, Hope, and Suspense, Alex!

To start with, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.

About me? I’m so much more used to talking about my characters. Okay. Let’s see… I am 29 years old and have been an avid Young Adult fantasy reader ever since my elementary school librarian stuck Tamora Pierce’s Alanna in my hands.

I was not a lit major in college or grad school. In fact, I tested out of freshman English, convinced my advisor to count fencing toward some other requirement (European history, I think) and tried to give my trusty cliff notes to my roommate, who WAS a lit major. She spent freshman year trying to explain to me that she really does want to read her assigned books because that is what lit majors do. I figured it was just one of her weird quirks, like running. (Note to self: Find her and tell her about SOC. She’s going to look at me cross-eyed.)

I actually learned to write at the Young Adult Novel Workshop, through a combination of getting and giving feedback. And I read a lot of writing books. SOC is my first novel, but I have revised it so much that by now it is nothing like what I originally typed up.

Can you give us a little blurb about Service of the Crown (SOC as we fondly refer to it as)?

A girl from a noble family struggles to become a fighter at the Crown's military academy, as she negotiates her best friend's use of drugs to control his healing magic, and the notorious past of her mysterious mentor.

Where did you get the idea for SOC?

When I graduated and moved away, I started to miss those 2am conversations you have in the dorm room. I needed some cool, opinionated people who’d come hang out in the middle of the night. So Savoy and Renee (my main characters) showed up. We started together on March 20, 2007 and are still going.

What was it like to make it as far as you did in the Amazon Breakout Novel Contest?

Weird. I had a year worth of rejections behind my belt and was only in the contest for the Publisher’s Weekly review, which all quarter-finalists received. After that, I was waiting to get cut already. I KNEW I wasn’t going to make the finals and I wanted to keep querying, which I could not do until I fell out from the contest. When the call came that I was one of the three YA finalists and was going to Seattle, I was in total shock. Leigh Feldman, my totally wonderful agent, contacted me about that time as well. It seems good things happen when I give up on waiting for them.

Now that you have a contract, you’ve begun the edits on SOC. What is the hardest part about working with an editor? The best part?

The hardest part was accepting that my favorite character can’t be the star of the show because of his age. The best part, is feeling that this is “for real”. Also, I can already see the editor’s comments making the book stronger.

I know there are certain parts of this story that you have to leave out or rework in ways you didn’t envision. How does it make you feel and how do you manage to push through these feelings to make the necessary changes?

It’s a challenge, a stimulating one. Sometimes, I get to re-visit my favorite scenes (which are fun) and write them from a different perspective. Sometimes it’s permission to do something I have never done, like adding romance. And sometimes it’s a puzzle: given tools X (ie. Renee’s POV) and limitations Y (ie. Her character’s abilities) accomplish goal Z (i.e. tell Savoy’s back story).

What has been the biggest surprise for you coming into this part of the publishing process?

My Agent’s favorite SOC character. Won’t tell you who she liked best, but will tell you that I just sat there and blinked at her. And then my editor said the same thing, but I was prepared and did not blink at her for quite that long. In practice, this means that as part of my editing, I am turning “up the volume” on some aspects of the novel and turning it “down” on others. This I expected. What I didn’t expect was which aspects would get turned which way. I have to say though, these guys (well, ladies) are right. The revisions are making the novel stronger.

If you could name the top three things that helped you to get where you are today as a writer, what would they be?

My crit partners. Starbucks. Character and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Work with reviewers but don’t ask questions you don’t actually want answers to or ask them of people whose opinion you don’t want to know. It annoys them and messes with you.

Do you have a favorite book/author?

Alanna by Tamora Pierce. I can’t say that it’s the best book I have ever read (in fact, I like some of Pierce’s Protector of the Small series better), but it’s the book that inspired me the most in the genre. And I recently read the Cain Mutiny which was awesome.

Anything else you would like to say to the readers?

That’s all I got, Rare – but if anyone has specific questions or comments or wants to talk about their writing, they can find me on twitter (@Airdale51) or Facebook (Alex Lidell). Thanks Rare.

Thank you, Alex, for joining us here today. You’ll have to come back when your novel is out to let us know where we can purchase it!

Get to Know: Cathy Bryant, Heart-Stirring Stories, Life-Changing Grace

Welcome to the first installment for “Get to Know:”, where I’ll be interviewing writers in various stages of writing and publishing. I believe that no matter what the stage we are in, there is always something for us to teach others—even if we don’t know it.

To kick off this new column, it is an absolute pleasure to introduce to you a good friend and one of my favorite critique partners, Cathy Bryant!

I met Cathy a couple of years ago through the American Christian Fiction Writers, we were both looking for critique partners and, even though we write in two completely different genres, we paired up. I can’t speak for her, but I figured that our differences would be assets to each other. We might pick out stuff others in the same genre might not. (Cathy’s note: Agreed!!!)

Cathy is the author of Texas Roads and the soon-to-be-released A Path Less Traveled. She also maintains a popular blog entitled Word Vessel and a monthly newsletter.

Welcome to Faith, Hope, and Suspense, Cathy!

Thanks for the invite, Ralene! I always enjoy spending time with you!

To start out with, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m just an ordinary person—a wife with two grown sons, one beautiful daughter-in-love, and the most precious grandson in the world. I teach private music lessons and write stories. In my spare time (Ha!) I enjoy reading, home improvement projects, watching movies, spending time outdoors, gardening, hiking, and canoeing.


How/when did you decide to become a writer?

I don’t think I decided to be a writer; it’s more like I just am. I truly believe when we acknowledge God as sovereign Lord in our lives, He directs our paths (the theme of A Path Less Traveled). Writing is just part of the path He put me on. I’ve been reading, writing, and telling stories since I was a child. This time in my life is when He chose to bring it to the forefront.


You took the unconventional route and got your novel self-published through Smashwords. What prompted that decision?

The short answer is because I felt that’s what God wanted me to do.

The decision to self-publish was difficult for me, mainly because I knew the stigma (especially in the writing world) against authors who are self-published. I’m a recovering people-pleaser, so the thought of setting myself up for ridicule and even hostility, was like stepping out in front of a firing squad…without a blindfold! Texas Roads was a 2009 finalist in the ACFW Genesis contest, and that opened doors for the book to be considered by several traditional publishers. In fact, the book was being considered by two different publishers when I felt God leading me to go the independent route. So I withdrew the manuscript from further consideration and jumped off the high dive!


Why did you choose Smashwords?

Smashwords.com was the starting point for Texas Roads because I wanted to make the book available first as an e-book. Smashwords.com was the logical choice because they also serve as a distributor to several online stores, including Barnes & Noble, Sony, and Apple. Next, I made Texas Roads available in print at Amazon.com. As the largest online bookstore, Amazon was again, a logical step. Just recently, I made the book available in print through Ingram distributors, so the book can be ordered at brick and mortar bookstores. I may change the order of that process a bit on the second book in the Miller’s Creek, Texas series—A Path Less Traveled—available Fall 2010.


What do you think are the pros/cons of being self-published?

I wrote an entire article on this at my blog. Here’s the link, in case anyone wants the long version: http://wordvessel.blogspot.com/2010/07/benefits-drawbacks-of-self-publishing.html.

Here’s the short version: PROS-you maintain control of your work (you call the shots), you set the timetable (no months, and even years, of waiting), you keep more of the profits per book (40-85% rather than 10-15%); CONS-the stigma (which I’m thankful to say, is decreasing), upfront costs (just like any business), and the biggest for me is the workload (no corporate help with distribution, publicity, design, etc.).


Do you think you’ll ever try the traditional route?

I’m a big believer in “never say never,” but now that I know the ropes of publishing a book, I’m not sure a traditional publisher can offer me a better deal.


What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Read, study, pray, write. (Sounds like a movie title, huh?) =)

Read the kinds of books you want to write. Read a wide variety of books—non-fiction, classics, books outside your genre.

Study the craft of writing. There are an awesome number of great books and classes available to help you become a better writer. Take advantage of them, and apply what you learn to your writing.

Pray about the direction God would have you take with your writing. Let Him lead. It will take away so much of the pressure.

You can’t be a writer unless you write. Writing isn’t for wimps. It’s hard, lonely, mind-numbing W.O.R.K. Write constantly, and when you’re not writing, think about writing. (Yeah, it’s a form of mental illness…) ;)


What are the top three things that you think helped you to get to where you are as a writer today?

First, my relationship with God. He’s the reason I write—my motivation. He’s also my inspiration, and daily drips into my mind the direction He wants me to take and the ideas that come out in my stories and articles.

Second, encouragement from family and friends. My family and friends have been so awesome to encourage me in my writing. They’ve never once belittled me or my writing, and have been willing to sacrifice and help in whatever way they could. I feel beyond blessed!

Third, amazing resources of information, in the form of books, classes, organizations, and other writers and readers (including my awesome crit partner)! =) All of these are the whetstones to my words. They sharpen my humble, and often feeble, attempts at writing, and make my words sing!


Do you have a favorite author? Favorite book?

Mmmm, I have several…but I’ll be nice and list just a few.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers will always be a favorite. This story touched my heart with God’s truth and love, and was a huge catalyst in my desire to write Christian fiction.

Another favorite is Anne of Green Gables. Anne and I are best buds, and I still relate to her on so many levels, almost like we’re sisters under the skin.

I’m also a huge fan of Susan May Warren. She writes so many different kinds of stories, and all of them well. She’s also a great writing teacher. I’ve yet to read a book she wrote that I didn’t like.


Is there anything else you would like to say to those reading this blog post?

If you’re a writer, hang in there! It’s easy to get discouraged and distracted. The enemy will do anything to keep us immobilized, but our God is greater than all. Depend on Him, and He’ll see you through.


Thank you, Cathy, for allowing us just a little peek into your world. It is a blessing and a pleasure to enjoy this time with you.

The pleasure and blessing is all mine, Ralene!

You all can find Cathy's novel Texas Roads here.