A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

Rose Johnson, author of God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea What started you on your writing journey? That was the question Rose Chandler Johnson posed to me when she interviewed me this week for her blog, Write Moments with God . What indeed . I love that when I answer these questions I am not only telling others my story, but I’m learning more about myself along the way. What started me on my journey? My mother taught me to love books. She taught me to read. My second grade teacher told me I was a writer. She published one of my stories in our school newspaper. (It was a pretty big deal when you consider the school was big—housing classes from first through eighth grade.) Then, when I was a senior in high school, our English teacher was on a leave of absence. We had a substitute. Not just any substitute. She was a writer. She had us write every day. She selected one of my essays to read to the class. She smiled.  She told me I was a writer. So of...

Bumfuzzled. I looked it up. It means confused or perplexed. That perfectly describes the look I see on the faces of new writers who have been told they should have a blog. Bumfuzzled. Credit: homerouterreview.com Been there. Done that. So today I decided to share what I’ve learned about blogging. Not just any blogging. Blogging for the author… For the writer who wants to take the next step in his or her career… The person who wants to improve the craft or broaden that ever elusive platform. Disclaimer: I am not an expert on blogging. I have listened to experts on blogging, though. I am more of an expert in being bumfuzzled. But I’m working through it and happy to take you along on my journey. Why blog? Initially, I thought blogging was a forum for people who needed to rant or “wax philosophical.” Yeah, right. Not me. For authors a blog is more. ·       It is a place to practice the craft of written communication. ·    ...

Remnants of Kendall's room. Yeah, I know. She's over 30 now. For the past week I have been involved in the process of purging every room in my house. Okay, actually one room in the house. But I have a plan for the rest. The room I chose to attack first we still refer to as “Kendall’s room” even though she is married and long gone. Several years ago, I claimed it as my craft room. A craft room with a bed for when my grandchildren spend the night. Then I moved a table in to serve as my desk for writing (not ergonomically correct, but functional) and placed a large bookshelf in the space for my reference materials and extra supplies. Over time, the room that once held dolls and stuffed animals and the giggles of a little girl has become a craft room/office/guest bedroom combination. In addition, the closet in Kendall’s room is where I store gifts and wrapping paper. A bookshelf for writing. The gift closet. My writing table. We intend to sell our h...

Today's  post  is by guest author, Renee-Ann Giggie. I first met Renee-Ann at a writing conference. We have remained friends via the internet. Her first novel, Stella's Plea  is a quick and engaging read. Renee-Ann decided to enter the world of self-publishing, also known as independent or  in the  trade as "indie" publishing. For today's blog, I asked Renee-Ann to share her experiences as an indie author. Meet R.A. Giggie As a teen, in the mid-seventies, I wrote for fun. Fast forward to 2010. Still writing  just for fun , I decided to enter the  NaNoWriMo  challenge (National Novel Writing Month). I wasn't a published author, nor was I planning to become one. Little, did I know, where this journey would take me. I fell in love with my characters, and wanted to do something with my story. After working with a professional editor, I ended up self-publishing  Stella's Plea   (2012). This brings me to my first point: Never  do...

Previously: You have an agent. You have a publisher. You don’t need to market your book, right? Wrong. Even if you are with a large publishing house, you need to market your book. Or if freelance is your gig, you need to market yourself. Today I’m sharing five more strategies I’m using in marketing Breathing on Her Own . These aren’t new and exciting. They are tried and true. (For the previous five see last week’s post dated April 30, 2014) Giveaways- Giving away a copy of your book stimulates interest. So far I have offered two giveaways. The first was when I received my first shipment of books. I took a picture, posted it on FB and asked people to repost it to their friends. Was it successful as a marketing tool? I think so. According to my calculations over 7500 people not on my friend’s list learned about the book through this strategy. I drew one person’s name out of the hat (literally) and sent her an autographed copy of the book. I included a sheet of paper with ideas o...