Tag Archives: authors

Suggestions on How to Get Out of a Writing Rut

Posted in Article, helpful author tips, indie author, self publishing, writing, writing tips by

note pad

Has there ever been a time when you wanted to get essential thoughts down on paper but just could not get yourself moving to do so? Whether you are a writer, student, or simply someone wanting to inscribe a thank you note, it can happen. The magic question is what can be done to get out of the rut?

Helpful Suggestions

Think about what you are trying to write about in the first place. Start by focusing on the task at hand and then begin mentally de-cluttering your mind of everything else.

Put your thoughts down on something tangible like paper or a computer. If you are anything like me, as soon as a great inspiration pops into my head I have to immediately write it down. When you have a busy schedule, it’s very easy to forget things.  With this method, you then have the option to go back to your notes later on. It’s a helpful way to kick-start your creative juices to get it flowing again.

Select a means to push your productivity. This can be a special room, a selective piece of furniture like a bed or chair, a special music playlist, or even something straightforward as a change of scenery like sitting in the park or going to a coffee shop. Whatever you decide to do it should be something that is refreshing, and will give you the ability to concentrate.
All it takes is the decision to get started, and as long as you stay motivated and passionate you have the foundation to work through getting out of a rut.

 

R. Lynn Archie

Website:  www.rlynnarchie.com

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The Effect Duplicate Titles Can Have on an Authors KDP Select Bookshelf

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KDP Select Bookshelf

Do you know the protocol of having duplicate books on your Amazon KDP Select bookshelf? I didn’t before, but I do now.  First off, as much as I would like to keep my bookshelf tidy by deleting unwanted things, unfortunately, there is no option to take that action. Maybe there is a way internally through KDP, I’m not sure, but what I am certain of is an author is not able to make it happen.

The alternative solution is to change your active book to an unpublished draft. And, if you want to start off fresh still using the same book title, but not wanting the baggage that goes along with it (e.g. reviews, editorials, etc.) you would then use the option “Add a New Book” to create a new book with the same title but under a different ASIN. To be frank, my thinking was the old, unpublished draft would be closed and obsolete, however, that wasn’t the case.

What I came to learn was if you have the same title book their detail pages automatically link within 48 hours after an additional edition or version is published as long as the content, title, and contributors are exactly the same. The only way to avoid this automatic action in the future is to change a small detail in the title by adding a subtitle or a change to the form in which the author’s name is written as desired. You might perform this with the unpublished draft so the system doesn’t feed and match details for similarities.

Though in my case, since it had already happened, it took a few times going back and forth in correspondence with KDP representatives to get things corrected. Things ended well, but it was a headache getting to that point.  Hopefully my experience prevents you from making the same error.

R. Lynn

Website:  http://www.rlynnarchie.com

Now Available – Love vs. Career

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AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO SEE BOOK TRAILER

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VISIT MY WEBSITE:  http://www.rlynnarchie.com

 

 

 

 

Using Points of View (POV) in Your Writing

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POINTS OF VIEW

When I first began writing, I wasn’t aware that stories were written in points of view. So, what is a point of view? Simply put, it’s a way that writers allow readers to see and hear what’s going on. Point of view in books will contain detail, opinion, or emotion the author wants to accentuate; therefore, a point of view catches the attention of the reader.

The Three Major Kinds of POV

First-person point of view involves the use of either of the two pronouns “I” and “we”. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator, and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. A good novel selection would be Twilight by Stephanie Meyers. The main female character Bella Swan is the narrator; we see things from her point of view.

  • (Example) “I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.”

Second-person point of view, the narrator tells the story to another character using “you” and “your”. This is the least used POV. You will see this used more in literature such as a cook book. Although a perfect selection of a novel used this way would be Jay McInerney’s, Bright Lights, Big City.

  • (Example) “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”

Third-person point of view is the most popular of the three and uses pronouns like “he”, “she”, “it”, “they” or a name. The narrator isn’t present as a character. The writer may choose third-person omniscient in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character’s mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. A good third person POV book is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Examples:

  • When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him.
  • “He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she, “sensible, good humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!”

My preference is third person point of view because it’s what I feel the most comfortable with, and it allows me complete freedom in telling my story. I would like to hear from you. Tell me, what point of view you use in your writing?

 

R. Lynn

 

Helpful Tips for New Indie Authors

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Helpful Tips

I noted in my prior post that it’s been a year since self-publishing my first romance novel, and I have to admit that my journey on becoming an indie author has been an enjoyable one. Throughout the year I’ve received so much useful writing advice and information; all which has helped me grow as a writer.

In this post I’m giving back in hopes of helping others; my advice for new indie authors starting out would be, have patience and stay committed. Everyone has hopes and dreams of becoming rich and famous, but realistically there’s a chance that might never happen. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in what you love doing, and what I mean by that is whatever you’re passionate about just stay focused on executing your goal from start to finish. When you can accomplish that then you will always succeed by coming out on top.

Lastly, one final point I’m going to share is do not burn yourself out. I did that writing my first and second novel by not allowing any downtime in between — that was such a bad idea and a big no-no. Nowadays, it’s mandatory that I take breaks in between writing projects. Trust me, even something as small as doing nothing for a weekend but being idle will do you a world of good.

Just remember when it comes to your writing routine make sure you choose a non-stressful schedule that works best for you. All things considered, being an indie author is great, and the best part for me is there’s no one to answer to because I’m the boss!

Talk to you soon,

R. Lynn

Website: www.rlynnarchie.com
Email: info@rlynnarchie.com

The Falling of Love Book Tour – Marisa Oldham

Posted in Article, blog tour, ebooks, good writer, self publishing, Uncategorized, writing by
TFOL Blog Tour Banner

I would like to welcome romance author Marisa Oldham to my blog. This is the first day of her book tour and I will be asking questions about her book The Falling of Love, as well as, thoughts behind her Dreamcast selection of characters.

Marisa, What inspired you to write The Falling of Love?

I’ve had Grace’s story in my head since I was about fifteen years old. I think growing up over the years, watching and experiencing how tragic love can be, was a huge inspiration to me.

Did you know from the beginning it was going to be a series? Yes. I actually did. If I hadn’t broken the story up the book would’ve been about 900 pages or more. I always knew what the beginning, middle and end of the story would be. It just works for it to be a series of 3.

What’s your favorite part of the book? The sweet love between Grace and Ian in the beginning really touches my heart, but I’ll admit, I love the drama towards the middle and end of the book. I think that THAT is what makes readers fall in love with this story and really tugs at their heartstrings.

What was the hardest part to write in the book? Ian’s changes and the turmoil he goes through. What I put Grace through. Sometimes I think I’m too hard on her character.

If you could have dinner with one character out of your book who would it be? Why that character? Ian – the simple answer, because he’s hot and even though he makes poor choices, when he’s himself, he’s amazingly loving and romantic. I wish what I wrote would magically appear before me in the form of my dream guy. I think where a lot of readers will really fall in love with Ian is in The Falling of Grace, book 2.

TFOL-Dream-Cast

Tell us about your Dreamcast and why you choose who you did?

Grace was easy to cast – she’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. At first, I was thinking Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, but then my sister said that Candice Swanepoel was a better Grace. I agreed with her because Candice possesses an innocence while still looking like a sex goddess. That is Grace to me. I was lucky to find a photo of Candice when she was about Grace’s age in TFOL.

Ian was probably one of my most difficult to cast. He’s a cross between a young Axl Rose and Jared Leto. I was using Bartek Borowiec, a male model, for a long time, because for young Ian he was perfect, but he’s too feminine looking to be Ian. Jared Leto is more how I picture Ian at an older age. For now, he’ll have to do because there is no one else out there that looks like Ian.

Jaden is also hard to cast because he’s a mixture of guitar player Izzy Stradlin, Trent Reznor, Richard Fortus, and my friend and musician Paul Kenny. They all could pull off playing Jaden. I chose Izzy for this dream cast. I may choose one of the other gorgeous men for the TFOG dream cast.

Michelle is the most difficult of them all to cast because of her wild curls. I see her with the face of Miranda Kerr, but I’ve found very few photos of Miranda with curly hair. The other day my sister said that Megan Fox with curly hair would make a great Michelle, which is true, but for now, it will have to be Miranda Ker and you’ll just have to imagine her with wild curls.

James always looked like James Hetfield to me. So he was easy. I wonder how the lead singer of Metallica would feel about me casting him to play Grace’s overbearing brother? LOL.

Brandon and Bailey were easy to cast. I just looked for a beautiful, young redhead and a handsome young red-haired boy. I think they’re pretty perfect.

Micah is a little hard to find photos for because he’s covered in tattoos but rocks a 50’s greaser style. I managed to come up with a few different photos for him, but they’re all different men.

All the others in my dream cast were very easy to select. I knew what I was looking for when I was searching for Ian’s dad, John and his mother Rose. Eddie is even named after who I think he would look most like and that is Eddie Vedder. Can you tell I love rock n’ roll?

RLA: I would like to thank you for stopping past and I wish you all the best on your tour Marisa.
MO: Thank you for hosting me, it’s been a pleasure.

The Falling of Love is available on Amazon.

Marisa’s Social Media Link:

Marisa’s Website            Facebook               Twitter              Goodreads

Book Review: Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet

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First let me say this is not romance book, but science fiction.  Every now and then I do like reading something different.  I have to say that “Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet” was an enjoyable read. The book is about fifteen year old Jack Finnegan, an average teenager who has had his share of childhood problems and inadequacies.

And, it’s in this fifteenth year that a radical change transforms his life. It is an adjustment that centers on Jacks’ school acquaintance Anna Shepherd, Mr. Shepherd (Anna’s dad and Jack’s teacher) and Mr. Green (another teacher). People he thought he knew; however, what a surprise for him when he learns they are not what they betrayed themselves to be. Also, if that is not enough to comprehend, Jack has to deal with unsavory Deathlord aliens who are wreaking havoc and destroying anything and everything that crosses their path.

I like the growth that Jack’s character achieves along the way turning him from a laid-back teenager into a more focused and responsible individual. The things Jack endures are more than he ever could have envisioned. In this book, you will come across zombies, different alien races, spaceships, a princess and more.

I would put this book in the young reader’s category only because of the dialog used; I think a pre-teen/teenager would have a deeper appreciation for it. Nonetheless, if you are an adult that enjoys reading science fiction stories with lots of action, adventure, and bits of humor thrown in here and there, then this story is right up your alley. It was a fun read, and I’ve already referred this book to a few young readers.  For more information on this book you can visit http://matthewkadish.com/.

Until later,

R. Lynn Archie

website:  http://www.rlynnarchie.com

Copyrighting a Book

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copyright

Book copyright protection is a question that comes up regularly from writers. Especially true now, when book manuscripts can travel by digital means like through email. It’s common to want to learn how best to safeguard your document whether it’s in eBook or manuscript form. There’s no doubt that when you are transmitting your document there is always the potential for it to pass through several hands, as well as different eyes seeing it, and who wouldn’t feel uneasy passing along their work in its unpublished state. Quite frankly, the first thing that came to mind for me was how do I control ownership?

There’s a good article on Copyrighting a Book. Although this isn’t the original one that was my guide, it does contain a lot of identical information. There are three different methods you can follow to safeguard yourself:  1) Secure Automatic Protection, 2) Get Official Registration and 3) Take Advantage of Registration Services. It’s pretty much you’re choice how you want to go about it, but I am strongly recommending it. Visit the article to read more about how you can protect the rights of your document.

R. Lynn

website:  www.rlynnarchie.com

Should You Include a Prologue in Your Novel?

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treasure chest

Not every book contains a prologue, but at one point in time, my curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to know if prologues are necessary. After reading up on the subject, and this is strictly my opinion, I would say no. I believe it depends on the preference of the author on rather or not it would be a good fit.

For those that do not know, a prologue, sometimes referred to as a preface, is an introduction at the beginning of a novel. This form of introduction is an excellent way to give readers the general idea of your story while at the same time piquing their interest. The bonus being that a reader can get a quick feel of your style of writing.

From firsthand experience, it’s not always easy to write a prologue that is suitable for your story. I included one in my novel Eternal Existence that fits in nicely, where I did not with Trial of Marriage.

Nonetheless, if deciding to go in that direction, there is a good explanatory article called How to Write a Prologue that states some useful tips to follow. Overall, you want your prologue:  to be interesting, be sure the length is appropriate, keep the language/tone consistent within the prologue, and limit the background information. If you follow these straightforward rules you cannot go wrong.

Happy writing,

R. Lynn

Website Information:  www.rlynnarchie.com