Fast Week, Pen Names and the Dirty Dozen

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Photo credit: Katrina_S on Pixabay

Hey all, welcome back! Man, this week FLEW!! I was about to say that it feels as if I just wrote one of these posts, but the truth is…I did! If you missed it, I posted on Tuesday and I have to say, it felt good to do a second post this week. Granted, that one was a bit more on the personal side of things and I think I just needed to get some stuff out, but still, it felt good.

Anywhooo, let’s get to this one shall we?

I have really been making a ton of progress on my new book. I am honestly having a great time with this story and it has been playing in my head like a movie both while I’m writing and when I’m doing other stuff as well. The funny thing is that I still have no idea where it’s going to take me next. I can picture the town and the people so clearly I feel as if I know them now. But as I am not an outliner and I’m still oblivious to where these good people are leading me to. And frankly? I love it.

I am known as a ‘pantser’ type of writer: one who flies by the seat of their pants. I do not outline and never have. Not even in school. I mean, sure, I learned how to do it, but my stories come to me fresh each day and that is how I type. I just run with it. Much like I do here but I swear my stories are more organized than the rambling posts I publish here each week. The only time I write something down is when I have an idea that may tie in things later, come up with a scenario for a character, or to make sure that I go back to something I said earlier for continuity’s sake. But going into a story? I have no clue about how it will all weave together until it is done.

What I have been doing, which is a major help this time around, is editing every night. I edit the chapter I wrote the night before as I reread it which also gears me up to write the new chapter ahead. I am proud to say that I’ve already passed the ‘dirty dozen’ mark and am now about to start chapter 15! This book is seriously flying. I’ve even designed the cover already and I’m so happy with that as well. It looks just the way I’m envisioning the Main Street of the town in my head.

I think my biggest issue, besides studying the best way to publish this one, is my name. You see, my own name is long. Very long. As much as I would like to use it, (as a sort of juvenile way to show those from my past that hey, I’m a published writer so take that) it is not a professional sounding author name. So as I am prone to do, I took a little time to do some research and found that the name I would like to use is available! When creating the book cover, I created several versions of it with different pen names and of course, my actual name. I gotta say, the one I had picked out originally really does look the best. However, as someone who lives inside a guilty conscience, I don’t want to hurt my parents at all. I know I am an adult, hell, I’m in my mid-50’s! (Ugh) But yes, I still have that child-like guilt that rears its ugly head at the worst times and this is one of them. (But the pen name looks SO good!)

The book I’m currently reading is all about authors and publishers. Although fiction, it really dives deep into the whole world I’m now basing my life in and I’m learning a ton. At one point the main character talks about how her book may offend her family, etc. While my book isn’t offensive, my using a different name may be. I caught a line in the book that has resonated with me: “You cannot authentically share your soul when you are always looking over your shoulder.” Where the hell has this quote been all my life?

(Btw, the quote has been attributed to controversial author Philip Roth but it still rings true.)

So after reading this, as well as a lot of other sage advice this book has been handling me, I’m leaning more towards the pen name…and then a big conversation with my parents. I will of course also need to promote my book like crazy to everyone making sure they all know that it really was ME who wrote it. Ironically, going back to my current read, the author’s name is their pen name and they give the explanation on the back cover. Another bit of inspiration? Absolutely. So maybe the decision has already been made and this ramble of mine is my own way of talking myself into it.

Either way, the cover looks great. The story is going well and I sincerely hope I can get this done in time to be a late Summer Read this year. Is that soon? Hell yes! I’m putting pressure on MYSELF here! However, it seems besides a pen name I have also decided to do this one as a self-published book and therefore I can get it out there sooner rather than later and then query agents for my other books. Wow, I just talked myself into something HUGE here. Will it happen? Who knows, but this is part of the ‘fun’ of documenting my writing journey for you all. Sharing the back and forth mental torture I endure on a daily basis.

And that’s where I’ll leave you for today. I wrote quite a long post a few days ago and there is no need for a second one. Friday posting is tradition and I hope that someone out there has gotten something out of this!

Thanks for sticking with me, letting me ramble on and until next time…Cheers!

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You can find my social and shop links for the site: linktr.ee/promosocially

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What book was I talking about? The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

(note: it is now on sale and the author’s newest release.)

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That’s it for the links for today. Other shops and deals can be found on the right hand side of this site as well as my On the Bookshelf page. Thanks for following!!

Rainy Days, Immense Pain and Booktok or Not?

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Photo credit: mirkostoedter on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone had a great weekend out there. We here on the East Coast have been getting drenched with a few more days to go and I for one, am happy. There, I said it. LET IT RAIN!

There are a few reasons for this rush of love for the wet stuff…the first being that the high pitched screaming neighbor kids will have to stay inside which means I can open up my windows and let the fresh air inside. Also, I love, love, love reading during a good rainstorm. There is just something about it that gets into my soul. The smell of the fresh air, the sound of the drops hitting the different surfaces outside…it is quite simply Mother Nature conducting her own symphony for me while I escape into someone else’s words. 

Btw, I wrote a very short story called Instrumental Raindrops about just such an event. I’ll include the link after the post. 🙂

The next time there is rain in your area, take a break from the devices, grab a cup of tea, hot chocolate or a good whiskey and a book and just listen to it fall while you read. I love putting the focus feature on my phone and IPad on so I won’t get any notifications and lose myself in someone else’s writing. Plus, this time of the year the temps are still cool out there so no AC for now! Ok, I’ll stop. Just excited for the rain and the current postponement of Summer temps of which I am not a fan. But that’s a subject for another day. Maybe. People seem to get pretty heated over that the same way I get pretty passionate about my love of Fall. But I digress…

Please understand my statement up above about the kids is not my general feeling of them all. I absolutely love kids. I really do. We just have some bad eggs here in our neck of the woods that make me crazy. In general, all for them!

In fact, over the weekend I got to celebrate one of my favorite kids in the whole world. (His brother will have his own celebration next month—woo hoo!) Anyway, it was a good day. Filled with lots of laughs and catching up with folks, many of whom I haven’t seen for a few years. I love days like that. Just lots of visiting with people you truly love and have a lot of fun with. And the little guy was so excited and very smiley all day. Plus, you gotta love a kid who goes around and thanks each individual person for their gift. Seriously, what other eight year old does that?

As hard as I am trying to hold on to these good memories of the day, I unfortunately had a lot of problems I was dealing with. I was trying so hard not to reveal the immense and extreme pain I was in. I’ve partially discussed my medical issues here and there on this site. One thing I have failed to get across is that ever since my setback hit a year ago this month, I have been living in pain 24/7. We have tried to mix and match meds to help alleviate the symptoms but there are just some days that are worse than others. This was just such a day and the fact that I missed my time to take one of my painkillers while I was getting ready to go, didn’t help the situation at all. I’m on a very rigid schedule for these pills and I missed it. I also had none with me and didn’t put this all together until it was too late. So I did what anyone else would do, I opted for wine. #becausewhynot

Why am I sharing this? Well, first off, it’s my blog and I can share what I want to. KIDDING. Well, ok, not so much. It is technically true. However, I want it known that there are people out there like myself who have what are known as ‘invisible disabilities.’ You can’t see them just by looking at someone. When I walk, you KNOW I have issues. I have to hold onto something. I have to take it at a snail’s pace and you can see me wince with each step. I should be using my crutches, but hate the stigma of them so I try to do without. Stupid? Yes, yes it is. But there you go. 

However, if you see me sitting? You would never know there was anything wrong. During the ceremony at the church on Saturday, I had some nasty looks from folks when I had to stop all the standing and sitting stuff because it just hurt too much. Then they see me sit and think I’m being disrespectful. (It was part of why I sat in the way back to begin with but there are eyes everywhere.) If you talk to me for a bit, you will hear my speech change a little and I may have a hand twitch here and there as well, but in general, you will just see a woman who is having a nice conversation and laughing with her friends.

What you won’t see is what is going on inside. The pain, the frustration, the anger. Not being able to really get comfortable on a chair while in a discussion in public, or at home just sitting on the bed. You won’t see me going home after the day and finally letting go. Being able to collapse from the exhaustion from holding myself upright all day. When I came home the other day, I got home just before the Kentucky Derby post time….watched the race…then passed out for 18 hours. Yes, you read that right. I did, thankfully wake up for an hour in between for some water and my meds, but slept right through again to Sunday night. And you know that if I skipped a day reading? I was exhausted!

There are THOUSANDS of people like me out there! We put on our brave faces to show the world we can be like everyone else. We try to do everything everyone else is doing, but the truth is, we are hurting. And some of us are hurting real bad. So I’m sharing this for awareness sake. That person you see in the store, on the bus, at the office, waiting on a table, running a company, raising a kid, maybe in excruciating pain but trying to live their lives. They may be short of temper or say something in a tone that sounds rude but was never meant to be because they are trying not to cry or absolutely lose it in public. Everyone has bad days and some have bad weeks, months and years. So I ask that in general, be kind. Ok? 

While I was able to tie in the above with the kids, I can’t figure out a good segue to discussing Booktok so I’m just going to dive right in here…

I’m on TikTok for my two shops. I also happen to like it. I’ve learned a lot from other sellers and crafters out there. Despite what many think of the platform, TikTok isn’t all stupid stunts and people documenting their every move. It is what you make of it. And I have found some great and supportive folks there.

One section of the platform if you didn’t know already is something called Booktok. Thanks to the hashtag that grew the phenomenon, brick and mortar bookstores have seen a resurgence and physical books are being sold more now than they have in recent years. What’s great as well is that it has created a major boom for local bookstores, thrifting books and for authors, it is a marketing marvel since it’s free to promote their work! (My TBR pile has grown because of Booktok that’s for sure.)

I learned about several authors this way and the more progress I make on my own novels, the more I’m thinking I may need to start my own account for this site in the Booktok world. Will I? Not sure yet. I have secured my account for YouTube when it looked like the great TikTok ban was about to hit but I have yet to create any videos for it. I hate putting my face out there, I don’t even FaceTime or zoom with people I know, I certainly don’t want to do it on a social platform! (I did once or twice, but I used filters and was on meds.) Thankfully one of the trends right now are faceless videos and that I can do no problem. Basically this is me thinking out loud and trying to psyche myself up for finally creating an account. I mean, you don’t have to post at all! I could start by just creating a good list of people to follow first. All it takes is that first step, right?

So here’s to taking that first step! It’s a new month and a new week. Maybe it’s time for new opportunities as well. (Sounds good right?)

And that is where I will leave you for today. I do hope something here resonated with you in this post. I know this was another ramble and that’s what I do here but this was the first time in a while that I’ve done a more personal one. Thanks for sticking with me and getting this far.

Until next time…Cheers All! 🙂

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The story I mentioned earlier: Instrumental Raindrops

It can also be found in the ‘past works’ tab in the top menu bar, look under the first link for my Publish0x.com pieces.

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I’ve added two designs including one about reading in the rain to my Dashery shop! You can click my icon in the right sidebar or click the site’s linktree: linktr.ee/promosoically

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You can find my other shop’s social links, (including my TikToks if you are interested):

Vintage & Estate Jewelry: linktr.ee/stuffwefind

Stickers, bookmarks, tshirts and more: linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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Thanks for getting this far! If you are liking what I’m doing here, please hit the follow button upper right and you’ll get an email letting you know when I post. 🙂

Post Anxiety, Happy Place and Writing is Writing

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: TaniaRose on Pixabay.

Hey all, welcome back and Happy New Month! Yes, I totally flaked out this week by not posting until today. That was of course, not the plan. I’ve been so proud of myself for keeping up with the whole ‘multiple posts a week’ thing. Creating content to bring folks here to my site and up until this week, it was going well. However, last week when I did my traditional Friday post, almost no one read it. My numbers dropped dramatically after going up over the last few weeks. To say I was discouraged would be an understatement.

I became obsessed with looking at the analytics across my social channels and here on WordPress. Then the internal questions started: Was it me? Was it the post itself? Was it the time I posted/reposted it? What was it from just days earlier when the numbers were up to just a few days later when my post seemed dead in the water? I got mad. I got angry. Not at my readers, far from that! I got mad at myself!

I used to do content creation for a company. I was so in tune with what times to post things and even had a chart on my desk for each platform. Instagram you post at this time, Facebook, this one, Twitter, etc. Blog posts went up at a certain time of the day as well and right now, I have NO clue when that is anymore! I thought I had a handle on it. It had seemed in the past that early Friday posts were the way to go and when I had tried to post later on in the day, I’d lose my audience. So I went back to an earlier  post time last Friday and lost a good lot of you. Again, this is on me. This is ALL on me. And to those who were here? THANK YOU!!! You made my weekend!

After last week’s numbers, I went back and forth on what to do, when and what to write next. Then the week hit and will just say…it has been a rough one. So every night when I’d sit with my keyboard in my lap, I’d come to write something new here.  Instead, end up adding another chapter of my new novel. I keep telling myself that is a good thing. I’m making progress on that story so why am I worried? I am also trying to remind myself that I am not HERE for the numbers. That my writing is my writing and I come here to be open, honest and that even if no one else reads along with me, that’s ok. Then I remind myself that I am kind of hoping this blog gets to the point where I can make some money off of it and I’m right back to where I started. I believe that the moment this begins to feel like work to me? That’s when I’ll have to step back and rethink things, but until then, let the rambling continue! Again, honesty.

Working on this site has become a lifeline of sorts to me. Not just, as I’ve included in several posts, that it holds me accountable on my writing journey, while a major help, that’s not all this is supposed to be. I wanted this place to become a sort of ‘destination’ blog where other writers (and readers of course) could come and see what I’ve been going through and think “oh good, it’s not just me!” We are in this crazy world together after all, we shouldn’t have to go it alone.

So now where does this leave me? I have no clue. I still love this site and of course will continue to write these rambling posts of mine. I just really need to start doing the research again, (and if you’ve been with me for a while, you know how much I can’t get enough of research! If you’re new here? I LOVE it!). I need to figure out how to reach more of you. I also need to calm my mind down a bit because it had been working overtime.

Enough of the numbers game, let’s get back to ‘writing is writing.’ When I opened my new Dashery shop (see link, right sidebar) I made sure to include in my social promotions that it is for writers (and readers) of all kinds and I sincerely mean that. I am a believer that whether you write books, speeches, news articles, blog content, hell even a tagline for a ketchup bottle…YOU ARE A WRITER! Are you writing? YES. Never forget that.

You are also a writer if, like me, you have a parallel story in your head going while you are doing anything else but typing. I was making my dinner tonight and the narrative of my next scene in Chapter 11 (yes, I hit double digits this week hooray) was playing out in my head. I knew where the conversation was going to go, how I was going to get the characters to their next destination, all of it. This story is so embedded in me right now, I feel that I am living it in an alternate universe. I was at one of my doctor’s offices yesterday trying so hard to focus on the questions he was asking me as this was a pretty important appointment. Yet in my mind, I kept picturing the scenery in the town my characters are living in. What was the weather like? Was it about to change? And ‘shit, I really need to change the name of that guy. It just doesn’t fit at all.’ I also consider this a kind of writing because after all, where does the story come from in the first place? Your mind! So keep having those thoughts, just maybe do better than me at the whole focus thing. And don’t do it while driving, that’s just asking for trouble. 

While all this has been going on this week, I’ve also been hiding out in books again. I was waiting for my rather huge haul of books that I ordered during the Amazon book sale, (I went overboard) and was still in the process of rereading a few of my favorites just for pure escapism. I’m a huge Emily Henry fan. I’ve mentioned this before and no one is paying me to say it. I just love her books. Three in particular, are my favorites. The first two, Beach Read and Book Lovers being about writers/editors/agents has helped me get to understand the processes of others a lot better. After all, who better to write about writing than a writer?! Being new at the whole business side of it, while these are considered romance books, do go pretty deep into how they work and I love them for it.

The third book Happy Place just makes me laugh and who the hell doesn’t need that right now? I don’t do reviews. I’m very well established in saying this. I can only recommend what I like and I like, no LOVE this book. I think because it has to do with a group of friends that is very much like my own and it brings me back to the best time in my life. This is one has nothing to do with writing, just about being around those who know you the best. Of course the scene where they all take pot gummies and then ride the Ferris wheel just makes it that just better. 

The book’s title is very much what I was thinking of when I was rereading it. It’s been a hell of a time in my personal life and having this type of book to escape to has helped a great deal. It lifted me up. It brought me joy and I don’t mean that in a cliche or corny kind of way. I think in rereading something you liked the first time, you see things in it you didn’t previously and that’s what happened while I read these three over again. I learned more. Not just about the whole writing process as in the other two, but about me as well. I very much saw myself in the characters and then took more notice of how they developed. It literally became my ‘happy place’ this week and I was really sorry that the book ended. Even as I was staring at this new mountain of books that arrived this week, I still kind of wanted to go back and have fun on that Ferris wheel all over again.

Books do that, don’t they? Give us that escape, that moment, that wonderment. The time to leave what is going on in our own lives to then live vicariously through the characters in front of us.

I started reading a new and much anticipated new release last night by a different author, but another I’ve become a big admirer of. I suddenly had another personal revelation. While I’m sure the rest of the world who reads has already come to this themselves, forgive me if I’m a slow learner here. Books have truly become my own personal happy place. I am grateful to all those who have created these characters that I just can’t get enough of. The ones who make me laugh, make me cry and in some cases, fall in love. I think my own story writing has become all the better for it, or at least I hope it has and I hope that one day my books will be found alongside these good folks.

The next question is, will it be under my own name or a pen name? But that is the subject for another post!

And it is there I will leave you for now. Thanks for being here, all of you and for making it this far in the post. I guess only writing one this week, I had a lot more to say than I thought I did. Hope you enjoyed it!

Until next time…Cheers!!!

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To find me on social including my shops and more: linktr.ee/promosocially

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To get your own copy of Happy Place by Emily Henry: Click Here

(If she sees this apologies to Ms. Henry for not getting her new one as of yet. But I will!)

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To read Viola Shipman’s new release, The Page Turner: Click Here

(Please note: this is the book I just started but have been waiting months for. I have not finished it yet but so far enjoying.)

Accidental Routine, Caffeine and Editing as a Learning Process

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! First things first…I’ve been working on the site here and there. This week’s little addition and subtractions can be found in the sidebar to your right. I’ve decided to create a shop for the site that will have fun merch featuring my own designs that cater to writers and readers alike! So I took down the other shop icons and hope you’ll check out the new one. I am still building it with new designs and importing some other ones, but do have a couple up there now. Just click on the design to see all of the cool stuff you can find for gifts and yourself. I know I don’t normally push any kind of shopping or affiliate links on you guys until the end of my posts, but I’m excited about my Dashery shop!

Ok, enough of that, let’s get to it shall we?

I read a ton of stories and watch lots of videos from fellow writers trying to learn from them. Everything from their processes to how to publish and so much in between. One thing that seems to be a recurring theme is that many have a routine for their writing. I personally never did this. I write when the story needs to come out. When my creative juices are flowing. I couldn’t understand how others could just ‘write on command’. I can’t tell my story, ‘look, at 6pm, I’m going to sit at my keyboard and write you.’ It’s just not me. And if you’ve read my previous posts, you know that authority and I do not get along and that is how it felt to me. Like everyone was telling me that I ‘had’ to do it this way or else. So, I didn’t.

Imagine my surprise when just this week, as I was setting a cup of tea down and grabbing my keyboard to lay down a new chapter, it hit me. Shit, I did this at the same time last night…and the night before. I really started to think about it and yes, somehow, I ended up with an accidental routine! How the hell did that happen?

It’s sad but true, I have apparently caved. Happy to say though, it’s not because anyone told me to do it! (I have to maintain some of my dignity damn it.) I have become so focused on routines lately. For example, when I have dinner or how I get myself ready for a binge reading session…it’s not because I am a boring person. Ok, I may be just a little bit these days, but I started doing this because of my memory issues. If I fail to follow a routine for some things then I miss a step and then I’m just lost. Crazy? Maybe, but it’s how I roll.

By the way, allow me to just state for the record that I wasn’t always like this. I used to be spontaneous, fun and out every night! There was never a set in stone time. I didn’t have to do things one by one with a mental checklist to make sure everything was taken care of. I’d go for spur of the moment day trips, stay out until after closing time and there was no such thing as binge reading. I just went out and had a blast. (I miss those days!)

To now have designated times where I get myself ready to type something has me baffled, but you want to know the punchline? It works!

I have been very serious about this new book I’ve been writing. I always thought my draft of my other story would be the one to get out to the public first. But the more I write this new one and the more I get involved with both the story and the characters, the more I’m thinking that this one is the one I may want to present first. I’m having fun with it and I can’t wait each night to get to it. The strange thing is that I have lots of time before my ‘keyboard appointment’ happens to get it started early each day and yet, it never feels right when I do. I need it to be at the same time every night so that I can involve myself back into where I was the night before. And thus, my routine was born. I grab some kind of caffeinated beverage, my iPad, my keyboard and get myself comfy for a few hours of writing. With the exception of just a night or two here and there (I’m fighting a brutal respiratory infection as my parting gift from Covid back in early March), I have been loyal to this system and in the last two weeks have written eight chapters.

One major change I’ve been doing with this book that I didn’t my first time around is the whole ‘editing as I go’ process. I think when I wrote my first story I was so determined to get it all down that I wrote first and then went back to edit later. Which is a big reason why it is taking me so long to do. This time however, I fully edit the previous chapter before writing the next one. I do not allow myself to write any new words until I have slashed, corrected, moved around and in one case, completely rewritten an entire chapter. It is only then that I print it out.

By doing this, it not only lets me put my best work forward, but it also familiarizes me with the story thus far. Where did I leave off last night? What was that detail that one character dropped? Did I mistakenly mix up a date from chapter one? Asking myself a million questions is vital; keeping a printed hard copy next to me so I can quickly reference between chapters is super helpful; I also keep my trusty notebook to write down any ideas that come to me for the next chapter…this is a major tool for me. 

Just last night I thought I had finished writing my latest chapter and it was perfect timing as I got incredibly tired and my eyes and fingers were just on fire. I was about to congratulate myself for doing a whole one in like 3 hours when I realized something was missing. I looked at the notebook and sure enough, there was a major passage I had handwritten out that I wanted to include in this scene. So ok, I didn’t officially finish. At least I know in advance where I’m picking up tonight! I didn’t do this at all with book one or its half of a sequel that I’ve started. Why? I have NO idea. This has been incredibly helpful and it has been making this story flow much easier as well. 

Writing, like anything, is a constant learning process. I’m proud to say that I not only I have not only been learning from other authors but I have been learning from myself as well! I feel that I am growing as a writer the more I get done. My hope is that at the end, when this book is finally out there for all to see, it will be well received. (Please please please let everyone like it!)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for hanging out with me again  and until next time…

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Amazon big book sale still going on until April 28th. Don’ t miss this, there are some awesome deals going on right now.

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Find me on social and my linktree shop: linktr.ee/promosocially

Thanks for making it this far. See you in the next post! 🙂

Identity Crisis, Thank You and Quick Back Story

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: Vilkasss on Pixabay.

Hey all, welcome back! I will start off with super quick but VERY sincere thank yous all around to those of you who made my numbers jump! I was more than surprised to see how many came to visit here over the past few days and I guess the saying is true, ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Or at least, I hope that’s the reason. Anyway, thank you all and I hope this means I am on the right track here. 🙂

I do have two quick apologies: The first, I am having all kinds of trouble accessing my comments and have no idea why. I cannot see them nor can I respond to them (just like twitter so go figure) so please do not think that I am not interacting with or ignoring anyone. The other is for the url debacle going on. Yes, you can officially use my ccsocialcreative.com domain but there are name server issues on godaddy’s side and that is also being dealt with as well. Alrighty, now that I feel better, let’s do this…

I have never had the issue that many writers, actors or directors have had where they say something like, “I hope to be the next Bette Davis/Paul Haggis/Jane Austen.” Nope. I just wanted my work to stand on its own and make a name for myself. When I was much, much younger and doing more journalistic pieces, I studied the different writings of sports and news columnists to true crime authors, with the mindset that I could take a little from column ‘a’ and a little from column ‘b’ and develop my own style that wouldn’t fit into any specific box. I didn’t want my readers to pick up something thinking, ‘yep, a chick wrote this’ especially since my main focus through high school was to become an investigative reporter. I wanted to create a neutral voice so that the subject matter was the main focus of the piece.

I had started writing for school newspapers young, including the first elementary class in our school to ever create their own paper! As I got older, I took political science classes and history extra credit courses and learned not only of the time periods and of course the facts, etc, but I also really paid attention to how these stories were written. Yes, I still did want to write the next great novel, but I was young, foolish and by high school, went off the rails quite a bit as far as the whole academic thing. I began being the angry news writer. My columns were directed at fighting the system that just suspended me again for cutting class or whatever my offense was that particular week. Good to know that my fallback position was a nice ‘steady’ theater dream that made those around me wince at the slight mention of it. (Although, not my parents, go figure!)

It was during those earlier years that I discovered my love for non-fiction. I wanted facts over fake. I wanted depth vs naivety and I wanted nothing, NOTHING to do with Shakespeare. I was somehow able to avoid the Bard somehow in both my writing journey and my theater work. As badly as I wanted to become a writer, I was never into the classics. I never read Jane Austen, but I will admit that I saw a version of Sense and Sensibility once! Damn my crush on Hugh Grant!

I had always loved the show Kiss Me Kate, we even did in high school. Once, when a PBS showing of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was on (for which the musical is based), my mother thought I’d like it, sat me down and I got through maybe three minutes then asked if I was being punished for something.

Later, I had lost an opportunity to go to American University as a journalism major and fell back on something steady, like theater.  I was able to avoid Sir William’s work yet again and would opt not for monologues from say Romeo and Juliet but more from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I stopped writing for a number of years, a couple of decades really, then reemerged as a journalist with my own site. I coverered area events, wrote about local history and proudly earned my press badge, not working for anyone else but rather, myself. I then turned that into a job working for a tech company. With the creative freedom I had there, I loved writing for them. Unfortunately life took the turn that brought me here.

As time went by, I started to look back and see that I did still have the dream that I had as a kid. Write a book. But as we all know, the older we get, the less time there is to do things such as acting on our dreams. I say this, be careful what you wish for.

Quick backstory for the new folks…If you read my ‘about me page’ (see link in the top menu bar), you’ll understand my story a little more. My health took a header in 2016. I had to quit my job and the last 8 1/2 years (as of this writing) have been a roller coaster ever since. I went from being highly social and out all the time with friends to staying in bed 24/7. With the exception of a few months here and there when I actually felt good and got out and could walk the dogs and even run a little and play some wiffle ball, it would always follow with brutal setbacks. Each one gets worse and I end up back in my room. For almost a year now, that’s pretty much where I’ve stayed. However, having said that, from this bed, I’ve been able to create two businesses (nothing big and successful yet, but I keep trying!) and more importantly to me…I’ve finally had the time to write!

But write what? 

I’ve always been creative for which I am truly grateful. But decades of reading only histories, autobiographies and the like left me little room for storytelling. Just for the hell of it, I was searching on amazon to see if anything would strike a chord with me in the, dare I say, fiction section?! They say never judge a book by its cover and I didn’t. However the title intrigued me and for the hell of it, I hit the ol’ buy it now button. When it arrived, I couldn’t put it down. What was stranger still was that as I was reading it, a story of my own emerged.

That first draft took forever to finish. I was so sick in between chapters, it would literally be months before I could even look at it again. I’d have to go back and reread what I had already written to refamiliarize myself with the story, characters and setting. I had many setbacks during that draft and only finished the entire thing in early Fall of 2024. It…took…years. But my goal of finishing it was achieved and I literally cried when I printed the entire thing out to edit and that pile of paper was staring back at me.

As I also used this time in bed, the last two years in particular, to read dozens and dozens of books, more ideas have come about. Between current waves of illness and editing frustration, I’ve now also written half of a sequel and then put that down (writer’s block issue) and began to write the first 7 chapters of the book I’m currently working on. One that I am really excited about! This led me to yesterday…

After doing an Amazon search earlier for some new titles to throw into my save for later for the big book sale this week, I was thinking about how to search for what I wanted my next reads to be. This got me thinking about the future. How will folks search for my own book? I don’t want to be known as the ‘next’ anyone. My stories can run into different genres and each one has its own arc. However, I don’t think I’d mind seeing, say for a romance, “if you like Emily Henry then you’d like…” or something along those lines. Look, I’m not trying to be someone else. Just want to be a (successful) storyteller in my own right and be proud to see my name among those whose books I’m loving these days.

It’s funny,  thinking about it now, I don’t think that subject has come up in any of the author events that I’ve been to over the last few years. The question of pen names has, or the usual, “what gets you inspired?” But never, ‘do you mind being compared to anyone else?’ Maybe it’s out of fear that the author in question will then leap off the dais lunging directly at the person asking, then proceeding to stab said person with the end of the microphone? The world may never know. 

What I do know is this…I’m currently a 54 year old thinking she is still 35 and that’s enough of an identity crisis for me. I don’t need to prematurely worry about whether or not someone will call me the ‘next’ anyone. If anything, I should just be flattered if they read my work and think I’m as good as the established authors who are already killing it out there! They are the ones who have paved the way for myself and others and I thank them all for their work…including Shakespeare.

And that folks, is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for joining me here again and as usual, any relevant links will be below. I’m still trying to find the sweet spot for post times so I appreciate your checking back to see I’ve done so!

Until next time…Cheers!

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The book that reignited my writing journey: The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson (now on sale!)

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Amazon’s Big Book Sale runs from April 23rd-28th. It’s an annual sale so don’t miss out on this years deals!

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My links above and in the right side bar can be clicked to find more great deals as well as my shops. You can also find my social links for this site and more at: linktr.ee/promosocially

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New site updates coming soon and I just thank you for having made it this far. See you soon!