#mywritingprocess blog tour

First of all I would like to thank Anna Celeste Burke for inviting me to “play” with her and the other bloggers on the #mywritingprocess blogging tour. It’s been an honor to be associated with such supportive people. Celeste writes the Jessica Huntington Series and the Betsy Stark Series. Celeste’s writing “weaves together romance, suspense, colorful characters, beautiful settings with intelligence and wit.” (From one of her reviews of  “A Dead Husband” by tbandd on Amazon.com.) If you would like more information about her writing process and her awesome mystery/romance series you can check out her website at: http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com

The first question on the tour is: What am I working on?

I have a complete manuscript that I am cutting into more manageable editing/reading portions. The first book in the series is titled Legacy From Yesteryear and is available to read/purchase now. 

Legacy From Yesteryear

I am working on the second book in the series titled Legacy From Yesteryear: All Roads Lead To Love. The story line for the whole series is deceptively simple. Our heroine is Margaret Wentworth, and 18-year-old recent orphan who finds out she is destitute the day after the double funeral of her beloved parents. She has no choice but to go live with relatives she has never met before while her parents estate is settled.

On her way to her new home, she encounters James Cunningham, fifth son of the Duke of Sommerville. She makes quite the impression on our hero, and he is determined to discover her story and find a way to make her life better.

Meg’s arrival at the Haven, her new home, she is informed of all the inconvenience her arrival has caused and is uninvited to the holiday celebration the family has planned. It is then explained that she will become the secretary for the Duchess of Rodchester and will be helping plan all the events she will not be allowed to attend due to her recent loss.

Still in shock from her parents unexpected passing, she quietly accepts her position of unpaid servant and immediately begins with her new status in the household.  Not long after, Meg accidently discovers a journal from an ancestress that holds a scavenger hunt for jewels and an inheritance that will grant her freedom from the tyrant she has for a guardian.

Legacy From Yesteryear ends when she finds the first set of jewels and the second clue. James Cunningham is a solicitor with the firm her ancestress’ will and instructions for when someone discovers the jewels and wins the scavenger hunt. Meg is required to hand over the jewels to Jamie and he accepts the responsibility of documenting her find.

The second book, Legacy From Yesteryear: All Roads Lead To Love, picks up with Jamie returning to London and putting the jewels in the safe until the hunt is fulfilled. The second book follows Meg and Jamie’s romance and her trial and error search for the answer for the second clue.

Second question: How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think one of the things that separates my work from others is I didn’t stick with just one genre. I enjoy stories with more than one layer. So my genre is: Historical set, sweet romance, adventures with mystery elements. I also enjoy stories with lots of interesting characters that are there for a reason. My stories are more on an epic level with the amount of characters involved. I have never been able to write short stories, and my person interest is in authors that write epic stories and many books to their series.

But I think the biggest difference in my genre is: my female characters. They are all strong women in a time when women were not perceived as strong or capable.

Third question: Why do I write what I do?

When I first started writing, my co-author/mother and I were told, “Write what you know.” At the time all we really knew was: how to be a mother/wife and how to be a secretary. We didn’t want to write a modern story, because our lives were crazy and we wanted an escape. So we decided to write historical set mysteries with a hint of romance.

We didn’t start at the “normal” beginning of a writing career, and we were team writing at a time when very few people participated in team writing. I can honestly say nothing we did, especially at the beginning was anything resembling normal. Our personal lives were not normal, I don’t remember ever being “normal”, so it follows our writing style and stories would not fall into the category of “normal”.  

So we took all the aspects we enjoyed and rolled them into one story that had to sit on a self for several years before it could be dusted off and edited successfully. The decision to Indie publish instead of traditional publish has been very positive for me. We were told that we had too many characters, too many romances and too much going on for one story. We were going to have to divide up the story into acceptable guidelines to get traditionally published. We tried to do what we were told to “fix” our story, but it was just impossible to separate the parts into anything that could stand-alone.

Now, with Indie publishing our story can stay the way we intended, well almost. I am cutting it into several books because I am just not sure very many readers would take a chance on a fairly new author with an epic story. I haven’t determined if this is a mistake or not, but that’s the beauty of Indie publishing. If it is a mistake I have the power and ability to put it all back together in one story.

Last question: How does my writing process work?

When I am in full creative mode, it is craziness around me. I am distracted when the “real” world intrudes and get very grumpy when I lose the train of thoughts that run full speed ahead. Sometimes all I have to do is read a few paragraphs of what is written to be off to the races again. Sometimes what’s gone is gone.

English grammar is something I grapple with constantly in my writing, but I’m learning as I go, I hope. I haven’t written anything other than interviews, blogs and web-content without my co-author. So I will have to develop a new process for story writing when I am ready to write a fresh story line on my own. Right now I have mostly editing to do.

Editing is also a process I am learning, and I am finding my own voice. When Mom and I wrote together, it was like a harmony that worked so well it was hard to say I wrote from this page to that page. Now, I have to preserve that harmony during the rewrites and editing, so the story still “sounds” the same. It will be interesting to see what my writing will be like once I begin anew.

One of the things I enjoy when participating in a tour is finding out more about other author writing process, their characters and the whole behind the scenes of their stories. Next week am passing the torch to Julie Ramesy.

Here is a quick peek at her bio and the link to find out more about her:

My name is Julie Ramsey. I have been a Respiratory Therapist for over 12yrs. I work in adult critical care. I love my job but I also love to read. I have always had tons of stories in my head. I just never knew how to get them to paper. Had tried several times but never successful. About two years ago I started my blog Julies Book Review (http://juliesbookreview.blogspot.com/). It all started when I met an author on Facebook. She had made a comment that she would send me a free copy if I ran a blog. So i started one. About three or four months in, I posted a comment to twitter. I was going on vacation and asked if anyone would like a review let me know. I was booked six months out by the time my vacation started. I soon need help with the reviews. I have about twelve reviewers that work with me and I am always looking for more. The more I read the more the stories in my head wanted to come out. So when a project for school got to long I put is aside and kept it as a start of something. After the class I went back to it and continued. The Wild Bone: the white Alpha of Monroe was born. Now that I have started writing, I can't stop. The characters talk to me and tell me what it up and what needs to happen. And even now new characters want to come and get there stories told. I always laughed when I would read about authors talking to their characters. I totally get it now!

With book one out, I have book two,Restraining an Alpha, in editing. I also am working on a sci fi romance. As soon as that one is off to the editor, book 3 of the White Alpha of Monroe Series will begin. My goal is to get the sci-fi one out and book 3. i also have 2 kids first time chapter books I will try to get out as well (J.J Ramsey). So here is a Blurb for book one and a unedited excerpt of book 2 of the White alpha of Monroe series.

Let's Celebrate One Year of Nonnie's Blog ~ Happy Birthday ~ Are You Watching Nonnie Write? ~ Blog Tour

Hello, and welcome to Day 6 of my  “HAPPY BIRTHDAY:  ARE YOU WATCHING NONNIE WRITE? ” Blog Tour.  Fellow Rave Reviews Book Club member, Victoria, has graciously invited me to share with her readers today and I’m so thankful and happy to be here!

This month marks the one year anniversary of my burst onto the social media scene and during that time, I have published three REALLY GOOD books and have learned so very much about the industry.  Although I’ve been a writer for most of my life (actually, I was born one), I only just became a published author in 2013.  Some might say, “In that short amount of time, what does she know?” Well, I’m here to tell you that “SHE” has learned a lot!  “SHE” has taken the time to hone her skills in the writing department as well as her knowledge.  “SHE” has taken the bull by the horn and run full speed ahead in building her author platform and establishing herself in the writing industry.  “SHE” is making her name KNOWN.

On each stop of my tour, I share with you tips on writing, publishing and support, all topics equally important to the writing industry.  I hope that what I am imparting, you will take, mull over, and then act on in the best interest of YOU.

With that being said, here is …

“TROLLING FOR TROUBLE”

This will be the second time on my tour that I have mentioned misery and how much it loves company.  Today, I’m going to talk about that term that has been attached to those “haters” over in Goodreads-land.  Now, I know some of you love Goodreads, and that’s fine, but I tend to choose not to get too taken with people and places that are filled with ugly and negativity.  It seems Goodreads was made to house both of these criminals.  I think the word they use over there is TROLLS, and I think they use this word for anyone who dares to come into their territory and DISAGREE with them.  But today, we’re turning it around on them, because I think TROLLS are nothing but TROUBLE-MAKERS.

These people literally peruse sites looking for anything they can find wrong with someone else’s book. If they don’t like the title, the cover, the author’s name…whatever it is, they find something to spark an ugly conversation about it.  And even if there is NOTHING wrong to be found, oh, let me tell you…they will CREATE something.  I call this “trolling for trouble.”  There’s always a ring-leader who gets the other trolls all riled up and standing behind her.  They stand behind her in this little army-like fashion until the one she’s attacking “comes for her,” and then she somehow finds her way to the very back.  Because even though these “cowards”…I mean “trolls,” are hiding behind their keyboards feeling tough, they still feel defenseless when strong, intelligent words are thrown in their direction.  See, intelligence of any kind, frightens them.  They like to use those words that are used by people with very limited vocabularies.  I don’t need to spell those words out for you, we all know the ones I’m speaking of.  These trolls also seek out books with sterling 5 star reviews and intentionally leave poor reviews just to mess up this author’s rating.  Intentionally!  How sick is this?

So I say to you today, STAND UP to these “bullies,”… oops, there I go again, I mean “trolls” and let them know that they are “trolling for trouble” in the wrong place.  Let them know that you will not be intimidated by their ugliness or their very limited vocabularies.  Show them that you will not back down from their little army of troll followers and that you will stand tall and strong until they go away.

We can’t please everyone all the time, but we can surely keep those little troubled trolls on the run!

Thanks for allowing me to share with you today and if you’d like to follow my tour, please do so at www.nonniewrites.wordpress.com  and do share your thoughts!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

        

 NONNIE Jules grew up loving books and everything about them.  She has traveled the world, jumped out of planes and climbed many mountains, all thanks to the wonderful world of literature.  She lives with her husband and two daughters on a very quiet strip of land in Louisiana, where red dirt roads and pick-up trucks go hand in hand.  She is the Author of three great reads at present:  "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE TO RAISING (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS," 100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can't Help But Love!; "Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend" (a novel);  and "SUGARCOATIN' IS FOR CANDY & PACIFYIN' IS FOR KIDS!" Nonnie is also Founder and President of the widely-known Rave Reviews Book Club, as well as being a sought-after book reviewer with a strong "eye" for perfection. 

She continues to write from many different genres and hopes to teach and touch minds and hearts alike with her very unique style of writing.  She loves positive feedback on her writing and personally responds to each and every email.  Nonnie can be reached at nonniewrites@yahoo.com, on Twitter @nonniejules, and do follow her blogs WATCH NONNIE WRITE! {www.nonniewrites.wordpress.com} and ASK THE GOOD MOMMY {http://askthegoodmommy.wordpress.com}. 

Nonnie's feet are firmly planted in her two most important platforms:  Parenting & Support, where she continually invites the masses to join her.

BUY LINKS:

"THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE TO RAISING (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS," 100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can't Help But Love! – www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP62O56;   www.createspace.com/4355124 

"Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend" – www.amazon.com/dp/B00GLM2VVM;   www.createspace.com/4386308 

"SUGARCOATIN' IS FOR CANDY & PACIFYIN' IS FOR KIDS!" – www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRIA0I4

Visiting me "Over There" is Angelia Menchan

Welcome to my very first guest blog

Angelia Menchan stopped by to share some pretty awesome reviews.

Don't take my word for it, you can see for yourself:

REVIEWS FOR SOUL TIES: BE CAREFUL WHO YOU BED AND WED

ANGELIA VERNON MENCHAN ~ AUTHOR

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Ties Will Have You Evaluating Yourself

December 3, 2013

By Rhonda T. Gilbert

Format: Paperback | Amazon Verified Purchase

Soul Ties was a tough book for me. I saw myself and so many of the people I know in this book. I will definitely be purchasing some hard copies for my family and friends this Christmas. That’s why I love Angelia’s books; she tackles the subject that most are afraid to talk about. This story needed to be told.
Young folk need to listen to the wisdom of the elders. Fletcher learned a hard lesson, but he did step up to the plate. I have much respect for him for that. Men need to be wiser when dealing with women. There are so many Deneisha’s that I know personally. They are seeking the approval and love of someone who doesn’t know how to love. Sometimes you have to love them from a distance. I feel sorry for Deneisha and her mom. They have some deep rooted issues.
Terri is following in the footsteps of Fletcher. She does not love her fiancé Royce. She is just going through with possibly marrying him, because he’s there and that’s what everyone expects.
Fletcher’s parents are my hero’s in this book. Cynthia didn’t interfere in her son’s decision. She and her husband constantly kept them in prayer. That was a lesson for me; I have to learn to let folk make their own decisions and keep them covered in prayer. It may hurt to see them go through the storms resulting from their decisions. But they have to learn just as I learned.
This book will have you doing some serious thinking and evaluating. I always learn from reading Angelia’s books. Purchase this book, you will not be disappointed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Get This Book!

December 22, 2013

By ShellyLove - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: SOUL TIES: Be Careful Who You Bed and Wed (Kindle Edition)

The "realness" shared in this book had me thinking and nodding my head in agreement throughout its entirety! It is an easy read, and clearly written. This book highlighted the value of learning more about the one we decide to get into a relationship with BEFORE things get too serious. It may be too complicated to undo things later.

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Get More Real Than This!

November 16, 2013

By Mika - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: SOUL TIES: Be Careful Who You Bed and Wed (Kindle Edition)

Realism at it's best. I know SOOOO many people like Fletcher and Daniesha, oh man! This situation is such a real life situation, it's not new it's been happening for generations! I swear it's like this woman has delved into every part of my life! Though I'm sure her stories hit home with many others than just me, life is constantly repeating itself, making new things old and old things new again. I felt really sorry for Daniesha...to a point. I felt sorry for Fletcher.....to a point. He of the both of them Knew and Grew better! But, life happens, bad decisions and circumstances happen. He had to fall on his own sword, though if I were him, uh I wouldn't have taken that ultimate plunge, things would just be what they are, hey he had fair warning lol. I know I'm speaking in coded parables but that's because Y'ALL NEED TO READ THE BOOK. Mrs. Angelia Menchan is the ONLY person I know that could take a story that should be well over 200 and give it to you in less than a hun'ed. Yeah I went ghetto, a hun'ed! And you still get the feel that it's a longer story, AND the story hits home in some way form or fashion. Fletch is my hubby, swear to goodness! What made it so bad, I saw some of me in Daniesha, now I wasn't into 'looking' for a man or the stuff she went through at home, my Daddy wasn't passive at all but...yeah, I'm gonna leave it at that. Read this book and learn something people, it may be your own situation in a different kind of way even, or it may be something you see in a friend or family member on all ends. Just read this book. Realism at it's best. Nuff said!

Soul Ties: Be Careful Who You Bed and Wed

Ms. Menchan and I met through Rave Reviews Book Club, an terrific group of authors who work together to help each other achieve their goals. If you are an author who would like to experience tremendous support or if you are a reader with exceptional taste in your book choices, you should check out Rave Reviews Book Club.