Writing Tips - Favorites

We all have our favorites.

Favorite color, favorite animal, favorite team…

What other favorite items come to mind? Maybe some of your own?

Favorite scent? Mine’s vanilla.

Favorite wine? I’m a sucker for a good Merlot.

Favorite outfit? I love a casual sundress. Like wearing PJs in public.

Favorite sports player? He’s long since retired, but Doug Flutie’s my guy! I still have a collector’s box of Flutie Flakes…

What does this have to do with writing?

Every person has favorites - including your characters.

Have you made a list of your character’s favorites?

Please share! Your character's favorites and your own. Anyone else like a good Merlot?

And Now For Something Completely Different...

"It's not pining, it's passed on. This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker.This is a late parrot. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies. It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot."

* BOOK NEWS *

Publishers Weekly is opening up to self-published books - but it comes with a price tag - Select Quarterly Service Interesting, considering they hardly take notice of small publishers - just the big boys in New York.

Lots of great giveaways at Luxury Reading

Blogging and comments were covered by two people this week - Lee at Tossing it Out and Alex J. Cavanaugh

* RESOURCES *

Ready for some publishing and promoting resources?

Dan Poynter’s Para Publishing
John Kremer’s Bookmarket
Aeonix
Selling Books
Mystery Promotion
Ink Tree Marketing

* FAMILY UPDATE *

I’m still dealing with my mom’s situation. She’s out of the hospital and in a rehabilitation facility now and I’m taking care of all her bills and such. Fortunately, she finally decided she couldn’t go home and has selected a nice studio apartment at an assisted living facility. I’ll be making at least one more trip back to Oregon soon…

* PHOTO OF THE DAY *

I recently attended the wedding of my nephew, and this was the Groom's Cake! Looks good, doesn't it?

What Don’t You Do Now That You’re a Writer?

I was thinking back to the time when I wasn’t writing - about nine years ago. (I wrote a lot in my teens and early 20’s, but put it on the back burner for a while.) There were a lot of things I did that I just don’t do now. Some of it was fun, but some are necessities that I really shouldn’t slack on.

Let me give you an idea of what I no longer do that I should:

Remember birthdays. If I remember your birthday after the fact, feel privileged.

Keep up with household chores. Hey, a spotless house is overrated.

Read endlessly. I still read, but not as much as I should.

Cook nice dinners for my husband. Pasta takes less than ten minutes and yes, we eat it often.

Keep up with my roller coaster stuff. I’m a fanatic and used to know every coaster in every park and what new ones were going in… LOL! So much for that.

Take photos professionally. Yes, I’ve been a pro photographer for twenty years now, but once book signings and such figured into the equation, my days of shooting weddings and portraits went by the wayside. Okay, maybe that was a good thing…

My list could go on…

What have you quit doing (that maybe you should still be doing) since becoming a writer?

Your Special Writing Spot? And an Award!

Every writer has his or her unique writing habits. I admire those who can write anywhere, especially surrounded by distractions. Now, I can write ten-fifteen minutes here and there, and occasionally while others are present. However, if I’m going to write for more than thirty minutes, some prep time is required to prepare my favorite location:

End corner of new couch with pillows fluffed just right. Check!
Padded lap tray. Check!
CD player and headphones. Wait, forgot CDs. Okay, check! (No, I don’t own an ipod.)
Fresh bottle of water. Check!
My writing notebook and a pen. Check!
All set, ready to write. Whoops, drank too much water earlier! Okay, now I’m good.
Discover CD player’s batteries are on the fritz. Retrieve new ones.
Write for a few minutes and realize I’ve killed yet another pen. Get a new one. Two, just in case.
Cat decides he wants to spread across my notebook. Spend a few minutes pacifying Spunky before I shove him off my lap.
Phone rings. Caller ID informs me I can ignore it. Our answering machine kicks in and I hear this loud “If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again.” Get up to stop the stupid recording.
Few more minutes of writing… wait, where’s the rest of my notes? Spend a few minutes searching my office.
I finally get in some writing time and then… it’s almost dinner time and I have NO idea what I’m making tonight! Mad panic as I put away all of my writing props and run to the kitchen.

Okay, does this sound like anyone else’s writing habits?

Mason Canyon at Thoughs in Progress gave me the You Deserve a Star Today Award! Thanks so much - I needed that!

I’d like to pass it along to six people who are still with me despite my weird absences this summer:

Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs
Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere
Jai at Jai Joshi’s Tulsa Tree
L’Aussie At L’Aussie Writing
Hannah at Musings of a Palindrome
Terry at Terry Lynn Johnson

I could’ve given it to dozens more! Just know I appreciate those who visit Spunky every week.