#FF Friday Fun – Selfies!

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Selfies… You know the picture you take of yourself with your phone because you love yourself so much, the whole world has to know? The first few times I took a selfie – I thought, nah, I’m not good at it. I can’t just take pics of myself all day long because no one is in the room with me to hold the camera. So I’m going to make it look like someone was in the room, or a tripod emerged from my hardwood floor and bam, here’s a selfie. That exercise took hours – putting the timer, making sure I’m looking at the lens when the red light blinks, and checking a million times if that’s really the pic I want… The Kim Kardashian art of photoshopping my selfies isn’t new, it’s like autotune on a Britney Spears’s record. We’ve all done it. I know I photoshopped the crap out of my pics so much, I didn’t look the same anymore.

Over the years, cell phones have become this amazing little box full of special effects, and I don’t need to buy a real camera! Does it mean I take more pics of myself? Nah. I’m just not good at it. I have three faces: I smile, pout or try to look funny. Third option never works. So I gave up. I admire the people who take great selfies. The funny ones especially. I don’t care about the pose in the mirror, with or without a shirt, in a bikini or a banana suit. I’m talking real art in a selfie, the pic that’s gonna make me chuckle out loud when I’m surrounded by a bunch of strangers while we’re all waiting for the bus. That’s the selfie I’m looking for.

And that is tough to find. But I manage every once in a while to pull a gem from the internet treasure chest, and this makes my day. 67c2418bc8835d860eedfa17fd1afa41

LOL is it called cheating if I love animal selfies? Anyway, I hope you folks have a great weekend. Catch you next week.

9/11, Thirteen years later… Where am I? #911anniversary

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Happy Thursday folks. Today is 9/11 so I have no idea how many people will blog about this because the wound is still fresh (and no, I’m not going to start a rant about politics and terrorism), but I have certainly not forgotten where I was, and what I was doing when the attacks occurred. I’d like to take a step back and reminisce a little.

Where I was: France. On September 11, 2001, I was 18 and was taking driving lessons. After an hour spent in hell with my instructor (getting your driver’s license in France is like searching for the Holy Grail, especially when learning to parallel park uphill), I pulled up to the driving school and another instructor
stormed out: “It’s like watching a movie and planes are crashing into the Twin Towers…” he said. What???? I was so in love with the United States (and still am), just hearing this made my heart bleed. Once home, I turned on the TV and bam, here it was, live. The attacks happened around 9 am, and in France, it was 3 pm. Prime time TV had some meat to chew on that day, and for many days after.

I was 18. I was still living with Mom and Dad, I was going to school, hated it but I was going, and never thought I’d be moving to New York. July 26, 2006, I landed at JFK airport, and have been living on the East Coast ever since. Next week, I’m taking my citizenship test.

Thirteen years later, I’m becoming a US citizen, I’m working in the City, I live in New Jersey with four cats and an amazing boyfriend, I spend my time writing books and dreaming greater dreams of writing full time, and I’m a happy gal. Of course, the road to happiness was paved with crap along the way, but the crap was worth it. Crap makes you appreciate the present moment (at least that’s what I tell myself every time I step in it).download

Life is so unpredictable. I never know where I’m going to land next. But it’s great. Makes the journey more interesting.

Look at the bright side, don’t step in too much crap (and if you do, well, it’s good luck, right?) and move on! Dwelling on the past doesn’t help (Julie Jones (32 Seconds) knows what she’s talking about, and so do I). Have a great day folks!

#WW Publishing Logistics

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Happy hump day!

I’m learning how to self-publish a book. Not my first try at publishing, I’ve already done it once (actually three times, but it was the same book released on Smashwords, Kindle, and then through CreateSpace), and here’s my take on it. DIY is nice, but at some point you need help from professionals to make the book stand out.

There’s no cutting corners anymore. As an indie writer, I had to invest in an editor, a cover designer, professional interior formatting and marketing. And I know, my dream and my credit card sometimes don’t get along, but the competition is fierce out there! If I don’t pull the big guns, I won’t make an impact. And this post is a reminder that when you want to publish a book, your publishing cost will start at zero if you decide to MacGyver it all, or skyrocket the more you ask for assistance from pros. FeaturedImageSelfPubCosts

Here’s an example:

Editing: $1000-$1200

Cover: $200-$500

Interior design: $200-$500

Marketing: $250-$1000

ISBNs: $300 (pack of ten so $30 each)

Library of Congress number: $25

Have I forgotten something? Okay, your book will cost you: $1705-$3255.

Cha ching! The credit card is burning. Easy to say, eff it, I’m going to go for free with Smashwords and not bother with that crap. Except, well, at some point you will bother with that crap because it’s a fact: once a book looks professional, readers are inclined to trust you more. They will know your story has been reviewed and edited, and they’re not going to stumble upon a million typos and plot inconsistencies. The cover will look so nice your book can become a coffee table display. And the interior will push people to buy the paperback? Maybe? So that they can enjoy the reading experience on real paper and not just on a tablet?

Unless you manage to get a contract with a big house, and even then your chance of selling a lot isn’t guaranteed, with a small publishing house or by yourself, you’ll have to use that credit card if you want your book to be the next sensation. And writing becomes more than just a dream. It’s an investment. You’re not a writer anymore, you’re an entrepreneur.

I know. Scary. But true. It’s so worth it though. 9158

UPDATE: my own publishing logistics forced me to reconsider Nov. 7 as my official release date for 32 Seconds. The book might not be available on that day, so now we’re looking at Dec. 5. Anyway, I’ll keep you folks appraised…

 

 

#TuesdayTeaser – 32 Seconds

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Happy Tuesday! Tuesday calls for a teaser, so without further ado, here’s an excerpt from 32 Seconds, which will be released on November 7.

***

My butt hit the pavement. As I opened my eyes, and tried to figure out where I had landed, an explosion popped right next to me. I ducked flat on the ground. 

From the corner of one eye, I saw columns of blackish smoke in the distance, and the ruins of a town I didn’t recognize. The air had turned into a toxic mess, making my eyes water. To add to the pleasant experience, a violent cough proceeded to shake my core.

The explosions continued and were deafening. My mind told me to run, but my body remained stuck in place. 

I rubbed my eyes to make sure this wasn’t a dream. It didn’t feel like a dream. Maybe the old witch I met by the one-dollar store did poison me with her chocolate, and I had landed in hell?

My body trembled from head to toe. From the little I could take in, the area looked like a war zone. I needed to find shelter before figuring things out. Struggling up on my wobbly legs, I turned in a circle, trying to find an escape route. I struggled to regulate my breathing. My lungs burned. I wanted to get angry, to scream and pound my fists at something or someone, but I felt so weak. The same question looped inside my mind. Where the heck had I been transported to, against my will?32secondsfinalcover.jpg

Asking Didi for directions was out of the question, since I had been robbed of my phone too. It was clearly my lucky day.

A shape moved ahead of me. I thought it was smoke, or an optical illusion. After a few seconds, I realized the shape was coming in my direction. Shizznit. Was it an animal? The thing ran quickly toward me. Soon I realized that something was actually someone, and that someone looked like a boy.

The muscles of my legs gave up and I fell to the ground. The cough was killing me. My heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour, my quickened breath jamming inside my throat as I stared at the approaching stranger. He opened his mouth and said something, but I didn’t understand a word through the ruckus of the incessant explosions. Through my watery eyes, I took in the sight of him. The dark haired boy wore black jeans and a t-shirt, and his skin was covered in grayish dust.

He yelled something. It sounded like “un.”

Not sure what to say in response, I waved at him.

When he finally reached me, I noticed his eyes were glowing green. 

“Hey…” I slurred between coughs. To my shock, he leapt like a jaguar and grabbed my arm in the process.

“Run!” he yelled, and propelled me off the ground like I weighed nothing.

Caught in his grip, I had no choice but to follow.

#MuseMonday – The Journey of a Self-Published Story

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Hello friends! And happy Monday!

I’ve been absent from this platform for a few days as I was working on my novel, editing some more, formatting and mostly, reviewing, making sure my story was solid and ready to be released as planned in November.

When I started writing a few years back, I didn’t think of logistical details such as publishing a book. I just put words on a page, and wrote until a story came to life. Of course, I had dreams. I wanted to write something people would remember, a story that would speak to them, and make them feel at home. If I’ve learned one thing from having a dream, and making this dream come true, it’s discipline. Writing on a regular basis, thinking and plotting 24/7, talking with other authors and reading their work, sharing ideas and developing concepts with critique partners – the list is long and not exhaustive.

Writing a book takes time, blood sweat and tears, but the result is extremely rewarding. I am not only excited to be done with this novel, but I’m ecstatic to start the next one. As long as I have ideas, I’ll be a happy camper. My decision to self-publish is the start of a journey I’m looking forward to undertaking.

Make sure to check in often as 32 Seconds will be ready for your enjoyment!

32secondsfinalcover.jpg

#TT Tuesday Teaser – 32 Seconds

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Happy Tuesday everyone! 32 Seconds is hitting the final stages of completion, and as I’m going through my editor’s notes, thought it’d be nice to post an excerpt from the book. Release date has now been set to November 7, so mark you calendars…

Enjoy!

***

A sudden shower pelted my windshield, reducing the visibility to almost nothing, but I maintained my speed. The black asphalt licked the bottom of my tires, striking every inch of the rubber, hungry to swallow me whole and transport me to my next destination. And at this point, I could go anywhere. Eager to get out, I didn’t even care whether I died in a car-crash. After what had happened between Mark and me earlier today, it truly was my way or the highway.

Planning my escape wisely hadn’t crossed my mind when I ignited the V8 turbo engine and dashed out of the school parking lot like a hoodlum in panic of being chased and caught by a platoon of law enforcement officials, after an unsuccessful bank heist. Like I said, I wanted out. And whatever I wanted, I achieved by any means necessary.

Running away brought me closer to freedom. No consequences for my actions. No guilt. No pain.

As my foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, I listened to the roar of the engine, which threatened to remind me of the overbearing loneliness I continued to ignore. My hand reached for the radio and I turned the volume to high. My head needed that noise to overwrite any internal monologues. Relentless, like waves on the shore, my thoughts wouldn’t stop crashing inside my brain, giving rise to a series of hot and cold sweats, while my inner self kept screaming the same question.

Why did I always have to run?

32secondsfinalcover.jpg

#FF One Word

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Freedom.

I read blogs and laugh, cry, smile, read more like I’m drinking your words and I love it so much, it hurts. To all the writers out there, thank you for giving me this sense of elation I need on a daily basis. You’re my spiritual foundation, my fountain of youth, my elixir, my thrill and my inspiration. Without your words, I would vomit nonsense.

Sorry for the image, I was trying to be poetic. Anyway…It’s Friday, and I’m working on releasing 32 Seconds, and re-releasing Stories From The Underworld because I want paperbacks!! Who said hard/soft cover books were dead? My shelves feel extremely lonely and I can’t fathom the sight of a bookshelf empty of books. My bookshelf (from IKEA – I love that s***) is supposed to hold books, and not all the past week mail I didn’t bother to open yet.

Therefore, I will flood you with my thoughts, and no, you won’t say “enough!” because heck, my thoughts may contain prizes. Hehe.

Hopefully the weekend treats you well. Sleep, eat, do whatever you feel like doing (just don’t kill anyone), and see you next week! Oh and one more thing:

STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF. 🙂

Labor-Day-photos

#FF Download Your Brain…Or Not

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When I have time to kill, I like to read other people’s blogs. I especially love the ones that get a lot of views, because DUH!! It means they’re doing something right. One thing I’ve always wondered when blogging, was how to write about stuff and not sound like I’m whining, or talking about stuff no one cares to read about, or like I like to call it: download your brain.

At the very beginning of my writing journey, I used my blog like a journal. And for some strange reason, people didn’t walk away! They actually read my stuff. Shucks, that tells you when you really work hard at something, results always pay off. But after a while of journaling like a crazy lady, I took a break and asked myself: why should I blog? Why should people read my stuff? Am I trying to teach them something? Am I trying to sell more books and reach a wider audience? Am I still using the blog as a journal, or have I evolved? Can I really do this????

*Deep breath*

One: yes, I can do this. Two: I will write about writing. Three: Writing about writing (hehe) can be about my upcoming book, my struggles as an author, my tips and tricks, my thinking process, my ramblings, and bam, why not post a cute picture of my cat?

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Alright, I got this one off my chest. One thing I’m not going to blog about, is my brain download. Because brain downloads are just not cool. Let’s say it how it is. You don’t care to hear about every single thought that crosses my mind. It’s none of your business, and it’s boring.

The issue with brain download is that it can affect all of us at any given time. I have brain download when I work on my novel. It’s a diarrhea of thoughts that have no purpose but fill out some space. Just like when you try to do NanoWrimo and your 50k words consist of pure gibberish. Brain download should be reserved for special forums where it’s welcome. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of such forums, but in today’s world, anything’s possible, so I remain open-minded on this one.

Blogging is great when the message is clear, the style is neat, grammar is proper and vocabulary is diverse. I don’t do convoluted paragraphs of complex words that don’t belong together in one full sentence. I don’t do effed up imagery. I don’t do lack of punctuation. I don’t do clusterfuck of ideas.

Once I start working on a blog post, I realize it’s more than just pouring thoughts on the screen. And the same process that happens to a book, should happen to anything I write.

My blog is an accurate representation of myself if I stick to the basics, which are:

– stay true to myself

– don’t overdo it

– keep it short, simple and clean. And when I say clean, I don’t care about profanity, I’m talking about clutter.

I’ve seen blogs that are a mess of icons, pictures, widgets left and right, oh gosh, where the heck have I landed? These blogs remind me of cars covered with stickers. You don’t really know which direction the author was going for but he/she sure loves sticking random crap on his/her site!! Therefore, as much as the brain download is a no-no, gathering all sorts of stuff on my page is a no-no either.

I’ve read somewhere on the internet sphere a blog post should consist of a catchy title, text and picture(s). Whether it’s a photo album or just a thumbail, I don’t really care about pictures. If the text is good, hell yeah, my cherry (and hopefully yours too) has been popped! The title doesn’t necessarily make the post good, but it doesn’t hurt to attract crowds with something that sounds good.

Have I omitted anything? If I did, let me know your thoughts!

Have a great weekend, folks!

 

#TT – Trigger the Muse

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Ah yes. My muse loves to tell me what to do!! Sometimes though, she’s very silent and I need to trigger her so I can write.

screenshot-museThe internet gave me this cute little how to jump-start your muse list. The website it came from promotes a hypnotic writing wizard software – apparently, with a few hypnotic tricks, your mind will open like a flower and you can write a book at the speed of light.

Alright, I laugh at the idea. I mean come on. First, let’s look at this list. I don’t play the guitar but I do talk to myself all the time, and play with my cats every day. Pretend you are rich…nice one. Write nonsense. Take slow breaths. Mmmmmmmmm. Take a break? Shut up!!!

If there’s one thing I know, my muse doesn’t come over if I scratch my cat’s belly or if I believe my bank account balance is over one million dollars. For the hypnotic tricks, I don’t know about you, but I think hypnosis works great when you want to quit smoking, give birth, or travel back in time so you can get inspired. Maybe that’s what this software is about. Inspiration. And a great way to make money off gullible people who think they can write a book in three days without doing any research.

I’m gonna save my money because I don’t believe in shortcuts when it comes to writing. If you’re dedicated to writing, you’ll spend the necessary time to craft a great story.

To jump-start my muse, I do the following:

– I meditate

– I eat chocolate

– I play video games – or watch walkthroughs on YouTube

– I read ANYTHING

– I watch a movie

– I take a walk

– I go to work

– I talk to people

– I listen to people

And this list could go on and on and on…We all have different methods. My muse gets particularly cranky when I don’t give her the attention she deserves and leaves me dry, and I can’t write anything. Being a writer isn’t supposed to be a one-trick pony. I’d love to press a button and my muse would purr like a Ferrari engine. Maybe in another life.

How do you jump-start your muse?

 

#WW How To Write A Solid Plot

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Happy hump day!!

Plotting. Ah yes. I will scratch my head for hours trying to come up with the best strategy. This morning, I stumbled upon this on Pinterest: ff4f16af3d852a03a290e46d1e12cce7

Oh. That makes my life easier. I was a total nube when it came to plot, and structure my story in a logical way. I was very much like J.J. Abrams in Lost – I’d give you a million clues and not a single answer. LOL (sorry J.J. but it’s true).

Following this five step roadmap is easy. It really is. Until you realize your main character has more than one problem to solve, and the resolution of the story might not be so clear to you as you thought it would. When you tackle a trilogy, or a series, one main plot will encompass several sub-plots, and sometimes, sub-sub-plots. So here’s my personal trick to make things easier.

Just reapply the five step roadmap to each plot. It’s gonna be less confusing than trying to manage all the characters and plots under one main roadmap. But here’s where the writing process is gonna hit another roadblock. You wrote your plot, and subplots. You defined your characters, and made sure they’re going to follow a certain path and evolve accordingly. Now you write.

6fa15a0b59b1aeac1af8aed7274cef78Thanks again Pinterest for this lovely picture. Your first draft will not be final and your plot will change, which means your subplots will too. Your characters might evolve so much, you have to revise their role in the story, possibly eliminate them or move them around like pretty chess pieces.

And here comes the famous question: why the f*** did I decide to write a novel?

As you put together the puzzle pieces and try to obtain a big picture, you need to focus on the main roadmap – not the subplots, but the general thread that keeps your book together. Without that main plot, you’re royally fried like a chicken nugget.

I talked the other day about how to stay focused and how to follow one word in order to avoid too much frustration when writing. Well, my friends, this is it. This is the moment where your entire story needs to be summarized to one word.

Here’s the process I went through when I started working on 32 Seconds – which wasn’t titled 32 Seconds by the way.

Initially, I wrote about a girl who had anger issues. Because I wanted to go YA and fantasy, I made her 17, a rebel teenager, filled with angst. Nothing crazy here. Then I transported her into a fantasy world I hadn’t really thought hard about. I just sent her to a time where Mayan pyramids still existed, and then I made her eat magic chocolates, because why not? I put a weird wizard in the middle, and some strange supporting characters, and I thought, okay, my job is done.

If you asked me the first time to summarize this story with one word, the first thought that came to mind was: clusterfuck. And it was. There was no main thread holding the story together. The girl has anger issues, and we didn’t know why. She didn’t seem to want to work on those issues, and her journey into this parallel universe seemed absolutely pointless. To think that I released thirty thousand words of mere clusterfuck and people actually enjoyed reading my story told me I didn’t suck so bad as a writer, but I definitely had to step up my game a bit. So I rewrote everything.

Second draft, I decided to call my story The Truth Within. Ah here I came with a plan. The main character had anger issues and wanted to solve them. She still landed in that weird world, but I began to think of a purpose for her. She had super powers, and was supposed to save the world.

Again, nothing new here. But we’re making progress.

Third draft, I changed the title again!! Now we have 32 Seconds. First, I think the title sounds great. It’s catchy, and makes you think of an action-packed story. Something a la Mission Impossible mixed with horror elements and some romance because we all need some love after all. I keep following my idea of this main character and her anger issues. She lands in a parallel world (no more Mayan pyramids) after eating an enchanted chocolate. The supporting characters help her understand why she’s angry, and why she needs to change. The plot takes a psychological turn. The main character is growing, facing challenges, she wants to change but is scared to do so. What will give her the incentive to move on? Her life is a mess. She needs to get a grip. A do or die situation comes along. If she doesn’t change, she’s gonna stay stuck in that parallel universe.

You follow my train of thoughts now. I’m within the five step roadmap and I’m not giving you clues that lead you straight into a wall of nowhere. I’m actually telling a story, giving you answers, and my character has a purpose. The world she lives in has a meaning. The supporting characters play a specific role. I had to swap them around, of course, and create new ones, while removing old ones, but together, they formed a unity.

The whole process took more than one year and a half, and approximately five full rewrites (and I’m talking 90k words).

Phew. But we made it. We’re almost there. And I am happy to say I found the word that summarizes my story: redemption.

So here’s the morale of this post. If your main thread is solid, you will spend less time worrying and more time writing. The number of rewrites won’t really change unless you follow the same formula for each story you create. Don’t give up. Keep focusing on that one word and everything will fall into place.

Alright, that’s enough for me today. Until next time, have a lovely day, folks!