I knew this would happen when I began this journey – life got in the way! June doesn’t seem like such a long time ago until you check to see when you last blogged. It was a while ago. I was a gung-ho for my website and blogging and just jumping into this world I hadn’t even known existed – writer platform!
The original plan was to launch in July, I was waiting on a little special something to add to my website before I went ahead and launched it. You see, my pen name is special. It has very special meaning to me and I wanted to honor it with a special picture. The inspiration for the direction my life too with an interest in all things paranormal actual began one day at my Grandparents house many years ago when I discovered something in a junk drawer – actually, two things – a Rider Waite Tarot deck and an I-Ching. From that moment on, everything changed, a new world was opened to me and I am forever grateful for that spark to my imagination. And so, my pen name was born not long afterwards in honor of those memories.
But, all thing considered, I shouldn’t have waited to launch, it’s just another excuse not to put myself out there, into the vastness of the world! So, after a false start, this is my official start!
I’ve learned many things in the past three months, one of the most important lessons was that I had a lot to learn about writing. And while I think my stories are strong, the technical aspects were lacking. So, I have been reading a great deal about the craft. And I’ve been loving every minute of this new process.
I’m not done by any means, but here are the books I’ve read so far:
On Writing – By Stephen King
Writing 21st Century Fiction – By Donald Maass
How to Swat the Killer Bes out of your writing – By Nancy Owens Barnes
Showing and Telling in Fiction – By Marcy Kennedy
Here are the books I’m currently reading:
The Fire in the Fiction – By Donald Maass
Understanding Show, Don’t Tell (and Really Getting it) – By Janice Hardy
And on deck are:
The Emotional Craft of Fiction How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface – By Donald Maass
Wired for Story – By Lisa Cron
Writing the Breakout Novel – By Donald Maass (and the Workbook)
Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass has been particularly helpful in showing me the weakness of my WIP and has led me on down a rabbit hole of revisions and revived my passion for writing. I’m also planning on attending a writer’s workshop in March, I’ll talk more about that after I’ve registered. And of course – NaNoWriMo is just around the corner and I have a new concept I’ll also be talking about more at a later date.