The Top Three Ways Kids Can Be Better Writers!

Hello Parents, as well as fellow Overlords fans!  Even if you're not an author, I think that you can benefit from these three little tips to get yourself or your child to write more.  Let's face it, writing is not hard and getting your kids to do it is easy, if you know how!  We have a ton of experience with this area via our years of school and library interactions and the tips below can help your child tremendously!  How can we get this done?  Read on!

Tip #1: READ!  One way I stir my creative imagination is not by writing all the time, but by reading.  Let's face it, sometimes we authors simply cannot write any more at a given time.  Many times I have saturated my brain with battle scenes, monsters, and witty dialogue but enough is enough.  When I feel like I can't write another sentence, I put away my work and pick up that book I've been waiting to read.  Reading immerses me in someone else's world, taking me to a place that I have not personally created.

Parents, when your kids tell you that they don't feel like writing take them to the nearest book store and have them buy their favorite book or the next story in the series that they're reading.  You'll be surprised at how this new story will spark their imagination and get them back to that computer and writing to their hearts' content in no time!  Believe me, if it works for me it will work for them!

Tip #2: Organize  I preach this single point over and over in my workshops and seminars.  The easiest way to combat writer's block and fatigue is to organize your thoughts into smaller more manageable chunks.  If you have many thoughts, try story boarding.  This is what directors do for movies and TV shows.  Simply take a sticky note or index card and write one main idea per item.  When you can't think of anything else, take what you have written and organize them into a timeline.  From there, your story should take a major leap forward and your brain can begin filling in the blanks.

Another way is to create a bullet list of ideas in your favorite word processing tool (Microsoft Word or equivalent).  Again, reshape your list in a beginning to end timeline and you should have something concrete to work with.

Tip #3: Writer's Groups  Believe it or not, we authors are not always right! Sometimes the best way to work through problems is to talk it out with fellow-minded individuals.  Be it a fantasy-centric friend or classmate in your history class, bouncing off ideas on other people fosters deeper dialogue and a better understanding of problems or road blocks you might be encountering.  And students, parents and teachers are very good at listening, especially when it comes to helping their children learn.

For the aspiring authors out there, check your local library or community center for writer's group or book club meetings.  As I always say, we're all in this together and sometimes even the best of us need a gentle push in the right direction.

I hope these simple tricks help your child and yourself when you develop a case of writer's block or burn out.  These simple tricks can get you back to the pen and paper -- or computers for you tech savvy folks out there! -- and write that next great novel!

Being a NECON Tweener

Last weekend I attended NECON 33, a horror writer's conference.  However, this is not your run of the mill writer's conference.  It's more like a reunion of sorts.  Several newbies have blogged about their initial experience at NECON, but I figured it was time to hear from someone that's a tweener -- nowhere near a legend and too far from being a newbie.  I first heard about NECON in 2007 from NECON lifer, Carole Whitney, and having just self-published my Overlords fantasy series I figured it would be good to hear what it's truly like being in the literary field.  I never expected this!

The first few NECONs I felt more like an outsider looking in.  I'm not a true horror fan, more sci-fi and fantasy, and didn't know any of the legends but over the years I got to know them all.  Maybe a little too well.  Now, I feel like I'm truly "in", a part of the NECON family.  It's nice to see Tom Monteleone and have him say, "Hey, Squatrito!  How have you been?" (we have a Red Sox/Orioles rivalry thing going) or Rio Youers ask "How's the knuckleball going?" when seeing him for the first time in a year. (I'm a baseball player too, if you haven't noticed!)

And at this year's inaugural Kaffeeklatsch, our semi-hungover host Matt Bechtel asked me to talk about my experiences with my Overlords eBooks to the group -- me!  I'm no longer intimidated to talk to people and have a good rapport with everyone, just ask J9.

 I look forward to seeing Gary Frank and hanging out with him on author's night (I also got one of the his cool shirts pimping his book), Heather Graham and chatting about life in Florida besides other things, and heading to the courtyard for saugies and "beverages", usually beer or an occasional squirrel (damn you, Dansky).

And I like meeting the newbies, like Chris Irvin, Kristin Dearborn, Trisha Wooldridge, Traci Orsi and so many others.

If you didn't know, I grew up in Bristol, RI and live in Tiverton, RI today, both minutes away from the Bay Point Inn, a.k.a, NECON Headquarters.  My brother used to own the Backroad Grille in Bristol and we had a couple of years of Thursday night NECON dinners there, but unfortunately the economy took him down and he had to close the place.  John and Diane Buja were most upset!  With so many people coming to Little Rhody from all over the world, I just want to let you know that you can ping me on just about anything Rhode Island (mike@the-overlords.com or friend me on Facebook).  The Booths, the best people in the whole world, are very busy planning NECON and I can certainly help with simple questions about the area so that they can focus on other things.

I also want to throw out another idea to the NECON family.  At the Town Hall meeting, Dan Booth was giving away the boccie and croquet sets since we don't have a place to hold these Olympic events.  Well, as of today, I'm offering up my yard to hold the them.  I live ten minutes from the Bay Point Inn, in a quiet neighborhood with 3/4 acre of land -- more than enough room to play.  I also own my own set of boccie balls -- I'm Italian and have the real deal, ceramic boccie balls -- but no croquet.  I'm sure that would be easy to attain.  

As you can see in the pictures, there's plenty of yard room, a deck for viewing the events if you don't want to play, a trampoline just in case (disclaimer, if you are over 18 and female, you must wear a bikini), and I have a trough that holds four cases of beer and ice with ease.  I just received approval from upper management, a.k.a. The Wife, who rolled her eyes, which means it's a go!  I just wanted to throw this out there since we have a year to decide.

I'm already looking forward to next year, if you can't tell.  I just wish I had more photos with my NECON buddies, I tend not to take many pictures and just interact.  A big thanks to the Booth family for their painstaking efforts to put on the best conference, or should I say, family reunion every year.  If you ever find yourself in the RI area definitely look me up and we'll do something fun.  Here's to NECON 34 -- it can't come soon enough!

Combating the Day Job

Over the past few months I’ve been mainly guest blogging on other people’s blogs and have posted their articles here.  It dawned on me that I’ve neglected my Overlords fans by not posting something for them.  With that in mind, here’s something for you!

           

Like most of you, I’m not a full time writer and have a day job to pay my bills.  Years ago, I went to college for Computer Science and find myself a Systems Engineer today.  Writing fantasy novels simply came from some dark corner of my brain.  Or to put it simply, as my wife says I’m a Libra and I need my analytical side to keep me focused during the day so that my creative side can run rampant at night.  I do hate it when she’s right!  Being an engineer pays well – much better than a starving author – so I must do what it takes to keep my family fed and keep a roof over their heads.  But wouldn’t it be great if The Overlords went mainstream with kids waiting in line at the book store at midnight for the next novel and a movie waiting in the wings?  Then I’d have enough money to write full time, something I would love to do.  Since Hollywood hasn’t come knocking at my door and the day job has taken an increased role in my life due to odd hours and travel, my writing has taken a hit.  What to do then?

It’s time to take my own advice.  At my presentations and workshops I preach to my students and would-be authors to try and write one page a day.  If you can do that, then after a year’s time you’d have yourself a novel.  Some days I write ten pages, others just one, and then sometimes I don’t write at all, but if I can average that one page a day, I’ll be close to completion.  If you’ve read my books – and I hope that you have – you’d know that I need to write a little more than one page a day.  Fantasy novels are on the average of 400+ pages and the fans simply love it!

With this thought fresh in my mind, I’m going to begin my journey to complete the final chapter of my Overlords saga.  I have an outline created, albeit with some holes, but a complete and convincing character set ready to embark on another adventure-filled journey.  I actually can’t wait to start!  I’ll be using my code to alert my fans about my progress, you know the one that looks like Bible scripture, 4:01:01, which translates to Book 4: Chapter 1: Page 1 (I’ll keep a running tally on the page count). I hope you’ll join my journey as well.

Now, for my author friends out there, how do you balance the dreaded work/writing dilemma?  Please post any comments here and be sure to Tweet and Like them on Facebook.  The more people we reach, the more we can help those who are mired in similar situations.

Until next time,

Mike

Say Hello to Nonnie Jules!

Hello, Overlords Fans!  As part of my reciprocal blog campaign, I'd like to welcome Nonnie Jules to our blog.  Nonnie hails from Louisiana and has just released a new book:

Without further adieu, I present to you, Nonnie Jules!

"I am so excited to be here with Mike @ http://theoverlords.blogspot.com!  This is day 13 of  The (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS Blog Tour and we are picking up steam at every stop!  Mike has generously allowed me to come here and share with you, his readers, a little about myself and a little about my NEW book, "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE TO RAISING (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS", 100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can't Help But Love! You would think that after 12 stops, there wouldn't be much more to share, but there are different readers at each stop and when you're promoting your book, you can never say enough, even if you begin to repeat yourself.

My name is Nonnie Jules and I am a NEW indie author, hailing from Louisiana.  I am married with two AWESOME daughters,  one a young adult, the other a teenager, and they are of course, the inspiration for my book.  When people meet my daughters for the first time, it never fails that after a few minutes of conversation with them, I'm asked the question "How did you do it?" After a little explaining from me, they then ask "How can I do it?"  After many questions, over many years, I decided to put my tips, which everyone's always asking about, into a book, and that book is now "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE...".

Since writing and publishing my book, some have started to ask a NEW question..."What is an (Almost) Perfect Daughter"?  Well, she's honest, she's intelligent, driven, compassionate, loving, God-filled and very, very RESPECTFUL...all rolled up together.  (Almost) Perfect to me looks something like this:  My 20-something year old daughter has made it thru 4 yrs of high school, 4 yrs of college, and 3 yrs of grad school all with her precious virginity still intact.  Although she would have me NOT broadcast this all the time, it's something to be extremely proud of, and we are, especially since it's not the easiest thing to do. When girls today are having babies at the age of 12 yrs, this is especially welcoming news.

I wrote this book because I wanted other parents who also WANTED to raise (almost) perfect daughters (but didn't know exactly how to do it), to have a good, solid, easy to understand blueprint to follow.  This guide is just that and then some.  It is very informative, it is enlightening and the one very surprising element of it, is it will definitely make you laugh.  None of the parenting books that I've ever glanced at made me laugh. Actually, some of them were so formal and intimidating in their wording, that they almost made me cry.  As my daughter put it, "this isn't your grandma's parenting handbook".  Nope, it's not.  This book was written for today's parents to be able to effectively steer today's daughters.  We live in a different world, and so the tools we need have to be up-to-date and ready to be used at a moments notice.

Take a peek at just ONE of the many tips you will find inside "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE...":

ENCOURAGE HER, WHETHER SHE WINS OR LOSES, SO THAT SHE UNDERSTANDS THE VALUE OF GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP.  Have you ever really watched a sore loser after a game loss?  They have an ugly scowl on their face, they're angry and they storm off the court or field with the quickness of a flick of the middle finger.  It is so sad to watch.  Obviously, no one ever taught them the value of good sportsmanship.  The best thing you can do for your daughter, whether she's competing in a sport or a spelling bee, is to teach her that "it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game." Encourage her in and out of victories, so that she will be capable of applauding and congratulating the winning team, even though she played on the losing one.

There are 98 more of these tips inside of  "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE...".  Easy to understand, very effective, witty tips.  And each one I have used in the rearing of my own daughters as well as the many girls who I have been blessed to mentor and/or mother.  GOD gave me the greatest blessing when he let me borrow these two Angel Daughters from heaven.  Would you like to know this feeling?  Well, you can.  Simply visit www.viewbook.at/B00CP62O56 (Amazon) and get your very own e-book copy of  "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE...". Right now, thru the end of this tour, which ends June 17th, you can get it for only $.99!  AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO OWN A KINDLE TO GET IT!  What a great offer that is, right?

My time here is almost up, but before I leave I'd like to let you know about my upcoming projects.  I have a children's book called "KIRSTEN AND THE BIG BLUE TREE" due out at the end of this month (June, 2013), and a as-yet-to-be-titled novel with a release date of August 30, 2013.  Also at the conclusion of this tour, I will be awarding one $25 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner, but you need to head on over to www.nonniejules.com to register (under the EVENTS tab).  

If you love to follow great blogs, mine will keep you in stitches.  WATCH NONNIE WRITE! is my blog and it's located at http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com.  If you like what you read there, then please hit the LIKE button and definitely the FOLLOW button.  I'm on Twitter with my morning, afternoon and evening musings @nonniejules and you can also find me on Facebook at Nonnie Jules.

Once again, thank you all so much for having me.  You were a really awesome crowd!  I look forward to seeing you around, somewhere I'm writing, very, very soon.  Thanks again, Mike!"

If you find Nonnie's material interesting, please purchase her book and help a fellow indie writer's cause!  Thanks for reading and I'll keep you all posted on my next featured author. Until next time ....

A Guest Blog with Vonnie Winslow Crist

Continuing with my reciprocal guest blogging, I'd like to introduce to my Overlords fans, Vonnie Winslow Crist.  I had the honor of appearing on Vonnie's blog as her first male blogger and tackled the subject of the Male Fantasy Hero.  Today, Vonnie delves into the importance of the perfect setting for a winning science fiction and/or fantasy story.

Location Matters in Fantasy

by Vonnie Winslow Crist

   First, thanks to Michael for inviting me to guest post. And now, why I think location matters.

   As a fan of fantasy and science fiction, I’ve found that although characters, plot, and dialogue are vital to a genre story — the location where a story is set has a tremendous impact on the success or failure of the completed project. The setting of my epic YA fantasy novel, The Enchanted Skean, on the pre-technology world of Lifthrasir determined the characters' occupations, education, weapons, means of transportation, and more. Plus, it made using magic more believable.

   Some readers and writers might be shaking their heads, but those of us who’ve tumbled with Alice down a rabbit hole, walked with Lucy through a wardrobe, or stepped with a character through a looking-glass, know location often decides the direction of a story.

   Without The Shire, the Mines of Moria, Rivendell, Helm’s Deep, Mordor and the rest of Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasies wouldn’t be the same. Many of the challenges faced by Bilbo, Frodo, the other Hobbits and their companions are a result of the places where they find themselves while on their journeys.

   When George Lucas imagined the adventures of Luke Skywalker he took us from the wastelands of Tatooine to the forest moon of Endor, the swamps of Dagobah, the interior of the Millennium Falcon, the ice world of Hoth, the Cloud City of Bespin and dozens of other locations in the vast galactic sprawl of moons, asteroids and planets that are home to the Star Wars saga. The contrasts in the various settings gives rise to action, encourages character development, and helps the reader “suspend their disbelief.”

   Another favorite of mine, Neil Gaiman, chose the sidewalks, pubs, and subways of a city in Great Britain for his Neverwhere. He knew the claustrophobic closeness of tunnels, subways, apartments, and urban nooks and crannies would make a difference in the feel of the story. Likewise, when he wrote about Wall and the world of Faery that existed next to it, the settings made a difference in what it meant to locate a fallen star in Stardust.

   And what about Harry Potter? J.K. Rowling’s decision to have Harry travel from a cupboard under the stairs to Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the Weasley home and the rest of the author’s wizard world gave rise to the change and growth of Harry, the dialogue, the other characters, the antagonists, the plotlines, and more.

   In each of these examples and countless others, location is one of the keys to the success of the story. In my novel, The Enchanted Skean -Book I of the Chronicles of Lifthrasir, the seaside city of Queen's Weather, the graveyard in Ulfwood, the Sheercliff Mountains and Canyons of Kabeth, the abandoned fortress of Raven's Haunt, and other locations are important elements. Each locale's flavor adds not only a touch of reality to the fantastic, but a familiar presence for readers. How many of us haven't visited a port city, a graveyard, or the mountains? Or seen an abandoned building?

  And while The Enchanted Skean has been described as a “Young Adult novel filled with action, adventure, and memorable characters,” I believe the location: the highways, pubs, ships, cities, forests, and battlefields of Lifthrasir are important elements of the book that help shape the story.

   For a taste of the world of The Enchanted Skean, here's the link to a 3-chapter excerpt:

http://vonniewinslowcrist.com/books/the_enchanted_skean_excerpt  and a link to the novel's book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-8C9OkyJCU

   You can find The Enchanted Skean and other books by Vonnie Winslow Crist on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/Vonnie-Winslow-Crist-Amazon and elsewhere.

   Born in the Year of the Dragon, Vonnie Winslow Crist has had a life-long interest in reading, writing, myths, folklore, fairy tales, legends, and art. A firm believer that the world around us is filled with miracles, mystery, and magic, Vonnie still sees fairies amidst the trees, mermaids on jetties, and ghosts and goblins of all sorts in the shadows. 

Visit her website: http://vonniewinslowcrist.com and blog: http://vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com 

Become her friend and fan on Facebook: http://facebook.com/WriterVonnieWinslowCrist and 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/vonnie_winslow_crist  

And follow her tweets: http://twitter.com/VonnieWCrist

Reading Week at TMS

On Monday, April 8th Mike visited with over 100 eight graders at the Tiverton Middle School in Tiverton, RI to kick off Reading Week.  Mike taught the students the finer points of creating a story, making interesting characters, challenging settings, the importance of an outline and plot points and of course editing, preaching his Four-Pass Editing process.

After the lecture on story creation, he led the kids in a raucous Monster Creation session where the students listed physical descriptions of the protagonist and antagonist.  After determining what they wanted their characters to took look like, some very talented young artists took the physical descriptions and brought the characters to life.

In all, a great day for everyone!

Writing From an Editor's Point of View

In my writing career I have been fortunate to work with some very talented people.  As all authors know, every writer needs a great editor and I'm lucky to have Laura Vadney in my corner.  I virtually met Laura back in 2005 -- we still have not met fact to face since I live in Rhode Island and she hails from Memphis, TN -- and she has helped edit my Overlords fantasy series.  Three books later and more red lines than I care to share, we have put together a wonderful, entertaining series.  I'm incredibly grateful for her insights and help, and how she takes my words and makes them sound that much better.  Recently, I asked her to give the editor's perspective on writing.  Here's what she has to say:

How I Got into This

I became an editor by accident.  When running a personal ad on Match.com, I received a strange reply from a woman who was breaking up with her husband.  He was moving to Memphis and she picked me out for him.  Long story short, they got back together and we three all became friends.  One of their interests was publishing novels for first time writers and they had formed a small publishing company to pursue that goal.  If I recall the conversation accurately, one day the husband asked me if I would like to be an editor since I liked to read so much.  Truthfully, he knew that I was working in a public relations job that involved writing and editing a publication with a circulation of 10,000.  I also had an educational background - undergraduate degrees in zoology and psychology, as well as masters in counseling and English.

Since then I worked for their company until it closed due to the wife's death, helped them coordinate several writing conferences, and continue to work privately with authors, including Mike.

Why Edit

Editing can make your novel look more professional when you submit it for publication and/or get it in a reader's hands.  An editor will tell you things that your friends won't.  You pay us for honest, accurate opinions. It's almost impossible to edit your own work because the brain tends to fill in with what we expect to see, rather than what your fingers might have accidently written.

Spell checkers have cut down considerably on basic spelling errors, but it can make some really stupid substitutions on its own.  Also, depending on the age of your word processing program, it may not have the most recent information about grammatical preferences, although I still insist the past tense of dive is dove, not dived.

 

At the same time, the manuscript is your work.  I always say that authors can outvote editors if they feel strongly enough that something should remain that is recommended for change.  Occasionally you might want to deliberately use incorrect language to make a point or in dialogue.  Editors can help you be the best writer that you can be.

Common Improvements & What to Expect

Loosely grouped, general issues that I often find needing work, especially with new authors, can be show vs. tell, inconsistent character voice, ignoring the need to write tight and "magic" solutions.  Common grammatical errors I often find in manuscripts are comma confusion, sentence structure, and word repetition.

I work on either a printed document or in a version that speaks to Word, going over the entire manuscript at least twice. Once is to look for grammar and flow issues, the second has more emphasis on plot and character development.  In either format I return to you, the author, a document with corrections noted in red and extensive notes in the margin to explain why.  I also stay in contact with you during this process if I find issues that need explaining to the reader.  Because I like to be thorough, this is not a rapid process.

Laura is one our many experts at Self Publishing Insight and can be hired to help get your manuscript publish-ready.  If you're interested in Laura's services, please contact Mike@the-overlords.com.