Writing While In Pain

I love writing. I'm so stressed out with everything, especially my health, that I feel like I have nowhere else to turn. Writing is it.

But I've lost focus over these past few weeks. Dealing with my disability, home life, and worried about my future has started to take its toll.

I can't help but watch television, even  commercials, and see beautiful, laughing carefree adults just living their lives. Sometimes, I want so bad to be apart of that.

Just a week ago, laughing was something that I couldn't do. Singing was out of the question. Holding a conversation with someone was difficult because of  severe lung obstruction disease.

If you're reading this, don't ever take your health for granted. If you smoke, stop. If you eat unhealthy, stop. If you use drugs, stop. It's not worth it in the end. Don't be one of those idiots that say, "You gotta die from something, right?" You don't have to die on a ventilator. You don't have to die from overdose. You don't have to die from a heart attack.

I had the most scary experience in my life May 14, 2012. I was NO longer in control of my body. I no longer had the say so of whether I lived or died. If you continue to do some of the things you do, taking your health for granted then you need to start writing a will now. Start telling your loved ones how you really feel. Because you won't be around much longer if you abuse your health and take it for granted.

Writing is one of the few things that I can do without getting short of breath nowadays and I never smoked a cigarette or did an illegal drug in my life. I don't eat fried foods and eat plenty of vegetables, fish, chicken, etc. I don't have the healthiest diet, but it's not the worst.

Tread carefully.

What's Next?

Currently, I'm working on so many projects that I want to eventually publish, it's making my head spin. But I take it all in stride. Writing is what I love to do. Reading comes second to that. I try to write something every day but I get so distracted by things that don't matter. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't get so distracted by the television or my obsession with Googling.

I can google all day long before I realize that the day is now over. Hopefully I can finish these projects. Stay tuned, got some great stories coming up.


Tea of the Day: NONE..

Went Into Respiratory Failure A Few Days Ago

Haven't been doing much writing here because I went into respiratory failure on Tuesday of this week. I stopped breathing in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It is now Thursday and I'm still here. I'm trying to write while I'm in here but the flare ups and fatigue makes it harder.

Looking for prayers and positive energy. Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Pulling Your Hair Out Is Part of The Writing Process

For some reason the picture won't show up larger than this. But if you zoom the screen out, you will see the numbers pouring in for my new debut, Sex Therapy. Just to show you how all this works with Amazon, it shows you to the right how many actual books you sold that you're going to get paid for. Or not get paid for if someone refunded your book. (Yikes)

The numbers to the left deal with your Free Promotions. Or other words, not going to get paid for. Amazon gives you the opportunity to give your book for free to garner reviews and get your name out there. Cool huh?

The numbers towards the middle (Borrows) tells you that you're going to get paid for books that others lend or read for free with the Prime program. That money is coming from Amazon itself. That's ONLY if you enroll in the KDP program. That just means you promise to exclusively publish with them. If you don't, well tough cookies...LOL!

Since this is my first fiction short story out there, I'm incredibly nervous. I have been trying to perfect the novel the best way I know how. Yeah...I guess you could say that I'm terrified of the horrible reviews. But it's the only way I'm going to know I'm good. Yes, it is true that not everyone is going to like you. You could give this book out with million dollar checks, and I would bet all the money in my bank account (you're welcome to $39.17 right now) that you will still get negative reviews. Probably because you wrote paper checks and you didn't overnight the cash you little, silly, naive author, you!!!!

Or it's just your book really sucks but they wanted to thank you for the million bucks anyway.

I just placed my book for a free promotion last night and the reviews will be coming in shortly. I'm very ill right now and can barely move without chest pain. In fact, I should be writing this in a hospital bed instead of my own bed but what are you going to do, huh? I would just ask reviewers to be fair, not name call such as garbage, or filth, rubbish for my British readers. If you didn't like the novel, just state the reasons why and move on, especially if you're just looking for the free million dollar check that comes along with the book.

Look out for that in the eight edition. ; )

Sex Therapy Is For Sale

Grab it here!

It's for sale people!!! I can't wait to hear what you guys think! This is my first debut at fiction. I've done the screenwriting thing but my novella, Sex Therapy is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

I will be offering the book for free very soon so watch for the promotion to come! Thanks everyone!

Damn Amazon Glitch

So.......

My book should already be for sale in the Amazon store but sadly, this hasn't happened. Upon checking the author forums, it seems like I am not unique to the situation. This issue has been brewing since the last week of April. Oh well....it gave me the chance to correct a few things. The other night I edited before I submitted, but I missed a few things. I didn't realize it until I hit the PUBLISH stage. Right now I'm trying to rectify the situation with Amazon. Stay tuned.

BTW....the wonderful thing about eBooks is that if you make a mistake or catch something you missed, you can correct the issue, reupload your book, and publish it as a newer edition. Versus a print book, it's pretty much done and there's nothing you can do about mistakes.

TEA OF THE DAY: No tea...but I did have a Cherry Berry Chiller from McDonalds. Those drinks are some kind of awesome actually.

My new book Sex Therapy is now on sale on Amazon.com!!! Be sure to check it out!!!!

Life in the Windy City is pretty monotonous for Ronald Carrington. As a successful fund manager for a mutual fund company, he is clearly a man that lives life to the fullest.

After receiving a life changing phone call one day, he decides to live life on the edge and on his terms. After falling for a stripper named Smokey, he finds himself caught up in a world of drugs, addiction, and sex.

Things continue to spiral out of control when three female college students go missing, including the sister of Ronald's co-worker. Ronald finds himself searching for the truth but he's he has no time to spare.

Can Ronald's search for answers cost him his life?

1. How does it feel to complete another book?

I am very excited to have completed my first novella and have it published! It started off as an idea about a successful man falling in love with a stripper and it kind of went along from there.

2. What genre does the book fit best?

Suspense/Mystery/Drama.

3. Would you consider yourself as a mystery writer now?

Not really. I consider myself to be a story teller. I like to tell stories. One day I'm writing a comedic piece and the next day my characters can be in tears. I personally think that a writer should write for a specific genre first, especially if first starting off. Define your voice up front and your fans will recognize and appreciate your work.

The next project that I'm working on is a dramedy. You really don't see that term much when it comes to novels. That's a TV thing, but when I began to write seriously, I wrote screenplays. I completed three screenplays so far and two television series.

Even though I'm not taking my own advice, I can't help it at times. I get an idea for a story and just go with it. I don't know what else I can say. 

4. Was it hard to make that transition?

In the beginning, yes. Screenplays and teleplays are written in a very specific format. It's totally different from writing prose. It took months before I felt comfortable writing with my "fiction" voice. But writing as a screenwriter for so long, helped me tell a story better. Hollywood can be harsh at times, but you have to take the criticism with a grain of salt.

5. What advice would you give up and coming writers?

You have to write everyday to perfect your craft. I punish my family members and friends and have them read my stuff. The more I write, the better my writing got. I'm serious people, if you want to be a writer, you've got to practice your craft. Lots of people dream of that writer lifestyle. Getting up in the morning with a cup of tea and sitting down in front of your computer, pounding out manuscript after manuscript. Some writers never really leave their houses.

I wouldn't call writing a glamorous job or anything, but it takes dedication and practice!!!

6. What's the worse thing you hate about writing?

The criticism....the unfair criticism. Writers become very attached to their work. To criticize it could be akin to slapping someone's child across the face in the grocery store. You have these unknown people making personal attacks against you.

It is MORE than fair to criticize someone's work but passing judgment on people is unacceptable. I totally get that I can read a story and get something good out of while the person next to me totally hates the book. My fiance and I go back and forth over things like that all the time. Not everyone is going to like you. But please keep your criticism to the work at hand. Not the author personally.

Writer's Block

You know what my writer's block is?

Google.

I think this is a universal truth for most writers. You pick a topic that you need to research so that you don't come off as a total idiot to your lovely readers but six hours later, the only thing you've accomplished was watching that video of a poodle making a rap video that went viral or sending those annoying requests to your so-call friends to help you build a zoo on Facebook.

Yeah you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I was doing some research on jails at about six this morning, but I just remembered at 230PM what I was supposed to be doing when I turned my laptop on. So far, I've googled lupus and hair loss, did a hair review on another blog, sent six text messages, argued with my twin sister, got up and made myself something to eat (which I'm proud of because on many occasions, this is a difficult task for me to complete), played with my cat (didn't last long because she became quickly annoyed), watched lupus videos on YouTube, googled the Prime Meridian since I haven't heard that term since I was in the third grade, and said happy birthday to a dear friend on Facebook.

I'm still in the final editing stages of one book and desperately trying to finish another. I have a round of tests to complete this week so I won't get another day to relax and write for some time now. My face is killing me (I also suffer from Trigeminal Neuraligia) so I'd better get this done and fast.

:(

Seriously Flawed

Ho hum Ho hum.

Reviewers that don't read your book?

Here they come.

Leaving mass destruction behind,

With a star or two.

You're a babbling idiot behind a keyboard, she said.

If they only knew.

You've worked hard on your book,

You've believed in it from the start.

Secured by their anonymity,

Like a dagger through your heart.

Other reviews come in,

Lavishing praises here and there.

But you'll never forget those harsh words,

There will be more, so beware.


Recently I read another forum post where all of these people, most who have never written or published anything, were taking many writers to task over simple mistakes. We all make them. Even books published by major publishing houses have major grammatical and spelling errors.

If there are one or two errors, MOST people move on, possibly even forgetting that they existed.

But TOO MANY errors become distracting. If your reader is so busy correcting your grammar, then they aren't getting lost into your story. You want your readers lost in your story. You want your reader to look up at the clock, amazed at the amount of time that has gone by while reading your words.

It is the ultimate compliment.

I read a book once about a young woman that was dealing with Lupus. Since I have lupus, I was very interested in hearing her story.

The problem? The first sentence lasted for an entire page without one punctuation mark. I desperately tried to get into the book, but I liken it to listening to someone's thoughts. Here is an example: (NOTE: These are not the actual words of the book)

Lupus is an autoimmune disease okay like your cells going haywire and instead of attacking diseases and bacteria that's not supposed to be there it attacks your organs like your kidneys, liver, brain, and other things and it does not discriminate because my friend has lupus and it attacked her heart when it attacked my lungs.....

I hope you get the picture. That was probably the worst I've seen so far. I try to give each writer the benefit of the doubt and ignore spelling and bad punctuation. Hell, I even cringe at a misplaced comma in my own work. Thankfully, you can edit the changes, and upload a corrected copy to Amazon. I took full advantage of that. So no one is perfect.

But if the reader can barely make out what you're trying to say, it's time to take it back to the drawing board and rewrite my friends.


But after reading the forum posts, I have concluded that SOME people LOOK for errors your book. I just made an error. Did you catch it? I didn't...not while I was typing it. I caught it on the third read and I'm going to leave it there as a great example. They are not interested at all in your story but will sit there and count the mistakes you make. Bored people? Maybe. Unemployed editors shaking their fists at society by taking it out on a few amatuer writers? That would be kind of funny but not really. Or are they consumers who feel like they are spending their money and time, wanting nothing more than a quality product? I could see that too.

But God help you if you misuse a comma or a homonym.

Okay...I have to agree with the homonym thing. Your and You're or there and their. Mixed up homonyms are my pet peeve. They seriously are. Many writers aren't the best grammaticians. Hell if we were, then we'd be editors...not writers. But using the wrong homonym? Not acceptable.

My advice? Read your book over and over again until you damn near have the words memorized. Join a writer's group and have them read it. It is very helpful to get feedback from different people. It will help you in the long run. Then read your damn copy again and again. There are things that I missed when I read my current book, Sex Therapy, when I began editing it the first time.

We will talk about formatting in another post.

Tea Of The Day: Ginger Peach, Tangy Tangerine