"Tails for Pouncing."

So about a month ago, I was at Hastings in Conway, Arkansas with my best friend and there was a woman with a little table set up in the front, doing a signing. At first, I was feeling a bit anti-social, so we sort of just skipped over the area.

I was telling my friend about how awful I had seen some authors get treated in that particular store in the past and in doing so, I had convinced her to talk to the lady. So on we went to the little table in the front.


As it turns out, her name is Karen Hill and she's a really nice lady.

She wrote Cat Tails along with My Peekaboo Moon. Now, as you can tell by the names, they're children's books which generally isn't my cup of tea. But the artwork for My Peekaboo Moon had caught my eyes.

She went on to tell us about the illustrators and her inspiration for the books. It was a pretty pleasant meeting and if you are interested in buying children's books, these two are ones you should look into.

And if you are looking for other writers/authors of the genre to befriend or simply talk to, you should try getting a hold of her. She has a website called cattailsandfriends.com Just click the link and you're there. You'll find contact information there.

Can we just find a balance between character and plot?

I can't manage to find a book that isn't unbalanced lately. These authors are putting so much detail and work into their stories, but in doing so, they're somehow forgetting about the characters. How? Well, I'm not entirely sure. Obviously, books can be plot driven and that's fine. But it's generally apparent when it is, which brings me to my point.

All the detail in the world will not make up for poor character development. If your character has the personality of a box of rocks, it's going to take away from all that work you put into world-building. I've read reviews on books by authors guilty of this and I'm not the only one feeling this issue. Of course, it's probably not intentional. Which I guess leaves me with saying (yet again) find some character development sheets. Fill them out for every important character and don't put more into a side character than you do the main. The main character, if the story is character driven is-- as the title would suggest-- the driving force.

Detail is great. Always work on detail, but don't slight the characters while you're at it. It could most definitely be a problem that drives readers away.

Manuscript Maven

One of my writing friends, Sharon Mayhew, has started a business these past months and I've been wanting to talk about it but I've been having issues logging onto here for months. Fortunately, I'm here and able to talk about it now.

I had been having issues finding someone to look over my work for me, and she was there. As far as editing businesses go, I'm not well versed, but she's been helpful ever since a friend of mine introduced me to her last year. She pushed me to submit a query into a contest she and Terrie Wolf were doing and I am so glad I did. As for her line edits and critiques, I couldn't say enough. Her work is thorough and diligent. She is so incredibly gentle in delivering her thoughts about the work and she keeps the writer's voice in mind. Her penchant for minimalistic word usage has helped the flow of my writing tremendously as has her eye for noticing my typos and occasional laziness. 

More to the point, her business is called The Manuscript Maven. She does line editing, critiques, and author coaching for YA, MG, CB, and PB manuscripts. Any other information can be found in the link including how to contact her. 

Also, if you'd like to follow her, here's the link to her blog. 

Just a quick less technical tip

Ok, so lately I’ve been having some issues. Issues being… I feel like everything I do is mediocre. I sat around all day moping, wishing I were better at something. Anything, really. And after a few hours of this, I thought about where I started.

My writing was tantamount to the writings of a bored, eighteen-year-old’s attempt at writing… Well, "tantamount" is putting it lightly since that's exactly what it was. It was my senior year and I had just come into my love for reading. I had plenty of time on my hands so why not? I didn't note what it was going to be about. I didn't outline. I just... went for it. Oh, what a mess it was.

Three years later and my writing has gotten better. I don’t know how much better, but better, nonetheless. 

So, really, my tip is just don’t give up because you feel like you’re failing. Practice makes perfect. Reading doesn’t hurt either. If you feel like you are at a dead end, read. Read until you are nearly frantic to get back to your writing. 

If you’re serious about your writing, understand that it isn’t just something you jump into and are magically good at. It takes time-- years-- to understand and there is always room for improvement.