Tag Archives: author

The Halloween Night Parade

Back when my mom passed, I took 4 tubs of “things”. I wasn’t sure what to do with them and, because they were all in these tubs, I knew I could go through them when I had time. In one of the tubs I found this poem she wrote for a creative writing class. I believe my mom was a frustrated artist wannabe. She was very creative. She sewed and painted, and wrote among other things.

I took the poem and put it in my top desk drawer where I have seen it for the past several years every time I opened the drawer. I’m not sure why I took that out of the tubs and I didn’t know what I was going to do with it but there it remained for several years. Until last week.

Last week, I decided I would actually turn it into a children’s book. I’m not a huge Halloween fan and that put me off of the idea for a book for a few years but it finally seemed like this was the time to make it into a book.

I used mostly her words. I created the illustrations with AI and I made minor adaptions to the poem to be better understood. The original post talked about Jack the Ripper, Black Bart, and Bluebeard which I though were a little obscure for kids. I also wrote the back cover text and titled it.

I got the book proof yesterday and it’s so cute! Best of all, I just know my mom would be tickled to have a book out there with her name on it. It will go on sale to the public on August 1.

#NaNoWriMo 2014

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NaNoWriMo logo

Have you hear of NaNoWriMo? I believe I first heard of it four years ago when my friend Jen Luitweilter was participating. She explained to me that NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writer’s Month. And a lot of people do it!

I’ve had a book in my head for several years now. Back then, it hadn’t been there as long, though. I investigated the website and decided that the following November, I was going to sign up and finally write that booki.

The following November rolled around and I made an account at the NaNo website. And I chickened out. I hadn’t even written Pageant Savvy at that time. I’d written no book and I was terrified to write one. That no one would read it and I would be embarrassed.

Another year went by.

It was November of 2013 and I thought, “This year, I’m going to do it!” I logged into my account at the NaNo website and this time, I entered the title of my book.

And I chickened out.

At this point, I HAD written a book but it was non fiction. My doubts were huge and I thought I simply couldn’t write fiction.

Earlier in 2014, My friend Becky McCray told me to just write the darned thing and get it out. Don’t worry about edits, that would come later. Great advice and I did think about starting to write it then but never did. Things got in the way, I was still scared.

I put “Win NaNoWriMo 2014” on my goals list. Write Mrs. Congeniality was already there. It’s been there. 😉

This year, in September, I went to a blogger get together. There, I sat across the table from one of the Municipal Liaisons of the Tulsa NaNo group. I told her I had tried a couple of years to do NaNo but I had chickened out. She told me about the local group and told me she was going to hold my feet to the fire.

So this year, I logged into my account, entered a title, a synopsis, donated to the cause (NaNo is user supported) and began writing. Now after having written for seven days, my word count is just under 19,000. My dashboard says that I should complete my book November 22, eight day early. Whoa!

And you know what? It’s been fun! This book has been in my head for so long, it’s just flowing out my fingers and I like it. Bigger news? I wouldn’t care if someone read it! And this is only the first draft.

While I have a general idea of the story, I did write bios for all of the characters before I started writing. As I write, situations take place on the screen that, after I’m finished, surprise me. I had no idea I would write that. How fun!

I will win NaNoWriMo this year. And I will be so happy to cross two goals off my list. But I want to encourage you. If you ever thought you had a book to write, don’t be scared, sign up for NaNoWritMo and get it done in November. 🙂

Interview with the Author: Venita Ellick

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Last month I read and reviewed a fabu book, The Reluctant First Lady. Today, I have an interview with the books author, Venita Ellick. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know her a little better like I did.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I began writing stories as soon as I could write. Before that, I told stories to all of my relatives. My uncle still tells me about a story I told when I was three. I said I had gone to Texas on a train and rode in the caboose. I drew pictures to go with the story. My uncle said I was very serious about my story and no laughing was allowed.

Is this your first book?

The Reluctant First Lady is the first full length novel I wrote (back in 2001). I’ve since written three others. But, as my children were growing up, I wrote picture books and did the illustrations. They thought for years they were books from the library.

I love to write my blog. What did you write before this novel, if anything? Do you have another favorite way to write?

In addition to the children’s books I wrote, which I mentioned in question #2, I also wrote poetry. Also, as a elementary principal, I wrote the bi-monthly parent newsletter.

I’m writing my first novel and it scares the heck out of me. Did you find any fear in writing yours?

No, I was never afraid, but I can certainly understand why anyone would be. Writing is hard work. Besides having a good idea, it’s day in and day out creating the story, developing the story and the characters and then editing, editing, editing. Some people find it beneficial to write an outline and/or to create a story board.

I thought the idea of a wife not wanting to serve as First Lady intriguing. How did you come up with that?

My family was eating dinner and I commented to my children (they were teenagers at the time) that their dad would be a great president, that he was very diplomatic, trustworthy and ethical, but that his problem would be me. I wouldn’t want the job of the First Lady and would refuse to do it. One of my sons said if I were to take that stand, I would automatically become one of the most famous First Ladies of all time. That was an ‘aha’ moment.

If my husband were president, I think I would enjoy serving as First Lady. Would you or would you be like Ashley and maintain your previous life? Of course, I’d rather be the President. 😉

I wouldn’t want to be the First Lady. I admire our First Ladies and think they have done very admiral jobs as the First Ladies. But, that’s not for me. I think the spouse of the president should have the opportunity to choose for themselves whether or not they want to step into that role. One day there will be a female president, what will her spouse do?

I think Reluctant First Lady would make a good movie. Who would you pick to play the roles of Mike and Ashley?

Thanks, I’ve heard that from many readers. I think Naomi Watts would make a good Ashley, and someone like Ben Affleck would make a good president.

What are your future writing plans? Will there be a sequel to Reluctant First Lady?

I’m currently working on an outline for a sequel to The Reluctant First Lady and editing my next book I hope to publish.

What do you like to read?

I love all kinds of books and tend to have several going at the same time. I just finished the Divergent Triology, and am working my way through ‘When Things Fall Apart,’ ‘Ishmael,’ and James Rollins, ‘Bloodlines.’

I write about my family on my blog a lot. We had two sons and now we have a granddaughter. I see from your bio that you are also a boy mom with granddaughters. What is the most fun part about granddaughters compared to sons to you?

I have three sons and adore them, their wives and our two granddaughters, ages 7 and 3. It’s so wonderful to see how little girls mind’s work and the way they like to play. It’s so much fun to play kitchen, and with princesses. One of my favorite things is watching my child be a parent. I find it hysterical knowing all he has to go through. It’s such a joy to see your child be such an amazing parent. Makes me misty eyed.

This was awesome! Thank you, Venita, for this wonderful interview and my best wishes for your success. 🙂

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog to get to know Venita Ellick a little better. I know you will enjoy her book Reluctant First Lady.

Links to Venita Ellick Author:

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Molly Ringwald, Ruby Wax and me…

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I recently read Newton Neighbors by Suzy Duffy. I really enjoyed this book and am honored to have a Suzy’s guest post today about tending to your bucket list. With my own list of over 100 things I plan to accomplish, I’m fully behind this idea. Enjoy! 🙂

How’s your bucket list looking these days? Do you still have a wish-list of things you want to do?

Or did you dump it along the way with work, family and funding pressure? As autumn rolls in and kids head back to school, I think it’s a great time to remind you how precious your list really is. Haul it out and let’s think about this.

Ask any seven year old worth their salt about their wish-list and they’ll happily regale you with their plans to become a pop star, then an astronaut – maybe a spell in the white house before curing cancer and achieving world peace. While they’re a tad over-optimistic, I think as we get older we become a bit over-pessimistic. Somewhere in the middle is a good flight path.

Here’s my suggestion. Get a pen and paper and list ten things you’d like to do in your life. It isn’t as easy as it sounds because we’ve become so darn good at building excuses – reasons why things can’t be done. For now try to ignore all those excuses and write down the top ten things you really want. When you’ve got that done, list them in order of priority – one being your top ambition and ten, the least important. If we don’t have goals, how are we ever going to reach them? Here’s the funny thing, sometimes when we’re aiming for one thing, we get a totally unexpected bonus that wasn’t even on our radar.

Top of my list for the last five years has been to get to No. 1 in the New York Times bestseller list. This is practically unheard of for a new writer. I don’t know any mothers-of-five who have done it (except Debbie Macomber, and she has a thirty year head start on me) but that’s not the point. The point is the mountain is there and I want to climb it, page by page and book by book. Wellesley Wives got into the top one hundred in the Amazon Bestsellers list so I’m hopeful Newton Neighbors will climb even higher and so far so good, because reviews are excellent. Nowhere on my wish-list did I have plans to visit Australia. That didn’t even enter my mind but thanks to the success of Wellesley Wives in the USA, my publisher, The Writers Coffee Shop flew me to Australia – to speak at The Sydney Writers Festival on how to write romantic comedy. That was four months ago and I’m still flying high on the endorphins. Sydney was everything I imagined it to be and more. I was familiar with the landmarks of the city but to see them up close was just amazing. Sydney was an unbelievable fringe benefit of aiming for No. 1 in the bestsellers list. The same could happen to you. Aiming for goals puts you in the way of other fantastic adventures and experiences that might never have come your way if you ignore that bucket list.

I’ve been a huge fan of Ruby Wax for years. She’s American, living in the UK and did a hilarious TV series a few years back – interviewing some of the most colorful characters on the planet; Imelda Marcos, Pamela Anderson and the like. There was nothing Ruby wouldn’t say. She was wildly inappropriate and even wildlier funny! Imagine my thrill when I discovered she was staying at the same hotel as us in Sydney. She was Down-under to promote her new book too. I was rubbing shoulders with my idols. Another major celeb who checked in was Molly Ringwald. Yep, she has a book out too.

It kinda makes me wonder how in the heck I’m ever going to get to the top of the bestsellers list with so many people writing books. Then again look at the fun I’m having along the way.

This is a really good time of year to get your list back out and think about what you want. I’m sure your days are already full with family and work but we’ve got to squeeze as much fun into life as we can. Don’t ignore your bucket list – you owe it to yourself and who knows, it might be you I meet in Sydney next time. Wishing you good luck with your list and get connected through the links below to let me know how you’re doing.

Lots of love,

Suzy xx

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Lauri Rottmayer

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Tag Archives: author

The Halloween Night Parade

#NaNoWriMo 2014

Interview with the Author: Venita Ellick

Molly Ringwald, Ruby Wax and me…