Why I Love LDStorymakers Writers Conference

Why do I love LDStorymakers Writers Conference? Simply put, it's got to be the single most beneficial thing boosting my writing career. What about my degree in English, you wonder. Though it was quite helpful--all that practice writing, meeting deadlines, and being forced to read things I wouldn't normally have--this was more specific to writing fiction. How about my critique group? Well, they're fabulous--the help, the motivation, more deadlines, someone to bounce ideas off of, but where did I meet them? At the writer's conference.

There are certainly many factors that contribute to my writing career: support from my family. A laptop. Time to write. But overall, the biggest motivator has been LDStorymakers Writers Conference. The first time I attended, three years ago, I had a finished manuscript and no idea what to do next. I'd edited (several times), had a friend go through a deep edit (Wow! Great leap forward!) and I was ready to submit, but before I did, I attended the conference. And I was so glad I did.

Why I LOVE LDStorymakers:

1. There's a place for my genre, LDS women's fiction, and one of the few in the country that gives me an opportunity to meet with other LDS writers and mingle with publishers in the LDS market.
2. Fabulous classes, anywhere from beginning classes to advanced, from plot and character to self-publishing, from fiction to nonfiction.
3. Networking. I know people talk about it all the time but I had no idea how important it is. The first time I went, I didn't know anyone. I was coming from Texas, going to Utah, so I knew I would be "on my own." The people were friendly and I enjoyed myself. But it didn't stop there. While there, I signed up for Authors Incognito and that has been the best part ever. The gift that keeps giving: advice, support, critique groups, fresh eyes, and people to sit with at the conference.
4. Last year, my high school-aged son (who's finished two YA dystopian novels) attended Storymakers with me. As first prize winner of the "Show Your Love" contest, he got a seat at the VIP table where he got to chat with the national authors and agents--which gave him some connections for when he was ready to submit his manuscript (which he has done and is still under review) as well as a much-needed critique from one of the agents. It was such a fabulous opportunity and one he will remember for a very long time. Don't pass up your opportunity to mingle with national agents and authors, check it out here.

So, if you're feeling kinda stuck in your writing career, might I suggest something that not only will invigorate, refresh, and inspire you, but is fun, too? Try the LDStorymakers Conference. You will love it!

QR Blog promotion

A couple of days ago, I posted a web address for a site that will produce a 3D book cover. I liked the graphics when they were small, but forget about trying to blow it up big enough to use on an 8.5x11 poster. Ugh! Unless you wanna pay $80, and I wasn't that interested. It worked great for the blog, so it has its uses.

Now I found something else. I decided to research if I could get a QR code for book promotion. This website, QR Stuff, was the first one I came across. So far all I entered with this blog address, it generated a QR code for me, I printed it on my computer and voila  when I tried it on my iPhone, it worked!! (Okay, maybe I'm easily impressed.)

So as I finish off my book signing posters to send to Book Nook Plus in Nampa, ID and Pioneer Book in Orem, UT, I can include a link that people can follow to read reviews of Nourish & Strengthen, head to my Facebook author page, or visit my blog. Which do you think would be most helpful? What do you look for when following a QR code?

Creating a 3D Book Cover Image

I just have to share!! I've been trying to cut and paste my book cover image onto a blank book image and having so much trouble. And then I put the "right" words in my search box: "how to make a 3D book cover image free." It all goes back to the whole if-you-want-something-ask-for-it thing. Anyway, using the website I pulled up (3D-Box Maker), I was able to create these beautiful images in seconds!! How's that for awesome!!

A Liebster For Me?? And a Blogger Spotlight?

How thrilled I was when I received a notification that someone honored my blog with an award! It truly made my day :) Thanks, Rena Traxel! She said my posts are "interesting." Then, the next day I think it was, a friend highlighted my blog in her post, challenging me to the Blogger Spotlight. So take that surprise and fun, and square it. Super fun. Now I know it's kinda like those chain letters we used to get, and it's just a way get some exposure and make some new friends along the way, but I see no harm in it. No threats if you break the chain. I'm not asking for anything in return.

So I'm passing on the love. First, about the Liebster Blog award: I tried to do research to find it's origin, but lost interest after several pages on the Google search. Liebster is said to mean "darling" or "favorite" so that's what we'll go off. 

The blogs I now bestow with the Liebster Blog award are as follows: (ahem....)

• Shan at Family Brings Joy. She may have more than 200 followers, but I can't tell, and her blog is gorgeous, interesting, and well worth the stop.
• Alex at Chaotic Gibberish. He can be interesting when he finds the time to post (high schoolers...think they're busy or something). I think he should get back to his "Autofill" posts--hilarious!
• Brooke at Sunshine and Snows in West Texas. Again, don't know about the under 200 requirement. Technicalities. Anyway, she's funny, got a cute family and awesome recipes--well those are located at my next nomination:
• There's No Cookin' Like Snow Cookin'. I think I need to try some of these recipes out. Yum!
• Jenny at She's Got the Write Stuff. I love that she's reading 100 books this year. That just sounds like an amazing goal!! I hope she makes it.

For the Liebster, I was supposed to say 5 things about me. For the Blog Spotlight, I was supposed to answer 11 questions. I don't feel like playing by the rules, so I'm going to pick and choose. I'm going to be one of those...a cafeteria blogger. So here are the questions I'm going to answer:

1. Canon or Nikon? I have a Canon. Wish I had a good Canon on my iPhone--that would be much more convenient. 

2. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? I don't know if it's an official superpower per se, but I'd love to be able to heal.

3. What movie has impacted you recently and why? This Is War--so much so that my husband and I got up and walked out. They took what could have been funny and made it crass and vulgar. Totally unnecessary. Glad it was free. And I guess I need to do a little better research next time.

4. What value is most important to you? {Examples: Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Gratitude, Honesty, Patience, Responsibility, Respect, Work etc.} YES!! Can I say all of the above?

5. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Finally, an easy one!! Rocky Road :)

OK, Peeps who I tagged. You can either follow the Liebster rules and nominate 5 blogs and say five things about yourself, or you can do the spotlight route with 11 blogs, and 11 questions. Sorry if you didn't like me breaking the rules, but everyone's gotta rebel sometime :)

Review: These Things Hidden & POV

I'm beginning to wonder if my blog focuses more on reading than writing. I noticed I've done several reviews lately, so I considered not writing this one, but I just couldn't pass it up.

I picked this book up at my local library, along with a couple of other novels, for the express purpose of looking at POV. It was all a research project for me. I'm near the end of my first draft of my second novel and it's a bit different than Nourish & Strengthen. My first novel is written in first person POV, the same one all the way through, but I love books where there are multiple POVs and knew that my second novel needed be written as such.

In the beginning, I wrote each of my three MCs in third person, to keep them straight in my mind if for no other reason at the time. I figured eventually I'd switch them over to first person since everyone says you can relate to a first person character better. As I wrote, there were times I slipped into first person, but not for very long, because it just didn't feel right. So now, as I begin revising, I had a decision to make--or a couple, really: I needed to know if I wanted it first or third person and how long the chapters had to be so that my readers wouldn't get confused with too much head-hopping. Hence, the research.

I know that Jodi Picoult is very popular and she does the multiple POVs quite well, but I wanted to see if a third person, multiple POV novel could work also. When I picked up These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf and flipped through it, I was intrigued to find some characters were first person (Allison and Brynn) and some were third person (Charm and Claire). I needed to know why the author chose to present them that way and how it came off.

Let me just say, Gudenkauf pulls it off well. I don't want to give away any plot points because it was an amazing book and I think anyone interested in contemporary fiction with a little mystery/ suspense thrown in should read it. As I read, I didn't get much of my own revising done because I didn't want to put the book down. "It's research," I justified. And it was. The writing was brilliant. I found that I loved the characters that were in third person just as much as I loved the characters in first--even more so, because of their circumstances--and I got to know their inner thoughts just as well. So many of the things Claire thought and did, I could remember doing or thinking or feeling and it didn't matter that she was written in third person.

Beyond the writing, which was expressive, the plotting was perfect. Even better were the issues. Now days after finishing the book, I find myself thinking about the topics, the characters, and wishing I had more of the story to read. Lucky for me, she's got a book coming out in a few months that looks quite good and I just might have to read her first. (I hesitated with the subject matter; however, she wrote These Things Hidden with grace and good judgement without dipping into the mire of filthiness that much of contemporary fiction slogs through. So I just might try it.)

Thanks to These Things Hidden, I've figured out how I'm going to write my book and I've found a great new-to-me author that I'm excited about.

Review: Donald J. Carey's Bumpy Landings

I just had to share the latest book I finished reading, Donald J. Carey's Bumpy Landings. I happened to be "researching" one day (okay, I was on Facebook) and saw a link for a book giveaway. I admit, though I'd had my eye on it for a while, I hadn't actually gotten around to buying it yet, so I was interested. I entered and won and within a few days of receiving my copy, I'd devoured it. (Who needs to watch the Super Bowl, right? This was way better!)

The thing that intrigued me the most about Bumpy Landings was that it is a sweet romance written by a guy with a guy's perspective. I thought about it after I finished the book, and I don't really even remember what Heather looks like. If she was described in the book, I might have skipped over that--it's something I tend to do because I want to picture characters my own way--but it hit me that usually when I read a book written in a woman's perspective, physical descriptions seem quite important. Now that's not to say that Carey doesn't use descriptions, he does--I know what everyone else pretty much looks like, I just couldn't remember Heather, and that may just be me. My point is that I enjoyed reading a romance from the guy's POV. It made it interesting to know how a guy thinks when he's trying to get the girl--what's important to him (like the car), his insecurities, his plans.

A couple other things I really liked about this book are the personal connections I could make with it. I've only been to Hawaii once, as a teenager on a high school band trip, so I enjoyed experiencing places I'd seen decades ago. Similarly, I am a BYU-Provo graduate, so it was fun to see how the BYU-H students live compared to what I remembered.

Besides descriptions and my own memories, I enjoyed the story overall. Of course at times, I wanted to yell at Jordan and tell him to stand up for himself, but I knew the time was coming. It was a great read and I recommend it to anyone--in fact, I've passed it off to my teenage daughter who has her high school band trip to Hawaii next year and, hopefully, her own BYU experience another year later.

If you'd like to read a fabulous interview with the author (and where I won my copy of the book) check out Linda Weaver Clarke's blog. In addition, Don Carey's website has some great information including a synopsis of the book, a cute little video trailer, and purchase links. Hop on over and take a look!

Want My Autograph?

I love opening a new book--being the first to peek into its pages, cradle it in my hands and turn over each leaf, devouring each word. The only thing better is having the author's signature on the title pages. That special personalization that makes it mine. My connection with the author. With the migration to ebooks, is that personal relationship, no matter how slight it was, now gone forever?

I was thrilled to find that there's a way to get your ebooks signed by the author. Check out a site called Kindlegraph. Readers can request a personalized autograph from their favorite author (as long as the author has signed up). And it is totally free--for reader and author. Although the title indicates it's for Kindle products, the site sends a pdf that can be used on any eReader device, so no worries there if you're a Nook supporter or want it on your iPad.

Authors--it's quite easy to set up, the challenge is signing. If you have a tablet, you sign with a stylus or your finger, and sometimes that takes a bit of practice. If you don't have a tablet, you'll find yourself trying to sign with a mouse, which they say is possible, but I'm glad I didn't have to even try.

Anyway, it's great fun, only takes a minute, and is totally free. So why wait? Order your autograph today!

Critique My Blog

I don't usually ask for criticism. Okay, well, I have been more and more with that picky little writers' critique group of mine (picky in the best sense, of course). But this blog hop looked interesting and helpful, so this is your chance to take a swing at me.

What do you think of my blog? Let me have it! Leave a suggestion or thought in the comment section. Thanks for your help :)