Elena Giorgi: Tuesday Two Cents' Worth

Welcome to Tuesday 2 Cents' Worth, where authors and writers answer one question: If you could share one piece of writing advice with other writers, what would it be?

I'm pleased to introduce you to the talented Elena Giorgi who has kindly agreed to share her two cents today.


Take it away, Elena!

"Lately the one question I'm asked a lot is: should I self-publish? I'm happy that people are asking because up until a few years ago you were immediately deemed unworthy just for posing such a question. But today writers have a choice, and I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I've seen too many writer friends mistreated and intellectually abused by publishers, editors and agents. Of course, that doesn't mean that self-publishing is the perfect alternative. Nothing's perfect and no matter what route writers choose, they have to do a lot of work. The job doesn't end when you write "The End" on the last page of your manuscript. In fact, that's when the job really start. And yes, the first question should be: should I self-publish? And my answer usually is: it depends.
     What kind of writer are you? Are you part of a writing community, do you do a lot of online networking, do you write fast and plan on publishing many books and/or a series? If so, go for self-publishing. It will take longer to build your readership (and start making money) but if you can promise many books to come and are patient with letting that readership grow, you will be rewarded in the end.
     On the other hand, if you are the kind of writer who can produce one book per year, and likely the literary kind, you are probably better off trying the traditional route, unless you have really good networking connections. Of course, I do know writers who've become extremely successful by self-publishing one book only (there are always exceptions, right?), but it's rare.
     No matter what you decide: get on-line and talk to writers from both sides. Set some goals, ask questions, and find out for yourself what works best for you and your career."

 E.E. Giorgi grew up in Tuscany, in a house on a hill that she shared with two dogs, two cats, 5 chickens, and the occasional batches of stick insects, newts and toads her dad would bring home from the lab. Today, E.E. Giorgi is a scientist and an award winning author and photographer. She spends her days analyzing genetic data, her evenings chasing sunsets, and her nights pretending she's somebody else. On her blog, E.E. discusses science for the inquiring mind, especially the kind that sparks fantastic premises and engaging stories. Her debut novel CHIMERAS, a medical mystery, is a 2014 Readers' Favorite International Book Award winner.

 

Links:

Blog: http://chimerasthebooks.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/E.E.-Giorgi/e/B00J4900R6
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chimeras/166368693451952
 
Elena, thanks so much for sharing your writing advice!

Weekend Writing Warriors: March 29, 2015

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday, and 9:00 AM Sunday EST. Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good. 
                 Snippet Sunday group from facebook--not us, but many of our participants do both, can be found HERE   

This is Chapter 2 from my SFR WIP, ATNS, called "The Hunter"  where we're introduced to the male main character, Kuylrh--second in line to the throne in the Rialtan Empire.  They're preparing for a hunt on a remote world called Tazulta. He's in concealment, waiting for the approaching animals and he can't keep his thoughts on the hunt.
                Daekartha is his grandfather (also the king of the Rialtan Empire). Sophay(Sophayanna) is his grandmother(also the Queen) and  Daekartha's  mate.

Last week's 8 ended with this: "He may as well have been tasked with finding a fangordemon or a hopsaloose, or any of the myriad fancied creatures in children’s tales." 

We pick up from there:

His Nanma had hugged him one year ago when he was leaving, and told him to search out the one who threw stars in his heart. He sighed. Nothing in the heavens had moved. No stars had lodged in his heart, and the burden of his future lay heavy. His allotted time had raced by faster than the Swiftwater in front of his mountain keep on Eeadmont.
            On his leaving day, unlike the hopeful encouragement Sophay had given him, Daekartha doled out an ultimatum. " Choose or suffer the consequences." His grandfather never actually said what those consequences would be, but Kuylrh was sure they included Daekartha making the choice for him.

 

           That's it. What works. What doesn't? I'm grateful for every comment you leave. :-)
I'm really busy today with a birthday get together. My youngest turned 29. Seems unreal... I'll get around to everyone in the next few days. Have a great week, all. And for anyone who might be skipping next week for the holiday--have a great Easter break. :-)

Veronica Scott: Tuesday Two Cents' Worth

Welcome to the inaugural post for Tuesday 2 Cents' Worth, where authors and writers answer one question: If you could share one piece of writing advice with other writers, what would it be?

I'm pleased to introduce you to Veronica Scott who has kindly agreed to share her 2 cents today.

Thanks for inviting me to be your guest, Teresa! The single most important piece of advice I give to anyone who asks me about writing is sometimes the hardest – get words on the page, every day if you can. Sounds simple but with all the demands on an author’s time, plus the fun stuff like Twitter, Facebook and more, not to mention reading (because we all love to read or we wouldn’t be writers!)…it’s way too easy to let a day, then two or more slip by without actually getting new words produced for your latest manuscript. (And please note, although I started writing longhand as a seven year old author of an elaborate fairy tale, I soon switched to a very old Royal typewriter and nowadays I happily pound on my laptop keyboard instead, but they’re still “words on a page” to me.)

                The thing is, some days the Muse isn’t very co-operative and all you can produce is a measly paragraph, or a sentence, or just some scribbly notes on what the next scene may be like. That’s ok! You’ve still transmitted something that moves your story forward out of your mind to a place it can be read and worked on.

                Don’t talk about writing – WRITE.

                Which leads me to the second most important piece of advice I give, which is don’t  edit yourself as you go. Don’t be over-critical in the early drafts or you risk choking off the creativity and possibly never finishing a single story. First drafts are clunky. They have extra stuff. You’re going to have to return to these pages eventually and revise/edit/add/delete – it’s the process. But don’t examine each word  as you write it, ok? Maybe you know someone whose first draft is release-ready (but I kinda doubt it LOL). Even if that’s their process, you have your own process, unique to you. And nothing is ever truly wasted. I have entire chapters I’ve cut later, during the developmental edits, that have the potential to become additional material for a blog post or newsletter, or might even be the kernel for a new story.

                You’ll be pleasantly amazed how even a few words every day soon adds up to a complete first draft – you’re on your way!

Blog: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Veronica-Scott/177217415659637?ref=hl

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5428500.Veronica_Scott

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Scott/e/B006CUCJ92/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1426864281&sr=1-2-ent

Veronica Scott is a three-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and was awarded a NASA Exceptional Service Medal (from the day job activities, not for her romance writing). She has written a number of best-selling science-fiction and paranormal romances and is the SciFi Encounters columnist for the USA Today/HEA blog. She grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories. Her most recent science fiction romance is  the award-winning Mission to Mahjundar.

Weekend Writing Warriors: March 22, 2015

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday, and 9:00 AM Sunday EST. Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good. 
                 Snippet Sunday group from facebook--not us, but many of our participants do both, can be found HERE   

This is Chapter 2 from my SFR WIP, ATNS, called "The Hunter"  where we're introduced to the male main character, Kuylrh--second in line to the throne in the Rialtan Empire.  They're preparing for a hunt on a remote world called Tazulta. He's in concealment, waiting for the approaching animals and he can't keep his thoughts on the hunt.
Abraxum is his personal guard assigned to him at birth.

Last week's 8 ended with this:
"Too soon he’d be forced to take a mate and do his duty for the throne. Celebration my ass ." 

We pick up from there:

" He swallowed the bitterness of failure--which wasn’t something he had much experience with. And now he’d be publicly outed when forced to return to Rialt and give account of his search, and worse, its lack of fruition.

  An unstoppable tell of his growing frustration, he worked his jaw back and forth while his mind replayed Abraxum’s words from the night before. That he’d been acting little more than a pouting manchild.  And then, reminding him that in all fairness to his grandparents, they had given him an entire year to find his woman.

As if any length of time would make a difference when seeking out what clearly does not exist. He may as well have been tasked with finding a fangordemon or a hopsaloose, or any of the myriad fancied creatures in children’s tales."

 

           That's it. What works. What doesn't? I'm grateful for every comment you leave. :-) 

A quick note about the book promotions on the wewriwa page. If you have adblock, or something similar installed on your computer, you aren't able to see the Amazon carousel widgets  spinning in the right sidebar. You'll just see a couple lines of text:

"Books By The Very Talented WeWriWa particpants"

In light of so many people installing adblocking programs, we've again started to add book images linked to Amazon pages as a promo. So if you don't see your book on the sidebar, bear in mind that if you've requested a promo spot, the book is there on a carousel.  We'll switch them out from time to time to make sure everyone gets seen. :-)

And thanks bunches and bunches for visiting!

Weekend Writing Warriors: March 15, 2015

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday, and 9:00 AM Sunday EST. Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good. 
                 Snippet Sunday group from facebook--not us, but many of our participants do both, can be found HERE   

This is Chapter 2 from my SFR WIP, ATNS, called "The Hunter"  where we're introduced to the male main character, Kuylrh--second in line to the throne in the Rialtan Empire.  They're preparing for a hunt on a remote world called Tazulta.  Kuylrh has just finished a short prayer.

Last week's 8 ended with this:
"Then he stepped back into his hiding place with his back pressed against the rock." 

We pick up from there:

"His thoughts swirled as they had for months now. This hunt on Tazulta was a deserved celebration. The more he thought about it, though, this celebration wasn't exactly anomalous; there had been a whole, long string of them. And he guessed that was at the root of his grandfather’s anger.
            But in this situation, who wouldn’t have done the same? Too soon he’d be forced to take a mate and do his duty for the throne. Celebration my ass."

 

           That's it. What works. What doesn't? I'm grateful for every comment you leave. :-) 

A quick note about the book promotions on the wewriwa page. If you have adblock, or something similar installed on your computer, you aren't able to see the Amazon carousel widgets  spinning in the right sidebar. You'll just see a coupe lines of text:

"Books By The Very Talented WeWriWa particpants"

In light of so many people installing adblocking programs, we've again started to add book images linked to Amazon pages as a promo. So if you don't see your book on the sidebar, bear in mind that if you've requested a promo spot, the book is there on a carousel.  We'll switch them out from time to time to make sure everyone gets seen. :-) 

And thanks bunches and bunches for visiting!

Have a great week, all!

Weekend Writing Warriors March 8, 2015

  Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday, and 9:00 AM Sunday EST. Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good. 
          Snippet Sunday group from facebook--not us, but many of our participants do both, can be found HERE   

This is Chapter 2 from my SFR WIP, ATNS, called "The Hunter"  where we're introduced to the male main character, Kuylrh.  They're preparing for a hunt on a remote world. Dhurstan is his best friend and one of the King's Guard. Kuylrh goes nowhere without the King's Guard, and that includes hunting.

Last week's 8 ended with this:
"Its seeming indifference was of no matter; like all Rialtans, the Divine plan of his life had been set at birth." 

We pick up from there:

"He looked over his shoulder, counting in silence as he glanced at each of his men.
        In an elevated position, Dhurstan raised his hand slightly and gestured upwind, then made a series of hand signals.
        Kuylrh tensed. He gripped his sword tighter. With his head bowed, he closed his eyes and whispered, “Giver of all, bless us with a good hunt, and deliver us safely from harm.” He placed his clenched fist to his heart, raised it to his lips, kissed it, then opened it as he raised it toward the sky. For a few seconds he looked up through his outstretched fingers. Then he stepped back into his hiding place with his back pressed against the rock."

*A quick note about the name. I don't want it so difficult that readers stumble over it, but I don't want it to sound human either. He is an alien. :-) In the next chapter, when he meets the woman from Earth, (it's in her POV) she gives a very good explanation of how he pronounces it, and what it sounds like to her.

  

           That's it. What works. What doesn't? I'm grateful for every comment you leave. :-) And thanks bunches and bunches for visiting!

Have a great week, all!