tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60183075398788146882024-03-13T10:16:27.930-04:00L. Anne Wooley, Writer "The best fiction has a splash of truth."L. Anne Wooley, based out of Columbus Ohio, is a Merchandise Handler for Victoria's Secret. She writes fiction, poetry, and also helpful articles for other writers..L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-91350256286815171482022-05-14T16:10:00.000-04:002022-05-14T16:10:03.620-04:00Damning up Your Writing Flow Part 2 <p> See <a href="https://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2016/04/damning-up-your-writing-flow.html">https://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2016/04/damning-up-your-writing-flow.html </a>for part 1!</p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Part 2 of Damning up Your Writing Flow</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In part one, I spoke about how data dumps and repetition can ruin the flow of a story. I went over the concepts on the surface without really touching on how to avoid them, or how to fix them. Or even how to recognize them. My bad. But it’s too much of a topic to have in one blog, so I decided to break it down so that it’s in more manageable chunks. So today’s blog is </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">focusing</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the data dump, and next will be the repetition. I will use examples that I have come up with, and not ones from actual published groups, without getting into trouble with copyright. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><u>The Data Dump.</u></b> </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">First off, the Data Dump is basically putting all of your character info all in one place, which slows down the pacing of the story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>John was a tall 6 foot 4 man, with long brown hair, bedroom brown eyes, and a scar running down the length of his face. He usually wore brown khakis and a blue shirt, with a pocket protector, and a pin stripe tie. His close cropped hair was more for ease of taking care of than actual style. He grew up in Cleveland Ohio, the middle child of six, his older brothers Robert, and Richard, along with his younger sister Maggie, and younger brother Sam had had a happy childhood. Their parents were Sam and Rita Johnson, and were both retired. His father had been a security guard, and his mother a nurse at the Trinity Local Hospital. His older brothers were solicitors and his younger siblings were teachers and he, well he was a serial killer. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Okay so that last was to wake you up, to make you pay attention. Did you nod off? Did you follow the details, or try to skip ahead? This is very pedantic boring writing. I’m even fighting off the yawns! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good writing gives you just enough details to set the scene, to give you an image of the character. It only gives enough to get the story interesting and dynamic.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So rewriting this, we don’t need to know about most of these details, They can be done as a general description. And start out with a bang, so you get your reader immediately engaged. <b><i>Two</i></b> lessons for the price of one :) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>John was a serial killer. Though to look at him, you wouldn’t think so. He looked like a college professor, over 6 feet, cropped blond hair, brown eyes that brimmed full of intelligence. He came from a good family, a mix of Lawyers and nurses, he was the only one to turn out bad. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you see there, by leaving things vague, it has been punched up, made lively and active by just a few of the details that were from the first example. The former example is fine, for a first draft, and it helps make a character bible (more on that in later issues).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It carries the story, and engages the reader immediately, no falling asleep there (disclaimer, yours truly does not take responsibility for keeping you up at night reading, and making you oversleep so that you and already established earlier in the work later, well it takes me out of the story. Taking you out of the story makes it harder for one to get back into the story. You want to make your reader want to finish it in one setting, and/or stay up at night!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Repetition can be used for great effect, I’ve used it in poetry (which is a bit more acceptable at times). But it should be used very sparingly, if you use it at all. If there is a way to do so with different wording, then that would be the best thing. Using repetition sounds almost like you are writing a grocery list.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So examples of repetition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using poor John again, yea, Serial Killer John. But he loves cats, so he can’t be all bad, or can he? Muwahahaha. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>John got up in the morning, putting on his work clothes. His work clothes consisted of; black jeans, black t shirt and he wore black ski mask, and black tennis shoes. He put his tools in his black tool belt, and they all had black handles. He took pride in his work.</i> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So the changes would be to minimize the use of the word black. Lump together the details of his clothes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>John got up in the morning, putting on his work clothes. Which consisted of, jeans, t-shirt, tennis shoes and ski mask, all in black. He put his matching color tools in his a batman tool belt. He took pride in his work, nothing but professional.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There we have all of the clothes mentioned followed by the color. Got rid of the second clothes as well by using the “which consisted of…”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The above are just rough examples of how to see what I’m talking about, and examples on how to fix these. The writing is much smoother, don’t you think? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I wrote my first chapter of Stormraevyn, I worked all the visual details in as sources of actions. Like describing Miranda's hair as she flipped it over her shoulder. The other details I worked in as I described her first change into the Raven. So you can work things in almost as separate characters. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a few things that can enhance a story or kill it. Too many details can do that, and too many at one time can bring your story to a screaming halt.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you work them into the action, you get a good picture/image in your head of what your character looks like, without sacrificing flow, or stopping action. The flow is what brings your reader along with you, and the story evolves naturally. Can you break flow? Breaking flow can be done. I tried to think of a story that was effectively told that way. I came up with Memento, which I saw as a movie. The story is told in chunks of time, the main character suffered injuries which caused his brain damage. His long term memory was gone, and was only able to remember fifteen minutes at a time. He is trying to solve the mystery of who killed his wife, and he would tattoo his skin, so that he would remember the flow, or not stop it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take this following example. </span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The woman's heels clicked on the tile floor, as her red </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">sequined</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> dress floated around her ankles. The gentle swish of the beading on the bottom of the dress alerted the Ushers of her coming closer. They smiled and pulled the door open, she smiled and thanked them as she passed through. He would be waiting for her.. </span></span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Typically the term flow to me, means that you can read it without being halted. It’s the ease with which the story is read.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think about all the stories that you have loved reading. The common denominator isn’t just great characters, settings, or plots; it’s the ease in which you read things. The flow is what makes the story enjoyable, and memorable, you don’t think about it, you don’t really notice it’s there, and you really shouldn’t see it either. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Opening paragraph maybe? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a writer, reading has been ruined for me. As a writer, I pick apart the work that I’m reading, and I can’t just step back and read for pleasure like I used to. If I’m lucky, I can put that on hold for a bit, and that is when a story is enjoyable for me. If I have to pick it apart and stop and reread portions of what I had just read, the flow has been interrupted. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flow is the story. It’s what tells the story, putting the characters through the plot, the setting, the whole kit and </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">caboodle</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Without flow, you wouldn’t have a story, you’d have a mishmash of the bare bones, stilted and awkward. It’s the mark of a professional writer.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flow is hard to achieve at times. It doesn’t come naturally . It takes rewrites, edits, and elbow grease to get it to that point. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If someone is asking, “Does this sound right?” or “I think that something is missing, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Then you are most likely talking about flow. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-48769509416763228942022-03-11T16:40:00.000-05:002022-03-11T16:40:29.311-05:00Happy Birthday to Me!<p> Today is my 57th Birthday...or as I like to say, the 17th Anniversary of my 40th Birthday! I say Anniversary, as the last truly great birthday was my 40th. I had just gotten out of a hellacious 30's and finally healing from my rape in 1994. Finally able to get beyond that, was the high point of my life. Now it's a struggle from day to day, and health issues from heck! Though I'm starting to level out my diabetes, I'm still getting UTI's and Kidney infections too. I really am not liking the issues that are going on. </p><p>On the good side, I'm making progress on 1000 Cranes, my Haiku collection. I will share my cover later...but will mention my cover designer here. Ashwords Design(s?). Ed did a fabulous job on it. And I am so excited to get moving ahead on this project. Hoping he will be able to do the formatting for me as well.</p><p>Other projects I'm going to be working on are anthologies that I'm part of the publishing teams on. So I'll post about those too. I'm trying to be accountable to myself and others too. It's hard to be focused on one project at a time, when I have several irons in the fire. </p><p>So stay tuned for more stuff coming. April is also Camp NaNoWriMo month (July is the next camp). So trying to figure out what to do for that. Maybe one of those anthology projects? Then the next for July. With camp, you can set your own goal (not just in words, but pages, hours). I tend to use them for editing though. Setting my goals in hours.<br /><br />One last thing; my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of the Ukraine. I hope that the idiot in Russia pulls out soon, and leaves them alone. It's not right.</p><p><br /></p>L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-32503754786860995642022-03-01T17:31:00.000-05:002022-03-01T17:31:02.953-05:00Long Time No See<p> Hey there,</p><p>Sorry it's been a very long time since I last posted a blog. I've been really trying to get things done writing wise, and publishing wise. Lots of new things coming up! I've also been helping finish edits and formatting other anthologies to get out the door, and into readers hands! </p><p>I wish there were enough hours in the day, and enough clones of me to be able to do everything I need to do. I've also been working full time for Victoria's Secret in their warehouse here in Ohio. I am a handler which is a fancy term for lifting heavy boxes. It's really kept me in good shape! </p><p>This is been a very stressful time as well, my health has not been the greatest as of late. Though it's looking up now. Good news on the Diabetes front! So I'm very thankful that I have a great new doctor. She is AWESOME!</p><p>Stay tuned for upcoming announcements!</p><p>My kitty for your viewing pleasure. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg64cFcwhJ4iqsqNezKSqTxKfMsZ-SACDqL-kltHstywZoqidFiYBNyIvzRKM6VAZ6TsgzHZMZtJ4K-5k6bYOaPCsQkLnGqoJ7uJ4fiSGBWfrTDQYzd_HJYN_WV8xOhxSIshq1CVg9Lf0e1b8oBnULyser-RugQ4G4SG7f46lkICF53ErtJjNaLUmltcA=s4624" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3472" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg64cFcwhJ4iqsqNezKSqTxKfMsZ-SACDqL-kltHstywZoqidFiYBNyIvzRKM6VAZ6TsgzHZMZtJ4K-5k6bYOaPCsQkLnGqoJ7uJ4fiSGBWfrTDQYzd_HJYN_WV8xOhxSIshq1CVg9Lf0e1b8oBnULyser-RugQ4G4SG7f46lkICF53ErtJjNaLUmltcA=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-40188272712353272572021-10-23T17:07:00.002-04:002021-10-23T17:07:11.948-04:00BOO! <p> I hadn't realized it's been a very long time since I last wrote you all. I have been having a lot going on in between. And just have been focusing on it, and writing. I have had some stuff published as well, and will write about that later. <br /><br />I'm very sorry that I haven't been around to update you. I hope to get in the practice of doing a month of posts (scheduled) so that I won't have to work so hard. I actually have been working full time at Victorias Secret Warehouse, where I lift heavy boxes pretty much every day. Also have been taking care of my brother who fell at the end of September 2021 and dealing with trying to get a car as ours was totaled? by an accident with a pedestrian. I couldn't stop, but I'm dealing as best I can with the fall out. She is okay, and as she was not in the crosswalk, she received a citation. Running out in front of three lanes of running traffic, is not a good idea. I think she is okay, but not sure.</p><p>Getting ready for NaNoWriMo the only positive in the last few months. I look forward to participating remotely with my area. No in person events for it this year. Bloody Covid!</p><p>I'll let you go for now. Thank you for your support and understanding!!!!!!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-37709946502131211202020-09-03T11:18:00.001-04:002020-09-03T11:18:12.000-04:00Gaming as a Writing Tool<p> <span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-weight: 600;">Gaming as a Writing Tool</span></p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="l6v480f0 maa8sdkg s1tcr66n aypy0576 ue3kfks5 pw54ja7n uo3d90p7 l82x9zwi tvfksri0 ozuftl9m" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--divider); border-left: 1px solid var(--divider); border-radius: 8px; border-right: 1px solid var(--divider); border-top: 1px solid var(--divider); font-family: inherit; margin-left: 12px; margin-right: 12px;"><div class="" data-testid="Keycommand_wrapper_feed_attached_story" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="f10w8fjw" dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 12px;"><div class="" dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="dati1w0a ihqw7lf3 hv4rvrfc ecm0bbzt" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 4px 16px 16px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql a8c37x1j muag1w35 enqfppq2 jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; margin-bottom: -4px; margin-top: -4px; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">If you find yourself stuck for story ideas, and you play role-playing games, (RPG’s) can be a great source of materials for short stories, and/or novels.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">My introduction to gaming was a campaign from White Wolf called, “Vampire: The Masquerade.” A group of friends and roommates played, and they taught me. I had not started writing in earnest then. My first character was a clanless vamp by the name of Veronica Harker. She was a witch who put a spell on another vampire, compelling him to bite her (and thus turn her). It created a hate/hate dynamic between the two. He hated her for making him turn her, and she hated that she had to respond to his “call,” when he needed her. He also hated himself as he succumbed to her spell. They did come to grudging respect, however, over the centuries.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">Her sire Lord Bloodstone came to the realization that her skills were an asset. At this point is where our campaign began. On a side note, one of my favorite lines from the campaign was someone said, “You can’t swing a dead cat around without hitting one of them Bloodstone Boys!” Our territory was in Kentucky if I remember correctly.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">When I began writing regularly again (beyond just poetry), I saw that gaming helped with various aspects of storytelling. And that is what an RPG is, a live storytelling. Character creation, World Building, Plot, all are vital in running a successful campaign/game, and if you have a good GM/DM, they are good at creating the story in which your characters play in.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">Each character has a sheet, with their “Stats,” this is something like a character sheet for writing. Stealth, Strength, Stamina, Charisma (how charming your vamp is to get what they need/want), as well as physical characteristics. Talents are another area where this is vital for a game. Each level in the stat adds dice to your roll as well.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">In Vampire, each “Clan,” has attributes/skills that are particular for each one. Ventrue, the blue bloods, are the high society folks, the Nosferatu are the 180-degree opposites (ugly and vile), Clanless (can’t remember the name they were given), Malkavian, Tremere, and a few others. For the Malkavian I played in a live game once (or Live Action Role Playing-LARP), my particular insanity was I thought I was Dot from the Animaniacs. I was going around to people saying, “Hi, I’m Dot, I’m cute.” My friend Mark just shook his head, started to say something, then just shook his head again.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">For settings, WW came up with sourcebooks for campaigns in different parts of the world. London England, Washington DC, were just a couple of them. You also got a feel for research as well. These details made your campaign more realistic. Details such as governments, cultures, religions were used to enrich the story.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">My favorite part was Character Creation. Building the history/backstory for my character was really awesome. She was from the 1300’s England, so I actually had some fun researching that time period, and actually creating her backstory made it easy to write “Fiction,” about her too. It was just a short leap to doing so.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">If you enjoy creating a world where vampires exist, or sword and sorcery is your thing, I highly recommend role-playing games. It’s so much fun, and creative as well. Enjoy.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">To follow Lorna Woulfe, you can find her here: <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfeAuthor/?__cft__[0]=AZXOYm2zCSAR0q8X-cCOojyDFz6JyqD-hZTgP6VZA44fDOnTqcbQwsZvCkEzQvLMIOs78GWJQMWrnVLKpBX2HbD0K-row7CJtzgTm6ods9_980wA8raqoGmwTPKimxHYMR-NgPKWzywLr3KXKL3tH880HSOglczBdJL8lNazvX3Jy1N_qX7dPvW9PQp00PmnER3vKCLdXQO-u-jME6YiD_05hIRQlRzbs7jZdmN4vUoEE8Zv-HO_uQwpxQppRXSWblw&__tn__=-UK-y-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfeAuthor/</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl oo9gr5id gpro0wi8 lrazzd5p" href="https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfePoetry/?__cft__[0]=AZXOYm2zCSAR0q8X-cCOojyDFz6JyqD-hZTgP6VZA44fDOnTqcbQwsZvCkEzQvLMIOs78GWJQMWrnVLKpBX2HbD0K-row7CJtzgTm6ods9_980wA8raqoGmwTPKimxHYMR-NgPKWzywLr3KXKL3tH880HSOglczBdJL8lNazvX3Jy1N_qX7dPvW9PQp00PmnER3vKCLdXQO-u-jME6YiD_05hIRQlRzbs7jZdmN4vUoEE8Zv-HO_uQwpxQppRXSWblw&__tn__=-UK-y-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfePoetry/</a></span></span></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="l9j0dhe7" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="bp9cbjyn m9osqain j83agx80 jq4qci2q bkfpd7mw a3bd9o3v kvgmc6g5 wkznzc2l oygrvhab dhix69tm jktsbyx5 rz4wbd8a osnr6wyh a8nywdso s1tcr66n" style="align-items: center; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--divider); color: var(--secondary-text); display: flex; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; justify-content: flex-end; line-height: 1.3333; margin: 0px 16px; padding: 10px 0px;"><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 buofh1pr ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs" style="align-items: center; background-color: white; color: #65676b; display: flex; flex-grow: 1; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; overflow: hidden;"><span aria-label="See who reacted to this" role="toolbar" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 b3onmgus" id="jsc_c_4jz" style="align-items: center; display: flex; font-family: inherit; padding-left: 4px;"><span class="np69z8it et4y5ytx j7g94pet b74d5cxt qw6c0r16 kb8x4rkr ed597pkb omcyoz59 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 qxh1up0x qtyiw8t4 tpcyxxvw k0bpgpbk hm271qws rl04r1d5 l9j0dhe7 ov9facns kavbgo14" style="border-bottom-color: var(--card-background); border-left-color: var(--card-background); border-radius: 11px; border-right-color: var(--card-background); 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font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; width: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="gpro0wi8 pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;">2</span></span></span><span class="gpro0wi8 cwj9ozl2 bzsjyuwj ja2t1vim" style="background-color: var(--card-background); float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-left: -100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;">Wanda D. Hargrove and Christine Kwasniewski</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;"><br /></span></span></div></div></span></div><div class="kb5gq1qc pfnyh3mw c0wkt4kp" style="background-color: white; color: #65676b; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; width: 7px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-65605655934166366162019-06-09T16:25:00.000-04:002019-06-09T16:25:31.402-04:00Sorry I've been silent for a while...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dear Reader,<br />
<br />
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I started a warehouse job which wears me out, and I've been trying to keep up with writing deadlines. I do have some blog posts almost ready though, and probably will be doing the scheduling thing so I won't have to worry about it.<br />
<br />
I would like to thank you all for your support throughout the years, and I hope to be in better contact in the future. <br />
<br />
I'll catch you on the flip side :)<br />
<br />
<br />
Peace out.<br />
<br />
L. Anne Wooley</div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-67350787080659033762018-12-30T14:08:00.001-05:002018-12-30T14:08:17.032-05:00My Last Post...of 2018!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> Normally I eschew writing year end letters to family. AKA “The Bragging Letters.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Mostly as I thought they were on the pretentious side, and glossed over the lives of the family (made them seem like the Cleavers...okay I’m old. But I did watch them in reruns).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">But here I am writing a pretentious bragging letter. My kids? Don’t have any biological ones. Though I have one furbaby, and I am a fur auntie to a bird and dog. Though my literary children bloomed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This year was the birth of my </span>bouncing baby<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> pen name! Lorna Woulfe honors both sides of my family. Lorna for my maternal Grandmother, who I found out long after her death, was also a writer. Her father was also a poet (and I’m very lucky to have his book). Woulfe honors my father's side. Woulfe is what Wooley is derived from, according to a researcher (have not had a chance to corroborate that information. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In June “Pride Park” was released. In honor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, many people came together. Members of the LGBTQ community and allies, put together this incredible collection. I edited and wrote the foreward. Also, with the help of another, took the projects reins and brought it across the finish line. Proceeds go to The Trevor Project for at risk LGBTQI+ youth. (</span><a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://www.thetrevorproject.org/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">) It was a labor of love, and I was extremely honored to work on this one.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><img height="500" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4km-vJag1L2w2jPtJwco6dWsk5t7_17YAmhQIce--q_XgJb7QA8VBYDIDY9DqhUVuFh7s_Pu99hCN9wkAD2PgpLhz5E6L0MD0tuUKI7jzsaqFxbXOToYrkA2HSmb7lA6pk0UhbjI" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="333" /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Park-Anthology-support-freedom-ebook/dp/B07DBH4S1L/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546194589&sr=1-1&keywords=Pride+Park" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Park-Anthology-support-freedom-ebook/dp/B07DBH4S1L/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546194589&sr=1-1&keywords=Pride+Park</span></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Pride Park is under my previous pennish name L. Anne Wooley. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My first two credits under Lorna Woulfe are in two anthologies, both published in October 2018. “Cracks in the Tapestry,” which also brought my first five star review, and “42 & Beyond.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">“Cracks in the Tapestry,” features my poem on the back cover! (another first), and basically covers the theme of the anthology. The reviewer said how the entries inside all fit the theme very well. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><img height="500" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/6-I1Qexs93mu2Im-TW5upK1joHkbzJKOwGbAIMnpL0k4Q96m7R7ZMg1vvnVKjQ_4H9VWj73jdBLwdlw8tIo7_RO7MjdmGGoinD8VXP8jKz5AJ34lD0WqoZxlsrrikhxIXdb1zF0S" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="331" /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cracks-Tapestry-Arthur-David-ebook/dp/B07H69PCT3/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546195314&sr=1-1&keywords=Cracks+in+the+tapestry" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://www.amazon.com/Cracks-Tapestry-Arthur-David-ebook/dp/B07H69PCT3/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546195314&sr=1-1&keywords=Cracks+in+the+tapestry</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Link to all four volumes of “42 & Beyond:”</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=42+%26+beyond" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=42+%26+beyond</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My contribution is in Vol. 1</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><img height="500" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/6VuShDVfo-dCrYrmUu3YUrv_lnbuxyAXjzBS390gwKxMQSP8vILU-7wlcaGZi8tQn7-akcvHbBM0oIi70yoK1f1N4OqSfk63CpnoycVUDmBf8oUbZtzLbGfvQCgVgWvkfFnnIHoO" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="347" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/42-Beyond-Space-Opera-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07H7DBV8G/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546195399&sr=1-3&keywords=42+%26+beyond" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://www.amazon.com/42-Beyond-Space-Opera-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07H7DBV8G/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546195399&sr=1-3&keywords=42+%26+beyond</span></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I believe this volume reached #5 on Amazon's best sellers list! Another first. 42 & Beyond is a tribute to Douglas Adams who actually shared my birthday (though he was first). </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So there you have it! 2018 was great in so many ways professionally. 2019 will see more publications and I’ll be promoting those as they come out. And hopefully it will be onward and upward. Happy New Year friends!</span></div>
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-73950556751089980012018-07-05T23:33:00.002-04:002018-07-05T23:33:35.471-04:00ANNOUNCING THE CREATION OF MY NEW AUTHOR PEN NAME!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey everyone,<div>
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I just wanted to give you an update on what I have done. I came up with a Pen Name. <br /><br /><br />Lorna Woulfe is that name. I chose it because it honors both sides of my family. Lorna was my grandmother on my mother's side. Lorna Brooke Call was her name. She was also a bit of a writer herself, her father wrote poetry (which I have one of his books!) Not sure he had more than that one, but I love it. Woulfe is the name that my fathers side descends from. They are Irish. So I love that I can honor my family and have a really cool pen name at the same time!</div>
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Here is the link to my FB page:</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfeAuthor/">https://www.facebook.com/LornaWoulfeAuthor/</a></div>
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I will still write under L. Anne Wooley for my writer's advice/mentoring/editing work. </div>
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But feel free to check out my new author presence (for Fiction, Poetry).</div>
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-40010836509954074702018-07-01T12:00:00.000-04:002018-07-01T12:00:22.644-04:00Panels <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the best ways to market your work is to participate in panels at conventions. Not only is there an opportunity to network with other authors, but an opportunity also to gain exposure for your work. This blog will help with preparing to participate (and moderate) panels.<br />
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As a participant, you can engage with readers and discuss the topic at hand. I've been in numerous panels regarding writing, and also in panels on genres. It's also a good tool to learn what's new in the industry or turn you onto new works.<br />
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So once you have your schedule for panels, (I've given my own as an example for Marcon 53- May 11-13 2018).<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> Authors' Tools: Scrivener </li>
<li>Moderator- Writer's Quick Challenge </li>
<li>Year of the Women</li>
<li>What Writers Like to Read</li>
<li>Tools: Setting Up Your Work Environment</li>
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You should start making notes as to what you will be discussing during your panels. </div>
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For the first panel on Scrivener, I've made the possible discussion on a basic review of the program's capabilities. And why it's a valuable tool in the writer's arsenal.</div>
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Year of the Women, I'm thinking of the kick-ass women in WW and also Black Panther. Both excellent movies.</div>
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If you are chosen to be a moderator, you probably should get together with your panellists prior to the con. I was given the panellists info, so I'll be emailing them to see if they have ideas of how we want to approach this...I've got plenty of pictures to use (the panel is to challenge us to write something inspired by an image). Then I am thinking of having one of the audience give us one.<br />
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Hopefully, the other panellists will be amenable to this suggestion, but I want the participants to be enthusiastic, and having their input will help achieve that goal.<br />
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Now the next part is really a good idea to do. If you have books out, take a copy of each. Or even more than one, so you can maybe do giveaways. You can even have a display for them, and place it in front of you (behind your name tent), and if you have stickers, bookmarks, buttons, dolls of your characters, keychains etc, then you can also put those out as giveaways. You most likely cannot sell in a panel, though I've seen it done. Best to check with the con ahead of time. Though you can also do signings after your panel is over.<br />
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The last thing about being on a panel, it's a good way to make connections with other writers. This is important as you can develop a relationship with them, and they might be able to help you further your own career. Most of all, have fun and learn all you can. It's a great experience!<br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-70550858623622545032018-06-24T16:29:00.001-04:002018-06-24T16:29:19.036-04:00Musings on the Life of a Writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
July 4, 2012, my brother and I lost our mother. In a lot of ways, it was her "Independence Day," and she was no longer suffering. And I miss her every day. But she and I also had a contentious relationship in many ways. Up until the end, she tried to rule everything I did. 2009 we lost my dad (and I took care of him up until his death as well).<br />
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I actually had very little time in a four year period of taking care of them, to do any writing. Though 2009 I made the goal for NaNoWriMo (as I dedicated it to my father, and it was the first year I made it)! But it was a struggle during that time, settling his estate, taking care of my Mom (though it was before she got really bad), and the pets etc took a lot of time. I wanted to get back to work, but Mom insisted on me being there, so I had to let go of that. <br />
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But then March 2010 happened, and she fell in the kitchen and broke her leg at an ugly angle. I knew it was broke. So surgery, titanium rod, and many screws later, she was released to a facility for rehab. My mother was a stubborn woman but did not want to do the therapy. She did the minimum, but they were often frustrated with her. So they had to release her. I was lucky in that we were able to hire someone to come do the bathing at least (she hated how I did her baths anyway). <br />
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This was our life for the next 2 years, and she developed diabetic ulcers, her podiatrist became her wound care doctor, who didn't do anything but make it worse, we fought them for over a year under him, not realizing what a crackpot he really was. It took the home health nurse to notice and suggest a trip to OSU (The Ohio State University), that we really found out how bad it really was. They did a bone biopsy and found out that they were infected. They did IV antibiotics for a few weeks, and the wounds healed within a month! She went from almost losing her legs, to being completely healed.<br />
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She was not to last much longer, as she developed them on her arms, and the surgeon who debrided them a week before she died, said that she would need a feeding tube. They were going to do it, as I told mom it was either that, or they wouldn't be able to do anything else, that she agreed. The last words were, Me: "Love you Mom," and her, "Love you too." She ended up not being able to have the surgery (high temp), so the decision was made that we let her go. <br />
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Folks don't understand that taking care of a loved one is the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. It's also very rewarding. And you have to put your desires, and life on hold. Keeping them home and comfortable is the best you can do, but be sure to have someone to help. I had to fight tooth and nail to get that help, as mom was extremely picky about who took care of her. <br />
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I knew she didn't like my writing either. She couldn't understand the need for it as a manner of escape, to get my mind off of everything for a while. It was also a way to relax and transport to a different world. My characters were, and are, family. <br />
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One of her aides also wrote, I found out that she also did NaNoWriMo, so we would talk writing on break. When she was not there, my Mom would bitch about "Writing those damned words." And I knew that she was intending that barb to me. It made me mad and sad at the same time, she just didn't get the importance. <br />
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I found out a few years before she died, that my Grandmother had written essays and a travel diary, and my great-grandfather (her father), had been a poet. I have one (and I think he only wrote one), a book on poetry. He was a real character I guess, and researching my Genealogy has led to some really cool discovery. I guess the writing gene skipped a generation.<br />
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My point in writing all of this? It's to encourage you to keep going, even if those closest to you try to dissuade and discourage you. Use that lack of support, to fuel your passion for writing. After all, it's good to escape every once in a while.<br />
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Peace everyone.<br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-72338073002060903172018-05-29T20:33:00.001-04:002018-05-29T20:33:20.438-04:00Announcement: Pride Park is Available for Pre Order<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Greetings all my followers. I have an exciting announcement regarding a project that was near and dear to my heart. I wrote the Foreward for it, and also helped bring it across the finish line! <br />
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Pride Park was born during the aftermath of the Pulse Night Club shooting in Miami Florida. As a way to help heal the community and offer more than just prayers. The anthology includes stories and poems from those in the LGBTQ+ community and allies. <br /><br />Here is the link to preorder. The ebook will be available on June 12, 2018, and we will be having a release on FB party. Will have more on that in the next few days.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Park-Anthology-support-freedom-ebook/dp/B07DBH4S1L/?tag=geolinker-20">https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Park-Anthology-support-freedom-ebook/dp/B07DBH4S1L/?tag=geolinker-20</a><br />
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If that doesn't work, let me know. Thank you.<br />
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Oh, and for my European fans, I'm supposed to notify you of the use for cookies? Google did something to let you know. Just wanted to make sure that you were aware.</div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-57381726545153035672018-05-05T21:13:00.002-04:002018-05-05T21:13:55.828-04:00Drowned in Moonlight is LIVE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey gang, just a quick note to let you know that the anthology that I'm a submitter to, and the head editor (editor as well), for is now LIVE. :) Drowned in Moonlight has been a crazy labor of love for us, and we hope that you will enjoy it. The charity it is supporting is the International Bipolar Foundation, and in honor of Carrie Fisher (who suffered from the illness). <br />
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Right now it's only on Smashwords for the low low price of $0.99 US. And will be up soon on Amazon, Nook, and other outlets, paper copies will be in wide release, so look it up at your local bookstores (or have them order one for you). Right now, however, it's only in ebook format.<br /><br />https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/824484<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7vhvAOZqgk/Wu5WyTc-OtI/AAAAAAAADVk/xcQYW25dah0be1UC3GKJW-5I_C8W0xVjACLcBGAs/s1600/drowned%2Bby%2Bmoonlight%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="476" height="166" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7vhvAOZqgk/Wu5WyTc-OtI/AAAAAAAADVk/xcQYW25dah0be1UC3GKJW-5I_C8W0xVjACLcBGAs/s320/drowned%2Bby%2Bmoonlight%2Bcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Will update in a new post when the regular book version is out. :)<br /><br /></div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-54168379349703736152018-04-16T00:16:00.001-04:002018-04-16T00:16:12.615-04:00Update for Anthology Drowned By Moonlight, in honor of Carrie Fisher and to Help Raise Money for Bipolar Research<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Guess who was made lead Editor on this wonderful project? If you said anybody else but me, then you'd be wrong :) <br />
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I am honored to be doing this for this anthology. I also wrote the Introduction. It's been a labor of love, and commitment that we've undertaken to raise money for Bipolar Depression research. Carrie was a sufferer of this mental illness, as is my cousin. It's a horrible thing to have, and I hope that someday, we find a cure. <br />
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Inside the anthology, you'll find essays on what Carrie meant to the author, stories about terraforming colonys, poetry, and more. May the 4th 2018 will be the release date. Will do more publicity on this as we get closer.<br />
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I'm soooo excited to be part of this. And I hope you all enjoy the fruits of our labors.<br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-61040215998877819842018-03-27T19:56:00.003-04:002018-03-27T19:56:34.607-04:00Camp NaNoWriMo April 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Once again it's that time of year, where writers all over the world pack their tents and pots and pans... for Camp NaNoWriMo or Camp Nano...well, not quite literally. But figuratively, at an online camp. Camp NaNoWriMo is an offshoot from the folks that bring you the November NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The main difference between the Camp and the regular Nano, is that in camp you can set your own goal.<br />
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The goal can be a word count. So instead of the 50,000 words you can write 10k, 5k...I believe the lowest you can go is like 35? But they have also changed it so you can do hours, minutes, or even pages. The goal can be changed during the month, but only up to validation begins. (The 20th of the month) <br />
<br />Validation for other than word count rules seems straightforward:<br /><br />1) Click Validate Project<br />2) Confirm you've reached your project goal by clicking "Validate."<br />
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Normally, the rules are that you have to write something new for the Nanos...but many people use them to finish projects. For me this year, I've got to finish a story fhttp://writtenkitten.co/or an anthology before April 15. So part of my nano will be to finish off this story that I've got percolating in my brain. Also, I have two anthologies that I'm actively working behind the scenes on. I would love to finish the rough draft for the second novel in a series. <br />
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To reach word count goals, you can try Write or Die: <br />https://www.writeordie.com/<br /><br />And Written Kitten:<br /><br />http://writtenkitten.co/<br /><br />You used to be able to change it to anything, but now it's only kitten/puppy/or bunny. I used to be able to use Dragons. <br />
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So I am setting my goal for 40 hours. I should be able to reach that. Wish me luck! </div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-44237226336474716902018-03-09T17:42:00.001-05:002023-11-23T10:59:49.545-05:00Random Story Antics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the amazing things about being a writer...is when you get a random line that pops up out of the blue. And you just keep writing without a destination in mind. Like someone is dictating the story to you. It's one of the most curiously fun things ever. Today I started a new story, and this line just popped up and so I had to write it down.<br>
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"<i>I always knew he loved me." And then the next line came to mind.<br></i><i><br>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"It was in his every look, every touch, every smile. He just couldn't put his feelings into words." </span></i><br>
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This is the joy of being a writer. I have no destination in mind for this story, it's just like I said above...like it's being dictated to me. I have no idea who the characters James and Pockets are (though in full disclosure, was watching an episode of Hunter <and hush, yes, I'm that old>) and one of the characters was called "Pockets." But then the name Sadie came to me. My friend Tina had a horse named Sadie, she was a bitch on four hooves, but that's another story!<br>
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I have 3 pages so far, and it really hasn't revealed where it's going. But I'm getting an inkling that this may not be a happily ever after story. Life isn't always happily ever after. I think fiction should reflect some inherent truths about life. Though nothing pisses me off more than a pointless unhappy ending! "City of Angels," I'm looking at you! <br>
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I'll possibly post the rest of this story when it's finished here. So stay tuned. But then again, it might not. Depends if it is good enough. This is still in first draft blush. <br><br>#amwriting, #firstdraftwoes, #fixitlater. </div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-80219065770237411012018-02-28T23:00:00.000-05:002018-02-28T23:00:11.127-05:00Script for My Second YouTube Vlog <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Hello, and Welcome again to my vlog. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">If you have been following me through blogger, you’ll know that I talk a lot about something called NaNoWriMo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. This stands for “National Novel Writing Month.” NaNoWriMo (or Nano) takes place every November. The goal for Nano is to write 50k words during the month. Which works out to be 1667 words a day. I have done 10 years of Nano, and 5 camps so far. Even if you get behind, it's not too hard to catch up. You take what you are behind number wise, and divide that by the remaining days. Adding that figure to 1667 will become your new daily goal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It isn’t hard to make it to the 50k...several of my friends have done it in one day. My record is 16 days. But that was </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">pushing myself, and I wasn’t finished with the first draft (though I finished it that month). Is this a complete novel? No, it’s a rough draft for one. It needs polishing until it gleams bright. You don’t want to publish it until it goes through the rewrite/revise process. As someone once said, “First draft is for telling yourself the story.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The people who bring us that month of writing bliss/insanity, also do something called Camp Nano. There are 2 camps, April and July.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The main difference between the Camps and Nano main, is that you can set your own goals. It can be as little as 30 words (which is new, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I believe </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">it used to be 10k), or as much as a million. If anyone wants to set that as a goal...let me know, will try to talk you out of that. But also, you can change your goal up until the beginning of validation. More on validation later.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The other difference is that you can join a cabin, or create a cabin for you and your friends. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I think</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> the limit is 20, but I could be wrong. I’m bad about keeping up with my cabin, as I have a hard time being away from facebook.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Tools to help you get to that 50k (or whatever goal you set), are easy to set up. You don’t need mass quantities of time. Sprinting or Word Wars, help . What these are are timed writing. Some people go for 20 minutes, some 30, some even an hour. You push yourself to write as many words as you can in those periods. It helps if you do these with other folks, but you don’t have to. Have a timer with an alarm set (phones are good for this). </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">To help get those words, you can use sprinting type programs. I love “Written Kitten,” but there is also “Write or Die.” The former uses cat pictures for each number of words you write (you select what that is). And with the latter, there is one setting that I can’t take. It freaks me out, and sets me on edge. This is the Kamikazee mode (which eats words if you don’t keep typing). </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There are communities of writers who do the November Nano at least. You can find out if your region has a group led by one or more facilitators called “Municipal Liaisons.” </span><span style="background-color: #f7ecb5; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">These folks are volunteers who set up the kickoff/closing ceremonies meetings, plot ins, and write ins</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. You can meet up with other participants at these gatherings. There is a Twitter presence and Nano has a fb page. There are a lot of groups that are out there that can help with reaching your goals.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">You can write everything from a first draft, revise, or do poetry if you like. They have come a long way from being pretty strict with it being new words. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So the last thing I want to discuss is validation. The Nano and Camp nano sites start validation on the 20th day (it used to be day 25). You copy and paste your piece into the box on the validation screen. It counts the words and then makes them disappear. You can use the program Ipsum Lorem, which is creates words in gibberish latin, and then copy paste them. Ipsum Lorem has a 10k words at a time; so you have to copy and paste 5 times (plus I pad my word count some. Some word processors counts are different from the Nano site. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Once you have validated (and have reached either the 50k or the goals), then you get a bragging rights, certificates as well</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. But on top of that, you can get cool writing goodies like Scrivener, Aeon Timeline and various others. Usually 50% off if you make goal, though they offer a 30% if you don’t (at least November does). If you don’t make it, someone who did can give you their coupon codes. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">highly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">recommend Nano for any writers out there. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Whether you are trying for that first novel, short story, or epic poem, NaNoWriMo, and Camp Nano, is a lot of fun, camaraderie, and making new friends too</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> Plus get well on the way to publishing. To close here is a list of books that were Nano novels. I’ll post the links to the various tools, and the websites below in the comments. Plus various links to my blogs on Nano 101 subjects.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There are actually 474 of them, but I’ll point out some of the bigger ones. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Amelia Atwater-Rhodes</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Persistence of Memory</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Debbie Manber Kupfer</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">P.A.W.S.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Erin Morgenstern</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Night Circus</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Sara Gruen</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Water for Elephants</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Thank you for joining me. See you next time. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Thank you for joining me. See you next time. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">National Novel Writing Month:</span></div>
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<a href="https://nanowrimo.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://nanowrimo.org/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Camp NaNoWriMo: You use your Nano site login credentials to get in here.</span></div>
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<a href="https://campnanowrimo.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://campnanowrimo.org</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Write or Die:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<a href="https://writeordie.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://writeordie.com/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Written Kitten: (If you like dogs, horses, dragons etc...you can change the “kitten” part to dog/horse/dragons), and it will feed you pictures of that instead.</span></div>
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<a href="http://writtenkitten.net/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://writtenkitten.net/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<a href="http://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2016/03/happy-birthday-to-me-and-time-to-start.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2016/03/happy-birthday-to-me-and-time-to-start.html</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And a blog to hold all the Nano blog links.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><a href="http://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2015/08/table-of-contents-nano-related-blog.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://velvetdelenn.blogspot.com/2015/08/table-of-contents-nano-related-blog.html</span></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There is a lot of other good stuff on my blog, so feel free to sign up, and become a minion er I mean follower. </span></div>
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0Columbus, OH, USA39.9611755 -82.9987942000000239.571838500000005 -83.644241200000025 40.3505125 -82.353347200000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-87454049884663255222018-02-26T19:51:00.000-05:002018-02-26T19:51:08.665-05:00Upcoming Publications<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey there, just an upcoming publications list. No release dates as of yet, but keep a look-out for them.<br />
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First up should be "The Longest Night Watch Vol. 3." This is the anthology that I was part of for Volume 2. In honor of Terry Pratchett and Gene Wilder Vol. 2, Vol 1 is for Terry Pratchett. If you want to catch up on the series. Links below.<br />
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Vol. 1<br />
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LI20WA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1<br />
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Vol. 2 <br />
<br />
https://www.amazon.com/Longest-Night-Watch-Alzheimers-Association-ebook/dp/B01LXWB3BX/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1519258013&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Longest+Night+Watch+Vol.+2<br />
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Next:<br />
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Submitted the introduction to "Drowned by Moonlight." This is a project dedicated to the memory of Carrie Fisher. It will benefit research into Bipolar disorder, which Carrie suffered from. I also have a relative that has it, and it's a horrible mental disease.<br />
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Next: Cracks in the Tapestry; this is an anthology that I am in the process of writing a story for. Deadline is coming up soon.<br />
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<b>May 11-13, 2018</b><br />
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<b>Marcon 53, Hyatt Regency Columbus Ohio.</b><br />
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I will be on some panels hopefully. Will let you know as soon as I know. Marcon is something I was involved with for several years. Though I had a hiatus until Marcon 50. <br />
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http://marcon.org/<br />
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The last thing is I will be finishing the first draft of <b>Stormwolfe</b> (which is the second book in a series). This way I can see what all needs to be added to the first book <b>Stormraevyn.</b><br />
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Hoping to have Stormraevyn done and out later this year. But life keeps throwing me curveballs!<br />
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Thank you for being part of my journey!</div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-90146892241215564842018-02-22T20:34:00.000-05:002018-02-22T20:34:52.648-05:00My Intro Video on YouTube Channel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yes, it's arrived, I've been building a YouTube Channel! Here is a link to that, and a link to my intro video.<br /><br /><br />
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5ZGzQiOZ__tlnE5RhOiVQ?view_as=subscriber<br />
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Feel Free to Subscribe and share it far and wide :) <br />
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Intro:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HTuw0mLt9Q<br />
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Thank you for being part of my journey!</div>
L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-18129411427366856812018-02-21T19:00:00.003-05:002018-02-21T19:00:30.485-05:00What's in a "Pen" Name? (Possibly my shortist blog to date!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is one subject that comes up pretty much, on a regular basis for most writers groups I am in. Do I use one? Is the most asked; followed closely by "Do I use a variation of my name?" <br />
I think you need to answer the following questions:<br />
"What kind of writing do I do? Would I want my parents/family to know that I'm writing this?" If you are an erotica writer, it can be important to have a name that sounds like this genre anyhow, a pen name is not absolutely necessary. However, if you answered "Yes," then you may want to have a pen name. And preferably one that is far from your legal name. <br />
Another question is, "Is my name hard to spell or say?" If it is, from the standpoint of Google searches, you may want to have a pen name. It could be a different spelling, or shortening your name. That is if you don't care if your friends/family know you are writing in a genre that is possibly embarrassing (and this can include others besides erotica).<br />
One of the other important reminders is to do a Google search to see if someone else already is using it. You could do a variation of that possible pen name. For example, "Smith," could become "Smyth." <br />
So I know you are probably saying, "Is L. Anne Wooley a pen name?" Well, yes, and no. This is a variation on my name. And no, not saying what it is...even if it is a common enough name, I'm still not putting it out there. You can't make me! I'm debating on using a totally different name for erotica, as I also write that from time to time. <br />
Whatever you decide on doing, make sure you weigh the pros and cons unique to your situation. You can have more than one name as well. If you write different genres, it can be helpful to have one for each genre. Just make sure you don't name yourself Stephen King or Anne Rice, and you should be fine. <br />
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Helpful Links:<br /><br />https://www.name-generator.org.uk/pen-name/<br />
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It suggested "Doris Catherine Barker." <br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-65807150935076484762017-12-31T03:41:00.001-05:002017-12-31T03:41:32.795-05:00How to Find an Idea. Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The time of NaNoWriMo is fast approaching. Do you have your idea? Do you have any ideas? Maybe you are going to finish off another project, edit one? I've done both within the month. I don't really recommend doing that; because my brain does not like it. Not one.little.bit. But I also have done short stories, and also blogs to fill out the 50k. I'm what is called a "rebel." But I also am a "Plantser." I am a hybrid between planning and pantsing. Planning being the outlining of your idea so that you know what will happen during the novel. Pantsing is just taking a vague idea and rough outline (that you won't stick to), before writing.<br />
There are people that are good at preplanning everything. I am not one of them. The only time I tried (NaNoWriMo 2012), it failed miserably. My story did not want to follow the beautiful outline I had written painstakingly out. And not only that, the structure is totally different than what I had imagined. The problem I don't have is finding Ideas, it's going through the rest of it that has me going crazy.<br />
Basically, to flesh out an idea, I do what is called the "What if?" I'll illustrate below using a familiar story.<br />
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<i>What if there is a boy left on his relatives steps and finds out later that he is not ordinary?</i><br />
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There is my basic idea. And yes, it should be obvious what story I'm using to illustrate this.<br />
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So then I go into the flesh out phase.<br />
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Q. What is not ordinary about this boy?<br />
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A. He's got magic powers.<br />
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Q. Why was he left with his relatives?<br />
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A. Because he can't be where he was before.<br />
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Q. Why can't he be where he was before?<br />
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A. Because an evil wizard tried to kill him and failed.<br />
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So then you could go on from there to flesh it out even more, (now it is time for him to go back and learn magic so he can fight the evil Wizard).<br />
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I am not sure this is what JK Rowling did, but that is probably how I would have done it (though not the same probably).<br />
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Ideas are everywhere, as I've said before. You may be even able to combine multiple ideas to make one story. Finding ideas can bring more ideas to mind, it's easy once you get into the practice of doing it. Prompts are great for generating ideas. I had a new SNI (Shiny New Idea), just today from a prompt. It's going to be one of the stories that go into my Nano project. <br /><br />Note: This blog was completed after Nano was over. But you can use the info contained here at any time. <br /><br />*************************<br />L. Anne Wooley is a writer located in Columbus Ohio. She has been published in numerous places, and can be seen in the upcoming anthologies "The Longest NightWatch Vol. 3" and "Drowning by Moonlight." Both are for charity. She lives with two roommates, two dogs, a very noisy obnoxious and evil Bird named Bryn Terfel, and a cat which is her constant writing companion. She can be found on FB and Youtube. <br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-84954914094478361792017-12-31T03:20:00.000-05:002017-12-31T03:20:08.037-05:00Happy New Year! Setting Goals <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
First of all, Happy New Year for all my readers/followers. Hope you have health and happiness in the new year! And speaking of the New Year, it's time to do our resolutions...or as I call them, my goals. Goals are important for writing, as they shine a focus on what we want to do with our writing. Words don't just come out of the blue (at least they don't for me). And I also tend to take on a LOT of projects...too many in fact. So goal setting is really important if I want to succeed in writing. This is for any kind of artistic endeavor though. You can apply the tools that I've spoken about here for whatever you do artistically.<div>
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<b>Step 1: Writing down your projects. </b> (This is a list of all your projects.) So here is mine: </div>
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Anthology pieces due:</div>
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Drowned by Moonlight rewrite mine as a memorial/introduction.</div>
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The Longest Nightwatch V3</div>
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Stormraevyn</div>
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Stormwolf</div>
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Daily Sticky Note Haiku book</div>
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10 short stories began last years NaNoWriMo.</div>
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Only have like 3 so far.</div>
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Writers Retreat story for their Anthology</div>
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(Fairytale mashup).</div>
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As you can see, there are a lot of them. And I may have forgotten one or a gazillion. But these are the main ones. Some of them are in various stages of completion already. But still, have a way to go before they are published. <br /><br /><b>Step 2: Prioritizing the goals.</b> I try to do this by a deadline date. The closest due date will be my first priority. This can be more complicated, as you may not have deadlines/due dates for the project. For anthology pieces, contests, and publications, there usually are dates that work is due by. But here is how I prioritized the above list:<br /><br /><div>
Drowned by Moonlight, the revision needs to be done first.</div>
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The Longest Nightwatch V3 (have not gotten my edits back yet.</div>
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Writers Retreat Fairytale Mashup fixing/going over maybe adding stuff.</div>
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Stormwolf first draft needs to be completed, because of some stuff in it, needs to be added to Stormraevyn.</div>
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Then add or correct to incorporate those changes into Stormraevyn</div>
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Daily Sticky Note Haiku book (is already in process, but needs to be laid out and the poems moved to where they need to go.</div>
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10 5k word short stories last years Nano, need 6 more stories I believe.</div>
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In the above, "The Longest Nightwatch v3" is second, as I haven't received my edits back yet. I have finalized the beta read though, but now am waiting for the editing phase. So while I'm waiting on this, I've decided to do "Drowned by Moonlight," first. This is in my revision stage right now, so I'll be fixing it up. It's going to be the introduction to this anthology (decided after it had been submitted), so I have to fix it to make it more introduction like.</div>
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So <b>Step 3: Making a "To do" list.</b></div>
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I actually have a form that I made up for my writer's group on Facebook. It's below so you can copy and paste:<br /><br />Note: This form is basically used with a buddy system, an accountability buddy if you will. If you have another writer willing to do this with you, you would just fill out the form and send it to them (so they can keep you honest). And they would send theirs to you. This can be done via pm/email or even teleconference (Google Hangouts or Skype). But you can use this solo, to keep yourself in check with your goals. You can consider it a checklist too.</div>
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Also, make your goals realistic and measurable. Deadlines that you make on your own, set them with enough time between each step of the project so that you aren't flustered if you miss one. <br /><br />*******************************************************************************<br /><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-e4a2f7e4-ab92-822d-be4c-252a7bc3ed57"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each sheet is per project. If you have more than one project, print out, or use a separate sheet. This is what you are going to send to your buddy (if you don’t have one, or just don’t want one, but want to use this form, that is okay too). You’ll have one for your needs and your buddy’s needs one to help check in on how you are doing with your goals.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also have put notes to give instructions on how to use these, you can erase my notes prior to use if you wish.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can also change goal numbers if you need more than one sheet. Alter this to your needs if you also don’t like this format. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though you *could use each goal as a separate project as well, just add the “Project Title” Which might be good to have all your project deadlines on one, and use another form for the individual projects. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lastly, you can break down your project into separate goals. For example:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9384615384615385; margin-bottom: 21pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Goal 1 Outline, Goal 2: Character sheets, Goal 3: world building Goal 4: research (though I usually do this step after the first draft as I’m not sure what I will need research-wise). Goal 5: First draft Goal 6: editing/2nd draft. Etc. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Project Title: Introduction for Drowned by Moonlight Anthology</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 1: This is where the first step in what you need to do with your project should go. i.e finish first draft (or any part of planning your project).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first draft was finished, but that was before I was told I could write the introduction. Needs to be more introductory-ish</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 1 Deadline (this is the date you would like your goal to be met, give yourself enough time if this is a NaNoWrimo or Camp Nano project, you could put the end of the month).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 2018</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 2: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 2 Deadline:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 3:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goal 3: Deadline.</span></div>
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-11549514519743557192017-07-30T22:37:00.000-04:002017-07-30T22:37:10.534-04:00"Roles:" an Autobiography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have often thought of the saying, to paraphrase "All the worlds a stage and all the people actors." I thought that statement was stupid, I didn't connect to it. But then I was working on a talk about roles, that I was going to give in conjunction with a project I've been working on for around 20 years. <br />
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The project was a book (nonfiction), about being a survivor of a sexual abuse/assault. The book would include others who have lived through such ordeals. This would also include incest survivors and include help for men as well as women. So for book publicity, I would have a little speech prepared, and it would go a little something like this:</div>
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In life, we play many roles. When we are children, we are son's, daughters, brothers, sisters nieces, nephews, grandsons, or granddaughters, and students. When we grow up, our roles change. We become mothers and fathers, Aunts and Uncles. Grandparents later on. Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Firemen... And we dream about these roles when we grow up. What we want to be when we "Grew up." </div>
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Nobody ever says, "I want to be a rape survivor when I grow up." Yet that is a role that Robert Patton forced on me at knife-point in November 1994. It's a role that makes one of my many catastrophic changes in my life. What he did to me, can never be undone, I will always be this role. </div>
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However, now I do not let it define me, it is in my past. What got me to this point, was the day I stood in court, giving an "impact statement." This is when a survivor (or someone else) can read to the court, before sentencing. I stood up and told Patton exactly what he did to me, and how he changed me for all time. Then I read a poem that told him in part that I had been in a prison, the poison of what he did trapped in a wound that nobody else could see. Yet, now he would be the prisoner, and that I was free. With those words, I was free.</div>
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That day was 12 years ago, and so much has passed. Both of my parents are now gone, but I'm so happy they were there that day. What happened to me, also forced roles on them. Roles that they were not prepared for, parents of a rape survivor. That night, was only the second time that I ever saw my dad cry, and it would be the last. I felt worse for my parents that night in the hospital than I did for myself. I had to put aside my pain and fear to help them. The guilt that they didn't keep me safe, haunted them for a long time. I didn't get that at first, but after a time, I grew to understand somewhat. But it didn't make it any easier for me to cope with that knowledge for a long time.<br />
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I was not alone in bearing this role, I had 36 other women who bare the same scars.. my sisters, linked by a role not everyone can understand. Rape takes away everything, your sense of safety, sense of self. Security is gone, and you look over your shoulder and become over sensitized to sounds, and casual touch becomes like a brand. PTSD is real for us. <br />
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But once I gave my impact statement, I was free from his shadow, his presence. While I can never forget or forgive, I can cut that binding of power that he held over me for 10 years. I do not feel a damned thing for him now. I'll never forgive him, but I've let go of the anger. <br />
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I've never identified with the role of victim, but I feel more powerful being called a "Survivor," for that is what he didn't do to me, he didn't define me. Once he left that night, I won.<br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-77341898128401394052017-06-17T15:37:00.000-04:002017-06-17T15:37:03.647-04:00The I-Files. Yes, been watching Mulder and Scully WAY TOO MUCH!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't know about you, but when I get a really good idea...I like to write it down somewhere. Sometimes I don't have anywhere to write it on, so I grab what is handy. I pull a napkin or a receipt from my favorite coffee shop or bookstore (those are longer and wider typically). I even tell folks to use their phones notepad/evernote/fill in the blank app. Some even have voice recorders, or you can get the old fashioned kind and buy a small tape recorder (voice recorder, I have 2, but darn it, I can't find them to save my life!).<br />
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So what I do, is to take the idea down with whatever is at hand. I write it down; the place, date and time down to...even what spurned the idea (as the action that created the idea might make it's way into its story). I may make further notes (brainstorming), if that comes. If it doesn't then it will be kept and worked into another story later, or might tie in nicely to another WIP (Work in Progress.)<br />
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Once I get it down on paper, or on the recording device (and assuming that I didn't lose those either) then it is time to move it over to my I-Files. I actually call mine "Shiny New Ideas," and it's a spreadsheet in Google Drive. That way I can get them anywhere, and on any device I choose. It looks something like this.<br />
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IDEA DATE: SOURCE:<br />
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JOHN AND HARVEY FIND LOST DOG 03.22.77 DOG WANDERING<br />
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If you want you can put more detail in those fields. For instance;<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Weather and setting</li>
<li>Anything else that strikes you about this. </li>
<li>What they were wearing. </li>
</ul>
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<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
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Well, you get the idea. There is also something said for being concise. </div>
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You can put in fields to update what happens to the idea. Because I so love bullet points...</div>
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<li>The name of the WIP where the idea went. </li>
<li>The characters who are involved with the event for the idea perhaps.</li>
<li>Deadline dates. (more on those in a later blog). </li>
</ul>
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Another idea is to make a word document (under a flash drive), and/or folder on your computer/google docs. If you also have Scrivener, make a project to hold all your ideas (one project to rule them all, sorry/not sorry, had to be said.) Each time you get a new idea add a new folder. You can put titles on the folders, and the dates that you thought up your idea, and can even put color tabs on them (for instance, red for a WIP)... none for not used yet. The note cards in each folder, can be used to flesh those out, and there is also a way to see it as a text on a page at the same time.<br />
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The idea project can be kept up in your system, and use it also to keep track of all of your WIP that way as well. You could make a new project for ideas in a particular year, decade even. Check out my NEW youtube channel (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5ZGzQiOZ__tlnE5RhOiVQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5ZGzQiOZ__tlnE5RhOiVQ</a>) for some helpful videos for Scrivener. They can help a lot as Scrivener does take a bit of a learning curve. DISCLAIMER: The videos are not by me.<br />
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Lastly, you could write them in a notebook binder, or a diary of some sort that you can carry in your purse or bookbag. I did that for a long while, but getting time to sit down and transfer them to anything is a pain. Probably less so than jotting them down on a napkin or receipt, but still a pain. </div>
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Keeping track of your ideas is good on many levels; they can help create new WIP/novels, short stories. They can also help with other works that you are doing, or can help create ideas in and of themselves. However you record them, keeping track of your ideas is pretty crucial for a writer. And if you say, "I'll remember it and write it down later." Well you could do that if you have a fantastic memory...but I do not. And even if I do remember, the flavor/nuances of the idea are lost, and the idea might not come out as good as in those first moments when they strike. And you know what they say, "Strike when the iron is hot!" There is no other place that this saying is more true, than writing. </div>
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-64427599153651089092017-06-03T13:17:00.000-04:002017-06-08T18:43:50.712-04:00Revisiting Old Friends...AKA Finding "Buried" Treasure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Finding stories you don't recall writing is fun. It's like unearthing buried treasure, without the X to mark your spot. For me it is like revisiting old friends. They may not have been completed stories either; I may not remember all the details of where I wanted to take it. But, I sometimes come up with new, and perhaps even better ideas. As these are unfinished projects, it might have meant that the original idea wasn't good enough, or have enough strength to pursue to completion. <br />
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It can be a challenge to decide where to go with, or recapture the interest in it; sometimes you just have to let it go. But you should never get rid of those treasures, they can become the basis for some other project. Or I may get some more fleshing out on the idea, but that is about it. And sometimes it can be years before I get around to revisiting these old friends.<br />
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So I hear you..."Hey, can you give us an example?" <br />
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In full disclosure, I haven't actually haven't had much opportunity to pursue a formerly buried idea, because most of my project ideas are very incomplete. And new ideas that I know I will publish, come up. So the first, and only time that I recall that I've used this advice was with my 2009 Nano novel. That one was written as a sort of fictionalized auto biography. The main character was a rape survivor (like myself), who had a very dysfunctional relationship with her mother (who was based on my mother, aunt, and a few other women I knew.) Her father was more like my dad. That project was all handwritten, and I really liked it much better than the one I tried to rewrite with the same basic idea for Nano 2012. The secondary character was taking over too much (when she wasn't in the first one at all). The only reason I had her was to raise the stakes for my main character, but the story really didn't work. I probably won't rewrite it again, as the character is too close to me. But if I find my original again, or can recreate the original closely from memory, then I would definitely finish it.<br />
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Revisiting these stories can help you see how far you've come. You may not use them again...but they are precious for showing your progression as a writer. They may also be given away if you so wish...pay it forward to other writers. But remember, ideas cannot be copyrighted, and also cannot be stolen. As was said (badly paraphrased) "There are no new ideas, only how you transform them, and make them your own." <br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6018307539878814688.post-79247612225010419632017-06-02T11:28:00.002-04:002017-06-02T11:28:53.056-04:00What Would You Like to See Me Cover in a Blog?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been pretty much at this blog thing for several years now, and I've covered a lot of stuff in that time. But I'm trying to get ideas for new topics to cover. So I'm coming to my readers and writers, what would you like to see me cover? Would you like more "How tos?" More on NaNoWrimo? <br />
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I plan on craft posts as well, so what are you having trouble with, in your writing? Inquiring minds wanna know. Yea, I love to quote old material :)<br />
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Would you like to see more short stories? Stuff that I've published? <br />
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I would quote Ferris Beuhler, but I won't.<br />
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L. Anne Wooley, That Writer Chickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12991184036861110333noreply@blogger.com0