Category Archives: publishing

Charlotte’s Take: The Calabiyau Chronicles by Diana S. Zimmerman

Hello, Readers!

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Today, I am sharing a book series review, as relayed to me by Charlotte, my 10 year old daughter.  The Calabiyau Chronicles is a series of books which opened the excitement of reading to my daughter.  When she was in the 4th grade, during her birthday month, she was invited to select a free book from a huge collection of brand new books that had been delivered to a classroom.  The way she described it, the selection of books was so enormous!

secret of the mists

My daughter searched through the piles of books, and emerged with her choice, KANDIDE AND THE SECRET OF THE MISTS.  The cover and the title are what attracted Charlotte to the book.  From my perspective, the book was glorious.  A fantastic cover, intricate artwork within, and written at a level which I was thrilled that my 10 year old daughter had chosen.  The book is fantasy, and features beautiful fairy-like creatures, winged and colorful.

According to Charlotte, SECRET OF THE MISTS was action-packed and exciting.  The most exciting part was when Kandide, the main character and heroine, arrived at the mists, and was attacked by the Garglan, a vicious, hairy creature with wings, sharp teeth, claws, and a long tail.  The Garglan also has creepy red eyes.  Kandide needed the help of wolves to escape it.

The Lady's Revenge

Her excitement about SECRET OF THE MISTS prompted me to purchase book 2 of the series, THE LADY’S REVENGE.  According to my daughter, THE LADY’S REVENGE is mysterious.  A princess, Tara, is captured, and frozen in a block of ice.  If the ice melts, she will die.  Kandide is in charge of making Winter, and so she changes the season to Winter again, keeping the ice frozen.  Kandide enlists the help of her brother to magically save Tara from the block of ice.

Masks of Deception

At the end of Book 2, Charlotte was so anxious for book 3…but it wasn’t released yet!  I had to pre-order it, and she was so thrilled when it finally arrived!  The title of Book 3 in this series, is THE MASKS OF DECEPTION.  This book, like the two other before it, features beautiful pictures throughout.  They are stunning.

Charlotte just finished reading it, and here is what she told me:  There is a war going on between Calabiyau, and the Banshee Kingdom.  She didn’t want to give me too many spoilers, but she did mention at one point, that the Fee’ have to enter the human world, and they get stuck.  This is dangerous for the Fee’ because in the human world, time moves faster and they age really quickly.  MASKS OF DECEPTION ends with “To be continued…”, which delighted my daughter.  We are hoping for a book 4!

It should be noted that there is a beautiful, intricate coloring book that coincides with this book series.  We also own the coloring book.  It’s truly lovely.

As a parent, author, and teacher, I was so happy to find a series of books which my daughter became so enthralled with.  I would also like to point out that when I reached out to author Diana S. Zimmerman about Charlotte’s zest for her books, she was more than happy to connect.  That means a lot to the readers who fall in love with characters and places of an authors creation.  Thank you for writing such a series for my daughter and other readers to enjoy.

Diana S. Zimmerman has a website for all things Kandide:  www.kandide.com

The Calabiyau Chronicles Series can be purchased on Diana S. Zimmerman’s website, or on Amazon

She can be found on social media as well:

Twitter:  @DianaZimmerman

Facebook:  Diana Zimmerman

In Which I Audition For A Mini-Series…

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Good Morning!

This is typically a blog about books and writers, and my journey through publishing.  However, today, I have something different to share, and it is a doozy!

A couple of years ago, there was an escape at the maximum security prison near my home.  The event rocked the North Country for three weeks, shackling its residents with fear.  It made national headlines.  The drama that unfolded during that time was something my little corner of the world had never experienced, and was the stuff Hollywood scripts are made of.

Literally.

Once I got a grip on my fear during the escape, I began to write, because that’s what I do.  I journaled, I blogged about it, and I began to formulate a novel; fiction inspired by my events and experiences during that time.  The book will be called #PrisonBreakADK, and the first draft is nearly complete.

This past year, it was announced in the news that Ben Stiller (BEN STILLER!!!) had pitched an idea for a mini-series about the escape to Showtime, and we found out recently that the project is moving forward.  This has been big news for my sleepy little town, because as part of the production, they held auditions for extras here, just yesterday, and I was a part of it!

I have been involved in a number of theatrical productions through the years, but those productions are musicals, and my role is to be a musician in the pit.  Never have I been on stage, reciting lines.  Ever…at all.  But when the announcement was made about the open casting call for extras, I just knew I needed to be a part of it.

Here is what I experienced:

It had been reported that the casting call was to begin at 10:00, but my friend Christina and I arrived at 9:00. When we got there, the line already stretched around the city block.  We were numbers 76 and 78 in the queue.  By the end of the day, the number of hopeful actors topped one-thousand, which was way more than anyone expected.  The photo below was taken while we were on line, around the block from the theater.

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While we waited on line to enter the theater, we conversed with the others, getting to relive the prison break days.  Every one of us there, had shared in the same experience those years before, and talking about it made me realize how so many of us were affected profoundly.  In line with us were officers who took part in the search, residents of the local area, like me, who experienced the helicopter searches and k-9 units patrolling our wooded areas, investigators and reporters who had been involved in the search and media, the shop owners who fed the workers in the search…It was nice to talk to those folks about our experiences.

It took a while for the casting company to get organized, considering it hadn’t expected the number of auditioners, but once they were ready, we were lined up by number, filled out paperwork, and took headshots.  Below, the photo was taken after we had our headshots, and shows my vantage point from the waiting area to the left of the stage.  You can see the line of people waiting for their headshots.

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From there, we were seated in another part of the theater, and waited for the interview process.  The next pictures show us waiting for the interview to start.

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The interview was pretty short, and while we answered questions about our profession, where we were from, our hobbies and interests, etc, the casting director sized us up, organized us into groups.  Our groups were directed below the theater stage where we would have to read a script.

Yes, a script.

This may sound unbelievable, but I hadn’t expected to have to read one.  So, yes, I got super nervous at that point.  I wanted to be an extra…in the background!  It turned out that there were still a few cast parts with speaking lines left to fill.  Smaller roles with limited lines and such.  So, with trembling hands, I took the script they handed me, and began to study it.  I was to read the lines as “clerk”.

I tried to convince myself that I could rock it.  I am a writer, and a teacher of the performing arts, albeit music.  I could do this!

As I mentioned, this was the absolute first time I had ever read a script so I could perform in a production of anything.  I have, however, worked on writing a screenplay with someone who was adapting one of my novels, but that is pretty much it.  So there I was, sitting in a hallway in the basement of a theater, studying my lines.

When it was my turn, I was called into a small room.  There was a video camera set up, and a man who was going to read the lines with me.  I hadn’t expected a camera.  Cue: internal freak out #97 for the day.  I ended up reading the lines four times, until there was a decent enough take.

For Christina and I, the process took about three hours. It took longer for others.

I have to say, kudos to actors.  To be able to pull inflection and “attitude” from just a script with a few lines on it is actually really difficult.  As a writer, I didn’t expect that.  Thinking and writing what you want is far different that performing what you want.  Believe me.

In the end, my friend Christina got a call-back!  While I have not, I am super proud that I had the courage to take part in the open casting call.  I felt that I needed to do it as part of having closure with the prison break.  I don’t know if I will get cast as an extra or not, but, even if I don’t, I can mark “Audition for a TV Mini-Series” off my bucket list..and I only realized it was on there a couple of weeks ago!

I send my gratitude to Ben Stiller, and his entire production team, for bringing this opportunity to my little corner of the world.  We were part of something big with the prison break, and I am excited to see how this mini-series plays out.

Thanks for reading about this experience!  Have any of you participated in a TV or movie casting call before?  I would love to hear about your experiences!

Let’s Talk: Writer’s Block and Writerly Inspiration

Hello!  Welcome to my Writer’s Block!  Today, I’d like to bring up the idea of a writerly roller coaster.  Can you relate to any of these ideas?

Being a writer is gratifying:  The pictures in your mind, poured out through your fingertips, and transformed onto the leaves of a page.  It’s a glorious feeling when a project comes to completion, or even simply when an early draft is complete.

But sometimes, being a writer is riddled with frustration.  The pictures in your mind, knotted up in your fingertips, and hurling themselves, if you’re lucky, into a garbled mess on the screen in front of you.  Again, if you’re lucky.  Sometimes, a writer comes up empty.

The struggle is real, folks.  We face the writerly roller coaster each and every day, hour to hour, even minute to minute.  The words may flow with perfection one moment, then…they are gone.  Writer’s block strikes again.

I revel in times of writerly feast, and ride that creative wave for as long as I can, but when writer’s block hits, I have to turn to other sources for help.  When faced with Writer’s Block, there are several things I like to try to dislodge the blocks which hold my words back.

  1. Introduce a new character.  Maybe I’ll keep them, maybe not, but somehow, just putting in a new character’s perspective into the narrative can help.  Who knows!  That character may have just what it take to spin the plot a new and exciting way!
  2. Take the last scene  I wrote, and rewrite it from a different character’s perspective (I think I see a trend…).  As in #1, above, this can help to spin the plot differently.
  3. Seek inspiration online.  Try Googling an image about the scene you are working on.  Sometimes viewing a picture can encourage your mind to come up with words that eluded you before.  This is an image I saw recently, and it really helped with my word flow:  cabin interior
  4. Seek out writerly quotes for inspiration.  Again, these can be effective in getting the writerly juices flowing.  Here is one of my faves: chekhov-moon

The process of writing is both glorious and challenging.  I encourage you to celebrate your successes voraciously; I know I do!  And when writer’s block hits, I challenge you to go after inspiration with just as much gusto!  What are some of your go-to ideas for combatting the inevitable writer’s block?  And how do you celebrate your writing victories?  I’d love to hear all about it!

Thank you for stopping by today.  Please leave your comments below!

Write What You Love, Love What You Write

Summer

Here in the Northeast, we still have school for another week and a half before kids are released for Summer vacation.  But, Summer vacation is upon us!  What does that mean for the writer in me?

Well, I no longer have to get up at 5:00 a.m…though I probably will anyway, so I can get my writing on!  It also means, that I can finally get to finishing up some writerly projects.  Some of you may have seen that I was recently able to finish up my latest draft of Misty Dawn and Violet, and it is now in the hands of my agent!  That is a great feeling!!!

This Summer, I plan to finish up another.  Just one.  Not sure which manuscript it’ll be, yet, but no matter which of my projects I choose to delve into, I can tell you that I am giddy with anticipation.

I have had several unfinished projects hanging over my head for quite a while, and I need to complete one of them.  Again, just one.  It may sound like my hovering projects are actually chores.  They aren’t.  I know this, because recently I took one out to take stock of where I last was at with it.  I can tell you that when I read through my work, I got chills.  Not chills up my spine because I had written a thriller, but the warm kind of chills, from getting to spend time with the people and places I had begun writing about quite a while back.  My characters.  My storylines.

I love them.  I miss them, and it’s time for them to come back into my life.

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The saying, “Write what you love, love what you write,” has never meant more to me.  Those unwritten stories and characters came to me back then, because I wanted to read about them, and they didn’t exist elsewhere.  And it excites me knowing that Summer vacation is just around the corner, affording me the opportunity to vacation with ALL of my loved ones; friends and family, and literary loved ones, too.  I already feel rejuvenated and inspired to turn my mere words into prose.  I’ll be sharing updates along the way, too, so you can follow along this journey with me.

How do you plan to spend your Summer?  Any writerly things on the horizon for you? Connect with me in the comments below!

 

Embracing The Courage To Fail

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My husband and I were married in 1996, which, in baseball terms, was Derek Jeter’s Rookie year as a Yankee.  During the years that followed, we watched Jeter and the other members of the Yankees became super-successful in subsequent years.  As a Yankee fan, I can tell you it was a thrilling time to follow the team.

Tonight, Jeter’s Number 2 was retired, and to commemorate the event, there were televised interviews and memories shared.  But, what was it about Jeter that made him so great?  Was it natural born talent?  Was it that his parents raised him a particular way?  Was it that he surrounded himself with people he wanted to emulate?  Perhaps.  More than likely, a combination of these created the baseball player he eventually would become.

During the Jeter event today, one commentator made a statement which stuck with me.  He said something to the effect of “To achieve greatness, you can’t be afraid to fail.”

Ugh.  That’s really hard.  So many of us are programmed to “fail to fail”.  We are taught that failure is bad, that failure will keep you from your goal.  As a writer, failing can mean something small, like I don’t complete my word count, or something large, like secure a publishing contract.  It means I might hit writer’s block and not be able to move a work forward.  It could mean that the concept of a work in progress is a no-go, even when I have spent many months, or even years, trying to develop it.

Failure can be debilitating.

But it doesn’t have to be.  During the Jeter festivities tonight, more than one person commented that Jeter expected to win every day.  He gave his all every time out on the field.  When he “failed” on the field,  his took that failure as an opportunity for growth.  That’s why he was such a good Yankee captain.

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Jeter was successful because he wan’t afraid to fail.

As writer’s, we can use this concept to our advantage.  What does failure as a writer really mean?  Sure, the word count miss, or the lack of a publishing contract seems like they are fails.  However, in the bigger picture, we can look at these little failures as part of our eventual path to greatness.  If we keep at it, refuse to give up, change some things when what we are doing doesn’t work out, we will all get there.

Next time, when writer’s block hits, I think I will try something “radical” with my plot or characters, and see where it takes me.  Maybe next time, I won’t be afraid to play with the structure of a work, if it seems to be “failing”.  I hope I have the courage to do so.

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I’m glad I got to watch Jeter’s celebration tonight between games of the double header.  It gave me the courage to accept failure as part of a longer, more interesting, path to authorly success.

I hope things are going well with you all, and thanks for reading.  Do you have any advice for spinning failure into the big picture of success?  Let me know in the comments!

100!

100

Welcome, Readers!

It is with heartfelt gratitude that I write this post.  Today, in my WordPress notifications, I got the best news:  I have reached the milestone of 100 follows to my blog!

This may seem like a minuscule accomplishment to many.  I personally follow blogs with many more followers than on hundred.But for this small town author, it means the world, and I couldn’t be more pleased!

I have used this as a forum to showcase authors and their work, to discuss both classic literature and new reads, to talk about issues that writers face, and delve into perspectives in the publishing world.  Through the years of my authoring this blog, I have learned a lot, shared a lot, and met a lot.  I am humbled by all of you who have read, commented on, and liked my posts.

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Thank you.

Thank you for the follows.  Thank you for the comments through the years .  And thank you for taking an interest in my writerly work.  I am beyond excited for what is on the horizon.  It continues to be an honor to share it all with you.

 

When All Else Fails…

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Good evening, readers!

This is not my usual Sunday night planned post, for a few reasons.  First, it’s not Sunday.  Second, this past week found me unable to produce much in the way of writerly thoughts.  And third, well, it’s pretty much tied to the second reason.  Stress, with some confusion and befuddlement over various goings-on sprinkled in for good measure.  No matter where I turned, it seemed, I felt/feel like things are off kilter and out of my control. And social media isn’t helping, at the moment.

So, to combat this, I did two things.  First, I read a book that had been on my TBR for a while.  I have been sharing my enchantment with THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP, by Nina George, on my various social media feeds, and a review of it will be coming soon, here on this blog.  *Swoon*…

And second, when I finished THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP,  I turned to my own work in progress; the one thing I currently have complete control over.

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My works in progress; conceived by me, researched by me, nurtured by me, encouraged by me,  and eventually released into the world by me.

To have these works in progress, gifts that they are, at my disposal is a blessing during times like these is a treat.  I can revisit my characters whom I adore.  I can rework my plots to my liking.  I can create something completely new if I want.  It’s a very liberating feeling.  Writers, or any artists, really, are blessed with this ability to create.  In times like these, I am grateful to have this ability at my disposal.

It’s true…When all else fails, I can grab a pencil, and be off in a world of my choice.

Mind you, I didn’t write a whole lot of new content this week, because, again, confusion, stress, and befuddlement.  But it was time well spent.  Stepping out of my world of confusion and into my writing world for a while did me some good.

Actually, it did me a lot of good.

Tonight, before putting this post together, I took a look at what I did manage to write this past weekend.  I have a secondary plot line developing, and am heading in for the home stretch of the book.  All awesome things, that came out of necessity for me when all else failed.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

Greetings from Maine!

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Hello, readers!

Today I write to you from one of my favorite, most inspirational locations, coastal Maine.  I have always been fond of the ocean, although not being in the ocean, but being near it.  The sound of the surf, the lighthouses, the happy puffins, and today, the way the striated clouds parallel the horizon, makes me quite content.  I find inspiration here, in this setting, even though the wind makes my cheeks frozen and numb.  What is it about the ocean, specifically Maine?

 

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Back in 1990, I flew with my friend Jenny to Spain, and spent a few weeks living with a family which we had met when their daughter was an exchange student at our high school.  It was our first transatlantic flight, one where we would actually need a passport, and we were all of nineteen years old.  On the return flight, our plane made a surprise stop in Bangor, Maine, at which time I viewed for the first time the beautiful, lake-filled, ocean-coasted landscape of that state from the window of our plane. At that moment, I made a pact with myself that I would be sure to visit and spend quality time in Maine.

Nowadays, my husband and I make at least one yearly trip to Maine.  During that time, we visit familiar and unfamiliar places.  I draw much inspiration from the sea and the surf here. On one visit, we saw some beautiful harbor bells for sale.  These multi-toned bells are crafted to mimic the unique harbor bell tones of the various harbors on the coast.  We purchased three different bells that visit, each representing the bell tones from different places:  Cape Cod, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth.  Each sounds different, and each represents both a lonely and uplifting spirit.  Here are some sound samples.  What do you think?

Cape Cod Buoy Bell

Chesapeake Buoy Bell

Portsmouth Buoy Bell

I learned from the vendor that all buoy bells are different, each one a unique combination of tones, distinguishing it from the bells of other harbors.  I have also since learned that there is a long history of these bells in Europe as well.  We ended up keeping the Portsmouth buoy bell, and gifting the others to our parents.  We leave our bell up year round on our front porch.  Even the smallest breeze sends the mournful, yet hopeful tones through the air.  We love its sound.

Coastal Maine and buoy bells were an inspiration in my Harbor Bells Trilogy.  Here is a small snippet from chapter 1 of book 1, tentatively titled, THE FIRST HARBOR BELL:

An old man, with skin transparent enough to see the veins and sinews beneath, sat on a stump.  Mangled and contorted, his bony fingers grasped a walking stick, gnarled with knots of the tree from whence it came.  His knuckles, enlarged and swollen with age, protruded profoundly, threatening to burst through the very skin that was holding his aged body together.   Around his shoulders, a cape, threadbare from time and wear, fluttered as a breeze floated past. 

In the distance, a harbor bell sounded.  Its three-toned broken chord, resonated within James.  It was a familiar sound.  One that he had been around his entire life in coastal England. 

Today, though, the bell’s music felt somewhat different.  As if a trance threatened to overtake him, James stood, looking intently at the caped man. He was captivated.

While this book is still in the early draft stages, I am happy to share this bit with you all.  If you listen to the samples of the buoy bells above, what do they make you think of?  I’d love to hear from you in the comments 🙂

Writerly Reflections and Resolutions, 2016/2017

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Welcome, Readers!

Happy New Year!

I hung up my Music Teacher Hat last week so I could celebrate the holidays with my family and friends.  Along with that, my family is blessed with both of my children’s birthdays during this week as well (December 27 and 29), making this week, for them, the gift that keeps on giving.  I love it!  In the quiet times of this vacation, though, I get to reflect on the year which has passed, and lay down some plans for the the coming year.

2016 brought with it the loss of many familiar people in our lives.I write about the loss of David Bowie here, but we said goodbye to so many other public figures in 2016 as well.  One loss of a very personal nature was Great Grandfather Dede, who was a World War II veteran.  A couple of years ago, he took part in the Honor Flight, which was such an emotional experience for both him and us.  His burial was incredibly moving.

2016 brought with it some fantastic writerly news, as I landed a publishing contract with REUTS Publications, began an internship with Golden Wheat Literary, and signed with agent Jessica Schmeidler, who is representing my writerly works.  I also worked along side a screenwriter to adapt one of my novels, which was as fabulous as it sounds! Here is my adrenaline-charged post about that. 

Finally, after struggling with a work in progress that seemed to be too much to handle, I had an epiphany, and mapped out the story as a trilogy, of which the first draft of Book One (The First Harbor Bell) is two-thirds complete.  I am super proud of that, as it is a story that has been brewing within me for at least five years, and whose initial seeds were planted when I was only fifteen.  I can’t wait to share The Harbor Bell Series with you!

As I roll into 2017, I have three resolutions.

  1.  I hope to continue the trajectory I am on with my writing.  I am on a serious roll with The Harbor Bell Series, as well as a couple of other things, and I resolve to continue my forward-moving progress on those fronts.
  2. I resolve to stay “above the line” as much as possible, in all aspects of my life, writing or otherwise.  For those who may not understand what that phrase means to me, here it is:  “Above The Line” means to focus on the positives in life, and to be the change I want to see.  Dwelling on the negatives is destructive, and I don’t have time for that.
  3. I resolve to get back on my weekly blog-posting schedule.  It’s very doable, and I miss it.  Along with that, I further resolve to let go of any guilt quickly when life happens and I might not be able to post on that schedule for a time.  Things happen, and it’s not the end of the world.

So, there you have it.  Wish me luck, but I know I can do it!  What are your thoughts as we leave 2016 and head into 2017?  Post your comments here!

Novel Noshing: Foods Inspired By Our Novels and Characters, Part 4

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Welcome Back!  Today’s headlining picture makes me think of my favorite thing about autumn baking…apples and cinnamon.  Here in the North Country, Autumn is in full swing.  Cool, crips nights, and sun-shiny days illuminate the colorful trees here in the Adirondacks.  It’s the season for steamy drinks, comforting casseroles, warm breakfasts to get us started in the morning.

Which brings me to our featured author of the week.

For this fourth installment of my series, I present to you author Melody Winter, and her soon-to-be-released novel, INIQUITY.  Here is Melody, with a bit about her upcoming release.

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Village life for my characters in Iniquity is hard. Food is limited, and meat scarce. But the one meal that’s made every morning is a hearty bowl of porridge. The men need a filling breakfast to see them through a day working at the fields, and the women usually eat their fair share as well. The weather is cold, miserable and it often rains, hence a stomach full of warm porridge is a good start to everyone’s day.

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Athena mentions having to soak the oats overnight. This was a traditional way of making porridge. For each serving, the equivalent of 50 grams of oats was added to a mix of 300ml water and goats milk if it was available. The following morning it was cooked in a large metal pot over hot coals, stirring constantly until it boiled, and then stirred again for a further ten minutes.

Unfortunately, in Iniquity there isn’t much else you can add to the porridge as fruit and other plant growth is severely hindered by the lack of sunlight. The villagers only grow the necessities.

INIQUITY is due for release on the 25th October, available through amazon, or a signed paperback direct from Melody. The ebook is currently available for pre-order at a special discounted price on amazon:

Amazon.com: Link to Iniquity on amazon US  

Amazon.co.uk: Link to Iniquity on amazon UK

Email Melody: melodywinterbooks@gmail.com

About the author:

Growing up, Melody showed a natural ability in art, a head for maths, and a tendency to write too long English essays. Difficult to place in the world when she graduated, she pursued a career in teaching, but ended up working in finance. Melody is convinced the methodical times she spends working with numbers fuel her desire to drift into dream worlds and write about the illusory characters in her head.

Melody Winter lives in York, North Yorkshire, England with her husband and two sons. When not dealing with football, rugby, and a whole plethora of ‘boy’ activities, she will be found scribbling notes for her stories, or preparing for another trip to the nearby beaches at Scarborough and Whitby. With an obsession for anything mythical, Melody revels in reading and writing about such creatures, and creating her own.

 

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