Stepping Outside of My Footprint

I grow golden raspberries instead of the normal red or black.

This morning I woke up to a house filled with streams of sunlight and the sweet and fruity smell of last year's grapes fermenting in the kitchen (I harvest them and keep them in the deep freeze until I am ready to work with them). I must seem like a strange person to someone who doesn't know me. I just don't fit the mold of a normal girl for this time period. I love growing things and always have experiments going in some part of my house or yard. I don't like wearing much makeup or high heels but do like pretty clothes. I don't like coloring my hair and never have but I don't mind when others do. I like making foods from scratch and rarely eat pre-made food but I love going out to a great restaurant. I don't like the cheapness of most items manufactured today but do love my smartphone and laptop and browsing on the web with all of its information. I love all my old friends and cherish the great memories I have of them but enjoy being alone more than once in a while. I love being feminine and but enjoy hanging out with guys more than a group of girls. I enjoy science and learning the intricacies of biology and botany but also enjoy watching television shows simply for entertainment. And after listing all this, I have found that my likes change over time so who knows what I will be like in a few more years.

So, I guess I might not fit in a regular mold, but I like myself and my life. I don't mind when folks don't understand me but I seem to be likeable. When I write, I tend to think that my lead characters take on parts of my personality. Developing characters takes thought and most of the time I restrict their actions to who I am. It is a challenge to step outside of my personality and face the fears that my readers might not like the characters but I think it will enhance my stories. So, here goes, I am stretching my brain...

What's Stronger, Words or Your Tone?

Scary or Calm?

As I spend time watching television, I realize that a lot of producers for commercials create ads that prove that what we see in the tone is stronger than what we are hearing as words. Years ago, I watched the movie, Three Men and a Baby, and was so amused when the actor was singing a lullaby to the baby but using words that had nothing to do with the lullaby. Similarly, if you watch a prescription drug commercial today on television, they use the same concept. The calm music is playing and the actors are happy beautiful people enjoying their life in a wholesome and inspiring atmosphere while the words being spoken are terrible. How can you sell anything while you have to state that the
side effects are possible death, blindness, deafness and so on? It seems mind boggling, but thousands of Americans still buy the drugs! They are listening to the tone of the commercial and not so much the words.

Anyhow, how does that relate to me and my writing? Well thankfully, I can write what I mean and there is no backdrop of scenery but I do have to think about the tone of what I write. An author conveys his feelings through his tone so he has to place himself in the scenario and let the feelings take over reality. In the online article, Examples of Tone in a Story,  the author explains the use of tone nicely as a combination of word use and narration by the author.

When my children talked to their peers in their early teen years, they would use phrases like, "I hate you," but they did not mean what I thought. The whole tone of their conversation was playful and jesting with laughter and fun. At first, it bothered me, but then I realized it was how they talked and the tone behind it was still kind.

So my conclusion? Words are only as powerful as the tone behind them.

Finding Reviewers

Tell Me A Story

One of the important parts of promoting anything online is accumulating reviews. I personally read them and will even base my decisions on buying goods or selling items on the quality of reviews a person or an item might have. This is unfortunate for newbies like myself who have few reviews posted. The lack of reviews simply is just that, a lack; it does not have to mean that a person or their work is inferior. Finding folks to take the time to type in a few of their own words is a challenge.

I have another story, Tell Me A Story, published on Amazon and free this weekend. If you have the chance to read it, I am asking that you jot down your thoughts about the story in a review. I don't mind if you think it needs help or if you think my writing style is superb. Each review helps me to learn and hone my craft while at the same time other readers can read what kind of a writer I am.

I have fun writing, but know that I can become much better with the help of reviewers like you. For those of you who have taken the time to write a review for me, thanks very much!

What Grabs Your Attention?

What's Behind the Closet Door?

Whenever I read a good story, I immediately wonder where the author got the idea. What was it that led them to craft fiction around a topic? Was it a personal experience or did someone else plant the idea in their brain? Can you imagine if you were a friend of Samuel Clemens and he took a conversation you might have had together to write a story? You would have been thrilled and bragged that you helped bring it to life.

However, no writer is well known when they just start writing, at least usually. I read a short story recently called "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. It was a dark tale that dealt with the ugly side of what could have been a small New England town. The reaction was severe mostly because the New Yorker published it. So many people were offended that she would cast a dark shadow on pretty New England towns. Jackson wrote it well and the story draws you in even as you realize something is not right. Hundreds of people protested in writing and even cancelled their subscription to the newspaper while the story was banned in the Union of South Africa. The notoriety of the tale made her famous even though she had already been writing for years. Later, schools adapted it as part of their writing curriculum.

It seems the dark skeletons in our closets attract a certain amount of curiosity.  It's the happenings of stuff under the cloak of respectability that peak attention, especially when it is under the seeming whiteness of religion or important institutions. It's the "How Could You?" attitude. Look at the news hubbub around Oscar Pistorius - an Olympic athlete, triumphant survivor and ...murderer?

Personally, I tend to stay away from darker humors even going to far as refusing to read the works of Poe as a child. Then I found him depressing but now realize that he actually was an amazing writer. I like writers that found ways to escape from the darker side of society - tales of Tom Sawyer living free from the tyranny and unreasonableness of his religious aunt. I loved Two Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the freedom Captain Nemo had to explore away from the political war scene at the time.

One of my ongoing lessons in life is learning that we as humans are actually flawed and in spite of the fact that we all do shameful things, most people are still very kind and understanding.

Enough of my rambling. What do you find interesting?

Adjectives are a Splurge

I have been told many times by editors not to overuse adjectives. Why? Adjectives are used to embellish nouns so why would using them be wrong? Well, if writers would use them like pepper so that they just accent the content, that would be one thing, but we don't. Today, I was watching a cooking show on the Food Network and realized that so many of the cooks describe their finished product with exaggerated adjectives, just because we can't taste or smell what they just finished. Can it be that everything is, "Oh My God, soooooo delish," as they stuff it into their mouths? I think not. I can just imagine the cooks spitting out the food as soon as the camera is off because it was too salty, or sweet.

I have an idea. Stop using so many adjectives and instead try leaving some of the nouns alone and let us imagine. If I say, fried egg - you can imagine it as maybe your mother made it instead of "incredible", or "unbelievable." Even if I just said, "eggs for breakfast," you would still imagine a certain kind of eggs that probably you like. I am sure we understand that lettuce is crunchy and that avocados are creamy, and so on...

What I am getting at is that when we write, I think that we should assume that the reader is intelligent and imaginative. It does take more work to make words interesting but I accept the challenge. The Guide to Grammar and Writing states, "Adjectives are frail; don't ask them to do more work than they should. Let your broad-shouldered verbs and nouns do the hard work of description."

Just my thinking on the subject....

Planning for the Future

As a writer, I find myself usually concentrating on the moment, wondering what will happen next in my story or what the next plot should be. Since this blog is about how to make money as a writer, I thought I would mention that one thing that I think writers should do is invest their money.

Yes, that is what I said, invest. So often all the royalties go into expenses and the 'general fund' of daily living, but why not set aside a certain percentage to go towards your future? Investing my money to me means that I am making it work for me. No, I am not an authority on the subject, but there is plenty of free information out there for educating yourself. With a little practice using small amounts of money, I have found that investing doesn't have to be terribly risky and my money can grow while I continue to write.

Think about it and do a little research. Here are a couple of online sites that offer huge amounts of information on the subject, OptionsExpress, Fidelity, Scottrade, and OptionsHouse. Each has their pros and cons and some offer virtual trading so you can play around until you understand more about the process if you need it.

So, check it out if you like, see if you can't start making your money work for you as you work for your money.

Enjoy the Snow!

This is just a little update to let you know this weekend several of my short stories are available on Amazon for FREE!!!! Just type in Heide Braley in the Kindle section and scroll down for the free ones.

Stay safe, dry and warm...

Life is About Creating Yourself...

Available on Amazon here.

The full quote from George Bernard Shaw is, ""Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." In the writing world this is so true. For many years, I thought that good writers were born with the talent and found it very discouraging when I would read the work of really good writers, thinking that I had no chance of success. As time has passed and I continue to write, I find that writing is more a reflection of a voice than the use of fancy words, although they can both work together. 

As I live, I realize that I need to be proactive in how I portray myself, especially online. This is a difficult concept for many of my friends as most of us were brought up not to talk to strangers, to keep all of our information private and even be frightened by unsolicited communications. By taking the creative approach, I strive to manage who I am and how I want the public to see me. For them to enjoy me as a writer, they really need to have access to the personal side of my life. This blog is one way I use to show you the readers how I think and how my stories come about.

Today I published a short story, The Painting, about a young couple, who like so many people in today's environment, have come upon financial hardship that forces them to sell their home and move to a small home in Maine. Unfortunately, just as they think they are starting to get a hand on their lives, tragedy strikes and their plans have to change again. In the midst of their struggles, a strange and almost ugly painting makes its way into their home and becomes a catalyst for their later success. Yes, it's a rags to riches story and is based loosely on a real bit of news.

Here is a short excerpt:

I was almost finished with unpacking all our boxes when I came across the painting I bought just before we moved. Unwrapped of the packing paper, I set it on the couch and stepped back to study it a little. It was different but I liked the vibrant colors and the blurred images. The frame was a dark, almost black wood with fine but elaborate carvings. There was a small scribbled signature on the bottom right corner, but I couldn’t tell what it was. If I squinted my eyes, I could make out that it was a room with sunlight streaming in and a girl sitting on a couch facing a man standing at her feet. The smell of the painting was a little musty and although the canvas was dirty, I could still imagine it hanging in a fine mansion somewhere. You can’t blame me for fantasizing, it was fun, but I decided that I would hang the picture in the hallway that lead to the back door, keeping it out of sight mostly, but adding a touch of color to the space.

Life was different between Michael and me, now. With our new mortgage only a third of what it had been in Connecticut, the tension of never having enough money in our bank account was fading away, even though it had only been a little over two weeks. The depressing amount of debt on our credit cards was still there but now we felt like we had a chance to make our life together work. Away from the scrutiny of his family and our affluent friends, I felt like we had the freedom to reinvent our lives to what we wanted. The stillness of the frozen world around us was healing and our nights in front of the fire were the best we had experienced since we started dating. Michael was actually looking at me with admiration instead of irritation and I found him more interesting as he donned work gloves to scrape and paint the walls of our home instead of just being the smart bank manager.  

          I smelled something and ran into the living room... (continued here)

It's a New Year With Lots of Possibilities

Our home for a week in Rincon.

I just got back from a refreshing week in Rincon, Puerto Rico with some wonderful people. We work together to have a nice time of relaxation in the warm breezes of the Caribbean, cooking for each other and just enjoying the beach. It's not easy to come back home in the middle of winter and try to get back into the groove of working each day, but I am working through it. My back yard is soggy with puddles everywhere and all the trees are brown and leafless so I can't look there for inspiration. If the mercury would drop a few more degrees, we would probably be shoveling our way out of a few feet of snow instead of watching the creeks rise and crest over their banks with all this rain. However, we can't change the weather - it comes and goes with no input from us so there is no point in complaining about it.

The North East River

For those writers reading this, make sure you take the time to check out Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing Program. This January they have doubled the rewards for any of your books that are borrowed through their site. I just reviewed my stories that I sell through Amazon and was happy to see how they now have nine countries involved in Amazon Kindle, with Brazil being the latest.

It's time to get busy writing. I can't call myself a writer if I am not actively writing - now can I? My next blog will have a new story announcement...

Last Day of the Year

Today is December 31 - the last day of 2012. It's amazing how many things happened in one year. My husband reminded me last night that this was the year of me switching my career from a commercial writer to a short story writer. So much stress and worry have been replaced by a chance to be creative and think afresh. This blog was started and has slowly started to build an audience.

I am so looking forward to a fresh new year. It's like waking up in the morning and realizing yesterday is over and I have a new chance to accomplish my desires. I have thought about penning a few resolutions (but have not actually taken the time to do so yet!) like writing better, maybe taking some writing classes at my local college, reading more and so on. Who knows what 2013 will bring? It is exciting in a calm sort of way.

My life has been a journey and one in which I have really been able to enjoy myself for the majority of the time. Does that mean I haven't had rough times? really rough times? No. I choose to make it a habit of looking on the good side of things and actually almost forget the bad stuff. For those folks around me, I try to help them do the same. If you are reading this (and obviously you are), I hope you have enjoyed many things this year and can find a way to look forward to 2013 as well.

Join me as I sharpen my focus away from the chaos of our politics, the troubles of our society, the insufficient funds in my bank and towards the great friendships of life in my children, my family, and the people I have been so lucky to rub shoulders with.

Happy New Year!!!!