by Angela Smith | Mar 25, 2019 | Introspective
Er, I Mean, How to Reevaluate What You Truly Want out of Life
I have a confession to make. I haven’t been living my dream. I haven’t been selling thousands of copies of my books each week and driving a bright red Ferrari when I have no choice but to go to the grocery store for food.
Okay, the last part wasn’t part of my dream life, although never having to go to the store would be nice. In my dreams, someone would be going to the store for me.
But I digress.
I’ve been knee-deep in edits. Two of them. One is a Christmas story, which is a nice break from the romantic suspense I just received back from my editor.
A perfect time to vacuum the house. And clean all the dishes. Then go through all your cabinets, yet again, because they might need re-organized for the third time this year. And March isn’t even over.
Another digression. But absolutely true when it comes to writers and the ways they procrastinate.
My romantic suspense has kicked my butt. Wrung out many emotions in me and required a lot of work to get it to where I need it could be, had the potential to be. I’m not a fast writer. I blame it on having a full time emotionally jarring job, but plenty of other writers have hard jobs so I’m not alone. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just slower than some when it comes to my writing.
And while I’ve been editing these two novels, I’ve also been reevaluating my life and what I really want out of it. I’m pretty happy, save for the fact I am not a bestselling author. I’m an author, and I have published many books and I have many more in my head, but lately that hasn’t been good enough for me.
One morning, I woke up and realized I am being way too hard on myself. I’m putting way too much focus on my dream of writing and not near enough on the process and how far I’ve come.
I wondered what it would be like if I gave up writing. I haven’t had time to do other things I’d love to do, like sew, paint, restore an old hutch my husband bought. Repaint my office and finish a few remodeling projects. Seriously, I could go on, but when you work a full-time job and you write on the side with other responsibilities, those projects take a back burner.
And during this time, I’ve been reevaluating my life, I’ve come across a lot of posts about failure. The majority of the advice being DON’T GIVE UP.
Don’t give up on your dream.
As if giving up constitutes failure.
Failure is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve learned through my experiences that, even though things don’t always turn out as I had hoped, I have definitely not failed. If I stopped writing today, I have not failed.
Every step we make is an experience worth celebrating. Even if we do give up on one dream to try something else. Even if we take a break that lasts years.
I believe that if you have a dream, you should go for it. It’s an awesome feeling! But if you decide it isn’t what you really want, or you decide you’ve given it enough of your time and it’s time to give up or take a break, you aren’t failing.
During my off-times with these edits, when my work has been with my editors and I had nothing to do on those stories but to write a new one, I decided to take a break. Most writers say work on another story while you’re waiting.
I decided that’s the last thing I needed to do, and this is after I actually tried it and almost went into shock. That’s when I realized I needed a break. My current works-in-progress will still be published. And I’ll write again soon. But for now, I’m thinking of all the other things I’ve always wanted to try and put off doing.
That is how you give up on your dream. Reevaluate your life and your goals and figure out where you want to be in 5, 10, or 20 years or when you are 80. Where do you want to be when you are 80? If your dream isn’t moving you toward that goal, then it’s time to reevaluate.
If your dream points you toward that image but you aren’t making progressive steps forward, why not? Fear? Resistance? I’ve lived with those both myself. Sometimes enough to believe I really didn’t want that in the first place. Oh, the things we tell ourselves.
Next week, I plan to post more on fear and resistance. Thanks for stopping by!
by Angela Smith | Dec 30, 2018 | Introspective
Happy New Year!
I know it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged, and I can’t say I’m adding a blogging schedule to my goal list yet. Eventually I hope so, but right now I’m focusing on getting 2 stories edited and with the rush of life, I’m having a hard time adding anything else at the moment. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
However, I did want to take a few moments to talk about goal setting. It’s a huge topic this time of year. And something I usually try to do throughout the year. I’m pretty ambitious and enjoy setting goals, but this 2019 goal setting has been very difficult for me. I don’t even know why, although some of it might be because I’ve been focused so much on writing that I feel like I’ve lost a lot of my other creative endeavors I used to enjoy. Thinking on that has really forced me to re-evaluate writing goals when so many other things get pushed to the back burner.
I also blame it on Lara Casey’s Power Sheets. It’s my first time to ever use them, and it was worth every investment. As far as goal setting, she’s the one to read (as this post isn’t about how to set goals, but she has a lot of great posts for that.) It makes me think on what’s important, and what’s not so important, and has really drawn some things out of me.
That being said, once my 2 stories are finished with editing, I might take a break from writing to pursue other goals. All the guilt that writers feel about “must write every day” and “don’t break the chain” can really screw up a writer’s mindset. “Don’t give up” blah blah blah. I don’t look at it as giving up, but I do look at taking a break as nourishing myself. Instead of feeling guilty for not writing, or not doing this or that, I am going to nourish my creativity without worrying about getting noticed or marketing or writing something new. Because, as Lara Casey says, little by little it all adds up. So I am taking it little by little!
Another guilt authors face is how we should be writing and publishing x many stories x many months or you won’t ever get noticed. (Seriously, this is a real thing and a real fear.) For some, I’m sure that works great, but it doesn’t for me.
Burn out is real, and can happen with anything. And it’s time I take a break. I have to focus on the stories I do have, the edits I am doing, to make them the best they are before I even think about writing something new. So that’s my plan, even if it takes awhile. And even if I don’t publish as often as others say I should.
Do you have any goals for 2019? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
by Angela Smith | Oct 23, 2018 | Books
I have a fun surprise I’d like to share with you.
I’ve teamed up with 40+ fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of Romantic Suspense novels to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a brand new eReader to the Grand Prize winner!
Oh, and did I mention you’ll receive a collection of FREE reads just for entering? 😁
You can win my novel DARK RIDE, plus books from authors like Ann Major, Christie Craig, and Jacki Delecki.
Enter the giveaway (or see more details) by clicking here 👉 http://bit.ly/romsuspense-oct18
Good luck and enjoy!
by Angela Smith | Oct 11, 2018 | Guests
Today I have the beautiful and talented Lynn Crandall to answer some questions about her newest release, Touch Me. I had the honor of getting to beta read Touch Me before its release, and I still can’t stop thinking about it and its characters! Payson and Braden were so likeable, their conflicts so real, and their emotions so visceral I felt I was experiencing their life through Lynn’s words. Touch Me is a gem, and isn’t that cover amazing!?!
Bounty hunter Payson Silver stands on the top of the tallest building in her city and sees
proof below in the cries for help, the theft underway, and fighting in progress that darkness is
growing. Locating skips, lost people, and objects is only one of her jobs. Born an Aeon, a direct
descendent of evolved people of Atlantis, Payson came into the world knowing her purpose in
life – to balance dark energies with light and prevent the world from going deeply into darkness,
starting with the City of Auralia. Alongside the love of her life, Braden Powers, and other fellow
Aeons, she uses her psychometric ability and special skills to defeat the mission of Dark Aspects,
or DAs as she calls them, from turning the city into darkness. Her greatest weapon against the
darkness is her ability to send the energy of light and love into the world. Her greatest obstacle to
saving the world is fellow Aeon turned DA, Diane Butler, and her own resistance to her mission.
Braden too battles a lack of commitment to the Aeons’ mission, and the reminder that he
lost control of his mind-control ability once with dire consequences. While he understands the
importance of his work, it is only head-deep, not within his heart.
As bounty hunter and police officer, Payson and Braden counter darkness by enforcing
justice and protecting residents from those who harm others and commit crimes. But when
Diane’s dark jealousy drives her to block Braden’s mind to his real life and create a new one for
him, Payson can’t stop her. To lose her love is devastating and she knows she has only ten days
to bring him back to the light.
Dark forces are powerful, and Payson and Braden battle to save each other and their
precious relationship, while the fate of the world lies in balance. The battle for good goes on
under the radar of humanity, but the outcome will mean the difference of a thriving planet or the
slow death of all that is. They face difficult choices to save their love, save their souls, and save
the world from succumbing to the Dark Side.
Lynn’s Interview:
Thank you Angela for having me on your beautiful blog!
Thank you for being here. Now let’s get started!
What intrigues you about your Touch Me?
The challenge. I knew I wanted to write a kind of epic look at life from the perspective of the importance of daily choices, while exploring what it would be like to have a great love, then lose it. I also determined to improve my writing skills in writing the book. So I wrote very deliberately and tried new methods.
That’s awesome. It’s always fun to do something new, and I truly believe it helps our creativity. When did you absolutely know that you had to be a writer?
I read an article in the newspaper years ago about a local romance author and it piqued my interest. I made a rather flippant decision to write. I knew I had to learn all about it and one of the first things I did was read John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist. Boom! It was uncanny how much the book resonated with me. It was like I had just discovered my reason for being. From that point on my passion for writing has never diminished. It sounds ridiculous, but above all else, I want to write.
I’ll have to see if I can find that book! What was your favorite part of writing Touch Me?
I enjoy the process of writing a story, so simply doing that was great. Dropping into characters to the degree that I’m looking at what they’re going through from a first person perspective was something I found remarkably satisfying.
Are you a plotter, a pantser, or both?
Pantser. Writing for me is a discovery over and over. But I do create a loose plan for how I want the story to unfold. To write Touch Me I used a storyboard of index cards and followed the plan from Save the Cat. My cards were vague, as any pantser’s would be. I know there are programs for doing the same thing, but I like hands on and visual. My board is in my writing space and I can sit and contemplate it without staring at my computer screen.
That sounds like an interesting technique. Do you have a certain theme in all of your novels?
It seems to me that I write themes of family in a wider context than simple biological connections. It just keeps showing up in my stories. And also the concept of being different and accepting it. A line from a book I’ve written references the idea of opening our minds to possibilities: The world is nothing like you believe it to be.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I do. It’s kind of wordy and I like to use nouns as verbs.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
The message of Touch Me is we are in charge of creating our lives, whether we do it through conscious choice or not. Here are a couple lines that sum up the message: The difference between light and dark forces is choice. Choice can be seductive. Be careful what you choose.
Ooh, I love that! If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one book with you, what would you take?
Touch Me, lol!
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one song with you, what would you take?
Oh, wow! What an interesting question. I get earworms so easily, I can’t imagine playing one song over and over. I totally love music and write to playlists, so I’m always discovering new favorite songs. Just this week I learned about Jon Batiste and his version of It’s a Wonderful World. He purposely added what he called spaces that promote reflection. I could stand replaying his version of that song.
Are you working on any projects right now?
Arrgh! I am going through a contemporary romance doing revisions. I don’t hate revisions, and things are going smoothly and quickly, but I’m at the point I want to be done. The story is titled Love and Cherish, and is a runaway bride story. My romances quite often end with a wedding. In Love and Cherish the wedding is at the beginning. I have enjoyed writing about the themes of needing to escape and finding yourself by running away.
That sounds interesting! Besides writing, what would be your career of choice?
I love (hmm, I’m using the word love a lot.) with art history. If I had been a young person who really knew myself, I can imagine I would have majored in art history, then used my knowledge of to write fiction.
What are your hobbies away from your computer?
I wouldn’t call them hobbies, but I “need” to get into nature to stay balanced, so I walk or I walk with my husband at parks. I also ride my bike, read, spend time with family, and watch TV/movies. Pretty average stuff. Can a love for drinking coffee be considered a hobby?
Absolutely! Have you traveled to any locations that appear in your books?
Touch Me is set in a fictitious Michigan town on the shore of Lake Michigan, and in Chicago. I’m from Michigan and Lake Michigan is in my blood. The town, Dunes Bay, was inspired by South Haven, Michigan, where I spent many hours at the beach. And I love Chicago and have been there many times.
That’s very awesome. The setting of Touch Me was so real to me, and I love learning about new places (even when they are fictitious) through novels. Can you share a tip about what you do when you get stuck in your writing?
Typically, when I hit an empty spot in my head while writing, I do clustering. It’s a brainstorming method that has no limits, and I love it. Clustering bypasses my inner censor and gets my thoughts flowing. For instance, if I’m having trouble bringing a scene together or can’t find a beginning to the scene, I’ll cluster regarding the purpose of the scene. The practice of clustering helps me with everything.
I love that! I had forgotten about that but I am storing it in the back of my brain to use it next time I’m stuck. What’s your dream vacation destination?
Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I’m a beach and water person, so I would go there for ocean and beaches. My husband and I talk about escaping to that town when we want a break from everyday life, based on a line in a movie: They say the Pacific Ocean has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory. It sounds like a peaceful place where our lives could just roll along, but we don’t really know that, yet.
What a great line. Are you a pet person? If so, do you have any?
I definitely love animals. All kinds. I have always had pets, but I think of them as members of my family. I presently have one cat named Willow. She is my daemon, to coin a word from The Golden Compass.
I love animals and they are definitely part of the family. I probably have a cat in almost all of my novels. Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I first started making up stories when I was a little girl. My younger sister and I shared a bedroom, and at night I would tell her stories. I don’t know why, but I imagine I was simply expressing my creativity.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
With a reporter’s background, I tend to write in news style, which is not good in fiction.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Find a good therapist! LOL. Seriously, a good therapist can help find your true self. And look at writing as your path for personal development.
That’s great advice! If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
I wish I had been the author of the Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong. I enjoy the raw depth of emotions Armstrong writes, and the characterization is beautiful.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Website: http://www.lynn-crandall.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LynnCrandallAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lcrandallwriter
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lynncrandallwriter/touch-me/
Amazon: http://a.co/d/0NUqJQn
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41840203-touch-me
About Lynn:
Email Address: lynncrandallwriter@gmail.com
by Angela Smith | Sep 26, 2018 | Characters, Relationships
Ah, Reagan. She was a difficult one to understand. Probably one of my most artistic characters to date, she stays in her head a lot (as many artists do).
- She holds on to things to try to prove to herself that she can settle but also because she’s afraid to let go of the past in fear of what the future might hold for her
- Failure to her means leading a boring, monotonous life, however succeeding is scary to her because its way out of her comfort zone
- Success to her would be living up to the far out dreams that she fantasizes about for herself (but she’s too afraid to admit these desires and dreams).
- In addition, with that she’s afraid that once she makes it to the top, she might get bored and intentionally destroy it so that it doesn’t hurt as bad.
- Garret opens her eyes to adventure. Not just to an extreme sport type adventure, but to the adventure of love and possibility.
- Generally a realist
- Analytical
- Harsh on herself and her decisions
- Guarded
- Creative
by Angela Smith | Sep 24, 2018 | Writing
What’s worse than staring at a blank page? Staring at a page that has a few words on it but you have no idea what will happen next.
Staring at a blank page and wondering what to write next is definitely not rosy.
Ah, the life of a pantser. One who doesn’t plot or plan their story but starts writing first. It’s not something I love. Believe me, I’ve changed my ways and tried to plot and it rips apart my motivation for that particular story unless and until I am about halfway through, when I finally stop writing to plot a little. I’m sure it’s the same way for a plotter. How could they ever sit down and write without knowing where the story is going?
Being a pantser to me means trusting your character to tell you where to take the story. It’s tough. There’s often a battle when I’m not sure I understand the character. I often ask: “Why in the world would you do that?” Especially with my current work-in-progress. The heroine keeps surprising me, but if I don’t do what she says I will get stuck. Believe me, I know because I have been in that position. And it sucks.
Then again, it’s always whatever work-in-progress I’m writing at the time that is giving me problems.
And although it sounds miserable (it often is) it’s also one of the most satisfying moments of my writing. I start out, I write, and I have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s even better when I’m hit with a sudden idea and can’t write it down fast enough. Unfortunately for me, that’s rare.
But oh, these characters I’m writing now. As a writer who pants and rarely plans, I’ve learned you often have to woo your character to come out of “hiding” and speak to you.
So how do I do that?
If you’ve seen my blog, you know how much I love character development. Most of my character development goes far above and beyond what I’ve shared. It’d probably bore you to tears if I shared it all. The interview questions, the dossiers, the photo collages that I create until I finally create a small “cheat sheet” that you might have seen on my blog. To me, that’s my plotting. My characters often change from my original creation, but that’s my way of plotting.
“Character development, to me, is my way of plotting.”
Just write. If you saw my first draft of my first few scenes in my current WIP, all you’d see is a lot of dialogue. I don’t have emotion or even setting at this point. I’m focused on the characters and action. Rewriting is where I’ll go in and add all the layers, the action, setting, emotion, even dialogue tags. At this point, because it’s a new story, I can’t try too hard. These characters are still shy and don’t trust me to tell their story yet. (Yes, that probably sounds cuckoo to non-writers, but it is the way things are.)
“These characters are still shy and don’t trust me to tell their story yet.”
The other day, I got a thrill when I saw Sandra Brown’s tweet:
And I am like OMG yes! Sandra Brown, one of my favorite authors of all time, has to start new books just like the rest of us. With a blank page! I mean, I already knew this, but seeing her honestly was such a huge inspiration. And yes, this absolutely counts!
There are all kinds of books and workshops out there about plotting. I love Mary Buckham and what she does, and she offers a plotting workshop that is likely out of this world. I’ve never taken it. Most of these plotting workshops promise to change your writing world, make you a better, faster writer. If I were to take one, I’d probably take hers. But I have to use my experience and avoid plotting at this point at all costs. Once I write the first few scenes or chapters, I can stop and take a good long look at what’s happening but for now if I do that, I will lose a lot of time because I will get too stuck to move. The characters stop whispering.
The other key to writing as a pantser is to read. A lot. Read something so unlike what are writing at the moment.
“Read. A lot. Read something so unlike what you write.”
In my opinion, and maybe it’s because I don’t have a lot of experience as a plotter, but it’s easier to get writer’s block as a pantser. I believe that writer’s block happens when I’m trying to tell the story I want to tell instead of the story my characters want to tell.
In my recently finished novel, which is with my editor at the moment, the very first scene had a sex scene. So unlike most of my writing, but these two characters had a history. I didn’t want to write it. I didn’t write it at first. I ignored my characters because I was too scared to write something so bold. You know what happened?
I got blocked! I got so stuck on that story I couldn’t move forward. At all. Until I went back and rewrote the scene the characters wanted (and I added the sex).
“Writer’s block happens to me when I’m trying to write the story my way instead of how the characters want me to tell it.”
My fifth key to being a pantser and getting past that blank page is the most difficult. Take a breath, take a break, clear your mind, meditate.
We’ve all heard how great meditation is, but it’s hard to stop long enough or be in the mood etc. I’m here to tell you that even 2 minutes of sitting with your eyes closed, no noise, no phone nearby, no interruptions is the best thing you can do for your mental health and getting things out of your head and onto the page. More than two minutes if you can. Because when you have a lot of noise going on in your head, how in the world can you hear anything?
“Take a breath, take a break, clear your mind, meditate.”
To sum it up, my five tips for being a pantser and getting past those blank pages:
- Develop your characters.
- Listen to your characters.
- Read something unlike what you are writing.
- Don’t let fear stop you from writing your story.
- Meditate.
What do you think? Do you have any tips you want to share that work for you? Any questions?
by Angela Smith | Sep 19, 2018 | Characters, Relationships
It was hard not to fall in love with Garret. With his sea-green eyes and engaging personality, Reagan quickly fell for him. He isn’t generally deceptive, but in his line of work he has to be. An undercover agent with the FBI’s jewelry and gem theft program, he’s assigned to investigate Reagan. But his investigation turns into so much more. He falls for her, and she learns of his deception. Boy does he have some relationship advice to offer if he wants to save his relationship with Reagan!
He’s supposed to be on vacation when he’s assigned to investigate Reagan. Here’s a quick excerpt on what Garret does in his “down time”:
What does an FBI agent do in his down time?
Break his brother’s previous ski records, almost kill himself by ice climbing, freeze his balls off. Question his motives for bedding only one woman in the past while and worse, falling for said woman.
Investigate a murder.
Garret trolled through the snow covered hills, phone attached to his belt loop, ear bud planted in his ear, and reported everything he knew to Buchanan thus far. Buchanan trusted Garret to finish the investigation, so he hadn’t called in other agents. He thought it best to keep a low profile.
Garret sat on a knoll and spread his backpack out on the snow, placing his notes on the backpack. A normal person would be indoors, at a desk, his notes scattered everywhere, but Garret couldn’t function inside a normal environment. He had to get out, away from the artificial lights and sounds, and in with nature.
Garret has a romantic side, and we see it often. Here is a quick excerpt from Reagan’s POV that gives us a glimpse into his romantic side:
The door squealed open. Reagan jumped and sat up, plopping against the mound of pillows.
“Hello, sleepyhead,” Garret said.
The painting in her mind didn’t include balloons. She gasped as his feet shuffled against the floor, an array of colorful balloons trailing behind him as he held a tray of food and a flickering candle.
“Happy birthday,” he said as he sat the wooden tray on the bed. The balloons were tied to the side and one red rose reached across the tray.
“What is this?” she asked, her mind a muddled mess of confusion and contentment. “It’s not my birthday.”
“Maybe not today, but it’s the first time I’ve celebrated it with you. Besides, it gives me an excuse to woo you.”
“You need an excuse?”
“Mmm,” he groaned as he leaned over and kissed the side of her mouth.
And now for his relationship advice:
by Angela Smith | Sep 12, 2018 | Characters, Relationships
Winona’s Relationship Advice:
Know who you are and what you want, but don’t be afraid to change and grow. Don’t be so set in your ways that you miss out on the best parts of yourself.
by Angela Smith | Sep 7, 2018 | Books
ONE WRONG MOVE is FREE this weekend!
All other books, except for Dark Ride, are on sale for 99 cents! Grab the discount while you can! Click the photo to be taken to my Amazon author page!
by Angela Smith | Sep 5, 2018 | Characters, Relationships
The hero and heroine in Final Mend were two awesome characters to create, and I had no idea what I was getting into at first.
Jake Inman had a great future ahead of him until his parents were killed in a car accident. He fell into drugs and alcohol for many years, until one day, with his cousin’s help, he pulled himself out of that stupor and changed his life. Now, he’s a professional triathlete who does this as a career and has high-end sponsors. His life changes (yet again) when the cousin who helped him out of his addiction and is now the manager of his career is murdered and his god-child is kidnapped. He seeks out Winona Wall, a private investigator.
Winona has her own past. A difficult case and her mother’s death had her turn her back on her career and flee to her brother’s bar, which she now happily tends. But when Jake walks in and asks for her help, she’s drawn to him. One of the conflicts between these two characters that I loved creating is the fact that Winona works in a bar, and Jake is a recovering addict. He sees Winona for the first time in that bar, and walking through it with the taunting, blinking signs is almost too much for him. Especially since he’s already lost so much.
Here’s a bit about Jake. Next week, we’ll learn more about Winona:
Jake’s Relationship Advice:
Be genuine.
by Angela Smith | Aug 29, 2018 | Characters, Relationships
Naomi strives for perfection. She wants her fridge organized by height and color and tends to be way-too controlling when it comes to what disrupts her life.
Is it any wonder why Chayton disrupts her life?
She has a few issues, but that’s what I loved about creating her character. She went through a traumatic experience in her younger days because she had no control over the situation, and that experience made her largely who she is today. And yet she is optimistic and fun-loving, good-humored and intellectual. Sometimes irresponsible, self-absorbed, tactless, blunt, and superficial. Her biggest goal? To take a break and get away from the cattiness of her job as a fashionista.
Naomi’s Relationship Advice:
Don’t be afraid to be charmed or pursued. But don’t ever let an intense relationship turn vicious, in any way. If you’re going to fight, fight nice. Don’t say anything in anger you’ll regret later.
by Angela Smith | Aug 24, 2018 | Books
I’ve been busy on the blogosphere over at CoffeeTime Romance. You can find the post here:
Author Angela Smith and Dark Ride
Also, today is the last day for my Virtual Book Tour with RABT Book Tours. you can win a $5 gift card here: https://sites.google.com/a/myaddictionisreading.com/summer-2018/angela-smith
