Never Give Up!

Once upon a time there was a dog. He loved to run. He loved to run so much that he would drop any living or dead animal he was playing with at the time to go on a run with me and my son. One afternoon I began one of our runs and noticed some pieces of colored glass or plastic laying in the road. This was something I was used to seeing all over city streets from leftover car accidents, but I couldn't understand what it was doing in the middle of a country road. What did it hit? I continued on my run with this question rolling around inside my head. After about five minutes of running I thought to check the dog. I didn't think of it at first because he was just as eager as ever to join me on a run. Sure enough, I spotted some blood on his back end. I took him back home and encouraged him to stay on his bed. I moved his food and water close to him and my son and I gave him extra love and attention. After a few stiff days, he was completely fine. (This dog weighed as much as a small adult or a supermodel, probably why he survived the incident) The moral of this story is that when you love doing something, you will continue to do it, and ignore any excuses such as getting hit by a car. Alphonse, we love you!

10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Me

I'd like to think that I've lived a fairly exciting life. I am one of those people who like to sit at home and curl up with a cup of some kind of hot beverage and a good book. However, sometimes when I do leave the house, exciting things happen. Here's my list:

1. I once rescued a man out of a trash can. 
2. I have a motorcycle license and used to own a motorcycle. 
3. One of my dreams was to ride a camel near the pyramids in Egypt. I have fulfilled this dream.
4. I am a shy and quiet person, but I have performed on stage. I have also sung on stage on three separate occasions (only one of these occasions involved alcohol). I know, some people do this without batting an eyelash, but this was not easy for me.
5. The dead speak to me in my dreams and they usually have nice things to say.
6. I took tae kwon do as a child so now I can beat up the average person and most children (if I wanted to).
7. I once met the actor Ben Stein ("Bueller? Bueller?") and he nicknamed me "Trixie".
8. I am really good at finding four-leaf clovers.
9. I have never enjoyed myself in a ball-pit because my older brother told me there were skeletons on the bottom from the people who drowned. I used to cling to the side of the pit until it was time to come out. 
10. My television production teacher in college told me that my final project offended the whole class. I received an "A" anyway.

On Football and Writing

I love football season and I'm not a big fan of football. I know, odd, but football is great white noise for me and while my husband is engrossed in a game, I'm engrossed in my writing. That is, of course, until my husband begins cheering or yelling, and then I get to watch the replay of whatever fantastic or disappointing play that just took place. I did just say that I'm not a big football fan, but there's something about those players diving in, headfirst, doing whatever it takes to complete a play (or stop it) that fascinates me. This is what separates the professionals from the amateurs, this diving in without a care. I admire this and I believe that the same can be said for writing. How do I take my writing to that professional level? How do I dive in, headfirst, without a care as to what anyone else thinks, only that I do whatever it takes to get the job done, the job that is true to my soul? This is not an easy question to answer. When football players go all-in, we can visibly see the magic. When writers go all-in, there's a response from the reader's soul.

Things I Learned While Self-Publishing My Ebook

This is a list of things I learned from self-publishing my first novel. My hope is that this list can become a tool for others out there who are just getting started.

1. It is good to know how to format your book for Kindle BEFORE you start writing. I am one of those writers who will get lost doing so many other things, that I will take time away from my writing. I have set up some very strict rules in place for myself so that I will actually complete what I start. After I had an ending on my novel, I gave myself permission to begin formatting and I ended up having to undo all of my tabs at the start of my paragraphs. Not fun. I recommend this free book that is very short and simple and gives you simple steps to take BEFORE you begin writing so that your book formats nicely onto Kindle.
2. There are lots of websites out there with pretty cheap, professional looking pre-made book covers. I like this site and it is never too early to start looking because there are usually new covers daily. If you know how to use photoshop, you can go to sites like fotolia and buy stock images for your cover. 
3. Goodreads! Yes, I had already heard of goodreads, but I did not know that you can do a search for beta readers. These are people who will read drafts of your book and give you comments, for FREE! This is a great way to get some feedback on your book as you're writing so that you can hopefully prevent a bad review later on.
4. Starting this blog. I started this blog as I was publishing my first novel. If I had to do it all again, I would have started earlier. It would have been nice to have a bit of a following before I published so that I could build up the release of my novel and then formally post the release. 
5. Advice. I have read and read and reread advice on how to get people to buy your Ebook. There are two things that every-single-person agrees on and these are; keep writing and don't respond to negative feedback (unless there is repeated negative feedback, possibly indicating a need to change something).

Well, this is my list for now. I'm sure I will have to add to this as I think of things I forgot. 

Runner Parents

My book, The Runner, was born from a couple of different ideas.

One of my first “real” jobs was working in a bank. I hated this job. Every afternoon a runner would come into the bank to pick up the morning checks for processing. I remember feeling so trapped behind the bullet resistant glass and the stupid panty hose I had to wear. When the runner would come I wanted to shout, “take me with you!” Especially on those really beautiful spring afternoons. In my story, Avi is a runner. Runners are the only people allowed to leave the confines and safety of their village. There’s a mixture of freedom, fear, and loneliness that comes from this position, but I know I’d rather risk my life than be stuck behind a wall my whole life.

The second idea came after watching Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Remember this documentary. It’s the one where Al Gore tells us all of the ways we are destroying our planet. He tells us that our modern world is killing the planet and that if we continue to live the way we’re living, we won’t be able to go on living. Then, at the end of this movie, he offers suggestions like changing our light bulbs. Really? I didn’t think that this sounded like the answer to our problems. I wanted to trade my car in for a horse and start living like my parent’s Amish neighbors. In my book, our country hits an off switch, shutting down technology. My story takes place ten years after this, after a majority of the population has died off and the remainder of the population has had to find unique ways to survive in their new world.

Anyway, this is how my book was born, the offspring of a job in banking and an Al Gore documentary. I promise my book is much more interesting than its parents.

Short Story (Early Beginning to The Runner)

Here's a short blip I wrote when I was just starting The Runner. Instead of starting where this story begins, I chose to dive right in and start ten years after this takes place. Enjoy!

            All of us remember that day, even those who were infants when it happened. I was four at the time; not old enough to really know what was going on, but old enough to have some idea that our lives were about to change forever. 

            My mom asked me to light the candles. “Place a candle by each lamp,” she said, “That way when the power goes out it won’t seem that much different.” I did notice the difference. Light bulbs don’t flicker and I’ll never forget how quiet that first day was, at least, in between gunshots and explosions.

            We all sat in front of the television. We had to sit a bit awkwardly because my mom wanted to sit next to all of us. We had to squish ourselves together on the couch. Since I was the smallest, I sat in between my mom and my dad. My dad leaned in so his shoulder touched my mom’s and I was squished a bit, but I felt so protected in between both of them. My brother sat on my mom’s other side. He was six at the time and he leaned in too so that we really only took up a tiny bit of space becoming one huddled mass.

            Our entire house had become one big supply closet of sorts. I knew the power was going to go off and never come back on. I knew that mom had spent the past year storing food because I helped her. I knew that dad had been collecting weapons and teaching my brother how to shoot a gun. I wasn’t old enough yet, but my dad gave me a slingshot and said, “Never underestimate the damage a slingshot can inflict when used properly.” I could already kill a bird with it and mom never minded as long as we ate whatever I killed. Mom was getting pretty good at making bird pie.

            “Good evening America,” Mark Adams began. He was the newscaster we’d come to know and trust in the first few weeks after learning that our world was coming to an end.

            “Although we have been preparing for this day for over a year now, I know none of you will ever feel ready for what is about to happen. I know many of you miss your friends and loved ones who could not join us today, but remember that they will be taken care of as they live out the rest of their lives in the virtual Eden created by MaxGroup.”

            My grandparents had opted to enter MaxGroup’s Eden. They felt they had lived full lives and I overheard my grandmother telling my mom that she didn’t want to be a burden. “There’s no need to waste food and supplies on us when we can be provided for by the group.” I missed them.

            They showed a shot of the MaxGroup tower in Indianapolis, where my grandparents were now living and I felt sad. I missed them, but also the tower looked so cold, like an office building, not a home. There were hundreds of people lined up and armed guards made sure nobody did…I’m not really sure what they were trying to prevent.

            Next, they showed images from Eden. I’d seen these clips before: old couples eating plates of sweets, scuba diving in crystal clear waters, holding hands and walking on the beach, riding roller coasters. I asked my mom once why we didn’t go to Eden and she said that Eden wasn’t really living, just keeping you smiling until you died. I didn’t see the problem with that, but I could see that mom didn’t like to talk about it so I stopped asking.

“The rest of you have chosen to remain and face the outcome of what scientists have been calling ‘Mother Nature’s Revenge’. America. North America. Planet Earth. Now is the time for us to remain united. In order for the human species to survive this catastrophe we will need to look after one another. If we turn on each other now, I’m afraid this may be the end of humanity. This is, by far, mankind’s darkest hour and cooperation between neighbors, communities, and the globe will be the only thing to light our way into the future.”

            Dad seemed to remember that we were all unarmed and passed out our weapons. He handed me my slingshot and my pockets were already full of rocks. My brother got a gun. It wasn’t very big and dad made sure that my brother knew how to fire the gun, but also how to not accidentally shoot himself or anyone else. “If you accidentally shoot yourself or your sister, there won’t be any doctor to go to,” he reminded him morbidly.

The newsman put his finger up to his ear as if receiving news on his earpiece. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just received word that our five minute countdown has begun. In less than five minutes our president and other individuals of childbearing years, representing the races of our globe, will be sealed inside a secret underground vault nicknamed “Arc” until this catastrophe has ended. They are the last remaining hope of our species should none of us survive. After they’re safely sealed in the vault, the electricity will be cut around the globe.”

Mom explained that it was important to make sure the president was safe because when the catastrophe ended the new world would need a trusted leader. She also explained that there was a chance that none of us above ground would survive. She said that it would be important to make sure that every color person was protected in this vault so that the new world could represent all of us who didn’t survive. I wished that my family had been selected to go underground.

I remember the camera turned to show an opening in the side of a cliff with a thick steel door ajar. The president was waving to the cameras with a tear rolling down his cheek. 

Soon the camera began to shake and I thought the catastrophe was beginning, but then dad said that it looked like the cameraman was running. Mark was saying that he was sorry and soon the camera was past the president and inside the vault. Mom gasped and dad cursed and I noticed that everyone inside the vault was white, not every color like they promised. The men were so old and the women were so young and I wondered again why they didn’t select us, and then there was a gunshot on T.V. and the news went to static.  Then the lights went out.  I was glad I had lit the candles otherwise I would have been scared.  Mom and dad stood up and soon my brother and I did too.  It was so quiet.  There was a gunshot.  An explosion.  More gunshots.  More eerie silence.  My life had just changed forever.

If you like this short story, click here to get your copy of The Runner.

The Runner is Nearly Alive!

What a difference a cover makes! 

Isn't it gorgeous! My husband thinks the model on the cover is "way too pretty", but isn't this part of the fun? When I read, I love to step into the life of someone with flawless skin and mermaid hair. I hope I've done Avi justice. Does anyone else agree? Would anyone out there like to see book covers with "normal" looking people staring back at them? By normal, I mean real people who are not airbrushed and have not just arrived from the salon, where they've been plucked, and trimmed, and combed, and shaped into perfection.