Storytelling | Painting With Light

Archive for the ‘Storytelling’ Category

To Podcast or Not to Podcast?

February 1, 2016

split rails
Knowing Which Way To Go Is Not Always Easy.

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I’ve included (one more time) my recent podcast where I answered reader questions about indie writing (duration approx 15 minutes):

However, instead of following it with my usual rant about indie publishing, I thought today I’d skip some of that. Instead, I have a simple question to ask you. Several of them, really.

Should I do more podcasts?

Would you rather have snippets of new writing, like the one below?

Or should I leave things well enough alone?

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I fled with my family after watching the first of the soldiers come. I saw them prod women and old men with bayonets, forcing them to leave their comfortable homes, taking nothing with them … no food, no coats, sometimes not even moccasins.

I wanted no part of their migration.

We went deep into the woods, almost to the first blue-grey ridges of Shacorage, meaning “blue, like smoke” … the Cherokee name for the mountains. I thought we would be safe when we built our new log house in a small clearing in that valley so far away from everyone, but they found us with ease.

We were downwind and could smell the smoke. I ran to the top of the ridge, saw the uniforms and realized they had found us. I had hoped they would not discover us so deep in the woods in the shadow of the mountain, but it seems we were not hidden well enough.

“Stay down,” I whispered to Ayita and Adahy, “the soldiers have found us.”

“Our house,” Ayita said. Her hands covered her face, as if she did not want to see. My son Adahy said nothing, but his mouth was set in a hard, grim line as he watched his home go up in the mighty blaze.

~ from my new novel “Blood Lake” – coming this summer

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If you have a moment, please take this short survey
to let me know what you think.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the ones I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or
like my Book of Face page. You can also follow some of my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

Tags:award-winning writing, self-publishing, storytelling
Posted in Award-Winning Fiction, Storytelling | Leave a Comment »

Do You Think Before You Promote?

January 19, 2016

Are your promotional efforts sending out an impenetrable fog of Buy, Buy, Buy that no one pays any attention to?

Perhaps it’s because the considerations that matter most in the social platforms indie authors use to promote their work are also the things that should matter most in their personal life.

1. Write More Than You Promote
I think (and this is just me talking … what works for you might be different) that an ideal balance is 80% writing and 20% promoting.

Of course, this assumes you’re not neglecting something even more important along the way … like your family and friends. Make them your priority, and adjust the rest of your time accordingly.

2. Engage, Don’t Spam
In many ways, this is just an extension of point one. Yes, you can talk about your work, but promote in moderation. If the only reason you’re talking to people is to get them to buy your book, most of them are going to ignore you anyway.

Talk to people. Really talk to them. Be a friend and help them. Just like in real life, many of them will reciprocate. It’s amazing how it works … and it’s really that simple.

3. Forget You’re Online
When you engage with others online with your social media, pretend you’re looking right into their eyes. Whether it’s reviewers, readers or other authors, treat them all with the same respect you expect for yourself. Talk about things that interest you, and listen to the interests of others.

The Golden Rule … remember?

4. Pay It Forward
I never get tired of that phrase. I try to pay it forward whenever I can. It’s the main reason I write this blog … to help other indie authors (OK, that’s stretching it just a bit … it’s not the main reason … I do want you to know about my own books, after all).

But I’m convinced positive energy will find more positive energy.

5. Be Prepared to Hear the Truth
When you ask for help, be prepared to hear the truth and react accordingly. No one knows your story as well as you do and, I’m sorry, not everyone is going to be enamored of your heroes. The most helpful of your supporters will tell you when things just don’t ring true.

The key is having people around you who will tell you the truth … even when it isn’t always what you want to hear. They are trying to help, and listening to them will make you a better writer.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the ones I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or
like my Book of Face page. You can also follow some of my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

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Click on the red-arrow link below to hear my recent podcast answering reader questions about indie writing (duration approx 15 minutes):

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.

Tags:book marketing, using social media
Posted in Branding, Storytelling | 3 Comments »

Should Writers Make New Year Resolutions?

December 30, 2015

Winter-Landscape
What’s on Your Writing Horizon in 2016?

If you’ve been around here a while, you know I quit making New Year resolutions a long, long time ago. I never managed to keep them anyway (particularly those related to exercise and weight loss), despite my best intentions.

The only resolution I’ve ever come close to keeping was my promise to go on writing stories, as long as I could.

I’m happy to say I’m approaching another significant birthday number (at my age, every birthday number is significant) … and my storytelling muse is still going strong.

Thankfully, no special equipment is needed beyond the ability to use words … and a whole lot of imagination, and my long-suffering bride tells me I’m still doing well in both of those departments. She can tell just by the way I answer her when she has chores for me to do.

Imagination and Words
Powerful stuff. I continue to practice my storytelling because well-used words are like magic … and meaningful communication is an art. Besides, it makes me feel good.

About this time last year I was mired in another spell of writers’ block but, by summertime I had finished my novel STREET LIGHT. I’m delighted to say it received a 5-Star review from Readers Favorite, who said “… it was hard to put down …”

There was even more excitement in my house last month (from me, anyway), when the online review site Shelf Unbound made STREET LIGHT one of its Notable 100 Books for 2015.

I honestly thought STREET LIGHT finished the story I began years ago with my novels REICHOLD STREET and ONE WAY STREET but, you know, a funny thing happened.

A few weeks ago when I sat down to write, as I usually do every day, some of the trilogy characters appeared and decided they had more they wanted me to say.

They were so insistent I couldn’t tell them no. So, I’m about 8,700 words into a new book right now based on what they were telling me.

A book I didn’t think was going to happen.

New Work Coming
I’d be further along with it but, at the same time, I’m also more than 22,000 words into a completely new novel.

This one will have a strong touch of fantasy, but it also draws a lot on real American history. I got the idea while researching my family tree.

Look for it next summer.

Advice
For every writer and soon-to-be writer out there, there is a great piece of advice I discovered a long time ago that is still relevant, and worth passing along again.

Keep reading and keep writing … and, by all means, have fun.

I know I will. Call it a resolution, if you like. It’s one I intend to keep. Someday I may even get it right.

Best Wishes to Everyone for the New Year.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the ones I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or like my Book of Face page. You can also follow some of my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

The Official Book Trailer for “Street Light”