Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don’t they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I’m participating too!

I am randomly picking Jodi Vaughn, my friend, a source of encouragement & motivation, and most importantly a kick ass critique & writing partner!  Jodi has really helped me this year get on the right track with my writing by helping me move on from the negative energy that sometimes clouds my mind (therefore taking my creative energy), thoroughly jumping behind me and celebrating my successes from an honest and pure place,  and who has helped me whip my Maggie’s contest submission into shape.  Jodi,  for my RAOK gift, I’m offering you a bag of my favorite Dove chocolates and an extra 20 pg crit next month  

I really appreciate Jodi, who blogs  at JodiVaughn.com. If you have a minute, please stop in and tell her how awesome she is!

Do you know someone special that you’d like to randomly acknowledge?
Don’t be shy–come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round.

Becca and Angela have a special  RAOK gift  waiting for you as  well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  Let me know in the comments!

A few weeks ago I heard this song on the radio and was IMMEDIATELY hooked.  Something about it spoke to me.  In the meantime,  I when I was asked to join the 7DS collaboration, this song was still percolating in my mind.  When I put my story idea together, this song ID’d itself as my story’s theme song.

Enjoy this new, sexy music from John Legend.  The smooth tones and delivery from John, coupled with the polished grit Ludacris brings does it for me.

Fav line: “Till you blowing cigarette smoke”

I ain’t madatcha John.  Sing that!

“I don’t wanna brag…”

I’ve been asked to contribute to an anthology!

Can you say WOOT!!!

I can hardly believe it right now myself. I am honored to have been asked, and super excited about the opportunity to join 6 other awesome writers in this venture.  My story will be included among contributions from Judy Gill, Jude Johnson, Dawn Kirby, Tina Carreiro, Michelle Horst, and last but not least, A.T. Russell.

I can’t go into any specifics right now  (I know, I’m such a tease…), but I can say this.  The anthology is a  7DS project which will be published by Ring of Fire Publishing  later this year.

The first 7DS project, Seven Deadly Sins: A Novel Collaboration, (released February 2012)  was recieved extremely well by the public. So much so, that a second project has been greenlit. If you’ve not checked this amazing anthology out yet, I highly recommend you do.  Each author takes a unique approach in exploring each of the deadly sins.

So here I am, excitedly strolling (really I’m running and pumping my fists in the air) down this new road in my journey.

Wish me well, lots of energy, and LOTS of coffee

I present the one and only Al Green.  And if you don’t know, you need to ask somebody!  (And after you ask somebody, you need to be whacked across the back of the head).  I had to pleasure of seeing him in concert a few years back. One word, AWESOME!

“It’s all in day’s work, call me.”   You better SANG THAT SONG AL!!!

Ok, I’m ready to tackle my new pages for the week, how about you?

So, when designing my new space, I wanted something smaller and simpler (there is definitely something to be said about the whole “less is more” adage” ).  So after a couple of months of desk shopping, I finally found the one that spoke to me and would work in my new space.  After putting my dream desk  together myself (only had to take it apart and start over 5 times…) I lucked up on the perfect chair.  After a quick check through some boxes for supplies, a trip to an estate sale for some finishing touches, and the lamp I made a few years ago, VIOLA!

I present my new writing area!!!

Notice my coffee, bowl of freshly picked strawberries and pages ready to edit? I was ready to do work I tell ya! Now, I did this arrangement before actually sitting down and cracking open the laptop.  After about 15 mins of working, I made some subtle changes, so here’s the final, final product.

Very slight modification included moving coffee closer to my right hand (yes, this was an absolute essential move) And, though not pictured, I had to grab my thesaurus off the bookshelf.  It now resides (permanently) on the desk right between the accordion folder and the basket.

Verdict, I LOVE IT!!!  AND this is very much helping me with pursue my writing theme of “Pursuit” for 2012.

(FYI, dude KILLS the guitar solo… KILLS it!)

Here are the words because I find this song so beautiful, relaxing,  and muse  inspiring:

There’s a time of the day when the sun is going down
That’s the golden time of day
It’s a time that the sun turns a gold all around
That’s the golden time of day
At the end of the day when the wind is soft and warm
Don’t it make the flowers sway

When the sun settles down and it takes a lovley form
That’s the golden time of day

People let me tell you
There’s a time in your life when you find who you are
That’s the golden time of day
In you mind you will find you’re a bright shining star
Ooh that’s the golden time of day
When you feel deep inside all the love you’re lookin for
Don’t it make you feel ok
Like the time of the day when the sun is going down
That’s the golden time of day
That’s the golden time of day
That’s the golden time of day

Shining can’t you see it shining ooh ooh ooh ooh
Shining can’t you see it shining ooh ooh ooh ooh 

(I do not own any rights to the above posted lyrics, merely sharing them with you)

Now, my intent with this post is not to discuss whether or not I believe a miscarriage of justice was performed in this situation (just for the record, I do); nor to debate whether or not I feel the shooter based his decision to pursue this young on a stereotype (because just for the record, I do).

It is to discuss something we, as writers, do on a regular basis as part of our characterization and storytelling.  Writers of all walks of life and genres tend to use certain widely held beliefs (and misbeliefs on occasion) about people, groups, places, etc. to make our writing more relatable to our readers, to assist with pacing, and to help drive home certain connections, feelings, and attitudes we wish our readers to develop about our characters.  Using certain widely held beliefs, whether they are true or not, helps us add humor and assists us in establishing reader expectations as to how a character looks (feature wise) and provide believable motivations for their actions, goals, etc.  In my opinion, this is kind of, sort of like using stereotypes, or at least bits and pieces of them, to make our job easier.

I mean, if I wanted to paint a character as a thug, I may dress him in baggy pants, a hat pulled down so low it covers his eyes, and a sweatshirt.  If I wanted to paint a character as a prep, I may dress him in khakis, a polo shirt, and some loafers.  Using a few generalities and commonly held beliefs about these two groups of individuals, I am able to give them the appropriate flavor. My gangster character may have some from a low income background; my prepster may have come from an upper middle class.  And given the social circles  they each hung out with, I can come up with goals, motivations, and conflicts for them that will be believable and true to the characters I created.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I did not point out that there’s a balance to using this technique.  All good authors I know, whether they are published or not, know that you run the risk of creating an unintended caricature or being offensive to the group of individuals (be them bound by race, ethnicity, hobby, lifestyle choice, etc.).  Speaking for myself, I take care to not use sweeping judgments of any one, or group of, people, places or things in my stories.  Why? Because it’s not my style, unless, of course, my intent is to purposely showcase a prejudice or misbelief to prove a point.   In fact, one of the tenets of my author’s voice is the  acceptance of others and their choices, whether or not you agree with it.

Let’s be real, making judgement calls and assumptions about people we don’t know is a part of life.  It’s one of those things we, as hiring managers, parents, etc., do on a regular basis.  There is a reason you dress a certain way for a job interview.  There is a reason some people dress a certain way when meeting the parents of their girlfriend or boyfriend.  There is a reason criminals use disguises.  It helps them better fit certain roles so they can get into a position to take or destroy the object of their fascination.

This got me to thinking, is it really fair to judge anyone just because of the color of their skin, their religious beliefs, the way they dress, or their lifestyle choices? No, it’s not.  It’s one thing to make an informed decision based on information you’ve gathered visually and verbally, yet quite another to take any type of action based solely on just one factor.  Heck, my gangster character could just as easily wear a shirt and tie; my little prepster could have a penchant for jeans and hoodies.

The Martin case has touched me in many ways.  I will limit my observations here to as they pertain to me, the author.  As a writer, I will remain cognizant of how I choose to shine particular lights and shadows on my characters.  I also plan to be more focused on my craft and the stories I want to write and the characters I want to showcase.  I’ve met some resistance in the past with one of my manuscripts because it features predominately African American characters and an interracial romance.  But why should the “mainstream”  pass on it just because of the race of my characters?  Why should the marketing and selling of any book be radically harder just because it features minorities or special interest groups?

And lastly, what right does anyone have to judge my writing, your writing, you as a person, or your characters just because of … well, anything?

But I’m not complaining, everything I do moves me further down my path and closer to my goals.

I recently wrapped up my first online workshop! Woot Woot.  This was a big first step for me.  I’ve been speaking locally and a little bit non-locally on the topics of social networking and branding.  I was asked to put together a 4 week workshop on social networking so I did and voila!  Very successful first outing, now I have to decide how far I want to pursue this new avenue I’ve been presented.

Now that I’ve done with my workshop, I’m picking up my UF wip AND a new wip.  A lot for me, but I’ve got to get moving  if I have any hopes of winning either of the two writing competitions I’ve signed up for this year with River City Romance Writers (more on those later).

So, to get back into the swing of things I decided to get a fresh set of eyes to look my UF over.  Why? Well, for one, I wanted a set of fresh eyes–meaning someone that’s never read this wip– to look it over and tell me what they thought.  I felt this would give me a fresh perspective on what I’ve written and give me a needed spark to pick it back up.  I also felt this was a good way to just forget whatever hang ups I’ve created in my mind about this wip and get me going with renewed vigor.

So, I reached out to an author buddy of mine and he agreed to do the honors.  (Just let me say, I LOVE Twitter for the fact that it connects me with a wide variety of authors who are helpful, supportive, and willing to step in and help you out at a moment’s notice). To quote Lil Wayne (yes, Lil Wayne ), I prepared for the worst, but still prayed for the best.  It’s always a bit nerve racking to hand off your baby off to someone for feedback, but even more so (at least for me) for a brand new someone to look at it.

But I shipped it off and got my feedback in record time.  It was a very good critique, and not just because my wip was positively received (though that is totally awesome and full of win), but because I was given specific feedback on plot and character elements of my story that will help me fine tune it and make it better when I hit the polishing stage.

So that said, I’m AMP’ED about my UF wip all over again.  I’d lost that “loving feeling” over the past few months because of personal distractions, but I’m so glad it’s back.   I was worried for a second there.  It’s one thing to not have the time to write, but it’s another totally to not have the get up and go to want to write.  I’ve been on that dark and narrow path the last few months.   Authors have to continually balance the personal, professional, spiritual, and mental avenues in our lives.  It can be overwhelming at times, but so is just about everything else at one time or another.

But you will pull through life’s twists and turns  if you just believe.

Believe in yourself
Believe in your place in this world
Believe in YOUR victory

“I guess I got my swagger back. Truth”
~Jay-Z

Image: DragonArtz Design 

Yep, that’s right.  I’ll be working with the Colorado Romance Writer chapter of RWA to present two workshops this year.

Starting next week, I’ll be conducting a 4 week workshop that will serve as a great intro to all things social media.  So if you, or anyone you know, would like to jump into the social media pool via blogging,  Twitter, Facebook, and countless other social media outlets,  in an effort to build and extend their platform, this is for you.  For more information, click here.

Then in March, I will be offering a 2 week Twitter bootcamp-esque workshop designed to take the fear and mystery out of one the fastest growing social media sites around.  For additional info on this fun and interactive workshop, click here.

I’m really excited and nervous about kicking off this new avenue in my life.  Thanks in advance for all your support.

Hopefully, I’ll see you in class