Why did this take so long? I understand that in order for an author to sell their books, they must market themselves and their books. And of course I do want to sell my novels, and I want them to be read and hopefully enjoyed by many readers. I just never have enough time to market my books, because when I’m not creating fascinating stories, I’m either selling/marketing insurance or walking the pooches. And I know, I’m just making excuses…
If you haven’t read The Midnight Library written by Matt Haig, then you should. It is one of those novels that I go back and read for the millionth time because it makes you think. Yesterday I read a post on Instagram that Matt had shared and it was a screenshot from a gentleman who wrote about how his girlfriend was on page seven of The Midnight Library and was sobbing because Matt killed off Volts
Many moons ago there was a writing group called: The Literal Challenge, and they would host writing challenges throughout the year. My favourite one was, Like The Prose. During the month of June a prompt would magickally arrive in my inbox and there would be an amazing prompt for me to read. I would then have 36 hours to write a brand new story and submit it through a magickal portal. Well… that challenge sadly came to an end in…
During 29 Plays Later one of the prompts said to rewrite your favourite novel or story into a script, so I of course don’t really follow directions to the letter, but I did take inspiration from one of my favourite novels written by Matt Haig titled: The Midnight Library. If you haven’t read The Midnight Library then I suggest that you do so right now. It will change your life. My short script that was inspired by The Midnight Library…
It’s a loaded question… for me, at least. Writing would usually just come so easily, I could sit down at six in the morning with my cup of coffee, one of my favourite pens (usually purple in colour), a blank page and just write for half an hour about anything and everything. Now, when I sit down at six in the morning, with one of my favourite pens (this morning, it was blue), with my coffee and a blank page……
I’ve been thinking about today for the past few days. It’s been a long time since I sat down and was able to place my fingers on the keys and just type out my thoughts. I’ve wanted to, but I lacked the energy to do so. The last month and one day have tested me, mentally and emotionally. It tried to break me as much as it could, and it lost. A true test, one that’s still present, but less…
Last night’s dreams were very eerie. I am certain that it’s a dream I’ve had before. It seemed so real, and I almost felt like it played out like an old movie reel. The way I was walking, how the scenery moved by; I think he was there… in the shadows with his top hat perfectly placed.
Dreamwalker is live and ready for purchase in both digital and paperback formats and can be purchased here or better yet if you email me and request a signed copy I’ll throw in a few surprises. The purpose of this post was to give you, the reader a sneak peek into Emma’s Dreamworld. I’m going to share with you one of the dream journal entries that you will encounter. Location of said journal entry will not be shared. Note: most…
I just finished re-reading ‘The Midnight Library,’ by Matt Haig. I devoured the novel in less than 48 hours, but this time I really read the words. Sometimes when I read I do tend to skim. I get bored when the paragraphs get long, so I skip those parts or sometimes I skip pages. I think that’s how most people tend to read or maybe it’s just writer’s that read that way. Or maybe I’m the only one in a…
The old lady disappeared, and I closed my eyes and awoke once again back on our couch in our living room. This is where the dreamworld and my world seemed to be merging. It was kind of glitching in and out. I looked over my shoulder to find that girl from the kitchen walking towards me.
Insomnia Leads to Inspiration This is a true story. So many of my ideas have come from many nights of not being able to sleep. Dreamwalker was written during many bouts of insomnia. Usually at 3:15 a.m. I just couldn’t sleep anymore and so I would pull up the notes app on my phone and write. Emma Jayne Potter was born on January 18th, 2019 and here I am on March 18th, 2023 still finishing her story. Dreamwalker is a…
Yesterday I was thinking about who I am not only as a person, but as a writer and author. I was preparing for an upcoming interview and those are usually the questions that come up. As a person I am thoughtful, kind, creative, sensitive, nerdy, empathetic, caring, friendly, an oversharer, helpful, hopeful, somewhat chaotic, loving, a creature of habit… and more. I love talking to anyone and everyone, especially while standing in line at the grocery store. (This drives my…
I had high hopes for 2023 and mapped out writing challenges that I wanted to participate in. January was the NYC Midnight short story challenge, which I signed up/paid for, waited until the day before the due date, fell asleep before finishing the story and then submitted it at 11:59 PM. I went to sleep relieved and woke up in a panic. Did I actually hit submit or was it all a dream? After feverishly checking every tab in Gmail…
What Is cHaoS! and Why? For those of you who didn’t attend, ‘cHaoS! the book signing and more,’ here are the details on what cHaoS! is and why it was written and self published: cHaoS! is for readers and writers alike. I hope it helps writers who are unsure about sharing, become more confident as well as finding the inspiration to share what you’ve written. You will most likely be surprised to learn that what you wrote is actually amazing….
This is a snippet from my story titled, That Day. It was written for Day one of the Prose, Prose (Prose) challenge that I created to challenge myself and others during the month of June. The Secret She never talked about it. It was something that she would keep tucked away. No one could ever know. Not even her husband. It was something that she would have to take with her to the grave. She didn’t even know how it…
Today is day one of Scriptly Writing. This is the second year that The Literal Challenge has put this on and it’s quite fun. Fourteen days to write fourteen scripts. This year I’ve decided to share mine and even if no one reads them it’s keeping myself accountable. The first prompt is to place your characters in a kitchen. Any kitchen will work. I’ve decided to utilize these prompts to create scenes for my full feature length titled, Scream Camp….
I was sitting down yesterday attempting to finish the first story for Del Plazo. Everything is written except the first story and the appendices and I just cannot focus. This is when the idea for Chaos was born. What is Chaos? By definition: complete disorder and confusion. Behavior so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions. Chaos to me is what I assume all writer’s go through on a daily basis. My brain…
A Play a Day Should Be Easy Right? It is day 6 of the #29PlaysLater challenge and it is challenging to say the least. One of my resolutions for this year was to learn a new craft each month, so February I am learning how to write a play by the seat of my pants….literally. I have been getting up every day around 5 am to tackle an entire script from beginning to the close of the curtain. It seemed…
After a successful #NaNoWriMo2019 I found myself not wanting to write anything at all. For a little over a month, I was mentally checked out. Even trying to write morning pages had even become a challenge. My goals for 2020 were looming overhead like a dark cloud ready to burst open at any moment. I wouldn’t call my condition writer’s block, it was more like “writer’s pain.” Writer’s Pain. The act of writing had become painfully tedious to the point…
Today is December 5th, 2019 and NaNoWriMo has long been over, but my brain had turned to mush. My original plan was to have this written and published by December 1st, but alas here I am. If you can’t tell by the extra-large photo posted above, I was a winner! I wrote 50,026 words by November 27th. Sadly I was at the office as I typed the winning words so I had to keep my excitement to a minimum, but…
#RealityWrites I am going to start this with a quick note on why this post came to be. I am on day 30 of the #RealityWrites challenge; details of which can be found at https://www.theliteralchallenge.com/ I wanted to present to you the reader day 30’s submission. This challenge has been an eye opening experience. One in which I have learned so much. I hope the following is helpful to any new writer and veterans alike. #RealityWrites Brief #30 On a…
Yesterday I printed out all 119 pages of zero-draft onto size 8X11 paper and placed the pages into a three-ring binder. I am 100% positive that I am at the point where this step was necessary. My manuscript is ready to go through the first steps of editing. Wow! I know there are many things that need finished, like the last chapter. And there are things that need to be tied together and cleaned up. I am pretty sure the…
NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month. It was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 and has taken off from there. The goal is to write an entire 50,000 word novel over the course of 30 days. Sounds completely insane…right? Well, about a week ago I decided that I wanted to get in on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon and quickly realized that the actual camp occurred in July and November. At first, I was a little disappointed that I would have to…
Often I find myself going to a specific blog because it has information I am seeking. Maybe it even brings inspiration and motivation; which brings me to the topic at hand: filling your creative well after its stock has been depleted. Keep in mind I am not a master writer. I am relearning the craft after a long hiatus. As a kid, teenager and young adult I wrote daily. I craved writing. I had notebooks filled to the brim with…
I was so tired before going to bed that I had convinced myself that the second my head hit the pillow I would fall asleep, and stay asleep until morning. Alas, like most nights I did not fall asleep immediately and to top it off I was immediately getting back out of bed because Max started to bark. After getting Max and settling him into bed I went back to bed and closed my eyes. Immediately the sound of static…