Overcoming Writer's Block

It happens to everybody. You start writing a novel, you tell everyone, you're so excited--and then you reach that roadblock. You're bored, your characters are stuck in a rut, and nothing is going the way you imagined it would. What do you do? Give up?
Don't give up! The world could be dying for that creation, and chances are if you put it down you'll never pick it up again. Plow through. Even if it's the worst piece of writing you've ever done, you just have to keep going through it. Even if you despise it, keep writing.
But if you can't bring yourself to keep going on the path you're going, change it up. Kill off a character, start up a romance, put some mystery, change something. Make it different, interesting. Keep yourself going. If you have a plan and it's not working, throw it out! Wing it! Because maybe your unplanned twists and turns will be what makes you stand out. What makes you sell.
I don't plan. Planning makes me hit a snag very fast. It's then that I have to throw the plan out the window and just go for it. When I decided that plans were killing me, I decided to not do them at all. My only exception is a mystery I'm currently writing--that way, the culprit doesn't show up out of the blue.
If you didn't plan, don't know how to put a twist in, and are still stuck, then maybe it is time to put it aside. If the idea is good enough, trash the rest and try again. If you decided you hated the idea, then try something else. But only do this as a last resort--if nothing is working, and if it all feels wrong. Otherwise, just try and work with it.
Another way is to join a writers' website, post your chapters and get readers who will be terribly disappointed if you stopped and said, "I hate this idea." They'll push you to keep going, and keep going you will.
I hope if you experience writers' block that you'll try my ways. Please tell me if they worked!

Five TV Shows that I Love

Here's a list of five TV shows I love, and how family-friendly they are.


Doctor Who: There are two different shows when you Google this. The old Doctor Who show started in the sixties, ended in the eighties, and was brought back in 2005. For family-friendliness, there are a lot of scary episodes, some innuendos but nothing explicit, and a little bit of language. Recommended for 13+, but anyone old enough to watch it definitely should.
Once Upon a Time: A fairy tale show based in Maine. Created by the writers of Lost, it's a show that takes a lot of twists and turns and keeps you guessing until the very end. Family-friendliness, again, not for kids. Some violence, the first season is the worst with innuendos, and more language than Doctor Who. 13+
Scorpion: A show about a team of geniuses who work for the government while trying to fit into the "normal" world. Endearing characters and exciting. Quite a bit of language, though none of the worst two swears, no sexual content, but a LOT of violence and tense scenes. 16+
Merlin: A brilliant retelling of the story of King Arthur. The first four scenes are pretty family-friendly; you rarely see any blood, and the battles do a decent job of cutting away. There's a bit of British language in it, nothing extreme. 12+, I'd say.
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: A cartoon that aired on Disney XD and lasted for two seasons. For older kids, but adults will enjoy it too for its connection to the comics and entertaining characters. 10+

I'll give a detailed description of each of these shows in later blog posts. Enjoy!

Tips for Getting Your Self-Published Book Noticed

A common phrase is "Never judge a book by its cover." Is this true in the publishing world and the world of readers? Unfortunately, I don't think it is. A good cover is the first thing somebody's going to see when they look through Kindle and Amazon. You could have the most wonderful book description and story, but if you can't get someone to click, it's not going to matter. A good way to make attractive book covers for nothing is through Pixabay, where you can get free images not under copyright, and Canva, where you can format the pictures or look through their covers, with some being free and others being about a dollar in American money.
After you design the cover, make sure your blurb is done well and grammatically correct. After all, if your book description has typos and mistakes, what does that say for the rest of the book?
Properly identifying your book genre is another key. Make sure you know what age range you're directing it at and what genre it is. You don't want someone buying your book believing they're getting a young adult book and then ending up with an adult book.
Your search tags are another important piece. This is going to require a good deal of research and Googling. Google what the best search tags for your genre and age range are and work with those. Again, don't mislead people--only choose tags that describe your book.
Now you've posted your book on Kindle and Amazon. What now? Advertising. I haven't quite gotten to this part yet, but use social media and stuff like that to advertise. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all that stuff. Get your book out there, get it NOTICED. Even if you have to do giveaways, special offers, get people to read it, get reviews. The more reviews you have, the more chance someone's going to pay the money to get your book and read it.
Finally, there's the next step beyond eBooks--your paperback copies. Amazon is affiliated with a company called CreateSpace. They print your book for you and you can order a copy for about five dollars a piece (not including shipping.). This is a good way to do author meet-and-greets, get it sold at bookstores, donate it to your local libraries... I'm still experimenting with this phase, so more on that as I get further along.
Hope these tips help you!

The Most Important Thing in a Book to Me

What do I look for when I read a book? For me, the most important thing in a book is character development. You can have the most amazing book and story line ever, but if your characters are two-dimensional? It will never hold my interest.
It's extremely difficult to find the right combination to make a good character. They should have reasons for doing everything, have some sort of personality, and the good guys should be likeable or at least relate-able. Nobody should be a "side" character. Each person should be given as much attention as the person before them. We don't want any flat characters--otherwise people will overlook them and they'll be totally useless.
There's a phrase I've heard-- "I could watch them go shopping and still love them." A good character means that somebody could watch your characters do anything--even go grocery shopping--and still want to read more. In my opinion, good characters can make people overlook a lot--even potentially boring story lines.
That's my advice for you today!

Book Genres

So, you've decided to write a book, but you don't know what to write. Maybe you want to write something you like, or something you think other people will like and want to read. Here's a crash course in book genres!
My personal favorite; fantasy. Magic, other worlds, battles, stuff like that. If it deals with spells, witches, dragons, or princess getting abducted by dragons, chances are it's a fantasy novel.
Science Fiction; aliens, other planets, phasers and lightsabers (copyright alert!) and time travel. This one can be a little confusing to write, especially if you go with time travel. Superheroes also fall into this category.
Horror: The soul purpose of frightening somebody. Scaring them out of their mind, or making them think twice. It can be psychological or frightening. Two good examples of horror would be Alfred Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone, as well as almost all of Stephen King's books.
Mystery: Murders, robberies, smugglers, kidnappers...if you have someone trying to solve a crime, that's a mystery! Make sure you have the criminal picked out beforehand; this genre may require the most planning ahead of all of them. A good example of mysteries would be The Hardy Boys or Perry Mason.
Romance: Romance is one of my person least-favorite genres, but it's extremely popular. Anything about a person falling for another, or being torn by two different people (the often-spoken-of "love triangle") or just loving someone else. There must be someone loving somebody! Otherwise it wouldn't be a romance... can't give you any examples. Just look at your local bookstore and there will probably be hundreds with muscular men holding beautiful women in their arms on the covers.
Humor: Slapstick, witty, or just totally ridiculous, this is the comedy genre. Something just intended to make somebody laugh. Perhaps one of the hardest genres to write. Can't give you any examples for this one.
Spiritual: Meant to inspire you with religious themes. Can't give you any examples for this one either. I'm a Christian, certainly, but I can't think of any right now.
Historical Fiction: Anything based off of History at any time or place. Must have some facts and historical things. You can invent some things--it's fiction for a reason--but there has to be some truth in your story. Gone With the Wind is an example for this.
Non-fiction: nothing can be made up. Must be entirely fact, and can't have anything false in it. Biographies, stuff like that are non-fiction.
Well, this has been a quick run-through of popular book genres! Hopefully now you know what genre to write!

My Retold Rip Van Winkle Story

Rip Van Winkle was extraordinarily lazy. He was charismatic and easygoing, well-loved by the other villagers, except his wife. Poor Mrs. Van Winkle had the patience of a saint, but running a household with their two young children by herself drove her to her wit’s end. “Rip,” she told him one day as she made him scrambled eggs and tried to calm their crying son, “be a dear and pour the coffee when it’s done, won’t you?”

            “I’m afraid, my dear, that I simply can do nothing until I eat,” Rip answered casually. “Would you have your poor husband starve while he pours coffee?”

            Mrs. Van Winkle’s patience snapped. She grabbed the pot of coffee and dashed it into Rip’s face furiously. Fortunately for Rip, the coffee was only half done and didn’t scald his face. Despite that, his wife’s actions angered him. “All that I’ve done for you,” he cried, “and you throw coffee in my face? I’m going out hunting, and if I starve to death out there it’s your fault!”

            “I hope you do!” Mrs. Van Winkle yelled after him, now trying to calm her daughter and her son.

            It was the last thing she would say to him.

            Rip whistled to his dog Wolf and they went marching out of the town. Old friends and children waved as he passed by, his rifle on his shoulder, whistling a jaunty tune. Everyone in the town loved Rip—except his wife. He was in a cheery mood, despite his dark hair and short beard being soaked in coffee. His wife had given him a reason to escape from chores, and he took advantage of that.

            With Wolf at his side, Rip climbed the mountain near the town. It wasn’t a big mountain, more a large hill than anything else. But the townspeople took great relish in the hill as their pride and joy. Rip climbed it, knowing there wouldn’t be any game at the top. He knew there was a tree at the top that he could lay beneath and take a nap.

            He was greatly surprised to find a group of little bearded men at the top of the mountain, playing ninepins and drinking some sort of alcohol. Rip’s mouth watered at the sight of the liquor; his wife forbade the drinking of it. “Hello, gentlemen!” he called congenially. “Might I join you?”

            “Do as you will, Rip Van Winkle,” one of them answered. Those were the only words they spoke to Rip. Cheerfully Rip skipped the rest of the way up, laid his rifle aside, and started playing ninepins and drinking the moonshine they’d brought.

            It wasn’t long before the moonshine affected Rip and he laid down, falling asleep instantly. The bearded man, a bit taller than the rest, stood over Rip. “Laziness is repaid in kind,” he told the sleeping man. “Sleep for twenty years as punishment for your idleness. Is that not what you wanted?” Then he and his companions disappeared from sight.

The Olympics!

The Rio Olympics have begun! An exciting two-week venture of staying up until midnight to watch the prime time sports, cheering on my country, and having fun!
Long story short, the Olympics will occasionally come up in my blog posts. Who's excited for them, and what country do you support?
U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Hints and Tips for a Grammatically Correct Story

"Why do we have to know how to be grammatically correct?" you might be asking. "Isn't that what an editor's for?"
Well, for those starving authors like me out there (I'm not literally starving, thanks be to God for that) we can't afford the fees of an editor. How much do they cost? A lot more than I've got, I can tell you. So for those of us who can't afford someone to look over our grammar and stuff, here's a crash course in what's proper.
First of all, conversation. It's a big part of my stories, and when writing conversation any spoken should be in quotation marks. Example: "Why shouldn't I be able to have some?" Another hint; each time a new speaker says something, start a new paragraph.
Example 2: "Why shouldn't I be able to have some?" I whined.
"It's too close to dinner," Mom answered.
Changing paragraphs helps readers know that the speaker is changing and all of the conversation isn't clumped together in a big heap. It looks better and makes the story flow better too.
Next, some punctuation courses. This is probably known by just about everyone, but bear with me. Declarations and statements should end with a period, and if they're being spoken, with quotations marks. "I'm hungry." and "Sounds good." are two examples. One thing about sentences that end in periods in novels. If you have "she said" or "he said" or a version of those after it, you end the sentence with a comma instead of a period. Example: "I'm hungry," Gina said.
Questions always end in a question mark. Example: "When are we leaving?" These cannot be ended with a comma instead of a question mark. Still, you can end them like this and not have to capitalize what comes after: "When are we leaving?" he asked. Names should always be capitalized, though.
Exclamation points are for yelling, shouting, screaming, stuff like that. "I hate you!" he yelled. Again, you don't have to capitalize "he".
To be honest, I've just learned the appropriate way to use semi-colons. Example: He drew his sword and prepared to fight; after a moment, his foe dropped his instead. I'm not really sure that's how they're supposed to work, so use good-old-fashioned Google for that.
Ellipses. Otherwise known as three periods in a row. I just Googled it and discovered something new; ellipses are supposed to have a space on either side of them. Example: "I can't believe he'd ... oh, never mind." Except when they're being used with a quotation mark after them. Example 2: "Why would he..." Be warned--I've heard people say these are being overused.
Colons should only be used for lists or explanations. Example: Well, the example is the example! If that makes sense.
That's all for today. More hints and tips will surely follow.

Exciting News for Me

A short blog post today... I've scheduled my very first author meet-and-greet at my local library! In late September, I will be meeting and greeting like a pro! Hopefully. Stay tuned for the process that goes with that. The advertising, how well it goes, stuff like that. Hope you can join me on my fun adventure!

Book Review: The Brotherband Chronicles: The Ghostfaces by John Flanagan

Spoilers for the Brotherband Chronicles series!!!

To start this off, I am a huge fan of John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series. I've read them all multiple times, and I love them more and more every time. The characters are fantastic, the stories action-packed, and it's a reader's paradise.
Now, the Brotherband Chronicles unfortunately don't live up to my expectations. As a whole, the series seems like it's a carbon copy of the Ranger's Apprentice, and certainly not as good. Some of the characters are practically identical to Ranger's Apprentice characters. Hal, the main character of the Brotherband, is a more boring version of Will Treaty, the main character of the Ranger's Apprentice. Thorn is identical to Halt--he even uses phrases that Halt used all the time and his eyebrow raise, which was always attributed to Halt--and Hal's first mate Stig is a less-entertaining version of Will's best friend Horace.
I love John Flanagan's writing, but one thing I'm not too fond of is how he writes his young female characters. They are identical in every way--spoiled, sarcastic, and irritating. In the Ranger's Apprentice, it's the princess, Evanlyn, and Will's girlfriend Alyss. In the Brotherband Chronicles, it's Lydia.
Now on to the Ghostfaces. Hal and his crew decide to sail into a storm to get home, so they won't have to be bored waiting at a harbor in Hibernia. Yes. They decide to sail into a storm so they won't get bored. Smart.
Unsurprisingly, when they sail into the storm, they get lost and washed out to the Endless Ocean. Running out of water, Hal makes the decision to sail further into the Endless Ocean in the hopes that they find land. It's here that I must point out a plot flaw. On the wolfship, (the Brotherband's vessel) is Hal's dog Kloof. They've rationed their water to almost nothing, and I'm fairly certain a dog requires a lot of water to survive. More on this later.
They go deeper into the Endless Ocean and--huzzah!--find land. They all scramble off the boat, find water, drink, yay, they're alive. End of story, right? Yeah, no. Part two!
In part two we find out that Kloof is alive. My question is, did they share their precious water supply with the dog? Or is this just a plot hole John Flanagan decided to ignore, since he couldn't bear to leave the dog behind, but also didn't want to kill her?
So, they feel like they're being watched, Lydia and Thorn find evidence of a bear with a crippled paw, life goes on. They build a palisade to protect themselves and carry on with their lives.
Then one day the bear shows up and tries to attack two random children who appear outside the palisade. One of the crew, Jesper, whose character is lazy and complaining, decides he wants to be a hero and distracts the bear. This doesn't bother me, actually. I like progression of character.
The following scenes with the fight with the bear are well-written and exciting. Suffice to say, they killed the bear and saved the children, who disappeared after the fight.
In part three, the natives appear, led by their leader, announce themselves as the Mawagansett tribe and take the Skandians to a feast. At the feast, Stig falls in love with a beautiful maiden named Tecumsa and Thorn meets an old friend named Orvik.
The Mawagansett tribe and the Skandians dwell peacefully for a while as the Heron band prepares to go home to Skandia. All isn't peaceful though as Stig announces his intentions to remain behind when the others leave. He wants to marry Tecumsa and stay behind.
After Stig's announcement, the Ghostfaces finally appear, and they're coming right towards them to destroy their village and kill their men and take their women. When the Heron band agrees to help the Mawagansett tribe to fight the Ghostfaces, we move on to part four.
Part four deals with a lot of the preparations along with Hal's emotions that his best friend is planning to stay behind, which is actually the first time he ever shows much emotion at all. Then he goes back to emotionless Hal as he makes defenses and other such stuff for the Mawagansetts.
This is followed by the battle with the Ghostfaces, which, like all of John Flanagan's battle scenes, is well-written and exciting. It ends with a significantly more morose ending than most of his books, with both Orvik and Tecumsa dying.
Now, Tecumsa's death wasn't unexpected, but it was an anti-climactic death. She gets a tiny scratch with an axe on her head and dies from it. I would've preferred, frankly, if she'd died instantly instead of from this strange turn of events.
They have her funeral, they send off Orvik, and then the Skandians, with Stig, depart from the Mawagansetts and return home. Hal's mother talks Stig through the death, and the book ends.
All in all, there are some plot holes, a few boring characters, and an annoying one (Lydia.) but altogether it wasn't completely horrible. It doesn't stand muster beside the Ranger's Apprentice, but I'd give it a six out of five. Thanks for reading!

An Excerpt from One of My Novels

As promised, today I'm going to give an excerpt from one of my novels, Rachel Andric and The Story. Here's a little information about it.
The main character, a young woman named Rachel Andric, has guarded The Story her whole life. The Story contains every myth, legend, and tale ever spoken, and only the Guardians, the group assigned to protect it, are allowed to enter. When an intruder gets in on Rachel's watch, she pursues him into The Story and travels through fairy tales and myths to stop him from destroying it.
The genre is fantasy, and although I consider it to be Young Adult, I really think anyone can read it. It contains no sexual content or language, which I pride myself on.
Now, as promised, here's the first chapter of Rachel Andric and The Story...

             Chapter 1: The Intruder

In the Andric family manor’s library, Rachel was curled in an armchair reading. It was past midnight, but she hardly noticed. Living alone, she had taken to reading as her only source of entertainment. The flames from the fireplace gave her light to see by, and she stretched her toes forward, seeking their warmth.

            She looked up with a frown. Something felt off. It was as though a chill were running up and down her spine, and she couldn’t shrug it away. Laying her book aside, she slid her feet into her slippers and went out into the hallway.

            Rachel was about to tell herself she was being silly when a movement at the other end of the hall caught her eye. There was an open door, one that certainly shouldn’t have been open. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and approached the open door slowly.

            Something is wrong with The Story! Now she knew what that feeling bothering her was. But how is it possible? Only a Guardian can open that door! She ran towards the door, one of her slippers sliding off her foot as she hurried over the carpeted floor.

            She slid to a stop in front of the door, and composing herself, she walked inside to face the intruder in her home. A burly man stood by The Story book—Rachel’s legacy. She was horrified and frightened; how had he found her? The mansion’s location on a remote island was supposed to protect it!

            The light from the hall failed to illuminate the Story’s room, swathing the man’s features in darkness. “I was wondering when you’d come, little Guardian,” he said in gravelly and patronizing voice.

            Rachel crossed her arms, focusing on her irritation in an attempt to crowd out her fear. “I’m not ‘little’,” she protested. “I’m twenty years old!” How dare he make fun of me?

            The man snorted, and Rachel had to take a deep breath before plowing on, “Don’t touch that. You have no idea the powers you’re dealing with.” How could he understand? Nobody outside of the Guardians was supposed to know about The Story’s existence. If he got into the book that served as the gateway to The Story… disaster.

            “Every tale that has ever been told,” he mused. “All in this book. No, little girl, I understand completely. It is you and the Guardians who don’t. All this power, right at your fingertips, and you insist on protecting it.”

            Rachel stood frozen. “Please,” she begged, her voice trembling in spite of herself. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t! “You can’t understand—”

            “So you’ve already told me. Believe me, Andric, I understand more than you could possibly guess,” the man challenged her. “Follow me, and your lonely little world will never be the same again. You’ll learn secrets that have been kept from you. That is, if you’re not too scared.” Deliberately, he opened the book.

            That was too much. Rachel charged forward, but he was ready for her. He grabbed her wrist and held her away from the book, laughing all the while. “Who puts a girl in charge of something so important?” he asked. She struggled to free herself from his grasp, but he had a grip of steel. “Or is it that there are no other Andrics to do this job?”

            Rachel yelled in anger, slugging the man in the nose. She was gratified to feel it snap beneath the force of her blow. He tossed her aside with a snarl of pain, grasping the broken nose to stem the flow of blood. He swore at her, but she wasn’t interested in hearing what he thought of her. I have to get The Story away.

            Maybe it had never been removed from its pedestal before, but it would have to be now, for safety’s sake. Rachel pushed past the swearing intruder and reached for The Story.

            The man must have seen what she wanted. Just as her fingers closed around the book, he slammed something hard and heavy into the back of her head. She slumped forward, her hand still resting on the pages…

            And lost consciousness. 

Thanks for reading my first chapter! Interested in more Rachel Andric? I'll be putting this book up for Kindle Scout in January, and my blog will keep careful track of my progress. 

In my next blog, I will be reviewing The Brotherband Chronicles: The Ghostfaces by John Flanagan. See you then!