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Start Somewhere by Kitty Bucholtz

October 9, 2019 by in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as , , , ,

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I was out buying an electric blanket yesterday (it’s winter in New Zealand) and I passed by a rack of blank books and journals that were on sale. I can’t not stop when I see pretty journals despite the fact I haven’t yet used all the ones I have. So I paused and looked them over and what do you know, one of them caught my attention.

If you’ve seen any of the pictures I’ve been posting on Facebook, you know I live in a spectacularly beautiful area with amazing sunrises and sunsets. And this journal reminded me of the view right outside my front window. But more than that, the title really spoke to me.

Cover of journal titled "Start Somewhere"

Time to start – somewhere – anywhere

START SOMEWHERE

Not just “start” or “do it now” or “get moving” but it seemed to say, “jump in, even if you don’t know how deep the water is.”

That’s a little scary, and that’s exactly why I sometimes procrastinate doing things I want to do. I know the wisdom of “count the cost” and I don’t think it’s a good idea to jump into something when you don’t know how long it will take or how much it will cost. Not unless you have plenty of time and money, and who does?

I’ve been talking about starting my own podcast for two years or more, and I’ve done a lot of research on what podcasting entails. I’m excited about it. I know what topics I’m going to cover and the format the show will take. I have all the right equipment and software. But I haven’t put a start date on it yet because, as usual, I never know when I’m suddenly going to up and move (husband’s job). I’m scared I’ll get started and suddenly find myself out of time and behind in my schedule and disappointing my listeners.

START SOMEWHERE

Jump in.

Blank journal pages

Blank pages calling out to be filled

I bought the journal. I’m starting my podcast now by getting the information in my head written down. Step 1 on the journey.

The blank pages are calling out to me, offering excitement and adventure. And you know what’s doubly exciting about that to me? That’s what I want my podcast to do for my listeners. I want to encourage people to get started, to keep going, to see the hardship as part of the adventure, to understand that trepidation grows along the sides of every new path.

Hopefully, I won’t release the first episode or two and find myself in the middle of another round-the-world move. But I’ve got lots of blank pages here to fill with ideas on how to manage the work despite a potential move.

Some writers hate the blank page, the blinking cursor. But something about journals begs you to fill the pages. Now. With something. Maybe you’ve got a beautiful blank journal sitting around that you forgot about. Go find it. See if the pages call out to you like this one does to me.

Write down your ideas.

Begin your adventure.

START SOMEWHERE


Kitty Bucholtz

Kitty Bucholtz grew up forty miles east of Traverse City, Michigan. She went to college in Traverse City, met and married the love of her life, and waved goodbye to everything she knew when she and her husband John struck out for parts unknown.

Their adventures included going back to school, changing careers, and traveling Down Under. Kitty now writes wherever John is working on a film. They spent three years in Sydney, Australia, where Kitty earned her Master of Arts in Creative Writing degree from University of Technology, Sydney, while John made a penguin named Mumble dance.

Only God knows where they’ll wind up next – but they’re pretty sure it will be another cool chapter in their adventure!

Kitty is also the author of Unexpected Superhero, book one in the Adventures of Lewis and Clarke, the romantic comedy Little Miss Lovesick, and short stories in the anthologies, Romancing the Pages and Moonlit Encounters.

http://kittybucholtz.com/

ROMANCING THE PAGES

Buy now!
ROMANCING THE PAGES
ADVENTURES OF LEWIS AND CLARK BOXED SET

WELCOME TO LOON LAKE

Buy now!
WELCOME TO LOON LAKE

LOVE AT THE FLUFF AND FOLD

Buy now!
LOVE AT THE FLUFF AND FOLD

LITTLE MISS LOVESICK

Buy now!
LITTLE MISS LOVESICK

A VERY MERRY SUPERHERO WEDDING

Buy now!
A VERY MERRY SUPERHERO WEDDING

UNEXPECTED SUPERHERO

Buy now!
UNEXPECTED SUPERHERO
MY BULLHEADED SUPERHERO VALENTINE

SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE

Buy now!
SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE
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Write Now! Workshop Podcast by Kitty Bucholtz

August 9, 2019 by in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as , , , , , ,
WRITE NOW! Workshop Podcast logo

Anthologies for Writers Groups

An Interview with Marianne H. Donley

Write Now! Workshop Podcast EPISODE 153I

Today’s guest is Marianne H. Donley, a writer who has worked with her writers group to put out several fiction anthologies over the last several years. She uses this experience as an example for her tips and suggestions for you if you’re thinking about getting some writers together and creating an anthology.

There are a lot of pieces and parts to consider if you want to put together a multi-author anthology. It takes far more time than you think it will, especially for whomever edits it. (Unless you hire out an editor, the best editor in your group is going to need to read every story and give notes where appropriate.)

You also will have to cover all the production items within your group, or decide how to pay for hiring it out – editing, cover design, formatting, etc. Someone will have to be in charge of the uploading – and under whose name will that be? That segues into the topic of money – will the costs come from one person or evenly from the group? And how will proceeds from sales be distributed? Or will you offer the book for free?

These are just a small sampling of the many issues Marianne helps us consider as she walks us through the process of creating an anthology. Here are links to some of the things she mentioned:

Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine
Submit to the ezine
Short Story Award contest page
Bethlehem Writers Group anthologies

A Slice of Orange
and its bookstore
Request to be an interviewed author

Charmed Writers free Flash Fiction book 

Nothing Found

5-Minute Covers 
(may or may not still be in business)

The Book Designer 
with Joel Friedland

Write Now! Workshop podcasts
(audio only)

Write Now! Workshop YouTube Channel

Books by Kitty Bucholtz

ROMANCING THE PAGES

Buy now!
ROMANCING THE PAGES
ADVENTURES OF LEWIS AND CLARK BOXED SET

WELCOME TO LOON LAKE

Buy now!
WELCOME TO LOON LAKE

LOVE AT THE FLUFF AND FOLD

Buy now!
LOVE AT THE FLUFF AND FOLD

LITTLE MISS LOVESICK

Buy now!
LITTLE MISS LOVESICK

A VERY MERRY SUPERHERO WEDDING

Buy now!
A VERY MERRY SUPERHERO WEDDING

UNEXPECTED SUPERHERO

Buy now!
UNEXPECTED SUPERHERO
MY BULLHEADED SUPERHERO VALENTINE

SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE

Buy now!
SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE
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What We Learn From Our Favorite Stories by Kitty Bucholtz

July 9, 2019 by in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as , , , , ,

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For years, my all-time favorite movie was Sleepless in Seattle. Even when my screenwriting teacher in a professional program gave me the stink-eye, I wouldn’t change my answer. I have watched that movie so many times, I’m surprised the DVD hasn’t worn out. (I’ve owned it so long, I used to have the VHS tape, too!)

Then Richard Curtis wrote some big blockbuster romantic comedies that I love. Love Actually and Notting Hill are my two favorites. Even my husband, John, likes all three of these movies because they are smart and funny and have great lines of dialogue that you can’t help quoting later.

I love these movies so much that I’ll even watch them on Netflix, even though we own all three on DVD. And oh, Netflix, how I love you. Let me count the ways. That’s where I first watched The Decoy Bride with the hilarious Kelly Macdonald and the awesome David Tennant. I’ve watched that movie sooo many times! I bought it on Blu-ray because I wanted to make sure I could watch it in high quality forever. But then I had to buy it on DVD, too, because that’s the only way I could watch it on my computer. I’ve never done that before, buying more than one copy!

And what’s my go-to movie for sick days? The Family Man. Tea Leoni and Nicolas Cage are absolutely adorable, and those kids! And the best friends! The movie makes me laugh every single time I watch it.

I love romantic comedies. I love reading them, watching them, writing them, talking about them. Like I said, they’re my medicine for bad days. And lately, I’ve had truckloads of bad days.

Thank God for romantic comedy writers because I found some new medicine two weeks ago. I’d seen on Facebook that my friend Sean Gaffney (same screenwriting program I was in) had written a new movie called In-Lawfully Yours. I guess I’m a bad friend for not paying very good attention because I thought it was coming out in the theater this fall, but it came out on Netflix!

I was scrolling through the New Releases and saw the title and thought, how funny, Sean’s movie has that same title. And hey, the movie poster looks kind of – hey, that is Sean’s movie! LOL! I was having a bad day so I watched it during lunch. It is soooo adorable! The hero and heroine really played off each other so well! And the characters seemed like people I’d probably know, people I’d want to be friends with if they were real, not like pretend movie characters.

I felt so much better after watching it, just like medicine. I wanted to watch it again right away, but I controlled myself. I waited until lunch the following day. Aw, wow, it was just as funny the second time. It had been a stressful week, so I turned it on again at lunch for the third day in a row. Still had me laughing and smiling! If you like rom-com’s, you’ve got to watch this movie!

In addition to feeling better, watching a movie several times helps you consciously and unconsciously work through what you like about it, and why. You start thinking about what you don’t like and why. And if you’re a writer, you start going over your own characters and asking yourself how they can become better after seeing some other amazing fictional characters on screen or in a book.

One thing about the writing in In-Lawfully Yours. If they hadn’t gotten the right actors, it could’ve been a little dopey. That’s the risk with humor – it’s got to be the right kind, in the right amount, for the right audience. Of course, that’s the risk with movies in general. Wrong actor, bad movie. Right group of actors, amazing movie!

So when I watched this movie for the third time in three days, I had to stop thinking about these actors who had such good chemistry, and I had to think about the characters I write who will ever and only play out in people’s heads. And that’s when I remembered…

When I wrote Little Miss Lovesick, the first several drafts were aimed at Silhouette Romance (kind of like Harlequin, if you don’t know) and the humor was mild, the kind of humor they’d already published. But when I took a risk and wrote the kind of humor that had me laughing as I was typing, a whole new level of fun story developed! It was no longer the kind of book Silhouette or Harlequin or several other houses were buying. (That was a problem for me until self-publishing came along.)

But the readers who enjoyed Little Miss Lovesick really loved it! My risk paid off and I found my writer voice. Since then I’ve had to push myself to get to the edge of my comfort zone and see what else I can do. I can’t let fear or complacency take hold because I’ll lose what it turns out my readers want. (Plus, it’ll be way less fun for me!)

What stories do you read or watch over and over again? What are you learning from them? Are you letting those favorites push you to become a better writer? Give it some thought.

Meanwhile, I’m going to go watch In-Lawfully Yours again. Thanks for writing such a fun story, Sean! And thanks, Chelsey Crisp and Joe Williamson, for making me laugh with and fall in love with a new favorite couple! I’m such a happy Kitty!  😀

 

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Practical Help for Burnout by Kitty Bucholtz

April 9, 2019 by in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as , , ,

The episodes of WRITE NOW! Workshop Podcast where I’m talking about burnout are some of the most downloaded, so I can only assume it’s a topic people want to know more about. With that in mind, I interviewed a friend who is recovering from burnout and asked what advice she can give us.

Because Amanda lives in Sweden, she’s getting professional medical care, not just trying to make it through on her own like I have been. She shared so much valuable information, I had to break our interview into two episodes! Here are the YouTube versions, but you can also listen on your phone’s podcast app, or listen-only on my website.

Learning to Heal From Burnout, Part 1, with Amanda Hudson
Learning to Heal From Burnout, Part 2, with Amanda Hudson
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Anatomy of a Mystery by Kitty Bucholtz

February 9, 2019 by in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as , , , ,

You may or may not have heard – I started working for a video game company last month! I know, right?! Crazy! And sooo cool! I now work at the same company my husband, John, works for. I wish I could say more, but non-disclosure agreements being what they are… 😀

Suffice it to say, I am incredibly busy suddenly working a full-time job outside my home, and still trying to keep up what used to be my full-time job – writing and podcasting – at the same time. Oh, and throw in a weekly entrepreneurship class for foreign-born women for six months, a little volunteering at church…no wonder I’m tired!

But I still have something cool for you. I just interviewed Jennifer Dornbush, a forensic specialist and consultant on movies and TV as well as an author, about how to write a mystery. She has so many great tips! Plus, if you sign up for her newsletter, you get a free masterclass! If you’ve been thinking about trying your hand at this genre, or you want to make the small mystery element in your other books ring truer, listen to this great interview!

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