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Criticism…

May 24, 2016 by in category Columns tagged as

I just read Anthony Lane’s 5/16/16 review of “Captain America: Civil War” and “The Lobster” in The New Yorker. And, to semi-quote Peter Finch in Network, I really just can’t take it anymore!

Clearly, Mr Lane has not gotten the excellent advice a friend gave me in college when I asked him (a little desperately): “What do you say when a friend asks you to read something they wrote and tell them what you think? What if you didn’t like it?  Do you risk the truth? Or lie for the sake of the friendship?”

I’m not comfortable with a polite lie; it seems to denigrate the friendship.  Yet very few really want to hear the unvarnished truth about something they have created, labored over and are taking the risk of sharing with you.

What do you say?

The advice, which I have internalized in assessing all creative work was: “Liking or not liking is not at issue. When you read something, think about what the creator was trying to accomplish.  Did they achieve their goal?”

This opened a door to looking at any material and considering it in its own right.  Not against my personal opinion, but against itself, and if I have the background, in its context.

I would always laugh (quietly) when people would comment on series romances and say: “Well, it’s hardly literature!”  And I would think Why are you making this absurd comparison? Neither is The New York Times, but you probably read it every day.  Assess something in its own right, or against its peers, in its own context.

Of course everyone is entitled to their personal taste: I like this, I don’t like that.  I don’t even have to have a reason.  But that doesn’t require any critical faculties or judgment, really.  It’s just your feeling, your opinion.

True criticism, in my opinion, is to put aside your personal tastes, your possibly narrow and judgmental vision of what is ‘proper’ or ‘acceptable’ or ‘intellectually validated’ and open your mind and heart to what the work itself is trying to achieve, how it relates to the history of material trying to achieve similar goals, and how it may succeed, fail, or break new ground.

Mr Lane seems deeply respectful of the surreal, science fiction and absurdist vision of “The Lobster,” but childishly, rudely dismissive and disrespectful of an comic-book based action adventure film (which, full disclosure, I very much enjoyed).

I realize that many critics and their readers delight in creating a polarized world of Good and Bad, but it lacks humanity, offers little insight, and seems…well, small.

Isabel Swift

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Twilight Zone Day, Time Travel, and Me by Jina Bacarr

May 11, 2016 by in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twilight Zone.

Did you hear the eerie music when you read the title?

Two of my favorite TZ episodes dealt with time travel.

Civil War.

And medicine.

Cliff Robertson in “A Hundred Years Over the Rim” (a father time travels to the future to save his ill son with modern medicine) and Kevin McCarthy in “Long Live Walter Jameson.” (check out an interesting filming note on this one). A professor knows history better than he should because “he was there.”

When I set out to write my Civil War romance, LOVE ME FOREVER, these two TZ episodes crept into my story line in a fun and interesting way: my time traveling heroine is a part time EMT and history teacher; she helps the Union Army physician hero in his fight against “germs” and how to combat disease back in 1862.

And yes, she knows exactly when the battles take place and does her best to save lives. But can she change history? If she does, will she lose the man she loves?


How do TV shows affect your writing?

Do shows we loved as kids have an even more powerful effect on our writing?

I think so.

LOVE ME FOREVER is proof of that.

What TV shows have affected your writing?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Till next time…

Jina


Civil War time traveler, belle…and spy: Love Me Forever from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.


She was an imposter – a time traveler back to the Civil War in 1862 from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
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Looking Forward to Romance

May 6, 2016 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , ,

by Linda O. Johnston

My attendance at OCC meetings has been spotty this year due to conferences, book festivals and family matters, but I’m delighted to say I intend to be there this month.

The conferences I’ve attended this year have all related to mysteries, which I write in addition to romances. One was the Sisters in Crime meets Hollywood event, where speakers taught us how to pitch our mysteries to those who might be interested in making them into movies or TV shows. It was fun, but I’ll be surprised if any of my stories even get optioned.

Another event was the Dog Writers Association of America annual meeting in New York City. Most of the writers there write nonfiction–about dogs, of course. I was there because one of my mysteries was a finalist in the fiction category of their Maxwell Awards. It was fun, plus it was right next door to the Westminster Dog Show. I even saw some of my favorite pups: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

I also attended Left Coast Crime in Phoenix in February this year. And last weekend I was at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s for cozy mystery writers and fans. And I’m glad to say that my next cozy, TO CATCH A TREAT, the second in my Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries, is officially available in a couple of days, on May 8.

Lots of events and conferences. I’ve only one more currently planned, and I’m really looking forward to it: RWA National in San Diego! I’ll bet a lot of you who are reading this blog post will be there, too. RWA National is always fun and informative, and this year the conference is practically in our backyard.

Hope to see you at OCC this month–and RWA National in July!

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12 Titles in 12 Months [Pt Three]

May 5, 2016 by in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as , ,

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

It’s time for an update on my exciting challenge, 12 TITLES IN 12 MONTHS. When I started this challenge I know it seemed like the rantings of a crazed New Indie Self-Pub Writer. Wow, that’s a mouthful.

I’m having a lot of fun on this journey experimenting with new genres and formats. When I started this, I was going to primarily do a mix of full-length and novellas. But I have to admit, in a brief moment, I sort of thought I was taking on too much. Then I read the article in the RWA magazine about story lengths. Honestly, it never occurred to me to do a short story. Funny thing, my first two published pieces were short stories. In my mind, I thought I would be doing my challenge an injustice if I didn’t commit to either a full-length or novella. So, I did a little digging in my files and found several starter pieces. I printed them and did a lot of reading.

I woke up one morning and remembered I had rewritten my next full-length book. Thank God, I kept the old manuscript. I had this really cool scene, that I thought would make a great novelette. I read the chapters and discovered, they weren’t right as a novelette, but will be great for the third installment of THE GOOD GIRL…which is on the schedule for next year. I was a little bummed and then went into a blank mode. This freaked me out. It seemed like the words were gone. I won’t say it was Writer’s Block, but more like Brain Jumble. Words were there but when I started to write, it seemed force. I had almost two thousand words on a piece, but it just didn’t click. But while I was writing, I got an idea, which I turned into THE FLING. As for the other starter pieces, I like them, but I’m not quite sure the time is right to bring those stories to life. The good thing about this challenge is that I can basically write whatever I want. YEAH!

I finished out the first quarter with some pretty good sales. Here’s a funny sales story. My mother and I were at the doctor’s office waiting to get our annual blood workup. I was teasing her about something while she was proofing one of my books. I kept bothering her and she replied, “How am I supposed to finish your book, if you keep bothering me?” A woman sitting across from us heard my mother’s comment and started laughing. Then my mother went into sales mode and told her that I was a writer. The woman asked where she could find my books. I opened my iPad and showed her my Amazon page. She called it up on her phone, read the summary and bought the book.

Last week, I released my April Title, THE FIX UP. This cute short is my first RomCom. Thank you to everyone that posted the link on their social media.

For this title, I didn’t do any advertising or paid promoting. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m trying different promotion options. For THE FIX UP, I sent an email to my mailing list, posted it on my blog, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest. I wanted to give my followers first dibs. This little tactic paid off on the release day. This was the first time I landed in the top 100 in one of my Amazon categories on release day. Double YEAH!! I was shocked. THE FIX UP, also aided my other books. My perma free book, THE ALEX CHRONICLES: GIRLFRIENDS & SECRETS, hit the top 100 in two categories. All this activity without me doing any paid promotions.

So what’s on tap for the next quarter? I have a full-length and what I think will be a couple of novelettes. The reason I say could be, is because I haven’t finished writing them. I already created the covers which I’ll share later in the post. but I’m not quite sure if I’ll keep the titles. Title duplication is something that really can’t be helped. But I was a little shaken when I saw a book on several sites this week with the same title as my proposed August release. Now I’m wondering if I should keep it, or rename it. If you have any thoughts on this, please post them below or send them to me…readtracyreed [at] me [dot] com.

On with the 3rd Quarter update…


Title: WHAT MY FRIENDS NEED TO KNOW
Length: Full-length
Status: Completed
Release Date: July
This is the second installment in The Alex Chronicles Series. It’s also the second book I wrote. But like it’s predecessor, I held it back and I am so glad I did. The characters are more mature and the issues they deal with seem a little more realistic. This story focuses on what happened after Alex said yes to Moses’ proposal. It’s no secret they got engaged. What is a secret is if they get married. Following the rest of the girls in this series is fun as well. There’s the return of someone’s first love, a surprise break up and a so much more.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a mini blog tour or Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.

Title: MISS MATCH
Length: Novella or Novelette
Status: Still writing
Release Date: August
The reason you don’t see a cover image, is because there’s a slight possibility I might change the cover. I don’t purchase images until I’m convinced I want the image. With this story having a common title, I’m a little on the fence. Even though I like it a lot. As you may have guessed, this story is about a matchmaker. She’s polished, beautiful, and very good at what she does. But her evenings are spent alone. I see this possibly becoming a cute series.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.

Title: MY FIRST HUSBAND
Length: Novella or Novelette
Status: Still Writing
Release Date: September
This will probably finish out as a novelette length. It started out as the beginning of a series, but I have since changed my mind. I don’t think the characters are ready for a series or more than a few thousand words. Only time will tell. Hey, I didn’t think THE GOOD GIRL would go beyond book one. This is a complicated love hate story.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.

Writing update. Technically, I have every month completed or partially finished. I have something special for my December release. I was going to do a novelette, but I saw something that really intrigued me. A Sampler. I saw Beth Yarnell’s romance sampler and asked her if she minded me copying her idea. She was cool with it, because she’d gotten it from someone else. I thought about releasing the sampler this summer, but decided against it. Part of this challenge has been to experiment with writing and marketing/promotion styles. Seeing I have nothing lined up for the holiday, I thought that would be the best to release my sampler in the fourth quarter. I’m going to make it a free download, just in time for all those new to the world of eReaders. I’ll share more on this title later in the year.

God has answered my prayer and those three titles I was concerned about, are coming to life. In addition to my 12 Titles challenge, I’m almost done with my first non-fiction book. Let me just say this, I commend anyone writing non-fiction. I had no idea how difficult it would be. I thought since I write fiction, it would be easy. No. Non-fiction requires a lot of person reflection and sharing. At least for the book I’m working on. Because this book is part of a larger project, I’ve elected not to release it until January.

Why the rush to finish everything a head of schedule? I would like to take a little time off and relax. But we’re writers. Do we ever really stop writing?

Have a good month and I’ll check in with you next month.

Tracy
Tracy Reed
www.readtracyreed.com

Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys=

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All about Eve…

April 24, 2016 by in category From Isabel Swift tagged as

During a difficult dating phase in my youth (single and looking) I felt I’d set the bar for boy behavior about as low as it could go (on the ground).

But it kept being too high to clear in terms of what seemed like basic human decency. It was a bit depressing. At the time, I was thinking: WTF? (but without the acronym).

Indeed films of the era, like Unmarried Woman, confirmed that after dumping their wives of decades, guys mostly just traded in for a new model, whereas women were left holding the family together, coping with lost income, lost self-esteem, and taking a long and difficult journey to reconnect to their sense of self.

Guys remarried and started a fresh new replacement family, no remorse (though if the new wife turns out not to treat him quite as well as the earlier model, there may be some self-centered regret).

Males in general seemed to find a simpler way to negotiate the universe.  Direct, uncomplicated, without self-doubt, self-questioning, able to dismiss mistakes and move on….Clueless.  Happy.

Drove me crazy.

Then I thought about Genesis and how the Bible presents paradise as an innocent world.  An ignorant world. Clueless.  Happy.

Within that world view, the “Original Sin” that humankind is cursed with, is the sin of disobedience. Though I must note the particularly poignant fact is that when you look up “original sin,” it is referenced as “Adam’s sin” in eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And as you know—per the Bible—Eve got there first and is vilified because of her actions.  But in terms of history, it is his actions that are referenced, because, really, he’s the only one that counts.

So I was thinking about the “curse,” and that it was not just the “sin” of disobedience, but the declared “sin” of desiring the knowledge of good and evil.  The desire to know more, to understand more, to open the door to information—with all its responsibilities, challenges and demands.

To stop being ignorant and be aware, accountable.  To go beyond the self and not only appreciate your impact on others, but to acknowledge that you have choices.  And that you are accountable for making those choices, and  responsible for the consequences of your actions.

You have taken a bite, and the knowledge of good and evil is now inescapably part of who you are. It is a burden.  It is a gift.

So during these difficult dating times, I wondered why women, on balance, seem to suffer more, be more aware, and often got the short end of the stick.  It didn’t seem fair.

But then I reflected on Genesis and was helped by the following insight: Eve took a bite of the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil before Adam did.

And it seemed that that Eve’s first mover status—in reaching greater awareness and thus greater responsibility, sometimes greater pain—were metaphorically (and actually) carried forward though life.  Women are cursed—or blessed—with the ability to tell the difference between good and evil just a little bit sooner, a little bit more than most men.

That was a helpful metaphor for me in explaining the fact that women are usually just  a bit ahead of the game in that area.

And even more helpful when I asked myself the big question:  would you rather be blissfully ignorant and happy, or accept the burden of knowledge, even if it might bring unhappiness?

My answer: If I had a choice, I would bite the apple.  Despite the cost, no question.

Romances have always inspired me in their acknowledgement of that emotional burden.  Reinforcing that we are not alone.  Giving the support and validation to keep carrying it forward, with all its challenges.

Isabel Swift

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