Category: The Writing Journey by Denise Colby

Denise Colby's column
Home > Columns > The Writing Journey by Denise Colby

New Chapter By Denise M. Colby

June 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , , ,

Two graduation caps one blue one black with 2019 tassel new chapter blog post by Denise M. Colby

Books are written with chapters. Some books organize thoughts and points by chapter. Others are just continuing the story either from a different POV or a new plot twist, which makes us want to continue reading, wondering what will happen next.

Our lives are a little like this as well.

Some can be really long chapters and some can be short. A lot depends on what we are doing in the middle of the chapter and our control over whether we are starting fresh or not. Sometimes a new school year can be a new chapter, sometimes a new semester, or sometimes it’s changing schools or graduating. All these stages in life can be a new chapter.

All three of my boys have new chapters this year – they are graduating something.

The oldest had his a few weeks ago from the Community College he has been attending. And today we celebrate the other two – my youngest graduates 8th grade, while my middle son graduates high school. Both on the same day. It’s been a bit nuts the past few weeks. Lots of lasts, lots of goodbyes, lots of getting things ready for the next year, whether it was math placement tests, or turning in paperwork for college. It has been so fun to be on this journey with them, but I’m also very excited to turn the page and see what happens next.

At my age it’s a lot easier to reflect back and know what an exciting time this is for all three of them. They can do anything they put their minds to. Many doors will open and some will close. It will be up to them to make it all happen. And it’s interesting to see how quickly something can change or an opportunity presents itself.

Kind of like our characters do in the books we write.

It makes me think about my writing and somehow trying to put that same expectancy on the page. So that when we read we can’t put a book down because we are excited for what’s around the corner and we don’t want to miss it.

I sort of forget how flexible we all were when we were younger. Not so set in routine and order. Maybe that’s something I should keep in mind when I’m working on my book.

Happy Graduation boys. Mom is super proud of you!

0 0 Read more

It’s A ‘Short And Sweet’ Mother’s Day!

May 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as ,
Blog Post title graphic It's A Short and Sweet Mother's Day by Denise M. Colby

Today is Mother’s Day. I was very excited when I realized my monthly post fell on this special day. I knew immediately what I wanted to write about. So first, I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, whether you are a mom or you have a mom (which we all do, even if they are no longer with us!)

This is my first Mother’s Day since my mom passed.

I have to admit, it’s really weird. But as a mom myself, I’m celebrating with my kids and my mother-in-law, and thinking about my mom in so many ways.

A quote for Mother's Day by Mitch Albom - Behind all your stories is always your mother's story. Because hers is where yours begin

I’ve actually written a lot about her this past year. Writing is therapeutic, so maybe writing about her has been part of my healing process. So given it’s Mother’s Day, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I wrote about her, again.

After all, she is my mom!

Book Cover for Short and Sweet's Family Album By Susan Cheeves King. Article #47 Thank You Mom by Denise M. Colby
A collection of stories with special emphasis on mothers, fathers, and grandparents.

Even though I miss my mom, I have much to be thankful for this Mother’s Day, including a new article published in the 6th edition of the Short and Sweet series, titled Short and Sweet’s Family Album. All of the articles and poems are written about family members and each article is in one word syllables.

My article is all about my mom, titled Thanks To Mom

I had originally wrote it as a poem a few years back (which I posted last July in the post Smile and Be Grateful In The Little Things when my mom passed away). 

Since it was not included when my first article was published in the 3rd edition, which I wrote about in this post, I was quite excited to be contacted for this issue.

The back cover of the book Short and Sweet's Family Album by Susan Cheeves King, Includes article by Denise M. Colby titled Thank You Mom
60 authors wrote each piece using only one-syllable words or words of fewer than six letters

The editor asked me to rewrite it in prose vs a poem, so it’s completely different than the poem, even though the underlying theme is the same. I was even able to include a picture of my mom and myself.

It’s special to me, that I’ve been able to write about her in such a permanent way.

And it’s special to me, that I have yet another publishing credit to my name! I love being a part of the Short and Sweet family.

And Mother’s Day is a perfect time to celebrate both my mom and my writing.

Have a blessed day!

Denise

A quote for Mother's Day by Abraham Lincoln - all that i am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother

Books by Denise Colby


0 0 Read more

Writing Magazine Articles: Writing is writing, right?

April 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as , ,

Magazine articles may not be a full novel but I have found the process in writing smaller articles to stretch me in ways I didn’t expect.

The Need to Write Something

As a writer, it’s one thing to write down your thoughts, ideas and inspirations. It’s another to hand it over to someone who is going to take it and print it. Doesn’t matter if it’s a full-length novel or smaller articles.

I’ve always loved writing, and had many experiences in the corporate world creating pieces for our customers to use with their customers. But these were always product related and the specifics were crafted by a team of people.

To have something that I wrote from the beginning to completion on my own, is a completely different experience.

You never know where opportunities are going to come from. Because I need to find a way to generate an income if I want to write full-time, I thought to look into other areas. Last spring I happened upon a booth for a regional magazine and inquired about writing articles for them. She gave me the contact for the editor, I reached out and submitted some writing samples. She offered me a choice of some articles and in the July/August 2018 issue, my first two magazine articles were printed. Little did I realize they would be cover stories! 

Magazine cover articles written by Denise M. Colby for Westcoast Magazine July 2018

They even used a few of the pictures I submitted, which made it all very exciting!

Denise M. Colby receiving her white roses for writing magazine articles at the Orange County Council of Romance Writers of America September 2018

And then I received a precious rose!

See, in our Orange County Chapter of RWA, roses are awarded for publishing. Different color roses represent different types of works. Novels are Red, and so on. For articles they are white. I have been watching for YEARS, waiting for the day I would receive a rose, so it was so meaningful to receive roses for these two articles plus one more for the next issue.

Three white roses for three magazine articles - Denise M. Colby

Each time a new issue publishes, I’ve been asked to write for the next issue (picking from a list already decided upon by the editor). It’s been great writing experience writing different types of topics. I feel my writing is growing stronger. I’m gaining experience in working with an editor, meeting deadlines, submitting and the concept of letting go (which we all know is difficult to do).

Three of the articles are part of their digital library on their website.

July/August 2018 – Adventure Awaits on Route 66 and Homeward Bound

Celebrating Milestone Events written by Denise M. Colby for WestCoast Magazine September 2018
Celebrating Milestone Events by Denise M. Colby, September/October 2018 issue.

Jan/Feb 2019 – Safety Tips for Your Family – Kids and Tech

Other articles include:

September/October 2018 – Celebrating Milestone Events

March/April 2019 – Finding New Ways, to Thrive Follow Your Passion Now which is the Current issue online.

And printing in the May/June 2019 issue: Women Learn to Brag…you can’t be modest in business.

So today I’m celebrating a few publishing milestones. It’s been a blessing to write these articles and gain this experience. It’s fun to look back and see how far I’ve come. I’d love for you to join in the celebrating with me.

Thanks for reading,

Denise

2 0 Read more

Teaching SEO Marketing and Author Brand to Writers At SoCalCWC 2019.

February 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as , , , ,

I’m super excited to announce I will be teaching for the first time at a writers’ conference in June this year. The SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference will be held at Hope International University in Fullerton, CA on June 20-22, 2019.

SoCal Christian Writers' Conference June 20-22, 2019. Denise M. Colby will be teaching two workshops - one on SEO Marketing and one on Author Brand

I will be teaching two workshops. My topics? 

  • SEO Marketing for Your Website
  • Developing Your Author Brand

And I’ve been given a cute social media button to announce that I’m faculty on my website and social media. I thought it would be fun to add it here, too.

SoCal Christian Writers' Conference Faculty Member Denise M. Colby will be teaching SEO Marketing and Author Brand

What is the SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference? 

This is what is listed on their website:

Whether you’re a new writer or you’ve been in the industry for a while, you’ll find a wonderful community of writers at the SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference.

  • Meet with and learn from top-name professionals who will share their insights and expertise from their work in the Christian publishing industry, including agents, acquisitions editors, and best-selling authors.

There are several topics that attendees can learn about, but to help you find out more, take a look at their websiteor Facebook Page.

Did I tell you I’m excited? I am a little giddy about sharing my knowledge and experience with others in a way that I hope will be helpful. I’ve been waiting a while to have this opportunity. I also will have time slots for people to sign up and meet with me one-on-one for advice or input. I wonder if anyone will be interested in hearing what I have to say?

Whether you are a screenwriter, fiction, nonfiction, memoir or teen writer, this conference has something for you. The morning is filled with continuing sessions in a specific topics such as platform, editing, screenwriting, memoir writing, fiction, and nonfiction. There’s even a special section just for teen writers. Each morning session builds on each other throughout the three day conference.

Then there are also individual topics in the afternoon workshops in areas including; publishing, the writing life, fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, specialty and marketing.

This is where my two classes fit.

In the Developing Your Author Brand class, I plan to help attendees figure out what their brand is or at least narrow down options to help them decide later. And how to develop that brand with your target audience. We will brainstorm applicable content for future use and introduce apps that can help create posts for social media and websites. I’m hoping to have it be a hands on class, where people can actually make something on their laptop during class they can use right away.

For the SEO Marketing for your Website workshop, I will go over what is SEO and why it is important, how to use search engines to find strong keywords and how to create strong SEO with your photos and text (and the steps to do it). We will brainstorm content ideas and create one item from your list.

SoCal Christian Writers' Conference 2019 Marketing Workshops by Denise Colby or Denise M. Colby, SoCalCWC2019
Look – My name is listed!

Years ago when I sat in on my first writers meeting, I had an interest to want to teach a workshop. But I felt at the time like I didn’t have anything to offer, especially because I didn’t know much about this industry. How would I ever have enough experience to provide knowledge and inspiration to both published and unpublished authors?

Well, it turns out I can use my knowledge in my 20+ year career in marketing. The only thing I didn’t have, was an understanding of the publishing world. Yet.

Fast forward five years and I’m ready.

I’ve had several years’ experience in creating my own website and evaluating other author’s pages, as well as practicing different theories and formulas and working with experts in the field. And I’ve learned that what comes naturally for me, may not be natural for other writers. But it doesn’t have to be scary. Thus, this is where I can help.

SoCal Christian Writers' Conference Faculty Member Denise M. Colby is teaching SEO Marketing and Author Brand at SoCalCWC2019, Denise Colby
Here’s my picture and bio on the faculty page

This year, the conference is in its third year. I wrote about the first year in my blog, What Do You Do At a Writing Conference? Since I’ve been involved from the beginning, I’ve made such wonderful friends and have learned something new each year I’ve attended. It’s the perfect place for me to get my feet wet as a new faculty member. I can’t wait!

3 0 Read more

My First Audiobook Experience

January 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as , ,
My first audiobook experience Denise M. Colby blog post at Slice of Orange

I know I know. I ‘m late to the party. Audiobooks have been around for a while now and I know several people who prefer listening to reading, due to several reasons. And for just those reasons I’ve been wanting to try out an audiobook.  I just hadn’t had a moment to sit down and figure out which book, which app and what I would do while I listened.  

Some have asked me why I don’t just play a CD in my car, but our CD player has been broken for years, and most of the time the radio is off as I’m picking up and dropping off kids and having conversations with the family. Rarely am I in my vehicle long enough to get into a chapter or even a scene while driving.

So, I finally asked a friend who listens to books all the time to help me out. That accountability helped me to commit to trying out this new way of “reading”.

I decided to try the new Libby app from my library.

I was giddy with glee when I selected a book. I mean my house was a mess and I planned to listen while folding laundry and cleaning up things with the goal of wowing my husband while getting in a good story. All good plans, right?

With loads of excitement and anticipation, I opened the file and pushed play….and immediately picked up something to look at. 

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

My eyes could not, not look at something. They felt lost. They were so used to being the medium with which I take in and process information, they didn’t know what to do with themselves.  

I found it actually quite weird. 

And funny.  

So it took me a bit to get going.  

And as I kept going, I kept picking things up to look at and it would take me out of the story. So I had to learn to not take in things with my eyes. At one point I thought this might be a good sense stretcher for me in not being so dependent on my eyes. I tend to need to see something in order to remember it.

Listening is harder for me.  And this exercise confirmed it.

And then my mind couldn’t get used to the voice. It sounded completely different than how I read in my head. I’ll admit, since it’s my first one, I didn’t know if they all sounded like this or not, but I do know when I read, I say phrases differently. 

So that took some getting used to as well.

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

The whole experience was not what I was expecting.

Quite frequently, I would get focused on my task and not quite hear the phrase read, but then I had no idea how to rewind. By the time I figured it out, the story had moved forward quite a bit, and I didn’t know how far back to go. I found myself not remembering the story as well, either. 

When I come across brilliant writing, I love to read over the passage a few times. Savor it. Let it sink in. Slow. Fast. It varies based on how my brain absorbs it.

Again, with listening, I was past the section before I knew what to do about it. I finally figured out I could tap my app and back up 10 seconds, and I tried the rewind a few times, but it just didn’t have the same affect for me. Also, I still felt challenged as my hands were busy while I was listening, and I found I couldn’t get to my phone fast enough. By the time I did, the story had moved on. Again.

But I felt I missed something. Deeply.

The first day, I got a good way into the story (and caught up with my laundry) and looked forward to the next session. But I found out that when you don’t have a habit you have to be very purposeful to keep doing it. I needed my headset handy, my phone charged, no one in need of anything and all of it to come together for me to connect again. It seemed the times I had available to listen, I couldn’t get those things all to line up together. It made it a bit challenging, but I persevered.

There were several things I noticed:  

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

1. Showing me how much time I had left to listen to the book made it feel more daunting.

Like a chore.

When I read and tell myself, “Just one more chapter”, I may take a long time but I’m not really keeping track. But the app? It told me right there — you have four more hours!

And I already spent four hours already. That’s like me pointing out to my boys when they watch videos. “You spent 25 minutes on that one video? That’s 15 minutes you could be working on your homework or cleaning your room.”

Yep, that voice! It was now yelling at me!

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on slice of orange

2. I’m a fast reader, but when I sped up the voice, it felt rushed to me. 

Which made me laugh out loud.

The voice didn’t get higher pitched. It was still quite clear. Which made it sound like speed listening. And alas, I couldn’t process as well, which leads into…

3. I found it harder to process through my ears.

I can read a book with my eyes and tune something out but still be able to hear things. I couldn’t hear anything else when I was concentrating on the story in my ears. I guess I’m not a verbal learner. Also I like the voice I hear in my head. I envision a certain sound and what it sounds like. But with audio, you end up with the voice of the book in your head and I felt it took away for me. Not the fault of the voice actor, just it was so new and different for me to get used to.

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

4. I felt like I was purposely tuning everyone out, not to enjoy my book, but so I wouldn’t hear them. 

It’s hard to have a moments peace in my house.

The dog wants out, the kids are asking a question. Unless I was home alone, I really couldn’t put my headphones in and just listen and absorb the book.

Also, I mostly read at night before I go to bed. It felt funny to me to put my headphones in with my husband in the room. It was like I was purposely tuning him out.  Shouldn’t be a big deal but it felt like it was.

I really didn’t want to read another book while listening to this one, but there were times it was just easier to pick up a book.

So I did. Then one day I went to listen and the book had gone back to the library.  It had been three weeks already! And I wasn’t even half way through.  I borrowed the book again and was able to keep plodding along to the end.

All in all, it took me much longer to get through this book than when I read. And the amount of time spent was there right in front of me.

I realize now, I prefer not knowing how much time I spend reading. To me, that’s part of the magic of reading. You get lost. Time gets lost. There’s no one keeping track.

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

All in all I found the experience enlightening. I will do it again at some point, but my first choice is still picking up a book and reading it with my eyes.


1 0 Read more

Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM

>