Month: February 2012

Gesundheit! At Last!

February 28th, 2012

It’s amazing how little you get done when sickness strikes. I was sicker this week than I have been since I was a little kid and spent entire days sprawled out on the couch watching cartoons and sipping Gatorade.(By the way, “Gesundheit” means “health” in German. That’s why you say it when to people when they sneeze).

I’ve decided that I need to be a little flexible on my blog schedule for my busy life. I’ll still shoot for Monday and Thursday, but it might be occassionaly bumped to a surrounding day.

I’m feeling very good about my writing with lots of a good news coming in. We’re almost done with the shortest month of the year and I’m only about 2,000 words shy of hitting 50,000 again. I figure if I can hit the mark in February, every other month should be a breeze. Thank goodness for that Leap Day though this year where I get an extra day to get ahead on writing versus a normal year.

Stats:

Running Total: 103,749

Monthly Percentage to Go: 4.4%

Yearly Percentage to Go: 82.7%

Writing Tip of the Week:

When working towards writing goals, always write a little extra on those days when things are flowing well. It’s like saving up a few extra dollars “for a rainy day.” Even though I was sick and got very little writing done for a few days this week, I still did not fall behind on my overall goal because I had been following this practice. There’s nothing more discouraging than seeing yourself fall farther and farther behind. Never let yourself get into that position.

Writing Update:

Excellent progress on my novels with more than 30,000 words on Wandaful already. I worked on developing the series’ system of magic this week and I think it works really well. It has to do with different colors of magic that stand for different things, and I think you’ll all like it when I debut it. Other projects are plugging along, and I found out that two of my modern parables are going to be included in the a published anthology coming out this fall.

“Canticle of Night” is almost complete and has been really fun. Please take a moment to support it by clicking the ‘like’ button on the page. They have picked it up for a second season, so the story will continue! I’ll keep you posted on more details.

If you want to listen to or read “Canticle of Night”, please visit my page at http://www.bigworldnetwork.com/CanticleofNight.html
Avoiding Cliche Like the Plague

February 16th, 2012

I’m back! I apologize for the short hiatus. From choir tours, to auditions, to funerals and more, my life has been on overdrive lately.

There have been many personal triumphs lately. For starters, if you are living in Utah, be sure to come see me perform in “The Secret Garden” at the Hale Center Theater Orem beginning in April. You can get details at http://www.haletheater.org.

I’ll let you know of the others in my writing update. As far as writing goes, I’ve really hit my stride. Just take a look at the numbers:

Stats:

My word count for the week: 11,672

Running Total: 75,586

Writing Tip of the Week:

I’ll start sharing some tips from my presentation at UVU called “Avoiding Cliché Like the Plague”. (See picture at the beginning of the post) Here’s my first installment:

There are three kinds of cliché I try to strike out of my writing:

Cliché Phrases: “He’s as skinny as a pole.”

Cliché Plot Points: “The knight saves the damsel.”

Cliché Characters: “The elf has pointy ears, and an affinity for baking.”

All of them can helped by taking what you have and twisting it, adding a vivid detail or two. Instead you could have:

“He’s as skinny as a melting icicle.”

“The knight’s horse saves the knight.”

“The elf is a sculptor whose greatest dream is to fly.”

Much more interesting, huh?

Writing Update:

One of my short stories “Checkin’ It Twice” was accepted into an anthology this week. It will be out in time for the holiday season. I’ll post more when I have it.

Speaking of Christmas anthologies, I still have a few slots in my own Christmas anthology of stories based on Christmas carols. Please check it out under “current projects”.

I’m getting ready to submit a short story to David Farland’s “Nightingale” contest. It can only be 2,500 words, but I think it’s great. Here’s hoping.

I also had two short stories become finalists in the Parables for Today contest (parablesfortoday.com). I’m waiting to hear if I’ll get one of the cash prizes (1^st-5^th place), but I’ll be happy in any case, because they will be in that anthology as well.

Things also plug along well with the novels, with about 20,000 words in each.

“Canticle of Night” has reached over the halfway point and has been really fun. Please take a moment to support it by clicking the ‘like’ button on the page.

If you want to listen to or read “Canticle of Night”, please visit my page at http://www.bigworldnetwork.com/CanticleofNight.html

I’d love to know what you think about it!
Canticle Kingdom II and Other Great Things

February 7th, 2012

I’m very pleased to announce that I will be bringing The Frozen Globe to life this year, which will be the second book in The Canticle Chronicles. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover:

My schedule for Life, the Universe and Everything (LTUE) at Utah Valley University is as follows: (All events are on Thursday February 9^th)

11:00 AM: Middle-Grade Books for Boys

2:00 PM: Book Signing

4:00: Avoiding Cliché Like the Plague

I’m only able to attend one day, because I’m headed down to Arizona this weekend to perform in a couple of concerts. See the full schedule here: http://www.ltue.org/LTUE_2012.html

Stats:

My word count for the week: 10,005

Running Total: 65839

Monthly Percentage: 15.9%

Yearly Percentage: 12.8%

Writing Tip of the Week:

No matter what you do, don’t think that you can revise everything yourself. The human mind is a strange thing, and sometimes it glosses over mistakes. Having another set of eyes on your writing will help you catch those crazy mistakes.

For example, my wife was reading through one of my manuscripts and came across a hilarious typo. Instead of saying, “He took off his hat and set it aside,” it read “He took off his head and set it aside.”

This wasn’t supposed to be one of my science fiction or fantasy stories.

Writing Update:

I’ve crossed the 20,000 word mark on “Wandaful”, and it’s going wonderful. I’ve been working on getting “Prometheus Returns” where it needs to be to send out and continue to send out queries for “Starspire”. I got a nice rejection letter from an agent this week who said that the manuscript had strong writing and a great concept, but that she wasn’t taking on anything else right now. She thought that it would find a home elsewhere.

“Canticle of Night” has reached over the halfway point and has been really fun. Please take a moment to support it by clicking the ‘like’ button on the page.

If you want to listen to or read “Canticle of Night”, please visit my page at http://www.bigworldnetwork.com/CanticleofNight.html

I’d love to know what you think about it!

Additional Resources:
You can find info on writing classes from OnlineUniversities.net.
Young Adult Blog Hop Winner and Upcoming Conference

February 2nd, 2012

Thanks to all who entered my entry on the YA Blog Hop. What a great response! As promised, I will reveal the cover of Canticle Kingdom II, but I think I will opt to do it on Monday, as we have a few other things for today.

Winner:

Congrats to Samara O Tye! You have won the drawing for a signed copy of “The Canticle Kingdom.” If you didn’t win this time, rest assured there will be plenty more blog hops to do.

LDStorymakers:

I wanted to let you all know about a great writer’s conference happening in May that you should all go to if you live anywhere around Utah. It is called LDStorymakers and it has some of the best classes, workshops and agent pitch sessions in the West. Each year just keeps getting better.

You can also win a great VIP spot at the banquet there with author Kevin Anderson and others. All you have to do is help get the word out. Get the details here: http://ldstorymakerauthors.blogspot.com/2012/01/show-your-love-for-ldstorymakers.html

If you want to learn more, follow this link address: http://ldstorymakers.com/conferences/registration/
There are only a limited number of spots and many of them are filled. Sign up soon!

Upcoming Appearances:

I’ve got two great appearances coming right up in the next week. On Saturday, Feb 4th, from 1pm – 4pm, I will be at the Sandy, UT Barnes and Noble signing both of my books as part of their semi-annual Authorpalooza. There will be tons of great authors there, so don’t miss it!

I’m also presenting and signing at BYU’s annual Life, the Universe, and Everything conference, being held at Utah Valley University. I will only be there on Feb the 9th, but have lots of events, such as the debut of my new presentation: “How to Avoid Cliche Like the Plague”.

Futher Information:
Guide to Career Education is a resource with information on English classes.

Month: February 2012

Gesundheit! At Last!

Avoiding Cliche Like the Plague

Canticle Kingdom II and Other Great Things

Young Adult Blog Hop Winner and Upcoming Conference