Why is it that we often get into a habit where reading becomes less of a necessity of continued education and more of a hobby for general interested that can be put off until it’s time to relax and unwind? This happens so much more often than it should. We set aside our reading until we finish our chores and duties for the day before we ever consider sitting down and reading a book. We set up reading goals for the year and just like New Years Resolutions, watch them sail on by without a worry or a second glance.
Remember when we used to read to win prizes? In our local area we could read books and send in little cards to our local news channel and every week they’d draw a name for someone to win a free bike. That year, I read the entire Harry Potter series and many other books I can’t remember. I think my total came out to something like 50 books in the school year. I won my bike and a free trip to carowinds for my mom, sister and myself.
A few years later in middle school, I joined the local book club and we made goals for reading again. We had a list of books to read throughout the year and I was able to mark off every single one. We competed in a reading competition at the end of the year (we didn’t win, but we came close). It was fun and I remember those years changed my life. Not because of what I learned in school, but because of what I read in books.
Now we have websites like goodreads.com where we set our reading goals, but unlike those years of earning free bikes and awards, we slip and we get distracted. When life gets busy our reading is the first to go. According to stats, over 3 million people pledged to read 59 books in a year and only 21% actually finished! The only difference? Those who completed the goals had a reading plan. They treated reading like an act of continued learning and set themselves up for success first. They made it a priority in their life instead of a passing hobby-another chore that needs to be completed.
I’ll admit that I do this myself. Back when I was in the reading clubs I could read the longest Harry Potter book in a day, but now it takes me months to finish a short book. Early in the Spring of 2019 I became sick and lost a lot of my energy and focus. Reading and writing were two of the first things to go. This was mostly because I couldn’t focus on sentences long enough to figure out what they meant.
But even when I was put on treatment and began feeling better, I still didn’t get back to reading, though I did finish my first book during this period. Even before falling sick though, my reading skills were seriously lacking. It takes me 30 minutes to get through 10 pages that used to feel like seconds and it wasn’t because I hated the books. I just couldn’t focus on them. I’d let reading slip from my life so much, it was almost as if I was having to learn the process of reading again just like in school.
This year I’m hoping to correct that mistake and get back into my old reading habits and even writing habits by picking up books and making my goals more meaningful to the community I’m apart of. I already have a list of books from my bookshelf that I’ve picked up over the past year with the intentions of reading and failing. I have books from this Christmas and last Christmas to get through. Throughout the year I’ll add as necessary. I’ve made a goal to complete reading 20 books and write at least 12 first drafts, not including the editing process.
But I’m taking my challenge even further. I’m making my reading mean more than just learning. Literacy is a strong problem in modern communities and often Children and adults alike can’t afford the books they need to complete school or even want. So for every book I read, I’m finding ways to donate to local literacy programs as a reward. My own version of the free bikes and pizza, but instead I’m choosing to give to others.
Ministry is an important area in my life. In 2019 I set up programs that served one donation drive each month by creating little bags of goodies for animal owners, students and more to prove that even on a low budget you can still do good things and this year is no different. This year I’m choosing to use my reading habits to become a ministry for others. Through google I’ve managed to find at least 25 literacy drives to donate to and will continue searching for more as I complete goals throughout the year.
You can do the same. Whether it’s spending time reading to kids, reading to the sick or even just donating books. You can make your reading goals matter, make them important necessities in your life and the lives of others just by looking around and setting goals.
Every month I’ll add an update on my goals here and share what kind of charities I’ve supported. You’re more than welcome to join in or find places in your own local community to impact the world through books and reading. Maybe you even have more ideas of charities and projects. Feel free to share those as well! I’ll even make a page for the website where all of this information can be collected.
Below I’ve included some additional reading links for you to check out. Maybe this year you’ll find a little bit more from your reading goals and endless TBR list that will help inspire yourself to keep reading and other to start reading.
Hello everyone, I’m incredibly excited to announce the launch of my book series The Jesse Stone Case Files with the first release of Tainted in October, 2019. We are please to announce that we will be hosting an in-person launch party at Case De Sotos in High Point. Because of space limitations, we are limiting the number of guests to the first 50 people, but there will be plenty of online events as well.
Food will not be provided, but we will have fun, games and signings will be available. Please RSVP by direct messaging me or emailing me at admin@merlotetmots.com.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
TAINTED: A Jesse Stone Novel Unsolved Homicide Detective Jesse Stone is content to stay in her basement corner of the world where she’s allowed to be a hard hitting detective by day and soulful, often drunk Jazz crooner at night, unnoticed by the higher ups in the Wilkson Police Department. That is, until the day she agrees to work with another investigative team solving a stream of dead teen’s popping up around town.
When Jesse meets Detective Nathan Remington and his rag tag team of investigators, she realizes her entire world is a sham. Vampires and other creepers exist and nothing is as it seems. She begins to question everything about her past, including her father’s termination from the Police Department and his later suicide. Even her own job.
SCAN THE QR CODE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE RELEASE PARTY!
This might seem a little obvious, but your personality will factor into your writing, even if you’re writing something academic. It’s not enough to just write the same way you talk because speaking involves so much more than just words. Think about the last conversation you had with someone. In person, listeners are getting your spoken words enhanced by your tone, mood, appearance, and body language. Those four things play a huge role in how people perceive you and how your words convey your intended meaning. What about the last phone call you had? Even without the physical nature of you there in person, listeners can still get a picture of the spoken words by your tone.
Now consider your words in print without you there, left to fend on their own. Written words can do some work on their own, but they also need more help conveying things to others. That’s where you come in. Writing is a skill that takes practice. Everyone should take the time to figure out their strengths and hone their writing skills in a way that works well with those strengths.
My first priority when I’m writing is thinking about the intended reader. The circumstances of that writing, whether I’m communicating my purpose effectively and whether my words clear enough are factors I take into consideration when I am completing an assignment.
My writing voice is not stagnant; I adapt my voice based on what I think will work best for whatever writing I am working on.
For some people, writing comes naturally and for others, it takes a little more time to complete something. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, everyone should be writing regularly because your writing voice isn’t something that is innate. It requires a lot of effort in order to get better at it projecting that voice in writing in a way that connects with readers. Consistency and commitment to developing your writing voice and like the article says, honing your voice takes practice.
This article is a 10 out of 10. You probably should be writing now. The article even gives writing prompts as a great way for people to start writing and it takes the pressure off of having to think of an idea from scratch.
A successful manuscript is one that has a promising story. What turns that story’s promise into a tangible complete project is when the story, title and cover all align into something that connects with readers. When it comes to selecting a title, as mentioned before, you need one that is specific, but doesn’t give away everything. There isn’t a title template everyone has to follow, but for some genres, certain ones may work better than others. Titles can be straightforward or have less obvious elements like metaphors that may resonate with readers as they read or long after they’ve finished the story.
If we take a look into some classic novels, the book titles are rampant with metaphors. We’ve grown familiar with these titles because they have become iconic, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look at them with fresh eyes. Are the titles doing the novels justice or would something else work better? Let’s look at some examples below.
In the case of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, the idea of the title is meant to be used as a metaphor to describe the dislocation of the character from society. However, upon a first read-through of the story, I found that the cover is more relevant than the title. The Bell Jar doesn’t adequately tell us anything about the characters or the struggles Esther faces as she is forced to undergo shock therapy and face her depression.
How to fix? Knowing Plath’s poetry, she was obviously going for something of a double meaning with the title. However, an added word might’ve made the title more clear. Something like The Crack in the Bell Jar or The Cracked Bell Jar. It still uses a great metaphor, but it also tells you a lot more about the story.
When thinking about your work in progress, if you are going with a metaphor for your title, make sure that it explores multiple aspects of your story and not just one. Titles with metaphors can add meaning on different levels and they can provide readers with some vital essence of the story.
These novels can also have metaphors that repeat throughout the story, but aren’t necessarily obvious. A great example includes Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the story about a Black man who is killed for a crime he didn’t commit. The book outright says that killing a mockingbird is sin as they don’t do anything but sing. Readers can see bird imagery not only in the title, but also with the surname of the main character Atticus Finch and his family. There are several characters that end up being targeted unfairly, so it’s up to the readers to think about which characters could be considered mockingbirds. Another example is Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. As the first autobiography of six written by Angelou, its title is a direct reference to a stanza in Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy.” Angelou is lauded as a writer that elevated and expanded the literary work possible for Black women by talking about her own personal life experiences. While we remember her today for her brave writing and honestly, it’s also important to remember where Angelou has come from. The reader won’t forget that with this title. In both Lee and Angelou’s works, the references to birds add another layer of nuance for readers and readers it is clear in both the titles and the plots.
What about modern covers? How to modern bestsellers today compare? Well, let’s take a look at some early modern fantasy bestsellers:
House of Night, by P.C. Cast was a best selling YA fantasy in the early 2000’s. The cover does a great job displaying the dark nature of the book series. The setting takes place at a modern, gothic vampyre academy in the middle of Tulsa, Oklahoma.In the book, all of the adult vampyre’s have tattoos-which plays an overall part in the series. The main character is a young, Native American girl in high school. The cover essentially tells us everything we need to know with the black embossment of wild tattoos across the cover and the shadow of a young, dark haired girl on the cover. While the covers might not be sparkly and shiny, it is definitely something that captures attention on a book stand next to its counterparts. The title of the very first book in the series is ‘Marked’. This tells us a lot of what we need to know about the book-someone will be marked for something. But what? With a dark front cover, it’s hard to imagine anything pleasant will come from being Marked and the negative trigger instantly creates a sense of drama among the readers.
Now, while we all may have reservations about the veracity of Stephanie Myer’s writing in the book Twilight, I will tell you that I enjoyed the simplicity of the covers. Without even knowing Myer’s religious upbringing, the apple was a clear indication of something forbidden and things we aren’t supposed to have. With the ingrained history of Sunday school stories in America, it’s hard to look at the cover and think about anything other than the subtext that Adam and Eve provide for the story. The soft metaphor creates interest in the contrast against the dark blackness of the background, capturing the reader’s attention. Once again, it tells us what we want to know-someone wants something they can’t have. While the title itself doesn’t stand out, nor does it tell us anything about the book itself, the cover alone is captivating enough to hold our attention. Add to the fact that both main characters want something the can’t have, it makes sense that the arms are the only part of the person visible. This cover is both marketable and simple in nature.
When I first saw the cover for Hunger Games as a reader, I turned the book down. It was too simple and told me nothing about the book. When I first heard the title, I thought it was a horror story and that just isn’t my genre. It brought to mind titles of stories I’d read in high school English class where the humans were hunted by other monstrous humans like wild animals. The kind of stuff that gave you dark nightmares and the kind of stuff I usually tried to stay away from. Because of those associations, I still haven’t picked up the book to this day. While the book became popular due to the positive reviews of acclaimed authors and the cover was related to the book, it’s hard to consider this book cover marketable. Had it been self-published, I don’t think it would’ve gardenered the same success it saw with Scholastic backing it.
It’s hard to understand why books like Fifty Shades of Grey sell so well, other than to say the obvious: Sex sells. Obviously, if you’ve read one of my blog posts before, you know I’m not a major fan of erotica, but some people are and at least they are reading. The series was originally picked up by a small press out Australia. The series saw so much success that the books were being talked about by mothers at the school gates in New York, where a Random House editor was picking up her children. She then brought them to the attention of Random House, and the rights to the trilogy were picked up globally by them. Originally Twilight fanfiction, this book saw a unique rise to fame not because it was marketable, but because readers were already enjoying it so much so that they were telling their friends. Perhaps because of this, the publishing company didn’t need to make the book marketable. It was already selling.
The cover itself is questionable.It doesn’t really tell me anything about the book other than that the main character is a man.The tie only hits at the richness of the character(s) in the story and offer a bit of mystery. Without the title, the book cover wouldn’t even hint at erotica.The title included doesn’t actually hint at erotica either. There’s only small references to the main character’s wealth. Overall, I’d consider this cover and title pair fail as well. Published by itself, it may not have seen the massive rise to fame it enjoyed.
So what are some things you can do to make sure your cover stands out to publishers and readers? When do you begin your marketing research?
Well, the answers are simple really:
You begin your research at the earliest stage possible. The moment you have an idea. Often, narrowing down the title and the cover idea can help set the theme for the book and build even more plot into the story. It can help you thicken your subplot and fully embrace your characters. May they change over the course of writing the book? Totally, that’s okay, but at least have somewhere to begin and something to consider.
To help your cover stand out, take time to determine your genre. Erotica? Fantasy? Crime? All of the above? Then decide your target market. Young adults? Adults? Male? Female? Once that’s decided, tak a browse through your local bookstore. Or visit somewhere like amazon.com or even publishers you may consider submitting to. What’s popular on their bookshelves right now? What colors do you see? Are the titles long or short? What themes are present throughout.
Focus on the main theme of your story. What is it? What do you want your readers to take away? Try to make that the cover of your book.
These are just a few tips that will help you make your book a success, whether you are looking to self publish or publish traditionally. Think about your story right now. What would you choose for the cover of your book if you had to decide?
Share your cover or cover ideas in the comments and let us know! And remember readers,
Boy standing on the opened giant book with fantasy light, digital art style, illustration painting
This story was co-written by Maggie Burleson and Gabrielle Goodloe. The Article was edited by Ana Darhma.
It’s a little late today, but better late than never! I apologize for the late post, I’ve been under the weather.
Labels are the definition of all societies; they’re the things that can make or break our success as a whole. But on a broader scale, they can also help us understand and define the world around us in a more clear or distinct way, and the fact is, that a lot of times labels can either be very good and useful, or they can suck and make things a little too general.
In a writer’s case, a label is often necessary to define their book. From the whole process of genre, to title, and book cover, there are hundreds of different ways to label a book. Just think about the first thing a person sees when approaching your book-the big bold letters or an illustrative design that catches their attention. The cover piques their interest and draws them into your story, so what does YOUR title say about your book? What does it say about your story? What should they even mention in their story?
And that’s what we’re going to talk about today: some trips and tricks I’ve learned from years of reading fiction and also a full year of interning at two publishing companies. One of my very first jobs as a writer was a pretty common internship for those looking to get into the publishing world. At the first internship, I worked for a company from August of 2018 to April of 2019 reviewing manuscripts. I read through piles of manuscripts and wrote reviews, encouraging the publisher to either pick up a manuscript or drop it like a hot potato. The lessons I learned at this internship were countless. If you have an interest in becoming a writer, I would suggest getting an internship like this. It’ll teach you more than you care to know, both about books and people in general. For example, , some people think they are generally a good enough writer that they don’t have to edit a novel before sending it to a publisher.
Another daunting task is getting your manuscript selected by a publisher. There are many things that factor into why a manuscript may not be chosen, but you can lessen the number of rejections by taking the time to look over both the large and small details of your book. In my case, the process of editing books was pretty simple. I had a list that included questions like below:
What’s the tone of the story?
What’s the language?
What’s the violence level?
And the two biggest questions:
Would you pick the novel up in a store, based on its title?
Is the title marketable to a mass audience?
You might think these questions have nothing to do with each other, but let me tell you, I quickly learned that I was wrong.
One of the first tips I picked up is that the title should be super specific. My biggest problem with reading from the sludge pile was that, often times, titles don’t match their books. Poorly titled manuscripts are more likely to be rejected because it might be an indication of the quality of the work. For readers, your title is the first thing they see as an introduction to your book, so it pays to choose a title that accurately reflects the story. If your title is something like Moonlight Walk and doesn’t actually mention a walk in the moonlight, or it offers nothing specific to the book, readers become disappointed and may consider not purchasing your books in the future. It’s important to remember that your title alone creates expectations with readers. The goal is to pull readers in and make them want to know more without giving away too much of the story.
An accepted manuscript means the publisher sees the potential of the story to connect with readers and has the potential to create sales. The publishers see something different about your story that they haven’t seen in the hundreds of others they’ve picked up from the slush pile, so want to give your book the best possible chance to stand out from the thousands of other books the publisher will receive.. And guess what? Your title will be a huge part of that, even if it does get changed later.
Writers should also think about what unintentional associations a book title may elicit. I specifically remember throughout my internship where there were instances when some books t were turned down in part because the title already had a popular name and the book couldn’t be marketed separately, or it would cost the publishing house too much money to market the difference. Remember that your goal is to make your book stand out from other writers. You want readers to pick up your book and think of your title and your name.
If your book is titled something like Cabin in the Woods, it loses a good percentage of its marketability. Especially if the published title has not sold well, with the fact that there is a horror movie with the same title, your target market will pair the two together. It’s really hard to separate the two if your target market is a genre like romance instead of horror. It’s even harder if it’s in the same horror genre, because people may believe that you copied the movie and may not pick up your book. Imagine picking up a book titled The Notebook or A Walk to Remember. What are the very first assumptions and expectations your readers will have?
Don’t forget that nothing happens in a vacuum. Trends in the publishing industry do have a role in how your book title is received by both publishers and readers. For example, thriller books featuring the word ‘girl’ in their titles have seen tremendous growth with the popularity of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl. Sometimes we see a period of time where every book seems to have a title on the cover or takes place in a specific location. It’s okay to pay attention to these trends.
Publishers even encourage you to follow these trendsBut don’t just copy titles because they are popular. Make sure your title will stand out from the crowd in a noticeable and positive fashion. And in addition make sure your title is specific to your book and that it will make it not only marketable, but specific to your readers as well. Afterall, your goal is to get published, not to get lost in the publishing chaos.
So how do you make your book marketable, and when hen should you start thinking about marketing? The truth is, the moment you start writing the outline for your book, you should think about labels and marketing.
Think about the genre and the target market for your book, and , then go Google search titles in your genre. For instance, my books all revolve around new adult Fantasy, however, my target market includes young readers who are transitioning into young adults and looking for new material to read. I knew this before I even understood what my book would be about, soI made my way to the search engine and googled the most popular books in young adult fiction. I came to a realization that book series, which included a total of 6-12 books were extremely popular. All the books had short names with one or two words like Haunted or The Magic Coven. This helped me lay out a distinct marketing plan for my book before I’d even started writing the series! My labels were easily decided from everything to genre to the title of my book in less than a few hours work.
I also noticed that the books all had softer colors like deep red, blue, purple and green, and that;s when I knew right away that I wanted my book to incorporate red and blue colors together because of themes like magic, vampires and police officers. It was simply anotehr easy decision made based off research.
But Maggie, I’m traditionally publishing. Why do I need to think about titles before my book is even ready to edit?
Well, that’s a good question. Whether you are traditionally publishing or self-publishing, book titles and covers are the very first thing that you see the moment you walk into a bookstore and look over to the shelves . It’s really what grabs the reader’s attention. Some notable publishers (i.e. the big five) may not even look at your book beyond your title, especially if your title is not marketable. Remember, these are often large companies and they rarely take a chance on stories they think aren’t certain won’t sell. Wouldn’t you feel the same way in a business?
By choosing your title and even considering a cover mockup before submitting to a publisher, you can often beat the race and stand out in a crowd, proving that your book is marketable and can be sold. As a result, you’re already putting yourself ahead of the game, and isn’t that what we’re all trying to accomplish?
When we break down a piece of writing into its base elements, we can divide it simply into categories like characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Once a manuscript is accepted by a publisher, however, in the process of making a complete project, other things come into play besides those base elements. An accepted manuscript is a sign of potential. Your story will potentially connect with readers, become a complete and finished piece, and perhaps most importantly, sell well. With enough potential, publishers are willing to invest heavily in your work.
It takes work in order to reach a return on that investment. Editing and marketing are needed to create a cohesive piece, but sometimes the most obvious elements of the book don’t line up with one another. There are several reasons this happens and we’ll look at the examples below on why they work (or don’t work) and how to solve the issue.
From interning, the second most important tip I picked up is that the cover should represent the book (this is a must!)Obviously, readers would expect the story to include elements of the cover, so the cover should be set up to introduce the reader with compelling imagery. The colors should set the tone for the story as well, and the title should define the genre and tone.The picture should introduce one small element of the story, without giving away the entire plot. Think about books like Harry Potter. Whether you like it or not, you have to admit that the book series has transcended generations since its first publication in the early nineties. Why? I believe, in large part, it’s due to the simplicity of titles like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s memorable, easy to read, and quickly defines the plot of the story. The cover is simply as iconic as the title: a boy on a broom surrounded by the walls of a castle. The series is a perfect example of book covers and titles creating a harmony to enhance the overall effect of both elements.
A look at the most popular published books shows that the covers often don’t have people on them. Why? It doesn’t tell us much about the story. For example, a hot chick draped in fabric or a topless guy with dimples doesn’t really sing plot lines. For this reason, authors should focus on using covers that work with their unique story. Each genre has its own book cover conventions and while there is nothing wrong with continuing with a model that works, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the imagery has to be obvious.
Peter Mendelsund, who has designed book covers like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, prefers to make unconventional design choices. A look through his body of cover design work shows many different types, shapes, and colors, but what remains the same is his attempt to communicate some element of each story on those covers. With this example, Mendelsund used obvious imagery, but he combined it with a unique and bright color palette that pulls readers in. Regardless of what cover is chosen, writers should remember that after readers finish the story, they should be able to ook over the cover again to find new meaning in it.
This is why it’s often best to have a digital marketer, who has experience in color play and an objective eye design for your covers. Building a design for marketing when you don’t have a marketing background at all is a bit like pulling teeth. After years of making faux covers for my novel, I can vouch for this. A few google searches should be able to give you the information you need to make your novel covers a success.
In the previous blog, I focused on the issue of titles not matching the story, but what about books like the one below where the title, cover, and main story are not working together? It creates a lot of confusion for readers and they may not be interested in buying your books in the future. While Watership Down does turn out to be the name of a town in the book, it has very little to do with the plot of the story. The title of this book brings to mind stories of World War I and 2 and fighting battles. However, this story tells the plight of a group of bunnies running from the intrusion of a man in their hometown. There actually isn’t much war.
So what happened with the title? While it is relevant to the story, it isn’t relevant in a way that matters. The author was probably going for a title that excites the mind of the reader, but turned out to be something short and sweet. In theory, this is a great idea, but in this case, the title is not really assisting in making this story a good sell.
How to fix it? Look for something relevant to the overall plot of the story, something something to the effect of Escaping Man or The Long-Eared Escape that would have made the story clearer..
So the final verdict is this, dear writers, when you are trying to figure out which direction to take your book-and if it’s ready for publishing- think about these tips:
Is the theme clear?
Is the title orginal/catchy?
Would it place in a supermarket?
Who is your target market and how well does your book apply to them?
Even if you are traditionally publishing, keep note that these are the things that publisher’s look for when reading manuscripts. You want your story to be the best that it can be. Give them something that they can’t turn away.
Next week, we will discuss more modern covers and continue to look at the covers and whether or not they strongly convey the message of the book.
Think you have the courage to see how your manuscript hold ups?
Send your first page, cover (if applicable) and short summary of the story to admin@merlotetmots.com and I will give you honest (and constructive) feedback on your story.
Remember dear readers,
Say it with Words.
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The Smuggler’s Path is the young adult fantasy we’ve all been waiting for. A lot of magic with a little mystery and romance mixed in.
dark night with tree, full moon
SYNOPSIS
In Canto, magic is a commodity, outlawed by the elites after losing a devastating war and brokered by smugglers on the hidden market. But some know it’s more—a weapon for change.
Inez Garza moves through two worlds. She’s a member of the noble class who works as a magical arms dealer—a fact either group would gladly use against her. Neither know her true purpose—funding Birthright, an underground group determined to return magic to all at any cost.
But the discovery of a powerful relic from before the Rending threatens her delicate balance.
Inez’s inherent magic, which lies dormant in all the Canti, has been awakened. Now the Duchess’s daughter, radical and smuggler must assume another forbidden title—mage, a capital crime. This will bring her to the attention of factions at home—fanatical rebels bent on revolution, a royal family determined to avoid another magical war, her mercenary colleagues at the hidden market willing to sell her abilities to the highest bidder—and in Mythos, victors of the war and architects of the Rending.
Evasion has become Inez’s specialty, but even she isn’t skilled enough to hide from everyone—and deny the powers drawing her down a new path.
A Smuggler’s Path by I.L. Cruz
The Smuggler’s Path is the young adult novel we’ve been waiting for, combining a lot of fantasy with a little mystery and a tad bit of romance. It isn’t perfect, but honestly what novel is? The few notes there are to make are easy enough to look over with the incredible writing of the author. There is a lot packed into a small book and the author does an amazing job tying it all together.
For the first real time in a young adult novel, since I can remember, Inez and her mother don’t have relationship issues. While their relationship isn’t perfect, it is still a strong example of a realistic mother-daughter bond. While the main character secretly fights for the resistance, the mother secretly supports it, but the demeanor in which she was raised keeps her at a distance. This creates a new dynamic within fantasy fiction that I, for one, am happy to see.
Of course, because of her mother’s nobility, it’s no surprise that Inez is destined to save the island of Canto, but always with the proud backing of her ancestors and family, though some of Canto’s society doesn’t quite like the idea of being saved from anything.
Not only does the author do a great job creating realistic relationships with family, but in romance as well. Inez and Zavier’s relationship is just solid enough to not be the usual mushy, gushy relationships of fantasy culture. Inez declares her independence and doesn’t try to fit in where she knows she can’t stand, Zavier is a strong part of that dynamic.
The story line plays out so well and is so beautifully crafted that the world of The Smuggler’s Path is easy to fall in love with and will no doubt leave readers wanting more in the future.
As I said, there were only a few complaints, one being that at certain points it wasn’t so hard to keep up with the characters, but the objects with characters. Inez carried a bag of goods, and it would seem to pop up at random locations. At one point, she hid it in a flower and then in a scene later she was holding a bag. I wasn’t sure if it was the same bag or different bag. This happened with several different objects throughout the story, dispelling the beauty of the written words.
The main character wonders through a magical forest collecting magic to sell.
Additionally, some of the characters were slightly confusing. There is a list at the beginning of the book of all the characters involved, which is a great help, but as I read the final chapters leading up to the end of the book, I didn’t want to scroll back to the first page to figure out who was who. I continued to mix up Austra and her daughter within the same scene because they acted so similarly and switched emotions regularly.
These two complaints are all that I have to offer within the review. The world is impeccably built, beautifully described and action packed. I have definitely become a fan and can’t wait to see what the next book holds. I hope that the author pays closer attention to editing because the book will then be golden.
Because of the few errors I pointed out and the amazing storytelling mentioned above, I have to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. If the issues were a little cleaned up, it would be a full five stars, but despite that, this book is definitely a keeper.
I am a new blogger learning to market and brand to millennial, college age woman. Despite being a new blog, I can help authors reach an untapped potential in college age women as potential influencer of books.
If you’ve ever freelanced as a copywriter, you’ll find out soon enough that your hard-earned work can become much more undervalued than you’d expect. A freelance copywriter can spend countless hours and drinking two whole pots of coffee while editing a story of 1,000 – 2,000 words, just to end up getting paid a measly compensation of .01 cents or .04 cents per word, which would barely hit the minimum wage standard in some states. Nowadays, even though the internet has made available a larger scope of work for professional writers, access to the work means increased expectations for fast turn-arounds and consistent delivery.
Friedman recognizes this overlooked value of written content. She mentions the idea that since people run across writing on a daily occurrence (ex: on the internet), people may think writing is an easily accessible skill. While that is true, there is a big difference between writing essays for school and writing effective copy that resonates with a wide range of readers.
Having worked with both native and non-native speakers, I’ve observed that translating thoughts onto paper is still a difficult task for many. From the examples and strategies Fieldman offered, I’ve gained more perspective into the minds of people who lean more towards visual thinking, and as a result, I’ve decided to try harder in accommodating others that have different thinking mechanisms than I do. Because writing is one of my own unique strengths and the people I’m helping have their own unique qualities, Friedman’s perspective should be taken into account.
Friedman went outside of her comfort zone in order to understand the experiences of visual thinkers when asked to write something. Others can try to do likewise. By trying out different things to do in their day, like taking a different route to work, or trying out different hobbies that don’t exactly line up with their strengths, they can ironically might gain a different outlook and new perspectives. When we put ourselves in others shoes, we tend to grow more empathy and understanding for non-professional writers.
It’s one thing to recognize that people may not have the necessary writing skills, but we can still take steps to help others improve their writing. Friedman’s strategies will be really useful for both professional writers that may work with visual learners, or for teachers who assign writing assignments. Teachers can also think of more ways to incorporate different kinds of media into the classroom. If writers are able to recognize some of the signs of visual thinkers that Friedman points out, we can develop easy solutions that visual thinkers can use the next time they put their writing to work.
The article mentions the rise of graphic novels as one mixed-media technique that helps visual thinkers. I want to find out some other ways as I work with students and am interested in incorporating different learning styles into my lessons as I have students practice writing.
A quick search has turned up a couple different ways to accommodate these learners:
Comic books strips: Visual thinkers can be given pictures with empty speech bubbles, where they can fill in their own story. Other modified options can include having students illustrate a certain scene or illustrating their own story.
Word puzzles: Crosswords and word searches are ways to assist visual thinkers in seeing the written words, which may help them recall by memory later on.
Graphic Organizers: To help make concepts and words clear and easy to recall, graphic organizers are one way to assist visual thinkers in mapping out their thoughts.
Reading, Writing and More!
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PSA: I know there is a strong community among writers who suffer true mental health disorders. I want to preface this article by stating THIS ARTICLE IS NOT INTENDED FOR YOU! YOU ARE STRONG AND WONDERFUL. IF EVER YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO OR JUST SEND A RANT, MY INBOX IS ALWAYS OPEN.
How many times have you heard it? The phrase that has probably become the most annoying phrases in our profession: “the struggling artist.” What about the quote, “one must suffer for their art”? Over the next few blog posts we’re going to bust myths about the writing lifestyle and how to turn a negative disposition into a working, positive atmosphere for new and experienced writers alike.
I started writing at a young age. I was still in elementary school when I wrote my first few pages because of both my love for reading and my need to finish a story I knew I probably wouldn’t get the chance to buy. I was raised by a single mother and new books were a luxury. I never had any hard feelings towards this, it was just a simple fact of life. It made me start writing and in those first few years, I was really happy. Life was good for the young kid of my youth.
And then, at eleven years old, tragedy struck in multiple forms over a short period of time and I was no longer that sappy, innocent kid. In fact, by the age of twelve years old, if I had been taken to a professional, I most likely would’ve been diagnosed with clinical depression, something I would continue to struggle with up until my college years. One of the things I remember most during this time is that the reasons for the pain and anguish I felt always seemed to change, but the reasons for writing and reading never did. They became crutches, salvation for a kid who otherwise dismissed school and life in general. Everyday life became a necessary chore that I didn’t understand, nor did I want to at the time.
I remember thinking most during that time, “This is what it should feel like to be a writer.” After all, this was the same story of Hemingway and Poe, right? It wouldn’t occur to me until I took a class at university that this was an incredibly wrong and poor way of thinking about writing both mentally and professionally as well. It was more of a hindrance not only to my mental health, but to my health as a writer as well.
Were the issues I faced real? Most definitely. Did they make me a better writer? Most likely not. Could I be happy and be a writer? Absolutely, though I wouldn’t discover this until I hit university. Next week, we’ll discuss how I broke myself out of some of my darkest moments of my life and how I learned to be a happy writer.
But in the meantime, what about you dear reader, do you think you can be both happy and a writer? Do you think the term ‘struggling artist’ is overused by mass media culture? I’d love to hear your feedback.
In late 2017 the Garth Brooks Anthology Part 1 was released. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a massive Garth Brooks fan. If there is anything with Garth’s name on it around me, it’s mine. I learned to love the poetic form of storytelling through songs like “Lonesome Dove” and fell in love with the passionate beauty of “The Red Strokes.” I also learned key turn phrasing in songs like “What She’s Doing Now.” “I can hear her call each time a cold wind blows” has always been one of the most simple, yet most powerful song lyrics to me. The rise and fall of his voice matches the lyrics perfectly.
Essentially, a lot of what I learned from writing and storytelling form came from these songs. They fueled my imagination for those first ten or so years of writing and this anthology was no different. To be able to see the way “If Tomorrow Never Comes” is written on paper, and listen to how it was recorded was just mind boggling. To hear the stories and inspiration behind each lyric and song formation was breathtaking, and just like his music, I learned a lot of lessons from these stories about writing.
The most shocking revelation to me was “Burning Bridges,” another one of my favorite storytelling masterpieces. In the anthology, the writers discuss how and why they wrote the song. Garth originally wrote the song with his landlady, who also introduced him to his producer, Bob Doyle. The song starts out “Yesterday she thanked me for oiling that front door, this morning when she wakes up, she won’t be thankful anymore.”
Unlike most popular songs written for the heartbroken, “Burning Bridges” is declared THE song for leavers, those who do the heartbreaking or leave because they don’t know any other way. Garth says in the book, “I’d like to think the music of “Burning Bridges” comforted those people that were not stick-arounders, the people that burned bridges even though they didn’t mean to.”
In break ups, the person who leaves is often vilified, is often berated and belittled, but as Garth puts it “The people being left are better off than the person that can’t stay. Because at some point, the people being left are going to find that person they’re supposed to be with but the person that’s leaving all the time never will. And that, to me, makes the villain the victim.” In a later paragraph, Garth goes on to tell the story of explaining the first line of the song to their drummer, a lyric that even I didn’t get until I read this book. “Mike saw it like oiling the door was a chore. For a while there he didn’t get it that until that front door didn’t squeak, he couldn’t leave without waking her up…”
I never thought about that song like this until reading the book. I always imagined the story unfolding with two lonely, single neighbors hooking up for one night. I never thought about the characters being an actual couple until reading this story and then the song took on a whole new meaning and in that new meaning I found a new character in story telling and new method of writing villains that will be explored in the next couple of blog posts. In the meantime, dear readers, what non-book writer has inspired your writing?
I don’t know about other writers, but one of my biggest struggles when writing is often crafting the narrative of the villain in a way that makes sense to the reader, but isn’t overtly evil. I know this is one of my issues because of the fact that it often comes up in writing editorials, beta reader comments and elsewhere. I’m not ashamed to admit this fact, nor am I ashamed to admit that I still struggle with this after almost fifteen years of writing. You’d think it’d get easier, but the villains are still my toughest subject.
A huge part of the problem for me is finding that origin dynamic, the single moment where the character becomes the villain and why and how this affects the story. I think a huge part of the problem is that I never truly related to the villain in any story and most villains in modern fiction seem to be incredibly vague to me. Especially writing high fantasy characters and bad guys/girls, it always seemed that the villain needed something otherworldly to make them the villain and that was something I usually missed.
However, in the lyrics from a song, I found a new interest in learning to work with writing villains. In less than 20 words, with the first line of the song the act of an everyday chore suddenly becomes the moment when an otherwise normal person becomes the villain of the worst kind. It’s such a small act that takes less than five minutes out of a person’s day, but there it is. So simple. So easy.
From a paragraph in an anthology on country music I learned that being a villain, even in high fantasy, doesn’t have to be hard. Or extreme. Not every villain has to be a serial killer or war strung god. Sometimes the easiest answer is the best. For me, in a world where villains must have an excuse for being villains and readers look for the most drama around every corner, this took on a whole new life for me and I immediately began exploring the idea of using this in everyday fiction writing. Of course, it’ll be some time after this blog post before I will be able to see if it is something the readers pick up on or enjoy, or if it even makes my writing of villains better, but it is a theory and test I’m willing to work with and try whenever possible.
I mentioned in my very first blog post that I will be publishing my books under the full name Maggie M. S. Burleson, rather than my given name – Maggie Chapman. I took my name seriously in college, which is when I began writing seriously. I realized several things:
1) Megan Chapman is not a very marketable name.
2) Megan Chapman is not who I am. At least not biologically.
It’s a long story, but to make it short, my mother was still married to her ex-husband by the time I came along. Despite the fact they were separated, and due to the rules of the state, Chapman was given as my last name, when technically, it should’ve been Shields. However, my biological father was never an active figure in my life, and thus my name was never changed.
M.S. is a secret representation of two names that mean the most important to me—my grandfather’s mother’s name. My middle name is a long standing tradition in our family. The youngest inherits the name, along with its storied history. S honors my great-grandparents, who loved me dearly enough to seek me out when my biological father stepped aside
My great-grandparents were very active parts of my life and I loved them both dearly. They carried the name of Shields at their passing, so when I began contemplating a more marketable pen name. One that would connect with readers and stand out on a bookshelf, I also wanted to choose something with meaning.
I chose Maggie as the first name of my pen name. It still honors Megan, the name my grandfather gave me, but isn’t Meg. (I hate the name Meg and few are allowed to call me this). I started teaching in August of 2018 and my students easily adapted the name, so it stuck.
Burleson is my grandfather’s name. It’s an ode to the man who helped raise me and taught me everything I know. One day, I will carry this name on paper, as much as I do as a published author. This name is the one that matters most, the one I carry in my blood. The one I look to when I need strength and love.
In everything we do, our names are a link to who we are. Where we’ve come from. Our history. Even if it isn’t your real name. Even if it’s a name you chose simply for marketing purpose, that name will alway be connected to you and your past. There are dozens of Megan Chapmans in the world; there’s even an up-and-coming actress. There are not many Maggie M.S. Burlesons in the world and that definitely makes all the difference.
So, lovely readers, what’s in a name? Do you believe names matter when marketing your book? Do you have a pen name? What’s the history behind it? Would you create one? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts below!
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