I Love Writing!

I've always been amazed at how authors like Nora Roberts and James Patterson can put out so many books. Now, I think I'm starting to catch on a little as to how they do it.  I don't think I'll ever be as prolific as they are, but at least I think I can get more than one book a year published. 

Right now, I have three new books in different stages. The Book People & Other Tales just came out and is available at Dog-Eared Pages and on Amazon. Although The Book People is new, most of the other stories had already been written and were included in various anthologies in which I was asked to participate. It's kind of nice to have them all rounded up and in their own book. 

Meanwhile, Pangaea is with my editor. I can't stand the waiting to hear back. You might say I'm a bit impatient which, of course, causes everyone within whining distance to want to strangle me. Not to mention, how much my editor dislikes my nudging texts and emails, (okay, she says nagging and annoying...to-may-to...to-mah-to).

I thought I'd take the time to work on different aspects of writing. You know, working on getting emotions right in different types of scenes; really nothing more than exercises. 

I certainly wasn't planning to start another book. I've been living in Pangaea for the past year. I'm fully involved in that world. How could I possibly set it aside and start a new project?

Here's the thing; fictional characters can become pretty rude and demanding if their writer ignores them. So now, #rkbam is in the process of being written. This story is practically writing itself and I can't wait to get my first draft nailed down. 

What surprised me is that I didn't think anything could pull me away from Pangaea, yet this story did. I'm really loving where it's going. Sorry, I can't tell you anything else about it yet.  Be patient. (Yeah, I know pot...kettle.) 

It's actually working out rather well for me and for my editor. I'm fully involved in this new world unfolding in my head, and I'm not pestering her to get my edits back to me.  Plus, my friends don't have to listen to me complain about how long it's taking. Everybody wins!

My theory is that Nora and James are just as impatient as I am and they have to keep writing or they'd have no friends left. They just have a lot more experience at it than I do--so far.  

7 Simple Tricks to Save Time

It never fails, at every workshop, signing, or event at which I speak, two questions are invariably asked: the first is; “Where do you get your ideas?” Since I have an entire workshop devoted to that topic, I’ll answer the second question here; which is, “Where do you find the time to write?”

It’s a great question. I work over 40 hours a week at Dog-Eared Pages Bookstore. I love to create delicious homemade meals for us almost every night. I teach writing workshops for kids and adults. I’m frequently a guest speaker at schools and writing groups around Arizona. I attend many events such as the Glendale Chocolate Affair, the Tucson Book Festival, Arizona Dreamin’, Building the Dream, and Comicon. Like most folks, I don’t have a maid to take care of housework and, although my children are grown, I have two adorable Border Collies who love to play.

When do I find time to write? In the space between the minutes. Every effective shortcut adds minutes to my day. The more chores I can get out of the way, simply and quickly, the more time I have for my writing.  It may not seem like much, but those precious seconds and minutes add up.

I’d like to share with you my favorite seven time-savers. Even if you don’t write, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a more pleasant way to fill your time. Please know, these aren’t all my ideas, but things I’ve read or heard about, tried and then, once I realized how well they worked, incorporated into my life.

1.       Bacon! I know it’s not the best source of protein, but I do love bacon. However, I hate to cook it. Grease splatters are a pain to clean, and I hate the greasy feel of raw bacon. When I buy a pound of bacon, I immediately cut it into little pieces about ½ inch long by ¼ inch wide (about three times the size of bacon bits). I freeze the pieces in small plastic containers that stack neatly inside my freezer. You can pick up these little containers at a dollar store, (10 for a buck). They’re about one inch square and, when packed full, hold about three tablespoons of bacon.

Take one of the little squares out of the freezer, dump the bacon into a small skillet, and fry over medium heat until it’s done the way you like. You don’t even need to thaw it out, and it cooks much quicker than strips with barely any splatter. Add to eggs, green beans, baked potatoes, casseroles, grilled cheese, or whatever you like. Savings: less calories and fat and all the taste of one of my favorite foods. Less waste from throwing bacon away that I forgot to cook, less cleanup, makes meals more interesting with not much hassle.

2.      Another great use for those tiny containers is to freeze pesto. (My friend Gordon gave me this idea.) I add pesto to almost everything: grilled cheese sandwiches made with mozzarella, veggies, potatoes, steak, burgers, shrimp, chicken and, of course, homemade pasta. However, it’s a pain to make, and cleaning the oily food processor is something I don’t enjoy doing either. When I make a batch, I make a large batch at once (My food processor works better with the larger amount too.)  A little pesto goes a long way, so these tiny plastic squares work great for storage and, after an hour of thawing, this pesto tastes  as good as the fresh. It’s even the same beautiful shade of green!

Tip: instead of buying the fresh herbs at the grocery store, just buy an entire plant and replant it. (Usually costs about the same amount) After a couple of weeks, you should have enough leaves for a large batch of pesto and, by the time that’s all gone, your plant should be ready for another trim. Savings: preparation, clean up time and money.

3.       The Pampered Chef square brownie pan. This pan has replaced my casserole dish and loaf pan, becoming my go-to pan for the oven most of the time. Not only do we enjoy more brownie edges, but I use it for meatloaf, egg casseroles, macaroni and cheese, muffins, and I’m always finding new uses for it. I can make a dozen portion-sized meals at once and freeze the rest for breakfast or lunches. The only drawback is because of all of the crevices it does take longer to clean than a loaf pan or regular brownie pan, but, being able to throw the leftovers into a freezer bag and be done with it, makes up for it in my opinion.

4.       Have you noticed that your dishwasher doesn’t clean your dishes and glasses very well lately?  I found out a few years ago that a new law was quietly passed, banning detergent makers from using phosphorous. Once the current supply of detergent was sold out, sometime in 2012, people began trying new detergents, adding rinse agents, even going so far as to replace their dishwashers or installing water treatment systems. (It would have been nice if they’d made an announcement or two about this and saved us all a bit of money and aggravation.)

Anyway, I’d heard about this particular idea before, but it wasn’t until my friend, Karen assured me it worked and my home wouldn’t reek each time I ran the dishwasher that I tried it. Adding ½ cup of vinegar to your dishwasher really helps and it’s much cheaper than using the expensive detergents and pods. Have you seen the prices on some of that stuff!? Savings: money and time spent rewashing dishes and polishing glasses.

5.      Let’s move out of the kitchen now. Take a piece of aluminum foil and crunch it up until it’s about the size of a golf ball. Throw it in your dryer along with your clothes. Works better than dryer sheets to completely eliminate static cling and it’s reusable! Savings: no longer remembering to buy dryer sheets, very inexpensive, and I no longer have to fish panties and socks from inside shirt sleeves every time I do the laundry. Plus, we no longer shock each other or our doggies!

6.      While we’re in the laundry room, don’t worry so much about how to fold that damn fitted sheet. (Mom showed me many times, and I still can’t do it!) Fold it as best you can, and slide it, along with the folded flat sheet, into one of the pillowcases, add the rest of the pillow cases and then fold the flap over and stack it in your linen closet. When you’re ready to make the beds, grab the pillowcase and go. Everything is already in there! Savings: time searching for matching pillowcases (it’s almost like socks the way they disappear into the bottom of the closet or the corner of the fitted sheet) and less frustration trying to get that fitted sheet right. Plus, my linen closet almost looks organized.

7.      Working in a bookstore and printing out manuscript pages to edit, gives me more than my share of paper cuts. Thom read about this trick somewhere and it really works well. Instead of trying to find a tiny bandage, just rinse and swipe medicated Chapstick across the cut. It seals the edges together and stops the bleeding instantly while numbing the cut. Within a day, the cut is pretty much healed. (If it isn’t, make sure to use a triple antibiotic ointment. You might have picked up a nasty germ. If that doesn’t work, go see your doctor.)

Please feel free to comment on which of these you've tried. Also, I’d love to know what tricks and tips you’ve picked up over the years to make life easier. Happy writing and reading!

The Never-Ending Job of Proofreading!

Well, I did get my *final* proof of my new anthology, The Book People and Other Tales, yesterday. Thought I'd quickly glance through it, you know, just to make sure the formatting was correct. With no warning whatsoever, a glaring typo jumped right off the page and bit me!

So, I go through the book, yet AGAIN and find more than twenty errors hiding in those peaceful looking pages, just waiting to jump out and bite my readers. Have no fear, my courageous readers, I am on the hunt, ferreting out those hideous grammar goblins and those devious punctuation pirates who keep moving my commas around willy-nilly.

It may take a bit longer for this book to be available, but your safety is so important to me, that I will not give up until I have all of the little buggers exterminated.

Be patient just a bit longer.

One Step Closer!

Yay! I mailed my manuscript of Pangaea to my editor this weekend! Fingers crossed that she doesn't find too many major kerflaffles for me to fix.  I can't wait to hear what she thinks of this new world. It feels like putting my babies on the school bus for the first time: scared, excited, impatient, worried, and relieved all at once.

While she's working on Pangaea, I have several other projects to get caught up, including this blog. I want to be ready to roll when she sends it back.

And, my newest book, The Book People and other Short Stories should be available at Dog-Eared Pages and on Amazon very soon!  I'm waiting for the final proof to come today.

Managing Your Muse: Part 7 Technology-12 Fun iPhone Apps for Writers

We really don’t need to discuss the technology I learned to use during my corporate career; programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These have become almost second nature to us by now. Instead, I would like to talk about today’s technology.

Okay, I know I was way behind the curve. I did finally get a smartphone last summer and I love it! Although, it’s not the latest and greatest, it works for me. I have with the iPhone 4S and I love, love, love Siri! I can rule the world with this phone. It’s amazing.

I was thrilled to discover some apps for writers that are not only helpful, but fun to use, and did I mention they’re free. What’s not to like about that, right? 

Try them out, and let me know what you think.

1. Story Tracker-This app gives you a place to store all the info for submissions, queries, and contests. Use Story Tracker’s statistics feature to show deadlines for contest entries or response times, which is helpful for follow-ups with agents and editors. It’s also a great place to store info for submissions or contests you are planning to enter for future reference.

2. Name Dice-This random name generator is handy to have around for choosing character names. I usually spend a bit more time on major and secondary characters, but this is a perfect way to find quick names for minor characters. A few examples: Pauline Trent, Franklin Clarke, Genesis Atkins, Tate Newman. Cool, huh? For some reason, looking at randomly generated names like this, almost brings a character to mind. If you need a unique new character give this little app a try. Oh, yeah—instead of pushing a button to bring up a new name, you can shake your phone too. 

3. Daily Diary-Two things I like about this little app. First, I can voice record and second, it’s searchable! I wish my handwritten journals were searchable.

4. A Novel Idea- This is one I wish I had available on my laptop. It’s a bit too small to work on the iPhone screen for everything this bad boy can do. You can build an entire novel from this little app. Come up with an idea, give it a working title, and then attach character info, location info, and scenes right there. I use it to store snippets for future projects. 

5. Dropbox-I love not having to worry about backing up my work and then, years later, trying to remember where I stashed my flash drive. Dropbox syncs with my laptop, PC, and phone so all of my work is updated and I’m always working on the correct version. If you’ve ever lost a file or forgot to transfer a file to a different location and written a new scene in an older version, you’re going to love Dropbox. If you refer friends, you get more free space, but as long as you don’t store photos you should have enough free storage for .docx files or .pdfs.

6. Syno-Speak or type a word to quickly find synonyms. Convenient if my Synonym Finder isn’t nearby. By the way, the Synonym Finder by Rodale is the absolute best thesaurus on the planet, but it’s a real book—not an app.

7. RhymeFree-A quick and easy rhyming dictionary with syllable counts. A must have for poets!

8. Urban Dictionary-Get with it! Ever see a joke on Facebook or Twitter that you just don’t get? Want to know what’s what with the youth of today? Look no further than the Urban Dictionary, but beware…it’s not PG rated.

9. Weird WOD-As writers, we are supposed to know off-the-wall words. We may not use them in everything we write, but sometimes these unexpected gems can add a bit of pizzazz to a screwy character’s dialogue. Learn a weird word every day with this app. Here are a few examples to pack away for future use; corviform, lunarist, mugwump, and infuscate. Fortunately, the app also gives definitions. 

10. AnyList-Okay, I use this app for everything, not just for writing. I can say to Siri, “Add milk to my grocery list.” And she does. Then while I shop, I tap ‘milk’ and it’s gone. But it’s not just for grocery lists. I have To Do Lists, Today Lists, Events Lists, Christmas Lists, and Ideas Lists. Siri works with all of them. I absolutely love this app. You can also upgrade and get more bells and whistles which I may do in the future. 

11. Wordinaire-What’s that word? It was right on the tip of my tongue and now it’s gone—not with this baby! 

A couple of years ago, I lost one of my best writing friends, Chuck Mallory. Chuck was the type of guy I could call at 7 am and say, “I can’t think of the word I need, it’s got something to do with Art History and I think it starts with a ‘p’. 

Good ol’ Chuck would say, “Good morning. I just woke up. Let me think on it and call you back.” 

He’d call back in a few minutes. “Was it provenance?” 

“Yeah! That’s it. Thanks, Chuck. See you later.”

I really miss him. No one else seems to have a sense of humor about my early morning phone calls and no one has the command of the English language like Chuck did. Although, Wordinare can’t replace my dear friend, it can give me an alphabetical  list of words when I type ‘art history’ and right there in the p’s is ‘provenance.’

12. ***It did take me a while to find the most important button on the iPhone for any writer. Now, I use it religiously every day—the ‘off’ button. Not vibrate, not ‘do not disturb’; I turn it all the way off until I’m finished my word count for the day. Siri is much too distracting and, until they come up with an app to keep my butt-in-the-chair, I have to give my wonderful new tool a rest so I can get some writing done on my next novel, Pangaea.

Found any fancy new apps to add to this list? I’d love to hear about them!

I’d love for you to check out my latest book, Strategic Rewriting, for more writing tips and tricks. It’s available on Amazon as a print and as an eBook, but if you’d like a signed copy, simply order Strategic Rewriting from www.dogearedpagesusedbooks.com

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Update

First draft of Pangaea is finished! 

We're still a long way off from publication--lots of rewriting and editing, not to mention, proofreading yet to do, but the story is done and, I gotta say, I love it!

I want to live on Pangaea. Whenever Thom starts talking politics, I get to tell him, "Shhh! I'm on Pangaea. These things don't happen there."

The best part is, this immediately changes our dinner conversation. Thom's many suggestions and our late-night discussions have led to many exciting changes from the original storyline, I've decided to add his name to the book. After all, he's been as immersed in this world as I have. 

This move actually works out well. I've been wondering how to handle my author name for Pangaea. This is not a children's book. It's definitely for adults. So we've decided to go with A.J. Questerly as our author name to differentiate it from my children's writing, while still having to only market one name--Questerly. Win/Win, right? Fingers crossed.

For now, we're rewriting Pangaea, and then it goes to our editor for another round of fun. Like I said, we're a long way from a finished book, but we see daylight. 

Also, you may have noticed my www.annaquesterly.com website is gone and now points to this blog. A move I'm deliriously happy about ( I did it all by myself!). Trying to keep up a website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, and everything else was overwhelming and I found I wasn't keeping up well with any of them. My hope is now, I can simply post to my blog and play a bit on Facebook with my friends instead of dreading the Social Media Monster. Which means, I'll have more time to write and interact a bit.

I've added a few pages to this blog. My Events Calendar and My Books page. 

Look for more changes to this blog as I try to make it more user friendly.

Four years into this writing journey and I'm still in love with it. I can't imagine doing anything else. My mind is already spinning with ideas to work on while Pangaea is with my editor. 

Pangaea Calls...

I'm in the middle of my first rewrite of Pangaea right now, so taking a bit of time off from Managing Your Muse. I promise I will be back soon, but the sirens of Pangaea won't let me leave them just yet.  In the meantime, feel free to check out my first book on writing, Strategic Rewriting. Would love to know if you find it helpful.

Wish me luck in Pangaea!