My Social Media Experience

Social media. It's pretty much taken over the world. Since getting my blog back in February, I have joined many sites in order to promote my book and enhance its formation. Here's some of what I've learned.

~ In General ~

I think we all know that social media can eat our time if we are not very careful. It sucks you in, and you have cool friends to virtually hang out with, so why wouldn't you stick around for a while? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't have time to kill on an average day. So here are my tips for general time management of whatever social media accounts you have:

1~ Keep a list! I know some of you are pantsers, but when it comes to life, sometimes you've got to make to-do lists. There are going to be things you need to do on your social media accounts. Change your picture, update your status, share an article, find a link, whatever. And that's fine. That's why you have the social media. So make a list of things you need to do. I would suggest dividing this list by the accounts you have, prioritize, and give yourself a liberal estimate on how much time it's going to take. If you have extra time, you can loiter, but only until your allotted time is up.

~2 Other than just making a list, schedule your media time. If you're like me, you'll get on your social media accounts heaven knows when all throughout the day. That can complete eat any "free time" you have, so I suggest planning out when you get on. After lunch for Facebook, after school for Pinterest. That bit doesn't really matter. But limit yourself. 10 minutes should easily suffice, especially if all you're going to do is read your endless feed. It is important to engage the people you've connected to, so don't just skim everything :)

~3 One last point: don't get accounts you don't need. You could probably find a purpose for every form of media out there, but don't get one of each. Just because it's a humongous buffet doesn't mean you actually have to try everything. That will kill you in the end. I currently have . . . ten accounts that I would consider media-like and I have a purpose for each. I don't have Instragram, Bloglovin', or LinkedIn yet because I honestly don't think I need them. And I don't have the time to figure them out right now either ;)

Now for all of my accounts individually. I'll list them in the order I got them, but feel free to jump to the ones that apply to you :)

~ Pinterest ~

My aunt set up an account for my mom at one point. My sister and I thought Pinterest looked fun, so we took over Mom's account because she literally never used it. About 3K pins in, we realized it wasn't going to work to share anymore. We had a gazillion boards and were both sick of seeing each other's interests on our feed. So once I had a blog, I created my own Pinterest and began switching important things over to that profile, sharing boards with my sister, and reaching a better level of organization.

Purpose: Storyboards. These cannot be important enough. All the collages on My Writings page came from my Pinterest boards.

Time: I probably spend about an hour a week on Pinterest. On my good weeks, of course. I could spend an hour a day if I get distracted ;)

Platform: I had around 30 followers on my new account a few weeks ago. I hadn't gained one in months. That's when I still had my storyboards secret. I didn't want people to know what I was writing! I pinned spoilers! But then I realized that my friends with two boards could have 40 followers if they were storyboards. So I made all of my storyboards public and boom! I now have 60 followers and they trickle in on a regular basis. ;)

~ Gmail ~

For a long time I shared an e-mail with my parents and just had my own folder. When it came to my first writing contact, Dad decided I could probably use my own account. (Thanks Jamie!!) This not only generated a Google+ account, it created a very time consuming bog, even if it's not really a social media account.

Purpose: E-mail (duh). Largely, the hub for sending and receiving editing projects.

Time: At least half an hour a day. Pretty bad, huh? I want to cut that down. But I now have a steady stream of stuff to weed through, filter, reply to and the like ;) Definitely one I need to schedule.

Platform: Unlike other media, the goal is to have less here. If you do like I did, you will subscribe to all the author websites, many blogs, and clothing stores to get the free downloads and booklets. I encourage you to do that as long as you trust the sight. Then you'll probably need to unsubscribe because it's gonna be a lot of useless mail all the time!

Tip: Have ultra organized label folder things, so you can clear out your inbox better. My goal is to have under 50 e-mails in my inbox (one page) and none in my other categories (social and promotions).

~ Google+ ~

I never intentionally got this account. I realized I automatically had an account one day because I had created a Gmail (Google) account. I added a picture, bio, all that good stuff and started adding Gmail contact to my circles, but I never actually got on the website again for a while. Until I got Blogger.

Purpose: Sharing blog posts.

Time: 10 minutes a week. You all know I rarely post. I have Blogger connected now, so it automatically posts and you all faithfully +1 like good friends :) I rarely get on to do the same.

Platform: Add everyone in the world to your circles. The only additional circle I have is one I called "bloggers." Connect your blog to it if you can (you can with Blogger) and share other articles/posts you enjoyed to it. People usually add back and then you have a really good reach with little effort.

~ Twitter ~

My first real social media account where you interact with humans on a ginormous level. I'm still trying to get the hang of this one, but it's fun :) It seems to be more business-focused than most media anyway, so that's really nice. Everyone there has a purpose, not just a life. And a character limit, so you can only say so much at once, hehe :)

Purpose: Sharing everything writing-related and building a platform of potential readers.

Time: 10 minutes a day. Thats on average, because I disappear for a few days and then play catch up :P

Platform: Consistency. Post something at least daily if you can. I had this down and was posting, but only at 11 am. When I spread out retweets and posts throughout an entire day (20 in all) I immediately gained 30 followers over the next few days. I don't think that was an accident ;)

Tip: Engage people on topics, participate, show your face. Thank people for retweets. Follow lots of people and never be afraid to unfollow, too. Keep your subject matter limited; for me it's writing/reading/books/editing and the like. :)

~ Goodreads ~

I love Goodreads. This has proved to be one of the best accounts I have, hands down.

Purpose: Tracking what books I read, what they were about, and when I read them. Now people can add my book, so it gets spread around and added before it's even published :)

Time: 10 minutes a day, on average. I didn't have a hard time keeping this low once I got the account underway. I suggest you avoid all but book polls because they seem pointless and will eat your time!

Platform: Find as many friends as you can and follow your favorite authors. I've added a few people I don't really know that well just because they asked, and we have mutual friends. Probably not the best idea unless you're a Goodreads author. In which case, I figure potential reader. Rate everything and leave yourself review prompters. I encourage you to review as much as you can for your own retention and for friends' benefit, but this will take more time.

Tip: Always add a book to your list if it strikes you. You won't remember it if you don't. If you are going to be like me and add some people you only know vicariously, chances are you're still safe on Goodreads. But to be even safer, go to your friends and choose edit. Only leave "top friend" checked (it's automatic) on people you love and trust. This will prioritize them on your feed :)

~ NaNoWriMo ~

The good news that this can only be a real distraction a few months of the year. But boy did I use it a lot for my first Camp! It's so fun to chat with cabinmates and update word counts . . . every few hundred words ;)

Purpose: Quick drafting. The community is a bonus ;)

Time: When it's NaNo season, about 45 minutes a day. It probably won't be that much for regular NaNo but only time will tell :)

Platform: Plug into a cabin with people you know for Camps and buddy with everyone you care about for regular NaNo. It's not too hard to find people.

Tip: It's super easy to find friends and saves you a lot of searching if you'll just look at the buddies of one of your friends. I found Katie Grace and Nadine Brandes and really only had to look at their buddies from there :)

~ Hangouts ~

This is a Google chat for those of you who don't know. You can get an app, or you can view it through your Gmail in a browser. It connects by e-mail, I believe.

Purpose: keeping up with writing friends. This was our post-Camp NaNo rehab because we missed hanging out (thus the name).

Time: 3 hours a week. This really depends and can eat your time if you allow it, because it's conversations with your friends! The one that eats my time is our Camp group of 12 people and our NaNo group of 20+ :)

Platform: Again, less is kinda more here. But it actually has saved me time to chat with critique partners instead of e-mailing them all the time. You get a faster reply and I don't type out my entire day either ;)

~ MyWriteClub ~

I just heard about this and decided to make an account. It's to track your progress on any goals you create and to see progress that friends make. You can update it and comment on each other's. It's used loosely by most people and strikes me as a basic, year-round Camp NaNo. Because it's to keep scattered details of my life sane, it should help with time management overall :)

Purpose: to give myself deadlines and track my work.

Time: 5 minutes a day. Easy. Update your goal, scan your feed, turn it off.

Platform: This isn't a huge deal here because it's more for you than others. So just follow people that you care about! They'll probably follow you back :)

~ Facebook ~

Ah yes. I just conquered this beast last week. I've held out for soo long D: But I needed a professional page for my author stuff before my book is published, so I had to get a personal page, too. So far, I haven't lost too much time on it and have reached a new crowd of friends and family you will find only on Facebook. It's the everyman's media of choice. And you have no character limit ;)

Purpose: Reaching a new crowd for my book and having some place to post more general life stuff.

Time: about 15 minutes a day so far. But I am still in set-up mode, so maybe I can whittle that down to ten?

Platform: Do not be afraid to friend someone! Facebook is not the place to cherry-pick. Similar to Goodreads, I accept friend requests even from mere acquaintances that I could really care less about, or don't know if I can trust not to share gory details of their life. Even if you do cherry-pick, some people will surprise you. So...

Tip: Do friend a lot of people. Unfollow people that you can't stand. You won't see their stuff on your feed, they can still see yours, and you're still 'friends.' ;)

~ Spotify ~

This is like a social Pandora for those of you who don't know. You follow artists, albums, and friends. The wide variety of free music I have found extremely helpful! And the occasional ad doesn't bother me, because YouTube has more ads and little organization.

Purpose: Accessing more favorite artists and creating writing playlists.

Time: Hours and hours a day. But that's just listening to all the beautiful songs. Finding the songs takes like 5 minutes a day.

Platform: Again, the point of this isn't popularity for me since I don't have a music album on here :) But it is fun to follow a few friends so you can see their music tastes.

Tip: Don't feel like you have to follow complete albums. Follow the few songs you like. You'll be able to find the album again pretty easily. Pay attention to whether you are following playlists or albums, too, because playlists is someone else's personal taste on a subject and clog up your list of playlists. Maybe that doesn't bug most people :P

~~~~~

Phew! So there you have it. Hopefully this post was somewhat useful to you and didn't completely overwhelm you . . . or take too much of your time ;)

My Fear as a Writer

Most of you know by now that I am an introvert and a writer. Since this is a favorite time of year to talk about scary things and fears, I am going to discuss one thing I fear as a writer.

In short, my fear is missing what matters. As I said, I am introverted. That's a life tendency. I also seclude myself a lot which is a writer tendency. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who does this. It's only natural with how I was created and what I have been called to do, so please don't take this as me bucking who I am. I love being an introverted writer! But even something so wonderful to me can be toxic to a certain degree.

This should be fairly self-explanatory. When you're an introvert (for those of you who don't know), everything happens inside of your head. The emotions, reactions, speculations, observations . . . very little of it ever shows on our faces or comes out of our mouths. At least, that is very much the way my personality works. Thus, we are often labeled as callous individuals. We internalize such remarks as well.

The drawback to being someone so hard to read is that it can be hard for people to connect to you if you don't give them anything to work with. And if you're an introvert, often times you think you're just as well off without people . . . most people at least.

As a writer, productivity often requires silence and seclusion. (If you're an introvert; extroverts can work in Grand Central Station.) So I am often in my room with my laptop or a notebook trying to eke some things out.

But every now and then, while standing by myself (quite happily) or writing a chapter in the quiet, I decide to join people. Why? Because there's some part of everyone's humanity that craves relationship and relationships are hinged on interaction to say the least. I am terribly afraid I am going to miss what matters most in life, and it's not having my alone time. It's relationships.

Think about your relationship with God: for it to really work, you have to put some effort into upkeep. Why? Because it's a relationship. While wrapping up Beth Moore's study Stepping Up on the Psalms of Ascent, she stressed how important it is to be there for our fellow pilgrims. Then she proceeded to read some data on the physical and spiritual health benefits of having true friends. In summary, individuals who had people that they regularly connected with live longer. They recover from health complications quicker. Meanwhile, a perfectly fit and healthy recluse has a better chance of dying first. I think it all comes down to: those with relationships have more reason for living.

Today we live in the world of pseudo-relationships. Your Facebook friends and blog followers are amazing people! But unless you are connecting to them in a real way, you're not going to be satisfied with them, even as an introvert.

All of this is to say, don't make all the mistakes I have. Put down the notebook and have that healthy conversation. Turn off Spotify and have a prayer time. We can afford to delay writing; it will wait. Relationships won't.

~~~~~

Please tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with this! My next post will be on how what I've learned about social media. Hopefully it will save you some time and give you more to put toward real relationships. In light of NaNo coming up, don't forget to live a little in November even amidst the writing ;)

National Novel Writing Month

'Tis the season for all bloggers to either post on NaNoWriMo or comment everywhere trying to figure out what this thing is. I first heard of it in April 2015 when a woman overheard that I was writing and recommended it to me. Basically you make an account through nanowrimo.org and update your word count for a novel there. Your goal is to write 50K in just the month of November. Here's my plan so far, numbered, and in no particular order.

1~ WIN

My first goal is to win this thing. Have I ever written 50K before in a month? No. My record is 30,010 words, and that was reached during Camp NaNo in July. Nearly doubling my all-time monthly record? During the holidays? While publishing a novel? Nothing to worry about, right? (This is where you say "Of course right!")

2~ Conquer a new genre

In case you're wondering I have the tendency to get over-ambitious. I've only one completed Christian Contemporary novel and one Christian Fiction Retelling novella. In November, my goal is to draft at least 50K of a Christian Dystopian novel. This reveals a lot about my creative thought process: it's everywhere.

3~ Plot

I cannot go without some sort of planning (even if that's just talking out loud until it makes some sense) because I will go crazy on day 1. You guys don't want that. So I am currently giving a half-hearted attempt at plotting. The good news is that I'm reviving an idea from years ago and have managed to add a plot to it. As long as I complete some characters sheets before November, I think I'll feel comfortable. I don't see the point in ultra-planning this since I'll be writing faster than my brain can generate coherent thoughts anyway.

4~ My survival tips

Judging from Camp NaNo alone, some tips:

• don't read what you write
• do NOT edit what you write (the goal is quantity, not quality. I know :'( )
• silence your inner voice of perfection. Call it conscience if you must
• write and write a lot. The average number of words you have to write a day to succeed is 1,667
• use The Most Dangerous Writing App (which permanently deletes what you've typed if you stop within the clock)
• create a playlist for your novel(mine's on Spotify) and listen to nothing else as you write
• chisel out chunks of time in which to conquer chunks of words
• sacrifice some sleep. Actually, lots of sleep
• do word wars with your friends. Competition for numbers is excellent motivation.
• update your word count on NaNo daily (don't spend too much time on the website loafing)
• do a #5k1day That's 10% of what you have to write conquered in a single day. If I have done this, I promise you can. If you do it on Tuesday, November 1, I'll do it with you via my Facebook event. I can also create a Google Hangouts group for non-Facebook people who are interested.

5~ Introduce my NaNo novel to all of you before November 1

Yay! This is where I get to share the blurb and pictures about this story which I am getting super psyched to write about. I think this is going to be really fun. Especially since I've found some really awesome buddies.

Imogen North struggles. But so does everyone else in the crumbling East Side. Yet Immy is convinced that no one, not even her twin, shares the struggles of her secrets: parents who were exiled for treason, a crippling fear of the dark, a desire to learn about the outlawed Followers, and now knowledge of the corrupted inner workings of her own government. When faced with the coming-of-age rite of accepting her designated role under Lord Luci, will she have the courage to stand up to the truth like her parents did and face the consequences? Or will the carefully cultivated darkness inside of her win? And is she prepared for what either decision could mean?

I have high hopes of this being an mid- and post-tribulation analogy, but we shall see . . .

Christian Dystopian, 3rd person, past tense, single POV. The book will follow Imogen North, her twin sister Ivy and friend Tristan Hodges also being focal characters. There's a full Pinterest board if you're really interested.

As with many of my other stories, this was inspired by a bizarre dream I had where "I" lived in a crumbling brick courtyard in freezing weather while being pursued by the government. No wonder it's taken me so long to find a plot, right? (Of course right!)

~~~~~

Are you doing NaNo? Leave me your username if you are and I will add you to my buddy list (apparently I'm hard to find). Are you going to participate in my #5k1day challenge? Will you use FB or Google Hangouts for updates, word wars, and motivation?

Also, if you enjoyed the Tolkien guest post of last week don't forget to check out the rest of the series on Evan's blog!

Tolkien the Storyteller ~ A Guest Post

Today I have Evan Oliver guest posting on Tolkien! At least, that's what I asked for. Instead, this turned into an awesome project of his, so what he brings us today will be merely the first installment of a series that takes a closer look at this influential author (the rest to come on his own blog). I, for one, am very excited to see where all Evan takes this. Enjoy the introduction to his series!

Writing on the importance of Tolkien is a daunting task. As I worked on this post, trying to do Tolkien justice while remaining within a responsible length, I found myself constantly pruning interesting branches of thought that threatened to grow this article beyond the convenient length for a blog post. I wished to thoroughly layout the case for why Tolkien should be studied not only by every author, but by every reader. Instead of laying out a thorough case here, I will explore three instances which show to some degree how Tolkien’s mind and work ran deep with meaning skillfully presented.

To be truly great, a writer must first have something truly worth saying, and second, they must be able to say it well.

Tolkien possessed both and the argument could be made that he possessed them in combination better than any other author of his time. As philologist, Tolkien understood the usage of words on a very, very technical level, and he understood how to use this knowledge to create a world that feels authentic. In addition to this, Tolkien was intimately involved in the defining events of the 20th century, being a participant in the Battle of the Somme in World War I, and living through the blitz whilst his son Michael fought in the British armed forces in World War II.

Speech As An Indicator of Personality

One of the more underrated skills Tolkien possessed was his ability to tell a story by how characters talk. Bilbo is introduced as a very modern, middleclass bachelor, one who might be at home in something like “Downton Abbey”, and one of the primary ways we are shown this is in how he talks. Bilbo uses phrases like “Good morning” and “Beg your pardon” as figures of speech which mean something different that the words themselves, and Gandalf highlights this with comedic effect in their first meeting. Thorin and the dwarves on the other hand not only use their words much more straightforwardly, they use a different, more heroic and archaic style of speech.  

Throughout “The Hobbit”, Thorin’s heroic style clashes with Bilbo’s more modern “business manner”. Tolkien draws attention to it when Bilbo and Thorin first meet, and it continues to play out through the story. The two are contrasted and each has its weaker moments; Bilbo’s style falls hilariously flat as he attempts to negotiate terms with the dwarves, and Thorin is later cut off by Bilbo on the mountain as he launches into a great speech that Bilbo sums up by demanding “If you want me to go down and face the dragon, say so at once”.  The two are resolved at the end as the Dwarves bid Bilbo farewell, with Bilbo inviting them to tea while they invite him to their mountain hall. While the words used are different, the meanings are the same. 

The most chilling however, is the dragon. Smaug speaks differently than any other character in the book, moving easily between modern colloquialism (“I don’t remember smelling you before”) and the heroic (“My teeth are swords! My claws are spears! My wings are a hurricane!”). The effect is to set Smaug apart from any other character in Middle Earth, to give him a sense of cunning, guile, and it is indeed easy, as Tolkien says, to see how Bilbo is rather overwhelmed. 

How Words Create an Authentic World

On the technical side, take for example the word “dwarf”, a constant source of frustration in his dealings with editors of "The Hobbit". For starters, the use of “f” marks the word as a ‘native’ word, one not borrowed from Latin or Greek (which use ‘ph’ to create the same sound as in ‘philosophy’) but rather an original part of the language tree that populated England with the Saxons. Such a word, Tolkien reasoned, must have represented something. Words are invented to describe the world, thus, the earliest speakers of Germanic must have encountered something that fit the original meaning of the original word “dwarf”. 

Secondly, the plural of dwarf poses a problem. Commonly, it is formed by simply adding ‘s’ and following the pattern of words like tiffs or bluffs, both much more modern words not present in Old English. If its plural had remained in use over the years, it would follow the same pattern followed by its Old English brethren loaf to loaves, calf to calves and thus dwarf to dwarves.  It is a credit to Tolkien that almost singlehandedly he has brought the older form back into usage. But more importantly, it is a credit to his understanding and knowledge of how languages have developed and functioned that enable him to create so convincing a world. Dwarfs would not have ruined “The Hobbit”, but the change to Dwarves contributes to the world in the way that little details do, by working together to create depth and by pointing the way to what lies beyond.  

Hope & Luck

The concept of Wyrd, loosely translated as fate or destiny, is a prominent one both in Northern Literature and in the trenches, where one might say “His time was up” or “There’s a bullet with your name on it”, but in the Christian West, and later the Secular West, the concept of fate or luck has remained, but without any kind of logical explanation for how or why it works.  Tolkien tried to answer some of the questions about it and did so through Lord of the Rings, especially the character of Gollum. Gollum’s arrival at the chasms of Mount Doom just when Frodo refuses to throw in the ring is perhaps the most pointed to example of Luck in the story. However, it is a direct result of countless decisions reaching back to Bilbo refusing to kill a helpless creature some fifty years before in the goblin tunnels of the Misty Mountains.

In the Old English Poem Beowulf, the title character declares:

…Wyrd oft nereth  

Unfaegne Eorl, thonne his ellen deah. 

…Fate often spares 

The Undoomed warrior, When his courage holds. (My translation)

This concept of the undoomed man surviving, but only if his courage holds is a common one in northern literature, and one that Tolkien made particular note of. This concept is worth an entire (upcoming) post in itself, but suffice to say here that while fate spares the man, the undoomed man is not without responsibility, his luck is dependent to some degree on his decisions. His courage must hold, which here leads to the second half of what Tolkien was trying to say. 

Hope is important, vital to our resisting of evil as fallen, human creatures, and as such a choice that we can make. We can choose to hope. Despair by contrast is an act of arrogance. Denethor, for instance, believes himself to be so all knowing; so wise that he knows and understands everything and sees with absolute certainty the outcome when in fact, he has only seen the lies of Sauron and based on these he gives up all hope. Thus he kills himself, taking Gandalf away from the fight thus contributing directly to the death of Theoden.

I hope I have given some of you reason enough to take another look at how Tolkien wrote. The works that he left behind were phenomenal pieces of art that interacted on a deep level with the world around him, and it is in part because of how powerfully he did so that they have become so widely read. From his unique perspective about what the history of words such as Wraith could tell us about the world, to his deep and complex ideas about evil wrapped up in the ring Tolkien crafted his work with skill and reach rarely seen. As I continue my series on Tolkien, I will be looking at some of these things in greater detail, as well as exploring other works by Tolkien such as his essays and short stories, and how he brought Norse ideas about good, evil, fate, and death to bear on the struggles of the 20th Century.

~~~~~

Excellent post, yes?! Believe it or not, I actually met Evan in person about 10 years ago. Since then, we've both gotten into writing. He has just published The Dragon of Kveldmir (which I highly recommend). Be sure to keep up with Evan's blog so you can read the rest of his series on Tolkien!

Do You Write What You Read?

Happy October! Due to the fact that this trending question popped up in my face three times this week, I'm posting on it!

The first place it showed up was Go Teen Writers in a post by Stephanie Morrill. It got me thinking, I commented, and moved on.

When it appeared in an article Writer's Digest e-mailed me, I was forced to think about it again. Coincidence?

Then it came up while reading Just Write by James Scott Bell yesterday afternoon. He said: "I love reading [criminal suspense], so that's mostly what I write."

You're probably wondering what the big deal is. The big deal is I had to wrestle with whether I write what I read or not. I would have said no at the beginning of the week because so far all I write is Christian Contemporary and it's been a solid year since I've read anything in that genre. I was shocked when my brain had inspiration within this genre.

But the more I thought about it, I used to read a ton of stuff like this! Not always contemporary, but always the clean romance by the end of it. Janette Oke, Grace Livingston Hill, Laura Ingalls Wilder . . . yeah. Those consumed my tween years, you guys. Then I moved on to Beverly Lewis and became obsessed with the Amish. (I'm actually struggling to think of any books like this I've read that are contemporary?)

The reason I read very little of this anymore is not because I don't like to have a fresh story in a cute setting with a clean romance when all is said and done. I do. Hallmark can speak my language. But you know how there's just that thing that goes with Hallmark? Things that you cover your eyes and laugh at and try to erase from your mind? While I can still love a Hallmark movie even with that, I have a much harder time enjoying books like that anymore! I have labored through Janette Oke's Return to the Canadian West series because it all feels so flat and fake to me. Which is sad because the original Canadian West is one of my favorite series ever.

Back to the point: do I really write what I read? I suppose so. Because even though there is depth, conflict, and flare lacking to some of the stories I would have devoured without a second thought five years ago, I still got the passion to write a story very similar.

Why?

Well, obviously because I read enough of them, they are a part of me. I will forever love Laura and Almanzo, Elizabeth and Wynn. They're really sweet and inspiring! But it comes down to the fact that I absorbed enough of the Christian Romance genre, well done and not, that I know what I would do differently.

This is how the Writer's Digest article put it: "You know what fans of this genre want, because you are a fan. You know what is a cliche and what would have you clicking that Buy button. Write the book you want to read."

So my story, Martin Hospitality, is contemporary. That's my first change just because it's me and I'm not giving myself extra research! The main character also has some real issues and isn't actually deep into the faith yet, which is unusual. I tried to add a lot of reality because I want everyone who picks it up and reads even a tiny portion to feel connected. Sometimes a Christian romance novel can transport me, but not engage me. I think there's a difference there. And I am also going different with my cover if I can. Because I heartily dislike most Christian Fiction covers. Not because they're bad, but because they don't do anything for my imagination except give me a face and the cute little house in the background that I can't get out of my head while reading.

I never thought I'd write Christian Contemporary because it's what I have felt done reading for a while. But now I believe it's for that exact same reason that God gave me that really bizarre dream  about a pregnant blonde and a really awesome farmer (after reading a Beverly Lewis novel). Thank goodness Someone knows what they're doing.

Perhaps you're like me: You don't write what you read, you write what you've read. Tweet this!

~~~~~

What are the main two genres you read or have read? Think about it. Do you write in them, too? If not, I encourage you to consider giving it a shot sometime! And happy fall! My favorite time of the year is finally here! :)