SARA HUMPHREYS: Pros & Cons of Working From Home

Working from home is actual work and has its own set of challenges. Up until four months ago, I held down a full-time job outside the home. I’d been juggling the day job, a growing writing career, four sons, a marriage and the house stuff for the past several years. After many soul-searching (and bank account scrutinizing) conversations, my husband and I came to the conclusion that I would become fully self-employed and work from home.

Whooo hoooo! No more being at the mercy of someone else’s timetable. No more late night events or weekend command performances.

No more steady paycheck. Wait. That one isn't as fun.

There are sacrifices being made in order to pursue this self-employed career path but it’s worth it.  The only problem is that when people hear that you work from home, you can tell that some of them don’t think it’s actually work.

Not true.

I work every day and while I’m not at the mercy of someone else’s day to day schedule, I am still on deadlines. I still have responsibilities to meet. One benefit of working from home is that I don’t have a “boss” looking over my shoulder. That’s nice. The challenge is that I have to kick my own ass and be more disciplined than I’ve ever had to be before.

The temptation to fiddle around on the net, or read a great book or watch a great movie on television is always lurking around the corner. Don’t get me wrong there are days when I will do one of those things but that only means more work the next day.

One of the other challenges working from home is that when my kids get a day off, then I have to take the day off of work. I have discovered that I get a whole lot of nothing done when they’re home from school but that’s way it should be. One of the major reasons we pulled the trigger on this life change was so that I could be fully available for my boys. So if they have the day off then that day turns into a non-work day for me and that means double the work the next day.

You’ll get no complaints from me about this gig.  The advantages far outweigh the challenges.  Here are my favorites.

·         I make my own schedule.

·         I don’t have to get gussied up for work and can stay in my gym clothes all day if I want to.

·         I do something I’m passionate about and work hard at it every day.

·         I’m more accessible for my children and what they need.

·         I’m happy.

·         I’m a lucky woman.

• How about you? What are the pros and cons of your job?

BUY: AMAZON, B&E, INDIEBOUND

UNTAMED 
BY SARA HUMPHREYS – IN STORES NOVEMBER 2012

An ancient race of shapeshifters has lived secretly among humans for thousands of years...they are...the Amoveo

HER WORST NIGHTMARE IS COMING TRUE...

Layla Nickelsen has spent years hiding from her Amoveo mate and guarding a devastating secret. But Layla's worst fear is realized when the man who haunts her dreams shows up in person ...

HE HAS FINALLY FOUND HER...

William Fleury is as stoic as they come, until he finds Layla and his feelings overwhelm him. She won't let him get close, but then an unknown enemy erupts in violence and threatens everything Layla holds dear... EXCERPT

UNTAMED TRAILER

Sara Humphreys has been attracted to the fantasies of science fiction, paranormal, and romance since her adolescence when she had a mad crush on Captain Kirk. An actress and public speaker, Sara lives in Bronxville, NY, with her husband, who is very considerate of her double life, and four amazing boys. 

For more information about her books and to join her street team, please visit www.sarahumphreys.com or follow her on Twitter, @AuthorSara. 

DEFINING CHARACTERS

It's my pleasure to have contemporary fiction author and fellow blogger, Helen Ginger, as my guest today. Helen leads a busy life as an author, teaching public speaking and workshops, works as an editor, and book consultant. She is also an incredible resource for writers and bloggers alike. 

Today she talks a bit about defining characters through actions.

How do you define characters without saying, this person is strong or this person is mean or this person is reliable? If you're the author of the book, you don't say these things. You show their personalities through their actions. If you're reading a book, you come to know what kind of people they are through those actions.  Like in life, actions speak louder than words.

Angel, the main character in my book, Angel Sometimes, shows who she is over the course of the book. If you read the back cover blurb then you know that when she was 12 she was taken 800 miles from home and left on the streets. She was just a child, alone. But the book is not about her at 12; it's about her at 22. She's grown. She's an advocate for the homeless. She has friends. And she still has the plan to go home and confront her parents.

The streets made her strong. When she was 16, she hitchhiked to Austin, and found a help wanted sign at a bar/restaurant. Every day she waited outside for the owner to show up. Every day she asked for a job. Every day he said no, she was too young. On her 18^th birthday, he hired her. He had no idea how close she was to dying.

Because of the life she had growing up, she's what I would call an "old soul." She doesn't remember a time when she didn't work - and scrounging for food is work, an even harder job than she has swimming as a mermaid in the bar/restaurant. She's built a life for herself and for others that she's helped. But she hasn't forgotten the past. Nor has she forgotten her plan to go home.  All she needs is a car, her G.E.D, and a gun.

As a reader of Angel Sometimes, you live her life as an adult. You find out what happened to her as a child. When she goes home, you go along with her.

I define Angel as a strong person. Someone told me they saw her as an old soul. I've had readers ask when the next Angel book will be out. I hadn't planned on a sequel, but the more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if she has another tale to tell. After all, she is a survivor.

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, POWELLS

ANGEL SOMETIMES

Just before her thirteenth birthday, Angel Sometimes' aunt took her 800 miles from her home in Oklahoma, gave her $50 and left Angel on South Padre Island, Texas. 

Four years later, Angel hitchhiked to Austin and got a job swimming as a mermaid in a bar in the music district. At twenty-two, she has friends and a place to live. When a homeless girl is beaten and a waitress killed, Angel realizes she will never be whole until she confronts her parents. 

She needs three things: her high school diploma, a car and a gun. She has a car. She's finished her final test for her GED. The only thing she needs is the gun and she knows where to get one. 

Preview (on Amazon)

Helen Ginger is the author of Angel Sometimes, three non-fiction books with TSTC Publishing, and a contributor to the short story anthology, The Corner Café. She's also the Coordinator of Story Circle Network's Editorial Services.  Her free ezine, Doing It Write, which goes out to subscribers around the globe, is now in its thirteenth year of publication.  She’s also an Owner/Partner and Webmistress for Legends In Our Own Minds®. 'Course, what she gets asked about most often are her three years as a mermaid at Aquarena Springs. Swimming with a shimmery tail, picnicking underwater, performing synchronized ballet, blowing air bubbles ... all year round, even in the winter.  

You can follow Helen on Twitter  or connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and her blog, Straight FromHel .

BRINGING BACK THE SPARK—Writing Three-Dimensional

To me, the connotation of “spark” is putting life in your writing.  I think you can have a distinct voice and still not quite have the spark there. For me, it’s that moment when my characters become real, or come to life on the pages.  They act and react realistically, and not always as I may have originally envisioned the situation. It’s not so much you, the author, writing their lines…more like you as the author are channeling your character’s lives on to the pages of your story.

One of the ways I know I haven’t gotten the spark is when I've written something and there is that niggling feeling that tells me something isn't right or something is off in this scene.  It feels…flat.  Like I'm playing with paper dolls and moving them around the story. It might be that I’m trying to force my characters into a situation, or plot area, they wouldn't be in, or have them reacting in a way, given their backgrounds, they wouldn't  Or I’m trying to take the easy way out in solving their problems.

I think about how an actor approaches a role. As an actor, you have to step into your character, see who they are, how they react, understand what their goals are, what their motivations are, and what their conflicts are. Once you understand those things, then you know how these characters will act and react in pretty much any situation.  You have to be able to do that to portray them in a play or on the screen.  An actor can know the character they are depicting so well, that if a scene is rewritten they can and will argue it isn't right, the character wouldn't do this or that.

I think as a writer we need to do the same. We have to know our characters well to do justice to them. Some writers put together elaborate files on each character, likes, dislikes, favorite colors, etc.  My files aren't that elaborate. Many times I don’t have the character file when I start my story.  I do by the end of the story. I usually write the beginning of the story. My file grows as I write.  This is also where I dump exposition edits I've done that define my characters, things I need to know, but my reader doesn't.

There are times when something doesn't feel right but I can’t put a finger on it, other than my characters are feeling flat. It’s time for what I call Dr. Sia’s couch time. I put my characters on the psych couch and start analyzing them. I will sit down and write out each main character’s goals, motivations, external and internal conflict.  I do this with the villain too. By the time I’m finished, sometimes before I've finished, I usually have that ah-ha moment and I can see clearly where I went wrong. The black moment is in the wrong place, or I’m making it a soft gray moment rather than black, maybe my hooks to draw my reader forward are dull or indistinct—not good.  Seeing what’s wrong may also mean some rewrites but it puts me back on track and my characters and story again become three-dimensional. It makes their reaction to conflict sharper. Reaching their goals sweeter.  It makes a better story. 

Life is good again because my characters are back to being real people acting and reacting realistically.  They cease being paper dolls I dress and move around the story. The spark is back and the one-dimensional cardboard character is gone.

Writers:

How do you know the spark is missing?

What do you do to get the spark back in the scene or story?

IWSG—SURVIVING CRITIQUES

CRITIQUING: There’s a big difference in being honest and being brutal—constructive and destructive

When I got serious about my writing, and wrote my first novel, I made a cazillion mistakes. I was such a newbie. 

List of Participants

What saved me was entering a contest and in the course of that contest, I came into contact with real creative writers. That was my real prize—feedback and serious critiques, that and learning terms. What the hell did they mean when writers and judges would say ‘good bones’ and  ‘need to work on POV’? Keep in mind, I hadn't taken any writing courses in at least ten years and fiction-writing styles had changed considerably in that time. I didn't win the contest (which was a romance writing contest where you also received critiques from other writers and contestants) although I finished in the top 20% out of about 1200 entries. Not bad, considering the mistakes I made.

I like to receive honest critiques.  If something isn't working, I’d like to know that. I take my work seriously. I don’t hand my work to just anyone.  I tend to pick those who know what they’re doing, whose opinion I value, and who write the same genre or similar genre.   I like suggestions, questions, and I also love it when someone reads something that they really like or makes them laugh and they mention it. 

The contest taught me the need for a tough skin, which was reinforced by the first serious critique of my manuscript.  The poor thing about bled to death with all the red lining. CPR was difficult but it survived and so did I.  

But you know what?

She was right. 

She wasn't harsh, but she was to the point and honest. She’s a published author and one for whom I have a great deal of respect.

I've always said if you want someone to tell you your writing is wonderful, hand it to your family or your mother. I call that blowing sunshine and butterflies. 

You want honesty then give it to a fellow writer you respect. And then listen to what they say. Give yourself think about it a bit—once you get over the shock. 

And the sting to your ego.

When I critique, I’m never brutal or critique to hurt. I don’t believe in destructive critiques at all. There’s no point to them.  There’s a big difference in being honest and being brutal. Constructive critiques improve your writing or style. That’s what we want, suggestions or pointers on how to make the story stronger, make the characters more realistic, or how to plug those holes in our manuscript big enough to drive a Mack truck through.

I may have been writing all my life and won contests but that doesn't make me a great writer. Critiques will do that and the willingness to listen and learn.  A readiness to sharpen your craft and be willing to put your manuscript on a strict diet to trim away the excess fat so you can see those great bones in your writing.

• What has been your writing experience?

                                           How do you feel about critiques?

MONDAY MUSINGS: People Are Amazing

Most of this past week went by in a blur. I was glad I lived in the Midwest rather than on the east coast. The most exciting thing in our life was some of the neighbors cattle deciding to come stay in our pasture including one young bull who has made himself quite at home. My dogs are less than thrilled and bark long and loud at him. He just placidly munches grass and watches the show. The horses are cool with all four or five of the cattle. 

The bull is probably about 14 months old, I'd say, and pretty sweet tempered.  Thankfully. My fences aren't set up to hold nasty bulls. They tend to walk right through them. We're not sure which neighbor he belongs to. Best we can tell, he and a few others found our pasture from walking the creek and then climbing up the bank to our property. I reckon someone will come looking for him and the few other strays eventually. Meanwhile, hubs has walked them back down to the creek area, several times, to encourage them to find their way home—with little luck. Apparently, they like it here. 

On the work front, I work a call center in the appliance division. I enjoy the work and the people I work with. This past week was quite busy with Sandy slamming into the east coast. So many of our call center personnel were unable to work due to Sandy so the rest of us picked up the slack so it was understandably busy. Thousands of appointments had to be cancelled and rescheduled due to power outages. What made it harder was the techs are working overtime to get to everyone and so we’re booking two and three weeks out. Thursday and Friday were dealing with many who had electricity again but their appliances were even more wrecked than when they initially called. It tickled me to hear how some of these appliances had been standing in water and yet still worked. Pretty cool actually.

This week we will be even busier as more and more people get electricity and need their appliances checked after all the enormous electrical surges on the power grids. I’m glad I’m not in customer relations right now. Yikes, they’re incredibly busy and will continue to be so.

I heard so many stories, in the process of setting up or cancelling appointments, of living through such a huge storm. Neighbors pooling resources. The people with generators setting up kitchens and neighborhoods sharing food preparations for everyone—can you picture that? There were others providing shower facilities and setting one generator up just for electronic recharging. One woman I spoke with said her husband and some of the neighborhood men had set up outdoor showers in a garage. Who knew so many hoses could be used for that and shower heads out of cans and plastic coffee containers. They had also made bonfires and if I understood her correctly, they used the fire to heat barrels of water—I have no idea where they got the barrels. Isn't it amazing what people can come up with when they put their minds to solving problems. If you want to read some heartwarming stories, check out Hurricane Sandy Acts OfKindness page on Facebook.

So, how was life in your neighborhood this past week?

Any amazing stories you'd like to share from the storm area?  

DOUBLE TIME: Interview with Trey Mills.

It's my pleasure to have Olivia Cunning and Sinner's rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist, Trey Mills as guests. Trey is one sexy guy and between him and Dare, one tends to hyperventilate in their presence. Fortunately, Olivia was kind enough to bring a nice paper bag for me to breathe into. Thanks Olivia! 

Trey, I've often wondered why you didn't join your brother’s band? Exodus End is a really good band. Why the Sinners instead? And Darren is a hot one, in my opinion.

We’re just spreading the Mills’ brother talent around a little. We didn't think the world could handle that level of awesome all at once. Heh, just kidding. 

Sinners has a certain feel. Much more relaxed than Exodus End. Besides I’d rather play guitar alongside Brian. He’s willing to share the spotlight. My brother is a stage hog. A bit of a control freak. Thinks he needs to dominate every aspect of his life. Don’t tell him I said that. Besides, Dare was already establishing himself as a talented professional guitarist when I was thirteen-years-old. That will cramp any aspiring rock star’s style. Who wants to share a stage with a geeky kid? How was he supposed to know that I’d outgrow that look? Thank God, I did. Darren was always good-looking. The ass.

You’re known as quite a party animal. Men and women seem to be all over you. Rarely the same ones twice. Your dressing room door seems a bit revolving. How do you keep everything straight? Or do you?

I have a great memory. I never forget a good piece of a– I mean, I keep track in a database or something. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I've given that up. Don’t need it anymore.

I have to say, you’re looking a bit more relaxed, more at peace. I’m wondering if a sexy female rhythm guitarist might have something to do with it? New member of your brother’s band, isn’t she?

Reagan Elliot. She is working with Exodus End for the time being. Poor woman. I don’t think she’s realizes what a bunch of workaholics those guys are. Yeah, they play hard, but who has the energy to play when you work too much? There’s another reason to be in Sinners instead of my brother’s band. More play time.

Mind sharing a little bit about Reagan with us?

She makes me laugh. Amazing instrumentalist. You should hear her play. She’s also cute, if you like that outspoken, tom-boyish type. I totally do.

You were there during her audition, weren't you?

We couldn't see them during the audition. I thought she was Brian, lead guitarist of Sinners. I've never met anyone who could play like him, so when I did, well… it was lust at first solo.

Now, this might be a bit intrusive, but I heard her call you her boyfriend…? You, who will party anytime anywhere and with anybody, is now a boyfriend? This is going tick off some of your fans, you know.

I was just waiting for the right woman. Sure I had to try out a lot of them before I found the right fit, but I’m sure my fans will understand. Not that they have a choice.

But I've also seen her with a really hunky, yowsa, guy, Ethan. I thought he was her boyfriend? 

They used to date. He is a looker, isn't he? Now he’s her bodyguard. Every hot woman rock star needs a bodyguard.

One of the Sinners just became a father. You know there are quite a few people who think rock stars aren't supposed to be married, much less have children. That it’s not a healthy environment for families to flourish. Care to comment on that?

I’m not sure why anyone would think that. Rock stars are people, just like everyone else. It’s tough to have a family when you’re on the road a lot, but I have lots of friends in the business who have successful marriages and happy kids. I don’t plan to ever be one of them, but I know any one of my bandmates would make a great father. I mean, Sed wants eight kids. Eight kids? What in the world would you do with eight kids? I guess he aspires to be octodad and have his own reality show or something. And poor Jessica. Her lady parts will never recover from that.

Speaking of lead singer, Sed Lionheart, he mentioned that the days of “estrogen on the tour buses was just a temporary situation.”  At the time, both Myrna and Jessica were traveling on the tour bus. From what I saw recently, I’d say estrogen seems to still have a presence on the bus. In fact I caught a glimpse of a really hot woman, dressed in a pink waitress outfit with your band’s drummer Eric—she dropped her menu and I got a look at it. Wow, that’s quite a, um, unique menu selection there. Who is she?

That had to be Rebekah. She’s our front of house soundboard engineer. So she’s permanent part of the tour. She mixes the sound for our live shows. We’d keep her even if she didn't make our drummer, Eric, the happiest dude on the planet. Not sure what she’s sees in him. It can’t possibly be his lame sense of humor.

The band’s bassist, Jace, has been seen with a gorgeous, but tough looking, woman. Are they a couple? When did this happen?

Tough? Aggie’s a pussycat. It’s her darker side, who goes by Mistress V, that you have watch out for. When Mistress V is in her dungeon, she’ll drive you to your knees. Aggie was on tour with us in Canada helping Jace with his, um, little problem, but she hasn't been on tour with us since. Not that I minded having Aggie on the tour bus. She kicks ass. Literally. Don’t tick her off.

She has a dungeon? How do you know about it? Have you gone there yourself?

She and Jace give lessons to couples who want to explore the darker side of their sexuality. 

I couldn't wear these much now. Heels are too high
.

And maybe I've been there, maybe not. If you’re interested, I could give you her card. I think she’d train you to be an awesome domme, Sia. How’s your aim?

Awesome, huh? I have my own leather, thank you very much, and my aim is actually quite good, Trey. Of course, I’m not as good with my left as I am with my right. I need more practice. Are you volunteering?

Not me! But I'm sure Jace would volunteer.

As a popular band, what are some of the good things that have come your way? What would classify as a downside?

As far as I’m concerned, everything about being a part of Sinners been great. Amazing. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I get to hang out with my best friends and make music. I meet a lot of people all over the world. The fan adulation is rather nice.

I know you suffered an injury and had some problems not long ago…?

There have been a few dark spots on my cherry life. I suffered from a head injury a couple of years ago, which I thought was going to end my career, but it doesn't bother me these days. And I might have had a bit of a run-in with a painkiller addiction soon after that, but I wrote a song about it and the guys thought it was good enough for the new album. Writing it was very healing for me. I sing part of it onstage to remind myself how low rock bottom feels. Because I’m so far from rock bottom now, it’s hard to remember how dark things can become.

Currently, things are great. I can’t imagine life getting any better.

Trey, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. I wish you and Reagan the best!

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND

DOUBLE TIME--Sinners on Tour Series

He Craves Her Music and Passion

On the rebound from the tumult of his bisexual lifestyle, notoriously sexy rock guitarist Trey Mills falls for sizzling new female guitar sensation Reagan Elliot and is swept into the hot, heady romance he never dreamed possible.

She Can't Get Enough of His Body

Ecstatic to be on tour learning the ropes with Trey's band, The Sinners, Reagan finds she craves Trey as much as she craves being in the spotlight.

They Both Need More...

When Reagan's ex, Ethan Connor, enters the scene, Trey's secret desires come back to haunt him, and pleasure and passion are taken to a whole new level of dangerous desire.

Combining her love for romantic fiction and rock ‘n roll, Olivia Cunning writes erotic romance centered around rock musicians. 
  
You can find Olivia: 
  
Website, Blog, Facebook Fan page

.

MONDAY MUSINGS—IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ANATOMY

Getting the book discovered:

   Write a good book

                           Invest in a good editor

                                             Effective packaging

                                                                  Cover art is a selling tool

                                                                         Branding

… of the book. J

Sorry, folks, to tease you like that, but I've been asked to talk about what it takes to bring a self-published book to an author’s readership.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m both traditionally and self-published, and I own a business where I help authors get their books to market, www.formatting4U.com. It evolved because I was listening to authors on my loops talk about paying astronomical prices to have someone else do what I’d figured out how to do on my own. I couldn't see paying for it; I also couldn't see paying what those authors were talking about to have it done. So, I popped in to the conversation, said that I’d do it for $XX and dontchaknow? A few people contacted me.

The business has grown from a part time, help-out-my-fellow-author-and-earn-some-cash-doing-so hobby, to a business that I’m hoping to make full time. It’s grown from formatting books for Kindle, Nook and Smashwords, to more platforms, to doing print-on-demand layouts, to covers (both electronically and print), to editing, to PDF-to-text conversion, children’s books, and text books, services all requested by my growing client base. (Testimonials are at: www.formatting4U.com/testimonials).

The hardest part, of course, is writing the book...

So what all is involved? First, you have to start with a clean MSWord document. There are numerous theories and practices out there where people say you shouldn’t use a Word doc as your source, that you should convert to Kindle from Mobi Pocketcreator or Calibre and Sigil, to using Smashwords’ nuclear method, to a whole host of other options. And you know what? Each one is right for that individual. Depending on your level of technological know-how, you can find different ways to get your book online. There’s no one way.

This is actually the easy part of self-publishing. The hardest part, of course, is writing the book. The second hardest part is having your book get discovered online. If only I knew the secret to that…

The landscaping is changing daily on what works and what doesn't  Prior to June 2012, free promos worked well on Amazon. But they've changed their algorithms supposedly and I know from first-hand experience (with a book I put up under a completely different name and a different genre), as well as from fellow authors, that the KDP Select free promo days don’t have the same impact.



One of the biggest draws is going to be your cover...

So we have to look at all the other packaging for the book. One of the biggest draws is going to be your cover. You want to invest in a good cover artist. This is not the area to skimp. Actually, none of the areas are areas to skimp. You've spent how many hours writing the book and while I’m sure you love that you have a finished product, most of us do want people to buy it so we can recoup our investment and make some money. Spend money on an editor: you may only get one chance to capture the reader if you can get them to download your book. If you have shoddy editing, you’ll ensure they won’t pick up your next book.

Find a cover artist if you’re not familiar with graphics programs, or if you don’t have a good handle on marketing. Because covers are your selling tool. They need to look good in thumbnail sizes, they need to show the genre, and show your target audience that this book is one they will want to read.

There’s the front and back matter. Do you want to include cover quotes? Review quotes? A dedication? A glossary? Author bio/photo? Acknowledgments, dedication, links for other books in the series or your website? All considerations that help the reader experience and the author experience (if you can get the current reader to click over and buy your backlist/sequels, it’s definitely a good experience for your wallet!)

Branding is a consideration as well. I have two pen names. My light-hearted contemporaries (both paranormal and straight contemporary) are written as Judi Fennell and they have a certain look to them to give the reader a flavor of what they’ll get inside. As Raven Morris, my pseudonym for an erotic series entitled Tied with a Bow series, (The first book, JACKED, is free on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Kobo and AllRomance eBooks, and that, too, was a marketing decision), I created a hotter, sexier look since it’s erotic. But I branded those covers with the same font, the same swath of satin (but a different cover) and the sexy images.

I could go on (and Sia is probably wishing I wouldn't), but I do have these discussions with my clients. www.formatting4U.com isn't just a static, put-the-manuscript-in-the-engine-and-it-spits-out-a-digital-book-on-the-other-end type enterprise. 

It’s an interactive, interdependent relationship between the author and me, with full consideration given to the reader as the ultimate beneficiary from a job well done.

You may only get one chance to capture the reader, make it count. 

• Invest in a good editor. 
• Don't skimp on creating a cover.

 

You want your book to stand up to the competition—not fade out of the reader's sight.