All posts by NewEngland_Muse

I'm a traditionally and self published author. I write in the genre of children and YA at the moment but working my way up to adults. I'm a sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to my own enjoyment. I love to laugh even at myself. I am also owned by 8 birds and 2 hamsters, and yes they know it. :)
NaNoWriMo 2014, Writer, Writing frenzy

NaNoWriMo 2014

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I attempted NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2011 and won. The following two years I was successful as well. This year however I didn’t try at all. I knew with what was on my plate I might not have a chance to win. And for me personally it’s all about the win. Granted we don’t win much apart from five copies of your book and bragging rights. Trust me, bragging rights is pretty darn sweet.

I’m glad I made this mental decision before November. On the first and second we had a writer’s conference in town. The next four days I was at a writer’s retreat, half of which I was sick. Getting home on Thursday the 6th, I contracted a virus from hell which laid me out for 10 days. This brought me to November 16th which was already half of the month done.

In the three years I have won NaNo the first year I did it in 21 days, the other two in two weeks time. So it was plausible I could buckle down and make a serious go at it. But I decided not to chance it. Knowing I would going down to visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving would mean losing three days.

I am happy for all of you who made the attempt and won. I am also happy for everyone who made a serious go of it. Everyone has their own personal goal. My friend Robin calls it NeedToWriteMo in which she tries to write every day of November which I feel is a commendable goal.

But for me it’s all about the win about the win.

Sharon C. Williams, Social Platform, Youtube channel

My YouTube Channel

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There are many ways to promote ourselves and our books. I been working on my author’s platform for a number of years now and have a good grip on the areas I work on. Granted it took a lot of time and effort in the beginning but now I just do touch up once or twice a week.

A new format that I been trying to improve on is YouTube of which I do have a channel. It’s still small with some videos of Jasper and of my books but it is a good avenue for people to check me out. I need to spend more time on this aspect of promoting myself. You can show anything that pertains to you. In my case I have videos of my main character, I have videos of me signing my contract, and other videos of my birds.

It’s a good way for my readers to learn a bit about me for I think we will all agree the easier a reader can relate to an author the easier the bond will form between the two. I know that is how it works for me and with the authors I go gaga over. You know the ones: Stephen King, James Patterson, Agatha Christie and Bentley Little. Granted Madame Christie is no longer with us but the others I watch and observe what they do to make me adore them so and hopefully I can apply those methods to my own works.

So here is the link if anyone wants to take a gander at and perhaps subscribe to.

https://www.youtube.com/user/NewEnglandMuse/videos

Writer's retreat, Writers mingling, Writing

Writer’s Retreat

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Before I got sick, I was honored to be invited to attend a writer’s retreat in South Carolina. Joining me were three wonderful ladies and writers. We were just off the beach, maybe a two-minute walk, maybe. It was wonderful for on one side was the beach as you heard the seagulls and waves crashing while on the opposite side of the condos were marshes which included herons and cranes.

It was beautiful, peaceful and a great change to write. What was really nice was the four of us moving as one. The first day found my friend Seven, yes that is her name, on the patio writing, I was on the beach writing while the others were in separate rooms doing the same thing. And we just shift from room to room, beach to marsh, patio to the porch and so on and so on. We would gather at night to talk about what we wrote, read what we wrote as we broke into food, games and giggles.

It was short and went by to dang fast. But it was a wonderful time to get away from electronics and work on a passion we all share, writing.

 

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