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. :)
Published, Sharon C. Williams, Writing anniversary

My Writing Anniversary

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2013-04-19 10.28.47A year ago, on March 13th, a publisher out of San Francisco gave me the news that a lot of us wants to hear. She wanted to publish my book, Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure, and it would be released later on in September.

The year has flown as edits were done repeatedly to get the book in shape. At the illustrator’s request, an onslaught of pictures were sent to her of Jasper. Various samples were created as I pondered which one I wanted to use. The release day was an experience I can’t put into words but it is one that I will carry with me for a long time. We even had a “Oh my gosh your book got picked up,” get together with some of my fellow writers.

The book has done well. It has traveled to Denmark,England, Scotland, India and right here in the US. I have had a third grader put down his electronic toy so he could read the book until it was his bedtime. The reviews have really warmed my heart. In a year since the book was picked up, I have won a literary grant, released a book, Dragons in the Attic, with my writers group and have submitted to my editor two books: Jasper:Rainforest Friends and Family and Squirrel Mafia. While waiting for them to come back I have written half of volume three to my Jasper series. I won NaNoWriMO in 2013 for the third straight year, have attended two writing conferences while being interviewed a number of times. As of March 12, 2014, Dragons in the Attic made the Amazon Best Sellers list in three categories. The highest ranking was nine.

As an author, it has been a crazy year. It has taken a lot for me to consider myself an author. That day in March was the beginning of when I could say to myself I was on my way. How far I will go depends on me and what life has to say about it when it comes to my family, health and issues that always likes to knock us down. But now I have found my dream. Where it will take me I will find out soon enough.

I have a plaque that I have mentioned a few times on this blog. It says “Dream Big” and it has been one of my mantras for a long time. But then again, I have been a dreamer my whole life as my mind fills with adventures just waiting to happen. Dream big everyone, regardless of what that dream is, just start doing it.

Echo smat pen, Gadget, Writing

A Writer’s Friend:Echo smart pen

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This is my new best friend. It’s the Echo smart pen. Thanks to the literary grant I won last November, I was able to purchase this marvel and the accessories that go with it.

Let me give you a short history of my writings. I write all my books and short stories by hand. I am more creative this way then sitting in front of my computer. The times I have tried to do it via computer from the get go proved futile with nothing being written. As someone who has fibromyalgia where repetitive motion or action activates a fibro attack, this can wreak havoc on one’s body and one’s writings. I was introduced to the Dragon program. This little nifty item allows one to speak into a microphone as the computer types out what you are saying.

AWESOME!

Well it would be awesome if it worked for me. Getting the program, I was so excited to give it a try to save my arms, shoulders and neck from the pain. It didn’t work. Either I spoke to fast or my accent was getting in the way. It didn’t help that my husband and son gave it a whirl and they had no problem being understood. Lovely.

It was not until recent that I came across smart pens as I prepped the proposal and proper forms as I applied for a literary grant in 2013. According to the reviews and information gathered online this was the way to go for me. For you see in theory you would use the pen to write your stories, notes or what have you on paper designed for this pen. The software program that one uses for the pen would translate it into text for you. Which would eliminate me having to type up my stories. It also had a recording function to where you could speak into the microphone and again the software would translate it into text. I was weary of this but used some of the grant money to purchase the pen.

Trying it out for the first time this week, I’m happy to report it works amazingly well. In fact it works better than the Dragon program. It understood every word I wrote or spoke and translate it with ease.

AWESOME!

This is a wonderful piece of equipment that will save me time and pain as I translate my manuscripts into text. If you are in the same situation that I was you might want to check this out. My new best friend is named Jake and may he and I have lots and lots of fun together.

Author, Free Publicity, North Carolina Writers Network

Free Resources:Big and Small

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The literary grant I received gave me the ability to join the SCWBI and the North Carolina Writers Network. With that comes opportunities. On March 3rd  the NCWN gave me on their site two shout outs. One for my book, Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure and the other was for my winning a literary grant last November. These were free and part of being a member.

Even if I get no sales from this, so what? Seriously, so what? My name got shout out to the huge memberships of this organization. We as authors got to take advantage of any free publicity that is out there, regardless how small it is. Every bit helps.

In December of last year, the writing group I formed released an anthology. We are very proud of it. But it doesn’t end there. A local library will be hosting us on March 25th to talk about our book. But not only that. We will read excerpt from it and discuss topics on writing. I will be talking about traditional publishing versus self publishing. At the end of meeting, we will have an opportunity to sell our wares and any other books we may have written. I get to show off all my writings and all that is required is a few hours of my time. SCORE.

Again every bit helps. I am constantly trying to come up with ways to get my name and brand out. I don’t turn down an idea. I will mull it over in my head a million difference ways to see if it is doable. This is our lives as authors. If not, it should be. Baby steps lead to wonderful things. It is all about perspective.

If we let go of the small steps that can help us, the leap from one big thing to another may result in us falling between the steps. I don’t like to fall, so I will go with baby steps.