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. :)
Author, Book Review, Stephen King

The Colorado Kid

2 Comments

books

The review for today is “The Colorado Kid” by Stephen King. The genre is crime fiction.

The basis of this story is set in Maine. Two old newspaper men and a young woman who is interning at their paper start discussing unsolved mysteries from the area. The Colorado Kid is a story that has never been solved, it leaves more questions than answers.

A man leaves for work in Colorado and ends up dead on a beach in Maine a few hours later. There are little clues to the journalist who are interested in the case. The dead man has no relatives or any apparent connection to the area. So why did he travel to the island? And what exactly killed him?

This short novel is 178 pages. Being a King fan and also of the show Haven, which is based on this book, made me pick up the book for my book club. I’m not sure I like the ending for there is no clear solution to the mystery. While not every book will end in the way that is acceptable to you, I wanted answered for this one. You get none. It’s a mystery that can only be solved in one’s own mind.

Author, Literary Grant, Writing

Literary Grant

4 Comments

bag_of_money_clip_art_18777

Last Fall I applied for a literary grant and learned afterwards I’d won. The grant was open to everyone from the county. I was one of the seven who were rewarded with a grant. My thinking was, all they can say is no. Seriously that was the worse they could say to me was my thinking as I filled out the forms needed to apply. I received the check this week, 80% of it that is. Once I finish the project and show the council the receipts they will reimburse me for the remaining 20%.

But now I get to spend other people’s money without having to pay it back. That is amazing as I get to be a writer in a store of supplies where the only limits is one’s imagination.

What I included in my proposal:

-Membership in the SCBWI

-Membership in the NCWN

-Upgrade of my website

The physical aspect involved me getting a smart pen which I am so excited to purchase and receive. For someone who writes all their stories by hand and then retyping it, this is huge. It will save me the time and energy of having to type all over again. With the smart pen I will purchase just about every accessory that one can possible get.

For someone who has tried the Dragon program repeatedly this is gold. The more I tried to train the program the more it hung and paused basically thinking, “What the heck did she just say?” I talk fast and I mean fast. Plus my Northern and now Southern accent does not help. So the next best thing short of having someone sit here and type as I speak, is this pen.

This grant will help me move my career and brand forward with the contacts from the two organizations and being able to bring more of my stories to text. I plan to apply for more grants when time permits.

To the people who told me I was wasting my time and that I did not fit the requirements for it, I’m glad I didn’t listen. I’m glad I stuck to my guns and my mantra of, “All they can say is no.”

Author website, Change, Wordpress

Changes:How do we handle them?

Leave a comment

best-free-wordpress-themes

I’m fortunate that there are free websites for me to use for my author’s page. I use WordPress. It gives me enough widgets and space to profile myself and my brand. I do like to change it up a bit with the color, pictures and format of the page.

However, last Friday it was changed for me. I released a post in the early morning. Going back around 11:30 to check on something I saw my page was different. The reason being the theme had been deactivated by the site. Not only that but my side bars went with it.

Yes I went ballistic. I was in the process of wrapping up edits for my book, “Squirrel Mafia”, so I could send it off to my editor. But this stopped me cold. I’ve been working on my social platform for at least three years, maybe four, now and every sites revolves around the other sites I go to. It had to be fixed, pronto. In my mind, there was no other thought. For the next three hours I tried different themes trying to get one I’d be happy with. I posted on FB my displeasure. I reached for a Pepsi as I fussed, complained and talked to the computer about my frustration. What I have now I like to call a WIP. I’m not quite happy with it, though people have told me it looks fine. Maybe it will grow on me.

Change. How do we handle change, whether they be small or big? Does this depend on our age or our environment or perhaps how we were raised? Things that use to bother me in the past rarely is a blimp on my radar now while others will get me stalled for a bit. How we choose to handle each situation varies from each situation and hopefully we learn from each experience as we move along in life.

Yes this was a small bleep for me. It showed me a bit of myself in how I interact with the big and little. But it also showed me that I would keep at it until it was solved or to do the best I can.

I was told by a friend, “Sharon you are grace under fire – I like that about you LOL!” I like that, even if it means having to go through trials to get to this point.