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. :)
Award, Very Inspiring Blogger Award, Writing

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

13 Comments

Recently I received this award from fellow author Gale Martin, http://galemartin.squarespace.com

Gale thank you so much this is the first time my blog has won this award. Things like this do make me smile. It is nice to know people read my ramblings.

Well as with some awards come rules.

Here are the Rules of the Award Blog:

-Display the award logo on your blog post.
-Link back to the person who nominated you.
-State 7 things about yourself.
-Nominate 15 bloggers to the award. (Rules can be broken and this is one of them. Do what works for you)
-Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back. With so many forms of communication this can be adjusted to however you notify the winners.

Seven things about me

1- I love sweet ice tea. As a New Englander raised on hot tea this was a true treasure when I moved to the South.

2- I can’t grow pansies. It does not matter if they are seeds, seedlings to full-grown plants. I can grow just about any plant around unless it is a pansy. The plant just does not like me.

3-I am an avid sports fan much to the frustration of my family.

4- I am left-handed.

5- I am of French origins.

6- My birds own me I can be honest about that.

7-I have two short stories published in an anthology. Something I am still proud off.

Now that was not so bad was it?

Ok now to think who to pass this on to. I will be mixing it up. Some of the links below are to people I love to hear from to my new followers. I want to thank them both for reading the topics I write about.
Melonie

http://meloniekydd.wordpress.com

Shannon

http://shannonathompson.com/

Tiffany

http://tiffanyawhite.wordpress.com

Merry

http://merryfarmer.wordpress.com

Susie

http://susielindau.com

Tracy

http://tracyjamesjones.wordpress.com

Rosemary

http://rosemaryarmel.wordpress.com

Authors, Pen names, Writing

Pen Names

9 Comments

2013-03-08 10.07.35

 

How many of us as writers have pen names?  A fellow writer friend who has done rather well for herself with her ebooks has several, one for each series she writes. As I am starting to get some of my work out there I wonder about the pros and cons to having a different name. Researching this online I came across the basic good and bad points from other authors.

Pros

-If your name is hard to spell

-You are shy and it is a way to hide behind a new name

-You are trying a different genre that is outside of your comfort zone thus giving you freedom

-Privacy

-You can write about any topic

Cons

-No one will know it is you

-You can get lost in the shuffle between social medias of your pen name versus your real name

-Less credibility as an author

-Confusion between the pen name and your name for family and friends. Especially if you have more than one.

These seemed to be the main reasons to have or not have a pen name.  When I approached one of my writing groups about it one of them said it plainly.

“You are just starting out. No one knows you or your work yet.”

But now that I think on it that could be in the pro list. As I go about the edits and book covers I realized though once they are released I would either have to inform people it is me through the social platform I have in place or start from scratch. But in doing that I might lose the contacts I have made over the last two years.  I am truly not sure what I am going to do. The thought of a pen name excites me it’s just so cool in my mind. I have even played around with what names I would use if it ever came to that.

I will have to think hard on this for I am honestly not sure at the moment.

Fuel tank, Gas, Life

Gas

2 Comments

2013-02-19 09.08.09

I had to take a picture. It is not every day that my fuel tank hits the big F lately with the ridiculous gas prices we have been seeing the last few years. My poor car did not know how to react. Normally I put in half and try to minimize where I go. But we all know there are those times you just can’t.  There are the days I go to my doctor in Winston Salem. That trip alone is close to three hours away. Due to my recent surgery I have gone up three times by the time February rolled on out.

Every time I drive up to the gas station the drill is the same. Put enough to get at least half so I feel that I have some breathing room. It is rare I have enough at one time to fill up the tank. I tend to logic it away why I should not fill it up.

For some reason beyond my control the minute that feat is accomplished is when hubby needs to use it for the space. Or rather events come up that requires we drive outside of our area. It just seems to know and the gate ways open giving me little option of saving my gas as long as I can.

It sucks for all of us. The reason for this momentous occasion was simple. I have redone my budget, an ongoing event for me, to where I earmarked money for gas. Since I have done so twice my car has been happily overfed and it is starting to enjoy that feeling. I would love for Jr. to get use to it. Time will tell.

For the moment I still get a tiny woohoo when I see the fuel gauge at F. Oh it is the small things in life that makes us smile right?