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. :)
Book Covers, Book design, Writers

Choosing a Book Cover

6 Comments

2013-03-02 06.40.44

Every now and then someone will ask me to check out their book covers to give it a looksie and share my opionion on it. I enjoy doing this for in a small way I am helping a fellow author. Most of the time it is something small and nothing to write home about but that small change makes all the difference in world.

So why is it hard for me to look at a book cover for myself and feel totally lost? I am in the process of trying to further my work into the public eye. With the help of my amazing editor Nancy she has been helping me with book covers. Upon seeing what she came up with, I found something small. Asking me how would I like it, I had nothing. I mean I had absolutely nothing.

I know why it is easier for me to help others, I don’t have a stake in it. A book cover can be easily looked at and the little touch ups seem to just draw my eyes to them. Easy as pie for it is not mine. I see now why people ask me for my thoughts on this. To look objectively at one’s own writings and book covers is hard and the more eyes that see it the better to help this author in the best way possible

Asking my husband and son, and trust me I was desperate, they gave me some insight on what they thought. Even though they don’t get overly excited about my writings I felt they were the perfect candidates. People who were truly impartial and would tell me flat-out from yes this works to no.

While I am finally coming to a decision on what to tell Nancy I suspect this will repeat itself over and over again for me in the future. Well I hope so for that means my work is getting out there even if this little bit of frustration has to be dealt with to complete the journey.

 

 

 

 

TV shows, Viewers, Writing

Writers vs TV shows

15 Comments

2013-02-25 12.06.47

Actor #1:”Have you seen this woman?”

Actor #2:”No I have not.”

Actor #1: “Have you seen this man?”

Actor #2:”Did he kidnap her?”

Now hold the phone. How can you make a leap like that? Maybe they ran off together. Perhaps they are both missing. There is a chance she did something to him? It is not a small leap but to me it is still one.  As time goes by and I try to improve my craft of being an author I am noticing things that use to not faze me when it came to tv and movies. I now see loose ends, scenes that don’t connect the dot and leaps of faith that I can not wrap my mind around.

This same show had the main character and a detective at the Arctic Circle. The submarine falls into the waters and the car that the bad guy came in well kinda of got blown up. The bad guy runs toward the airplane, our hero’s only way out, leaving the two stuck on the tundra. Could these two have flown a plane we do not know since the bad guy killed the pilot. However the very next scene you see the two arriving by helicopter atop some building of the city they live in. Hello? Bridge the gap somehow. All that would have been needed was a line or two about how this occurred but no the audience was not privy to this. So we have to make assumptions how it happened.  Stuff like this use to just fly by me and I rarely paid attention, the times I did I just went with it and kept watching. But now that I am editing and revising and learning from various avenues of writing groups and so on stuff just does not go by me as readily as before.

I was all prepared to send this blog post out until last night another show got me thinking. The program “The Following” is one that I been watching from the get go. I do enjoy watching it with my son. But last night the episode got me thinking. The premise of it is that anyone unknown to the viewers can be a follower of the main bad guy Joe. So the suspense is we never know when his crew will be revealed to us. This was fascinating to me at first. But now it seems to just carry a plot that has no substance.

Indulge me if you will. Last night the bad guys were surrounded by the FBI, cops, a SWAT team and so on. Yet every one got out okay since they had infiltrated the law. That got me thinking. Anytime the bad guys are in trouble all they have to do is make one of the good guys a follower which then helps them get out of the jam. That got me a bit ticked and made me think that their plot is a little bit weak if they are always relying on unknown followers to get them out of a bind if they can’t reasonable do it on their own. Got a problem no worries. Make a follower appear and viola all is good again. I know this is just me rambling on but again I relate this back to my being a writer. I see things differently then I use to before.

Granted I am not familiar with scrip writing for films and tv shows so maybe there are rules I am just missing here. True this does get in the way of me enjoying some shows as I dissect it from beginning to end not enjoying the show but instead fussing as I yell at the tv, “ Come on are you kidding me?”

But I will take this as a good thing. That means I am improving my craft. And also it is one less show for me to watch giving me more time to watch shows that make more sense to me. When I watch a film or tv I want to be taken away. I want to forget the crap that is going on in life and just for a few minute enjoy what I am viewing not tearing it down bit by bit. Those are still out there waiting for me with a side of popcorn by my side and a cold drink in my hand.

Cockatiels, Family, Twpiece

Twopiece

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TwoPiece-1

A lot of people have asked me how my first bird ended up with his name.  Twopiece and Maxie came home with me in the spring of 1998. Their previous owner had returned them. Why I do not know. Their age was unknown as well as their names.

While Maxie was named by my young son her bonded mate was a different story. As in most families that include pets naming is something major. You can’t just give the animal any name. This takes some thinking. There are times that some names just fall into place and suits the animal.

When my son named Maxie she well looked like a Maxie to my son so it was a no brainer. Twopiece was different. I was in the car with my husband and a friend one day.

Me: “I can’t seem to think of the right name for my male tiel.”

Friend; “ I know what you can call him.”

Me: “Really? Go on.”

Friend: “You should call him Twopiece. He is about the size of a two piece chicken meal deal at KFC”

All of us busted out laughing for it just struck us as funny and we continued to where ever we were going. But that did stick for every time I looked at my little male bird that name kept coming up. He was not particularly very big. Maxie was twice his size.

Approaching him one day I said, “Good Morning Twopiece.”

He looked up and started to sing. Now of course this is not earth shattering but the name suited him so well. It has stuck and now I can’t even remember the other names I had tossed around in my head after bringing him and Maxie home.

Twopiece is not the average name one would call a pet regardless of the species but I can truly not see him being called anything but this. It fits him like a glove..