Category Archives: Writing thoughts

A blog about the topics of writing, Writing thoughts

A day in the life of my main character: Our Amazon parrot, Jasper

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Have you ever wondered what your main character would do if they existed in real life?

Recently, I wrote a guest post on a day in the life of Jasper. He is the main character in my Jasper, Amazon parrot series.

We rescued Jasper in 1999.

For the life of me, reminding myself how we existed before our birds is difficult. You see, I started to rescue birds in 1998.

But I digress.

I started to write about a day in the life of Jasper. I will give a short excerpt here. When I guest post for someone, I will share and promote it. It is out of respect and gratefulness for someone who gave me the time and effort to shine a light on Jasper and me.

From A Blue Million Books, the excerpt. The link to the entire post is at the end.

So, what is a day like in the life of Jasper?

I get up roughly at 5:25 am. My husband and I leave by 6 to go for our morning walk. Hearing my footsteps, Jasper will race down his cage, across the ladder that connects to the rail, goes to the very end by the stairs, and go vertical. He will get face down, tail in the air as he waits for me.

The point of that is he is ready for his morning pat. It is required of me to pat him at least 100 times. Rule number one says so. The point of me doing this as I pat him is to check his wings, breastplate, eyes, nostrils, feet, tail, back, and overall check. Birds tend to hide their sickness. By the time you notice that they are sick, it could be too late. It is a bonding moment for us. He loves it and expects it.

“Thank you,” is said when we finished.

He might say, “Hello, hello, hello.”

It all depends on his mood.

After, he will race to his cage. It is time to be fed. It does not matter that I have a routine to feed my other birds. In his mind, he needs to eat first. That includes clean water and food. Rule number two is complete.

But while he is eating, Cartoon Network needs to be turned on for him to enjoy. If not, then Nat Geo or a favorite movie of his. He does enjoy watching MMA and football. I have not figured out yet why. Now, you are not to walk in front of the TV or stand in front of it. Rule number three is complete.

Once he is done eating and is back in front of the TV, he will groom himself. It is necessary for birds. With him being a large bird, this can take quite a while to go over each feather. It takes a good portion of his time during the day, especially if it is that time of year when he is molting.

If the sun is shining through the window by his cage, he will place himself either on our kitchen table or on his circular stand to enjoy the rays and a small nap, which can vary in length.

Now I am allowed to work at the kitchen table. But with that comes my bird wanting to help me. Do I need help? No. Does it matter? No. Jasper offers it happily. Rule number four is to be a helpful bird. Even if that means walking on top of the papers to tell me hi, so be it.

https://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.com/2020/11/guest-post-with-sharon-c-williams.html

A blog about the topics of writing, Writing thoughts

Having people blog for you: Ramona Mead

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For the second time, I had someone guest post on one of my blogs. It was fun going back forth with the blogger as she came up with an article for me. It was my way of saying thank you for her hosting me on her site earlier.

When we help each other, we are helping ourselves. It is a theme I preach on often. Working as an author can be solitary. So, reaching out to others gives us contacts and a camaraderie that only they get.

It is something I need to do more, especially when it is a win-win for both parties. The authors do the heavy lifting while also sharing my site. I return the favor.

Authors I have come across have not always agreed with my assessment of working with other writers.

It’s okay. Maybe, the author will learn in time, and perhaps not. How will I answer the next time I’m questioned? It’s simple. I know how to work with others. You know, kind of how we learned as kids growing up.

Ramona wrote about what it takes to be a book blogger. I learned a lot from her post and, hopefully, my readers will enjoy. I feel they will.

So, here is the link to showcase a new friend who is the same business as me.

https://mainemuse.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/1878/

A blog about the topics of writing, Writing thoughts

Prefixes: Do you write them for your books?

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I am not a fan of prefixes in a book. I normally will go to page one of a novel. Than I became a hypocrite and tried to write one for one of my books. It did not fare well for me or for people who read it.

I picked up a book on writing I received from a friend for my birthday. I was impressed, to a certain degree, how long the prefix. It was 37 pages. Seriously, 37 pages is what this author wrote.

I thought of reading it but left it alone. Sadly I have read books where the prefixes have been longer. Is there a need to write such a long one? What is the point? The goal?

On occasions I have read prefixes when they have been under 10 pages but that is not the norm for me.

As I write this post I decided to skim the book to see what was mentioned. I didn’t get too far.

To date it has never interrupted my love of reading or understanding any book when I have skipped to page one.

I understand the point of a prefix, I do. I just don’t get why a whole chapter, or in some cases two, of text is needed before a novel of fiction.