brain Archives - Author K. Williams

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #52

Tools Every Writer Needs

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are always grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors will engage and impress you weekly, so be prepared to become a regular reader.

This makes me feel like I’m showing my hand, but I am sure I’m not alone in using the tools of the trade, not to mention that I insist on helping other writers. When I was struggling up through the ranks, which seems an endless journey because even now I am struggling to move even higher, there was no one to really guide me. Sure there were teachers and professors and gads of advice on the burgeoning new internet. Very little helped. I mean that, wholeheartedly. That’s could be why you, budding writer, are struggling. Good help is hard to find.

The writing world, believe it or not, is loaded with people who want to trip you up, delay you, and even completely stop you. There are those who feel that there are only so many seats at the table, and their job is to be the Maitre d’of La Maison d’Écrivain. Why? Because the struggle is real and so is paying some serious dues. People believe that you should have to do the same as they did to get wherever they are in your shared fields. It makes them feel better.

For me, I get it. I want to save other authors that heart and soul crushing portion of the journey. The last thing we need on our plate is the world against us. Writers are sensitive, as they are authors, and constant opposition can kill their stride.

The tools that I use, without further adieu…

Webster’s Dictionary App (Go to your app store, and download it if you don’t have it already. It’s free.)
Thesaurus.com – stop using words over and over again.
A good computer with good back up drives. – I can’t emphasize this enough. I used to love a fresh notebook and new pen, but at some point, the manuscript will need to be typed up. It’s flat out easier to start in word processing program than to try and prop your notebook or papers beside your monitor and copy. It’s painfully slow and makes the process of writing your book oppressive. That’s the last thing you want happening around you and your writing. Ritual or not, and I had them, go with the computer not the notebook. You can always print pages. If you’re afraid of losing your files, which I have also done, get a good back up drive with lots of memory and back up often.
Time Management Skills – You’re going to need to figure out when is the best time to write, as well as taking time to relax and live your life, along with working and researching–eventually, you’ll need to add marketing to your calendar, if you can’t afford to pay someone.
Budgeting skills – as I mentioned above, there is an expense coming along with writing, if you intend to publish or not, because the tools you’ll need cost money (that computer isn’t free).
Internet research skills – not just for your topics, but ways to reach out to agents, editors, designers, publishers and your market.
Image/Photo management software – Photoshop is a priceless piece of software, and it costs a pretty penny. There other image tools available, but this is the one I use and I adore it. I took a class through a University I used to work for to learn all about it. Thankfully, that class was free to me as an employee. If you’re lucky enough to work for an employer that will provide improvement courses, take them.
1. You’ll use it to make marketing materials,
2. manage your head shots (which you should get professionally done, don’t rely on selfies).
3. and even design your covers (if you can’t afford a designer).
4. Making quotes/memes is a great way to engage readers.
Coding Skills – You don’t need to be able to code the next great video game, but understanding some basic code can save you a lot of effort, frustration and money. I learned the basics that I consistently use during an active stint on deviantArt.com, where I needed to use it to do my journals and fancy up the descriptions on my submissions.
Snacks and Beverages – Remember to eat right and drink plenty of water. Your health is your greatest asset to a long career.
Your Brain – Don’t abuse it. Your brain is what allows you to do this. Drugs and alcohol in excess aren’t going to open up your brain cells. You want to smoke a little, drink a little, that’s entirely different. But, I’m not getting into this debate here.
A job you can love that can help you pay for your writing while you wait to become a bestseller. – I think you get why, because of the previous entries. There are things you’ll need to buy and maintain, but also investing in yourself is going to help you get to your goal.

I hope the eleven items above will help you on your journey. Let’s go over and see what the other writers have to say. You can’t ever get too many tips from which to glean things that ring true with you and your style.

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♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #42

Personal Experience.

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are always grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors will engage and impress you weekly, so be prepared to become a regular reader.

This prompt has a couple of opportunities for me. I could speak about my experience in the publishing world. Or, I could reveal a very personal moment from my past. Just because the latter sounds much more exciting, I think I will go with that one!

A couple of years ago, I was lying in bed, probably half asleep but feeling like I wasn’t getting there fast enough. Sometimes, I just lay there with my brain going a hundred miles an hour on everything at once. Most mornings, I wake up more tired than when I went to sleep. It takes a lot of effort to even lift myself up from the mattress.

If you’re familiar with my books, then you probably already know that I have quite the imagination. This mind of mine has been like this since I can remember. It wasn’t something I developed. The operating system came with the model. That said, I am absolutely positive that what happened on the night I’m about to discuss was 100% real.

How do I know? I have a roommate. I know, right! Writing isn’t always the glamorous thing you imagine. There are bills to pay. I have struggled for a long time to achieve promotions where I work (they are done through testing and lists and I am competing with thousands, many who have seniority points and good relationships with those who can move them up. I am not well connected, it seems and have had to achieve on my merit alone. I am not dismissing the hard work of other people. The fact is there are few opportunities and too many to fill them). Without opportunity, my income hasn’t been what it should be for my education level. Anyway, that is why I have a roommate—we’re sharing an apartment to afford the high cost of Upstate New York living. Things are on the up, though! Slowly but surely tucking away that house down payment.

Back to the experience (although that bit above is personal experience in its own right).

I am not one to believe in coincidence. Neither am I one to not believe in them. I am fair minded—a mix of Mulder and Scully (I’ve been told I look like Scully, so maybe I’m their recalcitrant daughter. Weirder shit has happened). Keep that in the back of your mind as I share the tale. It’s very much an X-Files (1993) moment.

I had been asleep, or trying to sleep for a few hours. I am not sure what time it was, probably after 1 AM. I woke up startled. A cold dread slipped over me as I lay in bed, too warm to keep the blankets on, but too terrified to kick them off. I reached for Sadie, to pet her as it usually soothes my night terrors (yes, I have those—at least, I wake up in a sweat for no reason, startled and scared. It could be a hold over from abuse. It could be a bad bit of gravy. Likely it’s caused by a dream my brain immediately forgets but leaves me with the souvenir of the horrible feelings I was having).

At that moment, Sadie’s head popped up and she stared into the corner of my room.

Now, it’s best to understand my space. My room is kinda small. There is no place for anything to stand in it that wouldn’t be obvious. I feel claustrophobic most times. I was spoiled growing up with a very large room and a comfortably sized home. My parents provided well for me and my brother. My apartment is about the size of my old bedroom and maybe the old kitchen, the top floor of an old house. So, whatever Sadie is staring at could only be about six feet or so from me (2 feet from my feet). I wrapped the blankets tighter, sweating like hell. The feeling usually subsides in a few minutes and I get up to go to the bathroom to shake it off and get a drink. I’m not moving, though. Sadie is growling low.

Then, all of a sudden, I hear a wolf howl. I freeze, eyes wide. My heart is pounding. Sadie braces at my side, then pushes up on her front paws to sit. Her head is cocked, listening. She’s still staring into the corner. The howl came from that corner. Outside my room? In that corner of the living room?

Wait, how the hell is a wolf in the middle of my city? How is this happening? Was it Sadie and she woke herself up from a dream? No. She doesn’t sound like that.

I sit up and the room appears to lighten a little. Another howl happens. Sadie growl-barks toward the door of my room. This time the howl sounded a bit distant. My fear turns to excitement. How the hell did what happened just happen?

As someone who spends a bit of time advocating for wolves, I now the difference between dog howls and wolf howls. It was no coyote either, not at all yippy. I may be living in the city, but I grew up in rural New York. I know wolf howls. This was a wolf.

Running through all the possibilities, I think of all the dogs in the area—not one is a hybrid. Yes, I do live near enough to rural areas, but for them to dare to come into the city would be a death sentence by frightened human beings and an animal control unit that doesn’t see the value of these animals. We are the State that slaughtered a whole herd of Bison for breaking out of their farm. We’re well populated by yahoos that can’t wait to shoot a high profile predator or large animal, harboring a blood lust that should disturb not inspire.

Recently, I had completed my initial work on the Trailokya Trilogy. Wolves feature prominently in the narrative. The reason they do, before you go on and say, well that’s it! You were dreaming it all—The reason is that I dream about them often and work on social media to advocate for them. I have been advocating for wolves for a long time because of a deep spiritual connection I have had with them since I was just a little kid.

In my ancestor’s Europe, the wolf was slaughtered to near extinction. They are just starting to make a comeback, but the old ways still hold sway. Whereas Native Americans saw them as teachers and spiritual emissaries, respected the wolf and used his medicine, my people were almost always scared of them. The wolf was either a devil or a symbol of power. Many confuse the super predator for a dangerous man-eater. Wolves would rather avoid man, probably because genetic memory has left them with a sense of fear against us for the same reasons. We slaughtered them every where we went. We made hats out of them, capes, boots…Viking lore teaches us about Fenrir who will rend the world. Celts bore the wolf as a dark and powerful symbol, much like the Starks of Game of Thrones (2011). The wolf for my ancestors was strength and a dangerous foe to make. He was also the progenitor of all our Sadie Sues.

Being a dog mom, always and forever a dog mom, I see more and more my connection to their wild counterparts. Certainly the two are quite different, and yet they are quite the same. It’s such an odd dichotomy. Anyway, it is these connections that made me so excited to have heard what I heard.

At this point, I jumped up from bed and went into the living room and looked in the corner half expecting Argus to be standing there. The room was silent—empty. My roommate sleeps with her door open, so her cat can come and go. Otherwise, Miss Potts plucks her nails on the door and it makes a horrible noise all night. She is that kind of cat: a total troll.

My heart rate is coming back to normal. I ask my roommate if she’s awake. Did she hear that? She did. Our directions are different, but that is to be expected, as she is disoriented from the shock and doesn’t usually know directions in midday with a compass (sorry, but it’s true). Besides, Sadie was looking where I was looking because she was looking there. But maybe there were two? One where I heard it from and one from where she heard it from.

I stood there shocked for a few moments. What had just happened? Both my roommate and my dog had heard it. I was standing up, wide awake, in the living room. I was cold with sweat. The house felt peaceful. Although I know he is just a dream, just a character in my book, I’m wondering if Argus had just protected me from something that was trying to enter my house—something that had darkened the rooms. Do I believe in things like that? I have no idea, but I’ve seen things that would make you scream like a five year old.

I lay back in bed, the fear had taken a hike.

Why would wolves be in town? We certainly have food for them, from garbage picks to more healthy fair: ducks, rabbit, dear, squirrel, and even fish. I’ve heard they like feral cats as well, and there are plenty of those anywhere. The surrounding area is the foothills of the Adirondacks. I guess one or two could have ranged this far down. They are quite the travelers.

I guess we’ll never know a certain answer to what happened that night. For me, it will remain a favorite mystery and possible ghost story. I have a few ghost stories, in fact, as I alluded to above, but I’ll leave them for another time and a stormy evening.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my personal experience. Be sure to check out what the other authors have to say on the topic.