Showing posts with label mona karel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mona karel. Show all posts

Saturday, December 10, 2016

YAHOO...You've Got This Covered...December Quickie #MFRWAuthor

I think we all agree Yahoo isn't the most perfect method of group discussion. It's just the one we're all using. We can complain, rail against the restrictions, search out our inner diva. But if we want to join and post to groups, for now it's Yahoo.

Most complaints have to do with "How can I get OUT of this group?" Generally accompanied by tremendous angst. The answer is simple enough since Yahoo is designed for self control. Scroll down to the bottom of your most current Yahoo message. You'll see, in blue,Visit Your Group. Look over to the right of the screen and you'll see, in even tinier letters:

Click on that middle word "Unsuscribe" and follow the prompts. Easy-Peasy, isn't it? Took me a while to find it, I was visiting the group and flailing around for a while, until...huh, lookie there!

If you want to stay in a Yahoo Group and reduce the number of daily messages you can "Visit Your Group" and set your message delivery to "digest only." Please, if you do this, and choose to answer an e-mail, be VERY sure to delete that loooong trail of messages following your reply. Your fellow group members will appreciate this and no doubt share good wishes.

I send those Good Wishes in your direction, along with expectations of many wonderful words written in the new year.


Mona Karel is the writing alter ego of Monica Stoner, who can be found running her Salukis around
the dog show ring, or elbows deep in garden soil, and not often enough in front of her computer, searching for that perfect phrase to convey deep emotions. Her recent books include the Stormhaven Love Stories, Romance with a bit of suspense, a bit of humor, and a lot of love.

 She helps out MFRW by moderating posts and answering how to questions. 






Thursday, March 10, 2016

Is it More About Writing, or About Being a Writer? #MFRWauthor

This will be a shorter than usual blog, since I'm borrowing from another blogger. Not to mention running late.
I ran across this blog from Screencraft, a site to advise screenwriters. The post resonated with me and I think will have the same effect on other writers Beware the Writing Zombies Check it out while I get more coffee.
Do you recognize anyone you know? All I had to do was look in a mirror, and also remember the time I spent researching to avoid actually writing. Whether it was to start a new book or continue on with a current project. And I would hate to admit how many times I've delayed starting so I could use the new project for a course.
Maybe I should title this 'Games Writers Play.' Or maybe I should just get back to edits?
Happy writing!

I need a photo here. I think I'll go with a New Mexico sunset, sharing the beauty of where I'm living.

Monica Stoner w/a Mona Karel
Website/Blog 
Mona's Amazon Page
Twitter


We retired to the high plains of New Mexico, where I finally put all those seminars and critique sessions to work, not to mention pulled together my courage to offer a story I'd beaten into submission. I am honored to help Marketing for Romance Writers with list moderation, and wherever else my skill set is of value


Sunday, January 10, 2016

Don't Forget the Dog #MFRWAuthor

It's well known that dogs add to the character of our stories. Movie makers learned long ago that viewers would accept many levels of violence, as long as the dog survived. The same applies, obviously, to books. Dogs can add, or be a main part, of the story line. Even if we don't set the book in a dog environment (grooming shop, animal shelter, dog show), adding a dog or two can help grab interest. Where our characters acquire their dog, what sort of dog they have...all these things serve to enrich our stories and add depth to our characters. It just takes a bit of thought and research.
If you are going to add a dog, please don't do so as a prop for one or two scenes, unless for some reason the dog is specifically that: a prop for the character to use to get someone's attention. Which does speak to the kind of person your character is, doesn't it? Also think about your character's personality. Are they strong willed, or wimpy? Do they cave in when yelled at or do they stand up for their rights? Using their interaction with their dog, or their choice of dog, gives you a great opportunity for subtext.
She looks pretty here, but she's going to need to come in soon, get her feet warmed up and a snuggle.
Those dogs with long flowing coats you see in commercials? They require grooming. A LOT of grooming, pretty much every day. The extreme length of coat is generally only seen for commercials or dog shows. Otherwise their hair is kept confined and out of dirt or branches. You need to remember that if your character takes their dog on a tramp through the woods.
Dogs need regular exercise. Both the going to the bathroom sort (and don't forget the pick up bags unless you are showing a negative aspect to your character) and the moving around with energy sort of exercise.Big dogs can live in a small apartment in the city but it's not easy, and it takes a lot of effort. Leaving a dog confined for too long can be cruel, especially if they have are fastidious, most especially if you don't want the house to smell when your characters come home for an evening of people interaction. Nothing turns off a non-doggy person so much as doggy smells.
An untrained dog is not fun to run or bike with; you might add a line or two about how easy or difficult it was to bring them to a safe level of cooperation. If the dog was a rescue, did they come with trust issues, or maybe they were already trained and had been turned in due to circumstances beyond their former owner's control?
If you want to add personality to your characters, you might think about incongruous choices for your character's dog. A large, tough, man with a small dog is good for a giggle or two but it's not necessarily out of character. Dainty women with guard dogs they can't control don't appeal to me, but that dog, well trained, maybe left with her by someone who had to go away (maybe a brother who was deployed?) I'll go along with that story line, no problem. Hmmm, just a second, I want to jot that idea down.

Just, please, remember the dog. They are not props. They need to eat, drink, eliminate, and interact. Because of this, I've only added a dog in Teach Me To Forget, since it helped give depth to Bethany's character, showing how the Irish Setter, Baron, had become such an integral part of her life, a friend instead of the guard dogs her husband had used to intimidate her. Jonathan becomes impatient with her for thinking of Baron before she thinks of herself, because in the beginning of the story Jonathan is a bit of a jerk. He changes, of course, learning to put Bethany's needs, and her dog's, before his. Doesn't love do that to all of us?

Monica Stoner w/a Mona Karel
Website/Blog 
Mona's Amazon Page
Twitter

Lucky me, when I did meet the man I knew I'd spend the rest of my life with, he was also involved in dogs, my same breed in fact. When we retired to the high plains of New Mexico, we looked for a place with enough space for the dogs, and for our own souls. It ended up a perfect choice for both of us. Writing stories about people lucky enough to find that perfect partner in spite of whatever else might be happening in their lives. So far, I have not added Salukis to any books since they are way too time consuming!
I am privileged to be able to help MFRW as a Moderator (yeah, I'm the one who asks you to please trim)
I am happy to answer dog related questions, or guide you to the where you can best find that information.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

How NOT to Promote #MFRWAuthor

I remember, from back when I watched television, a cable show named "What Not To Wear." The British version featured two snarkily delightful women. The American version gave us Clinton and Stacy, who had their own version of snarky, with a softer tone. The idea was the hosts would completely revamp the victim's  guest's wardrobe, to give said guest a more fashionably correct look. I sometimes felt they were attempting to reduce individuality in their guests but that's a matter for another time. Like watching a train wreck I found myself clicking on that show no matter when it aired.
Along the same lines I've observed author self promotions for several years and more than once I've wanted to force encourage those authors to take a clear look at how they were presenting themselves

BUY  MY BOOK
LOOK WHAT I DID

Over and over and over. If they belonged to multiple Facebook groups I saw their not so clever promotional announcement numerous times in the same day. And after a while I ceased actually seeing it, I simply deleted as soon as it showed up.
Slightly more subtle authors would insert links to their own books in replies to another writer's blog,whether relevant or not.
All of this adds up to the same feeling I got from the kid who sat behind me in the school auditorium and insisted on kicking the back of my chair. Distracting me from his actual message, which was probably somewhere along the lines of "Hi, I'd like to get to know you better." Another potential romance lost in the dust of miscommunication.

To avoid this, what do we NOT want to do?
Don't shove your book into every conversation.
Don't put your notices on automatic share across the virtual universe.
Don't self promote where it's not allowed.
Don't put your links into someone else's blogs or discussions unless asked.

What SHOULD we do?
Funny you should ask.
If you're not already an MFRW member, join and take advantage of the many offers to help you promote your book.
Become a part of Triberr so you can help promote others while they help promote you.
Invite other authors onto your blog (you do have an active blog, right?) so you can promote their books.
Have an active blog. Write from your heart and your convictions, whatever those might be.
Respond to other blogs that interest you with comments relevant to that blog. If it's a blog hop, all the better then you can get name recognition multiple times.
Join blog hops, write clever blogs relevant to the hop theme. Here you can mention your book, without  making it the entire blog.
Write a good book. Then write another good book. Keep that promise to your readers that they will find happiness in your words. 

Notice, none of these suggestions have you pushing your book? Instead you are gaining name recognition for yourself. You are NOT one book, you are an author of many wonderful books.
Seek, Teach, Share, Learn, SUCCEED


thoughts shared from  Mona Karel
Blog Hop Coordinator
In addition to occasional curmudgeonly outbursts, Mona writes Romance both normal and paranormal as a way to share her daydreams with the rest of the world. When not writing she wraps her world around her Salukis, her home in the New Mexico high desert, and photographing the quirky, the unusual, and the just plain gorgeous. 

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Make It Easy...For Everyone #MFRWOrg


MFRW
Marketing For Romance Writers.
Created to help educate and elevate writers of all genres, though often thought of as Marketing for ROMANCE Writers.
Click to join MFRW Yahoo GroupIn full truth, MFRW is also about helping each other. Reaching a hand out to boost fellow writers up, knowing they'll do the same for us.  We all see the requests. ReTweet, click here, support there. And we're happy to take a few seconds from our busy day to do just that.
Except...the petitioner has forgotten to let us know where...when...how. And after far too long spent floundering, looking for answers, we sign off, disgruntled.
Has this happened to you? I know it's happened to me. And all too often if I ask for more information the questions echoes in an empty room. Crickets chirp in the vast nothingness. Being of scattered mind and not near enough time I soon lose the ambition to help out, and turn to my next project.
Make it EASY for us to help you.
If you want someone to read your blog, give a link to the blog, NOT just to the first page of your website.
If you want an opinion on your cover art, link to the art itself.
You want participation in a group event don't just give the link to that event. Explain about the participation, what it means, how to join in. Is it enough to just sign up or will we need to do something else when the magic day arrives? Not everyone is up to date on every promotional opportunity and often we (okay I) get confused with all that can be done.
Even when I sort of know which button to push when, I don't always know why and sometimes not even where. If you set up a reTweet day, take a minute to explain what we're going to be doing once we're on Twitter, finger poised to punch something somewhere. Because we do want to help but we also really do need to know how and what we need to do. Make it easy and it will be fun for everyone, and we can help fulfill the MFRW goals:
Seek, Teach, Share, Learn, SUCCEED

thoughts shared from  Mona Karel
Blog Hop Coordinator

In addition to occasional curmudgeonly outbursts, Mona writes Romance both normal and paranormal as a way to share her daydreams with the rest of the world. When not writing she wraps her world around her Salukis, her home in the New Mexico high desert, and photographing the quirky, the unusual, and the just plain gorgeous.


Saturday, January 10, 2015

Priming the Pump #MFRWAuthor

The expression “prime the pump,” comes from the necessity to move water from one location to another, using a pump, whether manual or powered. Prior to actually transferring the water you need to put water into the pump itself, so the introduced water moves with less effort

Lenticular Cloud in the Morning...almost looks like an alien vessel. Hey, it's New Mexico
Thinking of writing, the activity of writing as a well of ideas moved along by the effort of creativity, it’s easy to relate the concept of priming the pump. Living in a drought prone environment encourages that parallel. The parallel is even more relevant when I find my creativity well has run as dry as the well out front of my house.

To prime that pump, I go to my personal inspirations: David Farland, the ever so irreverent Chuck Wendig, and marketing guru Seth Godin.

During NaNo month, Wendig’s blog was a non stop cheering section for those racing toward word count Finish Your Stuff Once November was behind us he put it in perspective. The very act of writing is a win no matter how many words made up your final count.

Lost Civilizations? Mountain Refuge?
David Farland’s Be Excited provided a great kick in the rear for those coming off the NaNo WIN high or the Didn’t Make It low. We must remember our passion for what we write.

You might wonder about using Seth Godin for inspiration unless you follow his pithy blog. As writers we are marketing our words and ourselves constantly. Doing so in a sane and constructive manner saves wasted time and avoids losing readers (customers) to poor communication. Where To Start ... You don't have to wait for perfect or large or revered or amazing. You can start.
On occasion I've primed that pump with the books of writers I admire. What a great reason to read instead of mopping the floor!

That Lenticular cloud at sunset. How many ideas can this spawn?
For other creative encouragement I walk outside and fill myself with high plains beauty. Not everyone appreciates wide vistas and lack of close neighbors, but it soothes my soul.
Unrelenting sunshine, no matter what the temperature, not to mention a vast array of stars at night, more than makes up for that long trek into Agility class. We have a bakery, a library, a great restaurant. What more do we need?

In fact I’m sitting at the back of that restaurant right now, hoping the relative quiet will help the fingers find the right keys. Or maybe just the change in environment. Heck who am I kidding, I was hungry for Chile Relleno and eggs!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Group E-Mail Etiquette: How to win friends and avoid scolding while staying in touch with your group #MFRWOrg

E-mail is a great method of communicating, giving us instant communication with minimal expense. In a group setting, e-mail helps you get in touch with a large audience with no more effort than you would expend contacting a single recipient.
This wonderful opportunity to communicate can also be a wonderful opportunity to irritate. Following a few guidelines can avoid irritation from your fellow posters and list moderators. You see the requests to please trim, please change the subject line, please please please... Sometimes the impression is one of nannies fussing about table manners, and you might wonder what difference does it make if you don’t trim your post. Having the whole conversation in one place just makes it easier for someone to follow.
    Doesn’t it?
    It certainly seems like it would be easier, and it’s absolutely faster to dash off a reply and hit send.
    Except: not everyone in a discussion group receives messages as individual e-mails. So when you write: “Does anyone know where the pearl is?” And someone answers “The pearl is in the river” it comes out on e-mail:

***
The pearl is in the river
Cindy Lou Who Whoville Seussland

Does anyone know where the pearl is?
Sandy Paws, Beach City Ozland

Then another writer joins the conversation with :

What kind of pearls are you finding in the river?
Furry Fawcet, Happyland South Branch

The pearl is in the river
Cindy Lou Who Whoville Seussland

Does anyone know where the pearl is?
Sandy Paws, Beach City Ozland

***
And so on. Each successive message includes the entire train of preceding messages. For someone on digest, this becomes a never ending mass of missives. This example includes one line messages. Imagine how this would read with longer messages and complex signature lines. Yeah, it can get really messy.
Trimming messages depends on your mail program, but you can generally block out the extra verbiage and then click control and X (cntrl+X) If necessary you can leave in one or two lines from the original post. Your loop companions will thank you fervently.

SUBJECT LINES:
Often a group discussion segues into multiple other topics. The initial discussion might concern formatting e-books and by the time the posters finish every facet of contracts and agents and rights might have been covered. If the subject line is still “E-book Formatting in Traditional Romance” then some valuable information might be missed by readers who are not interested in formatting their e-books. It helps to add a word or two relating to the added information. “E-book Formatting in Traditional Romance/agent contracts” will let readers know additional information is available.
However if there is a radical change in subjects it might be a good idea to start an entirely new subject, which will establish a new message trail and make it easier to follow the new subject. This also makes it easier to find and follow subjects of interest in the Yahoo group.

How, you might wonder, do we get to the Yahoo group? Glad you asked.. If you scroll down to the bottom of your loop message, you’ll see:

Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarketingForRomanceWriters/
Website: http://marketingforromancewriters.org/

Visit Your Group

By clicking on the Group link, or on Visit Your Group, you’ll go directly to the Yahoo group home page, where you can search messages and follow the message trails. Kind of nifty, isn’t it?

Following these few simple suggestions will ensure good communication and uncomplicated messages. Even better, you won’t receive moderator messages imploring you to PLEASE trim. This might not be all sunshine and roses but it will make everyone involved much happier!
---
Posted by Mona Karel, Bloghop Coordinator and Moderator for Marketing for Romance Writers

Monday, February 10, 2014

What's HOT?? What's NOT???

We hear the question, ask the question, participate in discussions about the question. What is hot in books today? What are readers poring over when they should be sleeping, cleaning, cooking (writing!) or mingling with live people instead of characters in a book? And when we hear or read the question, don't we all just lean forward just a bit to hear the answer? Maybe click on that link to read someone the words from on high, if it's a hot agent or editor?

And don't we sigh a bit when we learn that shape shifters/vampires/elven lords are out, gone, passe, never to be sold or read again? Especially since we're just polishing our unique take on shape shifters/vampires/elven lords.

How many of us put that book away and force ourselves to start something that's up with the times? Only to read a few months later about the sale of an innovative shape shifter/vampire/elven lord series? I'm hoping I don't see a show of hands out there. Anyone who has been in the writing business for more than five years should have learned by now, there is no way to predict what people will be reading six months from now.

Every time we think we understand market trends, they take a sharp turn to the left and leave us in the dust.
The new and exciting and innovative books we see on the shelves NOW were bought up to two years ago, often presented by agents who believed in the work. Especially the 'Big Six' published books. Anyone who scrambles to emulate those books is already months or years behind the trend. If you follow the publishing news, you might learn when those books are bought, so you're not as far behind the starting line. Of course we won't know how the books fare until they are on the shelves and/or in our e-reader.

Remember when Western movies, or television shows, were dead? Or Space Opera, or Relationship or...? Until along came something so exiting, so well done, it grabbed the viewing audience by the the throat and made massive amounts of lovely cash for all participating?

What's hot? A well written book. A book with characters who grab our hearts, put into situations where we cringe for them and stay up late to read their success. For romances, what's hot is the HEA in spite of all odds.

What's hot is what people want to read, written by people passionate about their words. Okay, dino porn is also hot right now, but so were Pet Rocks (for anyone here old enough to remember them!) Rather than writing to trend, think about writing to last. What makes those keeper books stay on the shelves? Which sounds like a great topic for next month.
Monica

Friday, January 10, 2014

There is a Point Behind Point of View #MFRWorg

We hear a lot about Point of View (POV) and how some well known authors seem to be able to ignore the rules with impunity. Since we are not those authors (yet) it’s a good idea to understand POV in all its glory.
From what I’m seeing in contest entries as well as writing sent to me for evaluation, POV isn’t clear to everyone. As I explained to a new author, when we’re in deep POV, all the character should “see” is what they would actually see with their eyes. We don’t “see” our emerald green eyes with a gleam of humor. Nor do we “see” our lustrous black waves pulled into a stylish up-do. After a few paragraphs of that I find myself waiting for the artificial “Don’t hate me because I’m so beautiful.”  In addition to a poor use of POV this also shows a character I find unsympathetic. Right along with the heroines who deplore their awful long blond wavy hair, overly large breasts along with tiny waists and legs just tooo long. At that point it takes a lot for me to keep reading.

We do see this kind of description in many books, as a short cut for authors to gain the reader’s attention. Far better to let the reader learn what the character looks like through the reactions of interaction with other people. “Inevitably, his eyes strayed to my right cheek, then he looked away, no doubt appalled by what he had seen.” What? What did he see? Tell me more! And you have another reader hooked, at least for now.

As far as ‘head hopping’ also known as ‘flying POV’ or in too many of my first books ‘feeling like you’re watching a tennis match,’ it can be a problem even for experienced writers, especially in first draft. Most of the time it’s caught during edits but every now and then it slips through and we find a published book with the heroine experiencing the hero’s excited libido. Does it matter? In my opinion, yes, especially if your goal is drawing in your readers with deep POV. It’s difficult to relate to thoughts and emotions when they keep hopping from character to character.

When the heroine tells the hero to get something from the refrigerator, she’s not going to be seeing the empty shelves or take out containers unless she’s standing right behind him. She can react to his muttered comment with a personal vision or memory of what he’s looking at, and remind herself next time she needs to go through those containers BEFORE they turn into science experiments. This gives you an opportunity to build more character depth: how is he going to react, how is she going to respond.

Deep POV, keeping your character limited to what they can personally see or feel, is much harder to write but Easy Reading, stories that draw a reader in, comes from Hard Writing, spending a bit more time on those pesky craft details so your great story shines through.

POST WRITTEN BY: Mona Karel
Mona Karel is the writing alter ego of Monica Stoner, who wrote Beatles fan fiction and terribly
earnest (read just not very good) Gothics in her teen years. She set aside writing while working with horses and dogs all over the US, until she discovered used book stores and Silhouette Romances.  Shortly after that she also discovered jobs that paid her for more than her ability to do a good scissors finish on a terrier, and moved into the “real” working world.  Right around then she wrote her first full length book.  It only took her twenty seven years to be published.  She writes looking out the window at the high plains of New Mexico, with her Saluki dogs sprawled at her feet. Distraction much? ?  Sometimes these silly dogs take over her life, but there is always room for one more set of characters in one more book.