Writing Free

The Lazy Writer

     I confess: I am that lazy writer. Not that I don’t write, because I do. I love writing! I’ve stowed away more ideas for novels than I’ll ever live long enough to write. The problem is that once written, these books sit on my computer because I absolutely despise writing blurbs, formatting, uploading, and sitting with a ruler and red pen to proof yet again in the proof copy. About the only part I enjoy about getting a book ready for publication is designing the cover, and that can get frustrating, too.

     But this spring I determined to resurrect all the unpublished novels just waiting to see the light of day. As of today, I have six ready to upload. I actually thought about finding a proof reader until I discovered that the going rate is between 1-6 cents per word. That doesn’t sound like much, but multiply that times a 50K-60K book, and the grand total spells disaster for a retiree.

     So...I’ll do it myself. Hopefully, I’ve been over all the books enough times to catch most of the typos and other errors. (You do know, don’t you, that first drafts stink? It’s never one and done, the end, send it flying into the literary world.)

     Fortunately, since moving home three years ago, I’ve discovered the perfect place to spend several hours most days doing my writerly thing! It’s three minutes away from my cozy patio home in a retirement community, and if I arrive at the optimal time, I can get a parking spot right in front!

     I’ll be spending a lot of time there once I end up with six proof copies to look at!

     At least the atmosphere is fun even if the task at hand isn’t!

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A Few Writing Tidbits Based on Been There Done That

     As of next May, I’ll have been retired for twenty years. Although I’d always wanted to write—and had dabbled with various short stories/novellas/novels, I knew it was time to put up or shut up. So, I spent about a year learning about craft, searching out publishers, and then getting started on the first novel I was really serious about publishing.

     Seven books later, with three publishing companies, I turned to indie publishing, not because I was dissatisfied with the publishers, but because when one looks at a year between contract and a published piece, it seemed to me that indie publishing was the better option. I wasn’t getting any younger—and I’m still not!

     Do I miss my fantastic editors from The Wild Rose Press which published five of my books? You bet! One particular editor did four of the five books and taught me so much. After receiving a contract for the first one, she contacted me and said, “Get rid of the thats and then we’ll talk.” Gulp. To this day, I feel her looking over my shoulder every time I write the word!

     I met her face-to-face for the first time while my third novel was under consideration. Her first words to me after I’d introduced myself were, “Well, we’re going to give you a contract, but the reading committee thinks you’ve introduced your male protagonist too late in the story.”

     Feeling much like a child called to the front of the classroom for one of those teacher-behind-desk chats, I asked meekly, “What do you want me to do?”

     Her look said it all, but her words put the icing on the cake. “Fix it.”

     I did.

     What I’d like to say to aspiring writers is this: you have to learn your craft. Yes, writing is a craft. You can’t just say, “I want to be a writer,” and then with the next breath take off on another tangent.

     Also, I’d add that you never stop learning, not if you want your tenth book to be better than the previous nine. You learn from online workshops, sharing ideas with other writers, writing websites, authors’ blogs, and everything that smacks of writing which comes across your computer screen.

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Look for the Freebies

     I just signed up for another free computer class at my local library. Actually, this will be the second time I’ve taken the class, but once wasn’t enough. It’s a beginning tutorial on using Canva for making posters, book covers, charts, and a myriad of other illustrations. I’d been using if for several years, not realizing how much about it I didn’t know!

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     Do a search for writing sites online. Most are free, and they’re chock full of ideas for writing, publishing, marketing and all things related.

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     Do an online search for events in your town. Not only are some a good break for hard-working writers, but they’re also full of ideas for blogs, short stories, and even full-blown novels.

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     People watch. Trying to visualize your character? Take your coffee or soft drink and your writing notebook to an outdoor cafe—or even a bus or train station of airport lobby—even a student center at the local college—and look around. (I wouldn’t recommend actually snapping pictures with your cell phone!) You’re bound to have a eureka moment in which you recognize the face and form of the exact character you’re struggling to write!

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     Do an online search for free or low-cost graphics to illustrate your blogs or other writing. Just remember to give credit where credit’s due! 

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 What Do You Do on Triple-Digit Summer Afternoons?

    When I was in grade school and junior high, I often took refuge under the old swamp cooler with my latest stack of library books. If I got lucky, a trip to the swimming pool might happen a couple of times a week, after which I’d return to the book-in-progress while enjoying a tasty Firestick bought from the pool’s concession stand. I haven’t seen those things in ages—but I’ll stock up if I ever do!

     There was also cleaning up the kitchen after lunch and retiring to iron the laundry I’d taken off the line, sprinkled, and wrapped in a ragged beach towel. In those days, everything got ironed except maybe for towels, underwear, and socks!

     Fast-forward to now. My current “schedule” calls for a couple of hours at the local Bearded Barista where I write, edit, or proof the current WIPs. Then it’s home for lunch, a little chill time, and finally into the office where I take care of assorted personal business and/or writing tasks.

     With the curtains closed, the house is cozily dim and cool. The kitties have had their noon treats and retired who-knows-where, likely under a bed or in a dark corner. They’re weird felines. I’ve divested myself of the more modest jeans I wear outside my home and opted for shorts. It’s quiet, and I stay busy for as long a time (or as little time) as I want. Retirement hasn’t equated to boredom for me!

     As of this writing, I’ve composed two blogs (this being the second) to save for future reference, started the set-up for a new page on my website, signed up for an online (free) class next week, printed out something to send to Son #2, paid a bill online, and debated whether to do a little more proof reading on the WIP. The verdict’s not in yet.

     It’s hot outside, but life is good.

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How Many Short Stories?

    Recently I cobbled together from various drives all the short stories I’ve written since retiring almost twenty years ago. Grand total: one hundred eighty-five!

    You read that right. One hundred eighty-five short stories.

    Are all of them good? No.

    Are some of them good? Absolutely.

    Are some of them blah? Unfortunately.

     Have a few of them been published? Uh-huh and hallelujah!

    What am I going to do with one hundred eighty-five stories? Well, for starters, some of them will be rewritten. Those not salvageable will be trashed. Others will find their way to the I’ll Tell You a Story page on this website, hopefully once every couple of weeks or so.

    So stay tuned...check back here regularly...and feel free to comment positively or negatively. Writers learn from constructive criticism.      If we don’t, perhaps we need to rethink the whole career/hobby of writing.

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Nothing’s Off the Table aka Anything Goes

     In 1934, Cole Porter wrote a song called “Anything Goes” for his feature show by the same name. You’ll enjoy reading all the lyrics here and contemplating how what he wrote some ninety-two years ago is worse than true in 2026!

But even worse than the fact that there don’t seem to be any taboo topics these days is the accompanying hypocrisy. For example: the bleeps on television with blocks across the mouths of the speaker to keep us from reading lips; the words written with letters left out—as if we can’t fill them in; the “sincere apologies” dragged from those who have intentionally offended and aren’t sorry at all.

     Come on, folks, we all know the score. If you want to be a you-know-what, at least be an honest one!

     An excellent article from the July-August issue of Writer’s Digest inspired this blog. “Tackling Taboo Topics Through Independent Publishing” by Christopher Stollar. I’d recommend getting hold of the magazine and reading the article in its entirety.

     I’m currently proofing one of my books prior to publishing, and I’m torn about just leaving it to molder away. It’s called Keeping Promises, the story of a young woman stripped of her family at the age of eleven and moved through fifteen foster homes before she was eighteen.

     Nadine “Deenie” made a silent promise that she would find Naomi, Norma, and baby Neil and bring them home again. Now, though she has a good career in nursing, she is still obsessed with that vow, so much so that she can’t move on even with the man she loves.

     So far so good, huh? But this is the grittiest story I’ve ever written. While it’s not graphic (I don’t write dirty for effect), it deals with some seriously taboo topics as far as I’m concerned: sex outside marriage, abortion, and the evils of the child welfare system.

     As I read through the pages looking for errors, I wonder if the biggest mistake is simply the story itself. I’m torn between moving ahead and just consigning it to the dark recesses of my computer where it’s been for several years. If it dies there, no one will ever know.

     Anyone want to weigh in with ideas, thoughts, advice? I’m open to it all.

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Writing Magazines

     Once upon a time, I subscribed to three writing magazines. Two went kaput, and I was left with The Writer’s Digest. It went woke IMO. I stopped subscribing when most of the articles had nothing to do with what I was writing. (I didn’t even understand what some of them were even talking about!) However, I always visited the local bookstore to look at the new issues, and if the cover/table of contents promised something useful for my writing life, I forked over the money for a single copy.

     Fast forward to a move three years ago where none of the bookstores here sell magazines. But the local library had an entire section of same—including The Writer’s Digest. Once a month I took myself with notebook in hand and spent an afternoon reading and making notes. It worked for me.

     Then one day I arrived at the library to find that the only issue on the shelf was the same one that had been there the month before. The desk was unable to find a current subscription. Now what?

     I checked the magazine’s website, and I can subscribe digitally. Since I don’t want to pay for an issue filled with material not useful to me, the cheaper digital price may be my answer.

     I’m still thinking about it.

     Meanwhile, I’d like to find out why it went extinct in the local library!

     AND HERE’S A FOOTNOTE: I just found that I can borrow a digital copy of Writer’s Digest from the local library for 21 days...so though I prefer leafing through a print magazine, this will most certainly do! 

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Moving On

     It’s been on my mind for a while that it was time to move on—that is, off of Facebook and onto my website which has languished without much attention from me. So the time is now, and my goal is to shut down my FB page no later than July 15.

Some posts needed to be saved—personal memories, recipes, historic pictures of my hometown, and other “saves” I’d squirreled away for future reference.

     All of which brings me to the reason why I feel it’s the right time to exit Facebook.

     Several years ago I began to see more than I wanted to, and those negative posts have increased—probably doubled or tripled. I’ve had one rule for myself, which was, “If I don’t agree with/like the post, I’ll scroll on by.” Unfortunately, too many people didn’t accord me the same courtesy, and it left me feeling unsettled. It’s not that I couldn’t roll with the punches of negative comments, but that negativity reflected on the person posting and left me feeling disappointed people I considered friends.

     Finally, in the last year, I’ve had people I cared about and respected post really nasty things. There’s no other word for it—just nasty. Barbed. Designed to wound. Posts more like attacks than just sharing their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. I want to continue to care about and respect them, so I had to put some space between us until those posts fade away somewhat.

     So, it’s time to move on.

     And I’m doing it. 

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Writing Journal + Writing Prompt =

A Short-Short Story

     I’ve blogged frequently about keeping a writing journal and using writing prompts to scratch out the beginning, middle, or end of a story. It might even turn into a complete short-short story in itself.

     Whether or not you feel like writing, you can fill a 5x7 lined page in a few minutes, and then you can say, “I wrote today.” And someday, needing to fill a page for a blog (like I need to do right now), you can thumb through the pages and find something that someone somewhere will enjoy reading as quickly as you wrote it.

     To wit:

The Fortune Cookie Prediction

     You will find good fortune. I chuckled over the strip of paper plucked from a discarded fortune cookie. Would that were true. I’d just lost my job. My rent was due. The pantry was almost empty. And I’d salvaged the fortune cookie from the street in front of the Chinese restaurant I was passing. (The aroma emanating from it made my mouth water.)

     Tossing the broken cookie and its laughable prediction in the nearest trash receptacle, I walked home and crawled into bed.

     Over weak coffee and a piece of dry toast the next morning, I scoured the want ads in yesterday’s paper salvaged from a table in the foyer of my boarding house. Receptionist, general go-fer. Safe, pleasant office, salary depends on qualifications, experience.

     I stood outside the address within the hour.

     After a half-hour interview in which I’d explained losing my job through no fault of my own, presented my business school and advanced computer training certificates, and demonstrated my skills, I was hired at an unbelievable salary.

     “Now,” my new youngish boss said, “this is a safe place. No disrespect or harassment tolerated. You dress modestly, speak courteously, and do your job. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the staff, and then—because it’s Friday—I’ll order in lunch. My treat.

     He paused and smiled. “Do you like Chinese?”

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     This took about ten minutes to scribble down in my journal. Does it need tweaking? Certainly. Could it be the beginning of a longer story or the middle of one? Possibly. Does it qualify as writing? Most definitely. Give it a whirl yourself!

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The Perils of Being Lost in Time

Having consigned Blest Be the Tie to my writing partner for some good stiff beta reading, I turned my attention back to a recent piece of fluff I’m calling What Are the Cactus Hiding? I’d done three edits, and it still stunk. Mostly, it was a disconnected story with a good plot which never quite came together.

So, I started through it again and found myself stuck like a fly to flypaper. It was going nowhere. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Why?

Then it hit me—I was writing a mystery with history, but I hadn’t made a timeline, so my dates were totally messed up.

Pause for the timeline.

However, because I’d neglected it to begin with, trying to sort out my characters—who lived when—who did what and when—because an exercise in frustration.

But not futility. Eventually, I persevered, printed it out and used it to grease the wheels of yet another edit. Now I’m getting somewhere.

Of course, there are two kinds of writers: plotters and pantsers, but IMO it’s the in-between that yields the most creativity and productivity. Having a basic framework saves time, not to mention much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth and the danger of consigning a good story to the dark recesses of the documents folder.

So the story, with much editing is now on its way.

Will Lauren and her brother Don figure out the mystery which surrounds the ruins of the original house on their parents’ property? They know their mother covered them with a large bunch of transplanted prickly pear which has run wild. What was she hiding? Why did she take Lauren’s childhood stash of buried treasures—blackened silverware, broken china, and a woman’s old-fashioned tortise-shell comb—at the same time as she planted the prickly pear, thus guaranteeing nothing else would ever be unearthed?

What rift became a chasm that tore their family apart? Is there anyone still alive who can make sense of it? If so, who are they, where are they, and can they be persuaded to give up the secrets still lurking within the foundation stones of the ruined mansion? And are those secrets linked to Lauren and Don—or to the descendants of the original owner of the house?

All will be revealed.

PS: Prickly pear are species of cactus! 

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 ‘Way Down South

     When one thinks of the “Old South”, sprawling plantations with magnificent columned houses comes to mind. Indeed, the antebellum homes of this region are its treasures.

     Antebellum means “pre-war”, specifically the time after the American Revolution but before the Civil War and is associated with the southern United States. More specifically, antebellum is used to describe a particular type of architecture of the 19th century: Georgian, Neo-classical, and Greek Revival.

     Many of these homes have fallen into ruin, but others have survived to be listed on the National Historic Register. You can scan these images and research more about any which spark your interest. Many, purchased and restored by new owners, have become bed and breakfast meccas for tourists in the South. The Spring Pilgrimage in Natchez MS draws hundreds of visitors to view homes with evocative names such as Longwood, Melrose, Rosalie, Stanton Hall, and Magnolia Hall. (Mississippi celebrated its tricentennial in 2016!)

     Here’s a list of books you might want to consult if you’re writing in this period and want to go in depth:

     1)  Architecture Glossary:  Illustrated Dictionary for Architecture Words

     2)  Top 9 Books About Plantation Houses

• Great Houses of the South (Rizzoli, 2010)

• Plantation Houses and Mansions of the Old South by J. Frazier Smith/This book is a reprint from the original in 1936 and includes floor plans for many of the houses.

• Under the Live Oaks: The Last Great Plantation Houses of the Old South by Clarkson Potter (2002)

• Architecture of the Old South (Abbeville Press, 1993)

• Marvelous Old Mansions and Other Southern Treasures (John F. Blair, publisher, 2000)

• Vestiges of Grandeur: The Plantations of Louisiana’s River Road (Chronicle Books LLC, 1999)

• Virginia Plantation Homes by David Gleason (LSU Press, 1989)

• Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area (LSU Press, 1983)

• Georgia’s Grandeur: Georgia’s Lost Antebellum Homes and Plantations (Donning Company, 2012)

     Many of these books are quite pricey. I’d imagine they are “coffee table books” put out for browsing. But the second one, which is what I rely on a great deal because of the added bonus of the floor plans, was reprinted in soft-cover, and I found it used at a very cheap price. The other books may also be available that way.

     3)  What is Antebellum Architecture? by Jackie Craven at About.com

     4)  Wikipedia: Plantations in Mississippi (List plus links!)

     Besides being useful for writers researching a setting, these books whisk away the reader to places she’s never been and may never go. Writers need credibility--and all of us need to have our imaginations roused to greater heights! 

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Welcome, 2026!

      For some reason, I have a warm, cozy feeling about this coming year, although I can’t explain why. The news is bad, but what’s new? Prices are still high, but I’m okay. The West Texas weather is more like spring than winter, and I hope these balmy days aren’t a precursor to a very bad winter when it finally arrives. I’m a year older—one year past four score and ten—and motivated (but not driven) to make the most of every single day.

     With the annual January clean-out done (every closet, drawer, cabinet), my conscience was clear as I took myself off to my favorite writing spot, the Bearded Barista, located where I used to go see Santa as a child and look at toys. I spent a productive two hours with a peppermint hot chocolate and the faithful lappy, Penelope, before heading home for a quick lunch and the semi-annual dental appointment.

     Lots of plans on the list—books to edit, books to finish, books to write, and hopefully, to find a group of writers/aspiring writers who want to help each other learn their craft and keep each other on our toes. A local bookstore is already thinking about hosting the group if I can get it together. Having never done anything like this before, I’m trying to think it through and plan carefully before putting out the brochures.

     My Facebook writing page Vintage Romance/Romantic Suspense/Cozy Mysteries is being tended to regularly, hopefully sharing information/links for other writers.

      I hope to add a short-story page to this website in addition to once-a-week blogging, so keep an eye out.

It’s a daunting prospect for an old lady who should be rocking on the front porch. Maybe that day will come, but it’s not here yet!

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Welcome to a New Year! 

     A new year is upon us with all its promises and possibilities, so make it your promise to yourself to write that story, article, or book! If you're already writing, then finish something and get busy rewriting and editing and rewriting again. In the process, start thinking how you want to publish your creation! Do you want to find a publisher for your book? A print/online publication for your story or article? Do you want to publish independently? Whatever fits your plans and dreams--don't wait! Do it! 

I WILL WRITE 500 WORDS

AND 

I WILL WRITE 500 MORE!