The LAST Word

 I wrote a series of posts for a writers' group. I am rehashing some of them here. Fantasy Plotting There are tips to be gained about plotting. This month, we focus on fantasy genre. Here are some rules to keep in mind when writing fantasy. 1. Medieval Times -- Even though you create a new world or a fantasy world attached to our current world as in Harry Potter books, you usually set it in medieval times. That means clothes and weapons of that era. If you choose to use modern day, you can add medieval elements. 2. Swords, Wands, Magic -- Most fantasy novels involve sword play, wands and some magic. How much you use these things is up to you. Some books are full of them. Others put in a little here or there. 3. Relatable World -- Make sure the world you create is relatable to your audience and is understandable. If you create a language, make sure you define words. If you create laws and rules, make sure you tell the reader what those are. In every book, magic has cert

  We are coming up on the spring season. This is a wonderful season. It is as colorful as fall, but plants, trees and animals are coming alive, not dying. You will see purple, pinks, white, yellow, light green, blues, red, orange and lavender. Spring is a time of renewal on the Earth and in your soul.  But, with spring also comes the dreaded Daylight Savings Time. This is a system we do not need and should outlaw. First, the name is incorrect. We aren't "saving" daylight. We are moving it to be later in the day, but the number of hours that are bright is the same in EST or EDT. During June, it is about 12-14 hours of daylight whether that day starts at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Second, it was started for farmers and to save energy, but most of us live at our computers inside an office instead of on the farm. I would also argue that farmers would prefer light in the morning when they have to get up to milk the cows. I would also argue that we use the same amount of energy by turnin

  It started when libraries banned Dr. Seuss . This is violating the 14th Amendment. Now, "Sensitivity Committees" want to rewrite Roald Dahl's books to make them "sensitive" to today's audiences. How can they know what Dahl wanted his characters to be. They are his characters. Only he knows what they are thinking and doing. No one can say, "It was meant to say this." That is the first problem.  The second problem is that if "Sensitivity Committees" rewrite characters and books, they are making everyone the same. That will read quite boring. In the real world, people say negative things, do negative things, do not care about being sensitive or politically correct, and act whatever way they want. Most people know what is right and wrong. Therefore, fiction should reflect life. That is why these stories stand the test of time. They reflect life, and readers can relate because they know people like the characters. The third problem is rewri

    People who know me, know that I love football. I went to Eagles games as a kid with my grandfather and father. I still support my Eagles. I supported them when they didn't win games, and now, they head to divisional playoff round. However, I think we can pull some ideas from football to improve your business marketing and your writing . 1. Get First Downs -- In football, the goal is to get into the End Zone for a touchdown, but before that, you need to march down field 10 yards at a time. This relates to business. You have keep moving, being consistent with your marketing and being patient to trust your marketing will work in the long-term. Nothing happens overnight. Many people think they can get a quick score. Sometimes, in football, that happens, but usually it doesn't. Same is true in business. You can't expect people to know you and buy from you immediately. This is also true in writing. Your main goal is to finish a book, but you need to remember to break down

      January is a great time to start fresh on the year. I like to clean out my files on the computer that I no longer need, and I also move the file folders I don't need going forward in the new year. That gives me a new beginning for my writing and my business. I also re-evaluate what I do for marketing for the year. You can decide where to focus your marketing and what you can do differently. It always is a good idea to try something different in the new year. This is true whether you are an author, small business owner or employee. Although employees are told what to do every day, they do have to market themselves to land the job in the first place and to keep their job. Here are my tips for your market plans this year. 1. Do Video Marketing -- Authors often don't like being in front of the camera, but they should do some videos about their books. Having someone interview you on their podcast or YouTube channel would be great. Creating your own YouTube channel a

Writers are always looking for inspiration. They will use art, nature, family life and quotes. They even get inspired from other writers. Marketers also are looking for inspiration for blog ideas or places to sell your products or services. My favorite way to get inspired is through watching television or movies. Here are my favorites. Year Without a Santa Claus – This will inspire you to do whatever it takes to reach a goal. If you don't know the movie, Santa is sick and doesn't want to travel around the world to deliver the gifts. He thinks no one cares about him. Two elves, Jingle and Jangle, go to Southtown USA to find children who care about Santa. They have to get their reindeer from the pound, talk to the mayor and deal with the Miser brothers, but they are successful. The mayors declare a holiday for Santa and show him that children still care about him. They kept trying new ideas until they got what they needed. You can keep trying new things to be succ

Whether you write horror, fantasy, self-help or cookbooks, the process doesn't have to scare you. If you trust your abilities and your instincts, you could create the perfect book without being frightened. Here are tips on publishing so you are not scared this Halloween when writing. What to Say If you feel like you need to write a book, you also will know what to say. For example, you want to inform readers of a new technique and believe you need to write a short book about the technique. After you have done your research, your mind will help you organize your thoughts into the book. If you are writing fiction, you will hear the characters' voices in your head as you sit down to write. Your writing coach will guide you on what is important to say and what you should eliminate.  What Art to Use All books, fiction and nonfiction, print and electronic, must have a professionally designed cover. In your mind, you know what art would

  Recently, politicians have attacked our freedoms and rights in the name of public health. The most recent was the removal of the intellectual property on the vaccines against the coronavirus disease. The idea is that it is available to all, but already, the vaccine is given freely to Americans, but pharmaceutical companies should be allowed to protect their formula so they could license it to other countries or companies. It was removed to protect health, but it sets a dangerous precedent and authors should be outraged. If pharmaceutical companies could lose their intellectual property, authors could too, namely their copyrights on books or cookbooks .  The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to pursue property. Intellectual property is still property. Patents, trademarks, copyrights, software coding, music, art, formulas and much more are protected and should be allowed to be retained. In Sept. 11, 2001, we started losing rights in the name of security. Now, we are losing

   As a journalist and author , I am concerned about the precedent set by taking Dr. Seuss from schools and libraries. Banning books is the first step toward having a government telling us what we are allowed to read, what we are allowed to think and what we are allowed to say. His books might offend some people, but they have a right be available. He is allowed to have his say. And, the replacements might offend more people. When does it stop? Huckleberry Finn will be next or To Kill a Mockingbird will be found offensive, but at the times they were written, that was what common. You can't impose 2021 political correctness on 1960s or older books. Goes Against Constitution We have a Constitution and first amendment that guarantees free speech, which includes printed books, electronic books, information on the Internet and newspapers. While the publisher is within its rights to remove books from print and not sell certain books, the libraries are not allowed the same perm

      November is a time to remember. On Nov. 1, we remember the saints. On Nov. 2, we remember those who have gone before us. On Veterans Day, we remember those who serve our country and those served many years ago. We remember the wars that are represented by Veterans Day, which used to be Armistice Day and still is in Europe. That was the day World War I ended. On Thanksgiving, we remember to thank God for our blessings. We remember family, and we remember those who couldn't be part of our celebrations. Therefore, November is a perfect time to remember our writing and add remembrances in writing. Memoirs – Writing down events that took place in your life is called a memoir or autobiography. You can write these books to pass down your family for future generations to know what happened in your life and in the world when you were alive. You can write these books to pass on knowledge that you have that others do not. And, you can write them for yourself to remember the e

  I recently met with a potential book client. She asked me about query letters and what she needs to do to get published by a traditional publisher, such as Random House or Simon and Schuster, etc. I answered her honestly. Traditional publishers are difficult to reach. They are picky and get slammed with book proposals. They can't read all of them. Here are some tips for publishing. 1. Traditional Publishers -- They want best-selling authors, celebrities, great stories for fiction and a high market potential for nonfiction. They don't want memoirs, unknown authors and women's literature. These don't sell. Traditional publishers want books they know will sell because of how the book industry works. In retail, companies buy from manufacturers at wholesale and sell. They can't return the items to the manufacturer unless there are defects. In book industry, bookstores are allowed to buy at wholesale and send back whatever doesn't sell back to the publisher. So, l

Because of the pandemic , the media's panic-inducing headlines and the lack of in-person social connections, the number of mental health cases has already increased and is expected to jump even more. Students are feeling the pressures. They are not able to learn they way they like. For example, my daughter does better in a classroom setting than with online classes. My son is just the opposite. He thrives in online classes. Writers, who usually work from home, worked alone before the pandemic, but now, so many of them are afraid to leave their personal space. This can lead to panic attacks, stress, anxiety and depression. They will begin to doubt their abilities in writing and editing their books. Here are some ways to address mental health issues. Write as Therapy – I have discussed this previously. If you have emotions, you would want to get it on paper or on the computer. I always use writing a therapy when I am sad or lonely or joyous. I write poems, storie

During this time, Americans are stuck at home. Even though many states are allowing stores and other businesses to open, people are not flocking to the gathering places. They are still afraid to catch a virus or disease. Many people are bored and trying to come up with things to do . Here are some tips for you. Home Projects Now is the perfect time to tackle those home projects. You could do spring cleaning and declutter your home. If your project involves more than cleaning, you also could order from Home Depot online or another retailer and get materials for your projects delivered to your door. If you want to put up new shelving in your closet, you could get the materials and begin hammering away. Just avoid making disasters in your home. Discover New Things So many videos are available online that you could learn almost anything while you are at home. You could learn a new language or a new skill. I want a patio for my back yard. I am not handy. Neither

In northern states, changing the clocks ahead allows for more light in the evenings, which makes people more productive in spring and summer. People in the north like to go out in the sunshine after spending winters locked indoors. Southern states don't have much of a winter. Although it might be cold, it doesn't snow and is not dark on a daily basis. They have sunshine all the time. I have lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona and Florida. In Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I felt the benefits of Daylight Savings Time although it still hindered my inspiration and writing. More on that later. Arizona doesn't change the clocks. It was great not having to worry about changing clocks, but I noticed no difference in the light without Daylight Savings Time. I don't agree that Florida should change clocks. The state has so much sunshine that it could be similar to Arizona and feel the same whether clocks are changed or not. Becomes False Benefi

My daughter was working on her computer. She came across artificial intelligence that is writing books for people. She told me about it and said to research it. AI is entering the world of books. Savvy writers should take advantage of it because it could be the future. Also, it could make writing books that much easier. Here is what I learned. Text Sounds Human In the past, machines would collate tweets and articles and compile into a semblance of a book. However, today, new machine-learning models trained on billions of words have given AI the ability to produce text that sounds human. They use human speech patterns and basic structures of grammar. They can generate sentences and paragraphs that are readable. They still don't create intentional meaning in the paragraphs. OpenAI GPT2 was released. It allows users to create specific styles, such as New Yorker or Georgic poetry. More to Come While, at the moment, it can't write a novel, the technol

We are entering the last month of the year. That means that we are about to change to a new year and new life. People make resolutions, but they don't always embrace change in their lives. Now is the time to think about change and how to embrace it. Change is good for your psyche, business and writing. While everyone talks about the devastation caused by natural disasters, few talk about the good that comes from hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, etc. The changes in the environment is often good. Mother Nature has a way of fixing problems in the environment herself. For example, wildfires burn out the brush and thin the trees, so all the growing trees are more sustainable. Avalanches reshape mountains and bring much needed snowfall to valleys. Hurricanes wash out the dead algae, seaweed, fish, etc. They change the landscape and rivers. They get rid of dead branches on trees, so the trees remain healthy. Even though these natural disasters are devastating, they serve a purp

Not too long ago, getting a book published was an accomplishment that many people didn't do. It was to be congratulated and celebrated. Today, because of the explosion of self-published books, getting a book published is not celebrated as an accomplishment. However, I say that people still should congratulate new authors and celebrate their success. Even a self-published book is an accomplishment. It takes hard work to complete a book or novel. You should count it as a blessing happening right now in your life. Ways to Celebrate Your Book Throw a Party – Although it still is done sometimes, especially for best-selling authors, book launch parties are not as popular as they once were. In the past, traditional publishers would throw a party the day a book was released to the public. This did two things. First, it allowed friends and family to get a copy of the book without going to a store. Second, it began a marketing buzz. Even if you self-publish or use pr