June 7

I had planned a day trip into the city today for a literary festival, but the weather has changed all that. We have high pollen counts which are causing constant runny nose and the accompanying sore throat. If you add to that temperatures in the cool fifties (F) and constant rain--some severe storms predicted--it was decided that it was better to cancel the trip since the festival is an outdoor festival. I am sad to miss it this year but the idea of spending two or three hours in the cold pouring rain with an already sore throat was better nixed. Instead, I may take in a nice dry movie. Hopefully your plans for today work out better. Cheers!

June 6

Planted hostas today. It is a cool day here and overcast... a good day for running errands and taking naps. We've been listening to fire crackers all last night and most of this morning. I think the local highschools held their graduation and so the kids on the lake are celebrating.

I'm tweaking bits of my website. Someone suggested I add a catalog button where you can see all my titles on one page- so I did that and also put in buy links. They take you to BN.com - but you can also buy through www.amazon.com, www.avalonbooks.com, www.walmart.com, www.booksamillion.com and come July 31st www.thewildrosepress.com. (The buy buttons are in response to an e-mail I received yesterday saying that this person could not find my books on amazon. I checked they are there- they have not run out. But- I only have hard cover books- so when it says there are no paperback books it's because...well, there have never been paperback books. Only hardcover. If the price is too steep ask for me at your local library. If they don't have me, they should be able to get me through interlibrary loan. (I hope to have a form up soon that you can fill out and take to your library to request they buy my books.)

None of my books is out of print yet. So, if you want to read my stories there is a way to purchase one. (They make a great beach read!)

Happy weekend everyone!

June 5

The shift in season is so dramatic to me. Probably because I emerge like a mole from my office and blink up at the expanse of sky. On Monday I went to let the dogs out when I noted a lovely bit of tan moving gently through the dark green edge of the woods behind us. Then caught my breath as a full grown deer stepped out and walked toward the pine tree directly behind my house. This is when the dogs saw it, of course and barking commenced. The deer stopped, lifted a front paw and turned its head toward me and the dogs who watched behind patio glass. Then just as gently slid back into the dark green underbrush and was gone. Lovely.

Then yesterday, around the same time, three in the afternoon, I opened the patio door to step out on the deck only to see a little spotted fawn near the same tree. It actually cavorted--dancing and twirling on legs so spindly I thought they would break--before it moved off in the underbrush in the opposite direction of the deer I saw earlier in the week. And yes, I'll be keeping my eye out for more.

On the writing news, the revisions to part three of the project are done. I'm reading a book for the Master's program and I've got a critique to do. So, its back to my office and work. Happy Friday, everyone!

June 4

This morning the view from my window is as bucolic as a Master's painting. The sky changes from a hazy white blue at the horizon to robin's egg blue at the dome. The wind is hushed leaving the trees gently still along the edge of the lake. The water itself is mirror-like reflecting the various dark and yellow greens of the trees. Algae sits along the edge a copy of the oscillating edge of the banks. The soft scent of lilac fills the air. The sound of arriving Canada geese breaks the silence as they splash down. A pure white snowy egret slowly stalks the shadows near the French pussy willow. While tiny sparrow and finch flit from branch to branch on the nearby birch tree. Cotton wood fluffs drift by and I long for a hammock and the time to lie in the sun.

June 3

Yesterday I ran across a fabulous tweet (From twitter.com) to a link to a video of Ira Glass speaking about story telling. Now he's talking about video production but for the most part you can relate what he has to say to writing as well. He spoke on a point that really hit home for me. That sometimes you have to produce a lot of dreck to get to the really good stuff-and that's OKAY. Producing the dreck allows you to be present and ready when the good stuff comes pouring out. Then the trick is to recognise the dreck for what it is and get rid of it.

(Even if it means cutting whole chapters, sentences, paragraphs... putting aside whole books.)

The hardest part of being creative, he says, is finding a good story. Dreck truly is part of the creative process. It helps you find that good story. (Look for more on this subject on my Sunday blog.)

Here's the link: Ira Glass story telling part 2. Cheers!

June 2

You may have noticed that I changed the graphics on my website. (Hopefully, didn't startle you too much.) I like to mix things up and this has become my favorite summer graphics. There is nothing better than a good beach read. So, I am bringing you the beach, some sun, and of course...a good read.

More tweeks to come but these will be subtle. Enjoy!

June 1

Welcome to a new month! The sun is shining and everything is bright, damp from last night's storms, but warm.

If you read my Sunday blog - www.nancyjparra.blogspot.com - you'll know that I was reading an article on marketing and ...oh, dear... I feel that I have failed a bit in my blogging here. For one of the tenets of this marketing article was to provide "value added" information on your web site. (Which I do post several how-to articles.) But the article said that your blog must be "value added" as well. Oh, boy- this means that my daily blathering must actually have meaning to you that emphasises my brand... hmmm. LOL- my current brand blurb is "Making the every day extraordinary." I took this brand because my stories are about every day people- in extraordinary circumstances. As well as if you read one of my books I hope that my stories make your every day extraordinarily entertaining. (I know- seems like a pretty bold statement- LOL) I've run my daily blog sort of as a "girl next door" blog- the every day part of my brand. I want to be accessible to a degree and include you in my life as an author. Hopefully in an encouraging way...

Now for part two where I fear I fail... the article said- "So many out on the web seem to have made "neurotic, negative, cynical" their brand, and they express it everywhere they go. Ack! who wants to be around that? what reader is going to be inspired by that?" I thought about my musings on a balanced life and my whining about how long it takes for publishers to look at unagented work and how crazy it is to get an agent, and in general how slow the biz is may be misconstrued as "neurotic, negative and cynical"- yikes! My apologies! *Smile* I think my hope was to show readers who are writers-unpubbed and pubbed-that we are all in the same boat. Rejection is not personal. Long waits and dry spells are common. And well, perhaps to slip in a complaint or two-as I'm human...

So- on a quest to create and carefully maintain my personal brand, I will straighten up. And hereby pledge to do my best to bring you "value added" bits and disperse the "neurotic, negative and cynical." Tall order for my little world... ;) Cheers!