The Write Word with Wareeze

A Simple Thanksgiving

Hello Friends

Thanks for taking the time to read my post on the Soul Mate Publishing blog. I write under the pen name Wareeze Woodson. Having four books published by Soul Mate Publishing, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to new readers as well as the loyal acquaintances and friends here on Soul Mate.

Now, let us discuss my simple Thanksgiving. America the Beautiful says it all for me. Some of the lyrics are written below.

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

These words were penned by Kathanne Lee Bates. There is much more to the song, but these words are my favorite and touch my heart.

Let us forget our differences, lift up our voices in song and pass forward the peace and prosperity we enjoy. Our leaders need all the help they can get, Democrat or Republican. Pulling together to preserve our land of the free for our children and their children is the proper thing to do.

Thanks again for sharing your time with me. Many blessings to you and your family for the coming Holidays.

My books now released are as follows: Conduct Unbecoming of a Gentleman, An Enduring Love, A Lady’s Vanishing Choices are more or less set in the Regency period. Bitterswept is a historical Western. I have another Regency that shall be posted for pre-order next week. Captured by the Viscount.

Respectfully,

Wareeze Woodson

 

Website: https:/www.wareezewoodson.com

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/@wareeze

Writing About Cowboys by Beth Carter

I wrote about cowboys! Yee-haw! My newest novel, COWBOYS AT COCONUTS, was a delight to write. Creating cowboy characters was a first for me and I had great fun developing my western characters. I got to use terms like, “Howdy, ma’am” and “over yonder.” Don’t get me wrong. My cowboys aren’t cliche, but country boys and farm hands really do use those terms. And they drop their g’s. How would I know? I dated a cowboy from Oklahoma over twenty years ago, plus my dad grew up (and still lives on) a Missouri farm.

Most cowboys tip their hats, have dusty boots, tight jeans, oval belt buckles, and occasionally drive ancient pickups. They’re always tan, mannerly, and are hard-working guys. Why haven’t I written about a cowboy before? I had so much fun I’ve got to keep them in the next book! In my Coconuts series, I have cops, hippies, brides, bankers, a high school counselor, and a wedding planner. I absolutely had to add cowboys to the list complete with country music, ponds, country roads, cows, horses, hay bales, tire swings, diners, smoky bars, and more.

To keep my Coconuts series fresh (COWBOYS AT COCONUTS will be Book 4) I bring in a batch of new secondary characters with each novel. As the title suggests, several of my new characters are cowboys and country boys, but I’d never forget my main characters and their supporting cast. BFFs Suzy, Alex, and Hope are, of course, still in the mix so there’s plenty of chaos including a trip to Nashville, an Eat, Drink, Chill trip to New York City, and all kinds of surprises for the almost-forty pregnant wedding planner. The New York socialite can’t have all the fun.

Here’s the cover beautiful cover by Wren Taylor:

Two worlds collide when a socialite kisses
an unsuspecting cowboy.

Finally, here’s my blurb:

Two worlds collide when a wealthy New York socialite plants a kiss on an unsuspecting cowboy. His ancient pickup is a far cry from her personal limo and Cheri Van Buren’s more accustomed to the Big Apple than Soggy Bottoms, his farm. Still, the caterer to the stars surprisingly adores the simple life—until keeping her notoriety, plus a scandalous secret, becomes a full-time job.

Blunt bank marketer Alex takes an undisclosed hiatus to go on a self-imposed Eat, Drink, Chill trip to decide once and for all if she’s going to end her disastrous relationship with a sexy cop. When someone begins to make the decision easy, a phone call changes everything.

Determined to put the pieces together after her adopted parents’ train-accident-turned-soap-opera nightmare, Hope heads to Nashville with her amnesia-laden hippie dad. Will he have a breakthrough or is it too late?

Pregnant with twins at nearly forty, Suzy juggles her wedding business while enduring morning sickness and embarrassing OB/GYN visits. The last thing she needs is unsettling news from her son, not to mention a shocker by her teen stepdaughter.

Maybe that old adage about opposites attracting is true. Maybe not. One thing’s for certain. A cocktail at Coconuts is always in order.

RELEASE DATE: December 4, 2019

NOTE: Even though this is the fourth book in my Coconuts series, all may be read as a standalone, but I wouldn’t recommend reading them out of order. 🙂

THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS (Book 1)

CHAOS AT COCONUTS (Book 2)

BABIES AT COCONUTS (Book 3)

COWBOYS AT COCONUTS (Book 4)

There will be two more novels in this series!

Connect with Beth Carter here:

Author Beth Carter

Website: http://bethcarter.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorbethcarter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethcarter007

Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/bethcarter

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/beth-carter

Beth’s Book Babes is my private reader group on Facebook. To request an invitation to join, simply contact me via my website, www.bethcarter.com

November is for writers!

Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)  is a huge phenomena in the writing word each November. The basic idea is to let go of your inner critic and write 50 thousand words during the month. While not every author participates, most authors have at least heard of the event, which sometimes seems more like a movement. There is a slick website with stat trackers of all different kinds as well as community forums on every writing topic out there.

The event has continued to grow over the last twenty years, with participants all over the world and at all stages of their writing journeys. Some pros swear by it, and I always like to recommend it for aspiring writers as a way to break down the fears that come with being new and untested. There is something very powerful about just letting go and writing.

When I was just starting out as a writer, I found NaNo incredibly freeing as it gave me permission to write whatever came to mind, as long as I kept the words flowing. I also found it inspiring to go to the meet-ups and connect with other people engaged in this often solitary pursuit. There is nothing sweeter than the solidarity and support of other writers.

As I gained my writing chops, the NaNo structure stopped working as well for me. With a simple goal of producing words, I would over write, or let my story wander down side plots and dead ends, just in the name of getting words on the page. The speed required for NaNo (roughly 1667 words a day, every day) was also too much for me to sustain long term. By December I would have a very messy manuscript and a serious case of  burn out.  I also struggled with the recommendation to start something totally new every year. With publishing deadlines and other considerations, it was rare that I would be at the first stages of drafting in November. So it’s been a few years since I’ve officially thrown my hat in the NaNo ring and tried to reach for the 50k gold star.

Yet I still recommend the event to anyone who “wants to write a book some day.” Even if you find the breakneck pace and word count driven mania aren’t for you, you’ll have more words than when you started, and hopefully more writer friends, too.

This year I’ve been fast drafting and working on a new project all fall, which made the siren’s call of NaNo more difficult to resist. I decided at the last minute to sign-up and go for it again. After all those messy drafts have worked out for me in the past as both Taxing Courtship and Deadly Courtship first took shape during November sprints. Now the revisions needed on those drafts is a whole ‘nother story…

I’m a NaNo rebel since I’m continuing work on a started draft, rather than starting from scratch on day one. It’s been fun to push myself, increasing my writing speed and really focusing on getting this draft, however messy, done. Two weeks in, I’ve had my good days and my bad days. I’m woefully behind on my word count, in part because I insist on taking weekends off, for my own sanity and life balance. Still overall it has been satisfying to watch the word count tracker tick up, and know that I’m making solid progress on my next book. For no matter what happens, I’ll end the month with more words than I started.

What about you? Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo or know someone who has? Does the structure work for you or are you a NaNo rebel?

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Jaycee Jarvis has been an avid romance reader since devouring all the Sweet Dreams books her middle school library had to offer. Also a fantasy fan from an early age, she often wished those wondrous stories had just a bit more kissing. Now she writes stories with a romantic heart set against a magical backdrop, creating the kind of book she most likes to read.  When not lost in worlds of her own creation, she resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three children and a menagerie of pets.

Jaycee is a Golden Heart® finalist and author of the Hands of Destin series. The award winning first book in that series, Taxing Courtship, released in June 2018.

Learn more about her around the web:

• Website: www.jayceejarvis.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JayceeJarvis
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJayceeJarvis
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18092674.Jaycee_Jarvis
• BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jaycee-jarvis

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is when we take time to remember and pay respects to those who have served, and are serving, our nation. I’m a veteran, and while I appreciate the thank-yous and special deals, I really just like to do the same thing that happens on most other days of the year, which is remembering my friends and especially my family members who served.

For instance, my grandfather who spent time on a ship in the Pacific during World War II. He used to tell stories while we sat around the kitchen table in the old farmhouse. After a while I’d zone out and not really pay too much attention. The kitchen chairs weren’t the most comfortable, you see. Mom and Grandma would have their own conversation while cooking or doing dishes, and since joining their chat meant I’d have to work, too, I didn’t. That left Dad’s and Grandpa’s discussion, an odd pattern of laughing at things that didn’t seem funny and sometimes all of a sudden growing silent.

Dad had an advantage talking with Grandpa because he spent time as a Marine in Korea. They shared the same language. Inevitably, I’d ask permission to go play with the barn kitties, and as I headed out the back door, Grandpa and Dad would pour themselves another cup of coffee and keep swapping stories. Year after year, and their stories never changed. Grandpa and Dad never tired of telling and retelling them. For some reason my young self couldn’t understand, they were important.

It didn’t take me long once I set off on my military career to figure out why. You do learn a different language in the military. Not just the acronyms or odd phrases, but something as simple as a look…how in one glance with another veteran, you know the two of you have more in common than most people. I also learned that stories swapped over kitchen tables focused on the good and fun times of service. That Grandpa’s and Dad’s laughter masked the heartache of losing a buddy. That little pauses in-between were silent tributes to them.

Most of all, I learned that every day is Veterans Day to a vet. Not one day goes by without a thought back to my own service. Sometimes, I remember snippets of the stories told at that farmhouse kitchen table. And like Grandpa and Dad did, there’s little pauses between my laughs.

So on this day of parades and services, I’ll appreciate all the attention. Just know that if I’m shy about it, it’s because I’m more used to those informal memorials that happen in the space of a moment.

To all who have served or are currently serving—thank you.

So you want to write about a doctor…

The terms used for the various levels of training in medicine can be a bit confusing. If you’re going to write about doctors or if you have to interact with them, here’s a handy guide.

The path to graduate and become a doctor differs from country to country, but it’s very similar in Canada and the USA. Some students get into medical school after completing three years of an undergraduate degree, some wait until they’ve graduated with an honours degree. Some students also continue with their schooling and apply after a master’s degree or PhD.

Once in medical school, the path looks something like this: medical student – first two years of medical school spent mainly in the classroom and lab; clinical clerk – third and fourth years of medical school spent primarily in the hospital; resident – next two to five years of specialty training; and fellow – one to two years of subspecialty training narrowing down the field of expertise. Not all residents go on to do fellowships, but in order to get surgical privileges at a hospital nowadays, it’s usually required. A fully-fledged specialist working in the hospital is called the Attending Staff. Whenever you see a doctor in the hospital, they should always give you their name and their level of training.

Back in the day when I graduated, you could apply to medical school after two years of an undergraduate degree (some universities even accepted students after one year) and then complete four years of medical school and finish with a a rotating internship, which was a year spent in the hospital rotating through the major specialties. I was out practicing medicine as a fully qualified family doctor seven years after graduating high school. They’ve replaced the rotating internship with a minimum two-year residency and much less commonly accept students before they’ve completed their undergraduate degree, so now it takes a bit longer.

In Perfectly Reasonable, Trace is applying to medical school. With a little help from Margo, he plans to ace the dreaded medical school interview. Now he just has to convince Margo to help him!

Perfectly Reasonable

Margo MacMillan finished medical school, but in the process, her self-confidence and self-esteem took a beating. So for the sake of self-preservation, she’s stepped away from medicine to re-group. In the meantime, painting soothes her soul and pays the bills.

Trace Bennett set his sights on a medical degree and has to prepare the perfect medical school application. His big plan is to paint his condo for a little feng shui divine luck. When Margo shows up to paint, he realizes he’s found exactly what he’s looking for. He just has to convince Margo to share more than the art of medicine.

She’s got it. He wants it. It’s Perfectly Reasonable.

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0143ZW2P8

Award-winning author Linda O’Connor started writing romantic comedies when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at a local home décor store. Her books have enjoyed bestseller status. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic. She shares her medical knowledge in fast-paced, well-written, sexy romances – with an unexpected twist. Her favourite prescription to write? Laugh every day. Love every minute.

Linda loves to connect with readers ~

Website: http://www.lindaoconnor.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA

Website: http://www.lindaoconnor.net

 

Tags:

Medical romance, romantic comedy, contemporary romance, The Perfectly Series, series, doctors, medical school, interviews

Hello, Hemingway!

This week I discovered the most wonderful app on the planet. If I’d had this, I wonder if I’d needed to spend all those $$$ on an MFA . . . just kidding. But seriously, this app can be extremely helpful in pinpointing some of the weaknesses in your writing.

It’s called the Hemingway Editor. You pull it up and the instructions explain that you can either copy and paste in your already drafted work, or type directly onto the screen after clicking the “Write” button.

Then you click the “Edit” button, and magic happens.

Hemingway tells you the readability of your piece and the corresponding grade level.

FYI: Statistics say that the average reading level of the American public is at the 7-8th grade. If your writing is much above that, many readers will see your work as too “literary” and put the book down.

Because of my scientific background, I tend to write “above” the reading level of most casual readers–i.e., long, complicated sentences with way too much detail. My first drafts read more like scientific papers than novels. I know this about myself, but I can’t help it. And when I’m going through my drafts to self-edit, I can’t see it either.

This nifty app puts it all out there–in technicolor. Sentences that are too long or complex are yellow. If your sentence is highlighted in red (which looks pink on my screen), it means it’s way too complex and needs to be broken up or simplified. A purple highlight means the phrase has a “shorter alternative.” Green means use of passive voice as opposed to active. Blue marks adverbs.

But here’s the niftiest part: Hemingway calculates, based on your word count, how many of each of these things are “acceptable.” For example, when I first pasted in the Prologue of my WIP, the toolbar on the right side told me I had used 31 adverbs. For the length of my piece, 21 was considered the goal.

Now, if I were to change every single thing about my Prologue that Hemingway told me to, it would have made it too simplistic. There would have been no variation of sentence structure. If you always use the simplest sentence structure, your prose will be choppy and will lull the reader to sleep.

It will kill your original “voice.”

I know I tend to write very long, convoluted sentences. I’m big on adverbs, and I get carried away with descriptions. But that’s me. It’s my writing style, my voice. So I may ignore a few of Hemingway’s yellow and blue highlights.

But the red/pink ones? I’m going in and simplifying.

To be clear, this does not seem to be a surefire way to eliminate typos, grammatical errors or the like from your work. But it does analyze the piece for readability. And we all want our books to be very readable, right?

Also, the app swears your work is not saved. I can’t say I completely believe them. But I’ve come far enough in this journey called “author” to know that someone stealing your work, or even your ideas, is the least of your problems.

Check it out!

Memories of a man…

Today I want to talk about my grandpa.

Don Sloan is a brave man who has served his country, devoted his life to his family, and is slowly losing the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

For those of you that arent familiar with Alzheimer’s, it is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions.

Brain cell connections and the cells themselves degenerate and die, eventually destroying memory and other important mental functions.

And perhaps worse of all, there is no cure.

But this post isn’t an education in Alzheimer’s. It’s a post to remember a man, share with you a glimpse into the life of a great man.

He was much too young to join the military but he snuck aboard the ship only to be discovered much later. By that time, it was too late to return him to shore. So he got to stay. He served several years in the military but he neverreally liked to talk about those years as most people don’t.

He met and married my grandma, Claudine, in December of 1953. Soon after, my mother was born. Followed by my aunt #1 and my aunt #2.

He always worked hard at whatever he did and gave it his all. He is a man that put his family first in life. His family was life.

I’m not as close to my grandpa as I wish I were it has I used to be growing up but I have some great memories of him.

One of my favorites is when my sister and I were younger and my grandpa worked as a janitor at a high school. He would take us with him while he cleaned. He would take time to play basketball with us. We had so much fun, laughing at each other when we missed, cheering each other on with every swish of that black striped orange globe as it passed through the net.

I remember sitting with him as we fished.

I remember having talks about life and responsibility.

I remember his advice. “Work hard, do your best and never forget: whatever you put into something is what you will get out of it.”

I love those memories. I love my grandpa. And this awful disease is destroying him.

The last time I went to see him, only a few months ago, he had no idea who he was. But he would smile at me every time I caught his eye. It was big, beaming, and wonderously childlike. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

There are a lot of things he doesn’t remember. But he remembers my grandma-his ‘doll’.

You can see the love and delight in his eyes every time he sees her. His bright blue eyes follow her every move. They have been married 65 years, nearly 66 and even though he’s losing almost every memory of his daughters, his grandkids, and his great grandkids, he still remembers her.

I am planning to go see him again this month and I am going to bring along my family. He will most likely not remember me or them and while that hurts, it’s okay but we will remember him. I will remember him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and allowing me to share a little bit about the man that i call grandpa.