National Reading Month

If you didn't know that March is National Reading Month, then you haven't been following my blog. Arrgh! Nevertheless, now you know. So what are you going to do with this newfound knowledge or reminder, if you already knew?

Read, I hope. If you've got free time and like to give back to the community, get out and read to a group of children or seniors.

"What are YOU doing, L.A.?" You may be inclined to ask while I'm all telling you what to do. Of course, I'm READING. In celebration of FINALLY finishing my second manuscript, I started reading back in February but my chalkenge for March is to actually finish as many books as I can!

Why? Mainly because I'm tired of starting books and not finishing them in a timely manner--not that it's a race or anything but finishing is important.

Here are two of the books I'm working on now:

Feel free to share what you're reading. Subscribe for updates and Happy Reading!

Yours Truly, 

L.A.

The Shoebox & the Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Writer Conference

Who knew that a shoe box would have anything to do with a writer's conference?

At the Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Writers Conference this past weekend I started learning stuff before the workshops even began. I was sharing a vendor table with fellow author Tenita Johnson and the fact that she was still working on her setup when I was finished in under 5 minutes was the first sign that I was about to be schooled. On her side of the table was a lollipop-filled mug, strips of words of encouragement, colorful magnets highlighting her book's message, along with the standard business card and promotional items. Sure, those things were awesome in and of themselves but when she slid a shoebox under the tablecloth, elevating her book above everyone else's--hot damn! I marveled at the ingenious!



Notice the extra decor on the other side of the table.

 Lucky for me the trunk of my car is like traveling storage container and there was a box--not a shoe box but a box nonetheless-- inside that I can use for the occasion. Worked like a charm. Don't get me wrong. I didn't sell any books, but that's not why writers attend writer conferences. We go to learn how to sell and write books better.

And learn I did!

This post would be endless if I tried to list everything I learned at the conference. Instead I'll direct you to my Twitter account. Look for tweets with hashtag #eom2012, #mwn.

Til my next post. Happy reading!

Sincerely,
L.A.

When to Move On--A Literary Lesson

The numbers recorded on my word log for my upcoming novel over the last few weeks have been pretty dismal: 85, 288, 27, 280, 91, 41, 21--to give a few examples. And these don't even reflect the days when I didn't write anything!

As if that's not enough to be down in the dumps about, do I dare share with my literary friends that this minuscule effort has been on one friggin' scene!

I know. I know. Stop yelling at me! In my five plus years as an author I know better than to have spent this considerable amount of time on the same scene. I should have moved on days ago against the pull of the literary devil to stay lost in a scene that obviously wasn't working or isn't meant to be--at least not right now.

Make sure you don't fall into this form of writers block by, first, planning your scene thoroughly before you begin writing, and, second, don't be afraid to leave a scene unfinished. Perfect time to use the bookmark feature of Microsoft Word. When you're ready you don't even have to search for the page where the scene is housed--just search your bookmark and click. Its also convenient if you decide to delete the scene all together.

Finally, at the start of this week, I've moved on to something else and the writing has been going well, although that unfinished scene is not far from my mind. Lol.

How do you handle these types of moments in your writing? Do you fight with the scene like I was doing until you get it right? Or do you ditch it immediately?

Respond below.

Another One Bites the Dust

Oops I did it again..." Unfortunately, not whatever Britanny Spears was talking about in her smash hit in the late 90's. Rather, it seems, I've made another petty thief happy in the city. It was a Friday afternoon. If not for my apartment needing extermination, I would have been at work. Anyway when the time came for me and the kids to leave the apartment for a few hours I decided to take them to the carnival on our city's Riverwalk. Not only did we need something to do, but my sister had informed that the event was free until later that evening so I figured this was an opportune time to support the city. Humph.

If only I hadn't already taken my laptop with me to breakfast and the park near my home, it would have been safely at home. Instead, as I'm always trying to find opportunity to write, I'd brought it with me.

So we arrive at the event, park on the street in a pretty decent area-SO I THOUGHT!

It would seem some punks in the city picked the street I parked on to randomly check for unlocked cars to see what they'd luck up on. That day it would be my laptop!

Pure luck for them. Not so much for me. I may have been dumb enough to leave my friggin' doors unlocked but not dumb enough to leave my laptop out in the open. It was tucked under the seat, no cords exposed. But those bums rifled through every place but the trunk of my car.

And yes, I did say this is the second time this had happened--the first time my mom was using my car & my laptop was inside when she left the doors unlocked to run into the corner store. That time was worse because my tote bag WITH my laptop AND flashdrive inside was taken. Everything was lost. Literally. I practically had to start my novel over, which I could use as an excuse for why I'm behind schedule with publication.

Nevertheless, I was able to look on the bright side of things-my car was not damaged in any way nor were me or my children.

Surprisingly I haven't run out to replace my laptop. While lack of available funds play a significant role in that fact, I also have to admit that I don't really make that much progress with my writing on the laptop anyway. Most of my writing happens on my desktop at my day job--on breaks & lunch, of course. I just like the laptop for for occasions of trips to the coffee shop, library, or vacations.

It's safe to say that whenever I do get another laptop, it will always be kept on my person when I take it out of the house. Enough is enough!

When you take your laptops out and about with you, how do you protect it?

Summer Book Giveaway!!!

Three years I conjured up the nerve to publish the manuscript that I'd been nursing for nearly ten years. It was both the scariest and the most rewarding time of my life.

What better way to celebrate this accomplishment than to reward book lovers everywhere with the chance to win a free copy of Unfinished Business, a story of an addiction to love and/ or lust months before the follow up novel is released.

Just subscribe to my blog, tell me about your addiction to lust or love. All new subscribers will be entered into a drawing to win the ebook edition or a printed copy. You choose.

Good luck!
L. A.

Celebrate National Book Club Month

Happy National Book Club Month!

Below is an article I found on how you can celebrate this wonderful month for books! Share your suggestions!

7 Book Loving Ways to Celebrate National Book Month

By Earma Brown


 October is National Book Month, according to the National Book Foundation. For me it's a book celebration all twelve months. As you may already know or can tell, I love books! I also love to honor and celebrate authors and help aspiring authors. It's a good time to honor and celebrate the authors in your life. What ways are you going to celebrate? I've come up with a few you might consider:



1. Join a book club. It's a great way to celebrate books and your literary inclined friends. Inside a book club, you can meet new friends and fellow readers of your favorite books. Most clubs choose a new book to read and discuss each month. If you want to ramp your reading up, join a book club and read a new book each month.



2. Read as a family. Use this month as the perfect month to encourage the whole family to read. Choose one to two chapters to read aloud, even three if you're ambitious. Our family did this for many years. We came to love and treasure the special moments our reading together created for us. Reading books together as a family will ignite the imagination tuner inside each of us. Even after our kids are gone, my husband and I still read together. In recent years, we now write together. Which I believe all started with us reading together as a family.



3. Swap your books. As a group, especially a writers group or book club you can meet and swap books. Gather the books you love but haven't read in years. When you meet, swap them with each other. You can organize your book swapping with a sign-in and sign out list. Or you can use the honor system. A group of friends on a low budget decided to do this with my books for sale at a writers conference. They each purchased the main book they wanted to read. Then later they swapped with each other to read the other books in the collection.



4. Have a book party. Everyone loves an excuse to party. Have a book party! This event is good for not just authors but book clubs, writer groups and even indie publishers. Invite your book loving friends and even your (not so much) book loving friends. Most people love a good party and you never know who has a secret passion for books. Be sure to prepare tasty treats and refreshments. Have lots of books on hand for your guest to browse. Consider hosting the party at a local bookstore or library. Offer support to a local author and invite them to give a talk about their work and the value of reading. Whatever you decide about your book party; relax and have fun.



5. Buy a book for yourself. Support the literary community. This month, go purchase the book you've been planning to pick up but never got around to it. Take the time to relax and read your favorite classic. I'm reading the Jane Austen classics. O.k., I am an unashamed girly-girl. Treat yourself and buy an eReader. This month is a good time to purchase the latest iPad, Nook or Kindle. A couple of years ago, when I purchased my Kindle I read more books in one month than I used to read in a year. I now think of what book I will read this month instead of this year. When I see a book I'm interested in reading, I immediately check to see if it's on the Kindle or available in a PDF format. I've found that some of my older PDF books that haven't been specifically formatted for the eReader, read just fine on my Kindle.



6. Buy a book for a friend. I still get excited when I receive a good book as a gift. Don't you enjoy getting a good book for Christmas? Although, these days I may have read it already. Since technology has changed the accessibility of books. It seems every book I think I want to read I go get it because of the eReader technology. I mean why not if I can access it so fast and easy. Even so, consider adding a book gift for a friend to your celebration.



7. Help an aspiring author. Do you know an aspiring author friend? Encourage them in their book writing quest. Buy the book of their favorite author and gift it to them. Give the gift of the now popular eReader or an upgrade to their existing device. You can show your support by investing in their training or computer system. Purchase their seat in a writing course, online or offline.



Above all enjoy the month of celebrating books. Discover or rediscover the joy of reading. Remember, inside a book you can meet new people, visit new lands, get good training or just plain old take a pleasant journey. Happy Book Month!


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Earma_Brown


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Avoid Resource OVERLOAD!!!

Deciding to embark on your writing career can be both exhilirating and scary as hell!  As most of us--book lovers turned aspiring writers/authors--are avid readers it's only natural for us to want to buy every writing resource we can get our hands on. After all, the experts do advise {taken from one of my resources, of course :)}, it's important to learn everything you can about the industry you plan to delve into it, right? Only thing is, when you combine ones thirst for knowledge with ones love for buying & reading books, it'll be no time before an excited, aspiring writer finds themselves at the overwhelming stage of RESOURCE OVERLOAD! Between the Writer's Digest book club offers and your own browsing of the book store's resource aisle, you can have everything from the basic poket/tabletop dictionary and thesaurus, grammar & style guides to every year's annual Writer's Market. Believe me when I tell you, the available titles are endless!

I wish someone had told me then what I'm about to tell you: "STOP! SAVE YOUR MONEY!"  For one thing, many of the resources regurgitate the same information. Secondly, none of these books will catapult your writing career. Only effective marketing & promoting will do that.

Now, on that point--marketing & promoting--besides a good dictionary & thesaurus, maybe a manuscript formatting guide, resources on the marketing & promoting is what you need to spend your money on, if not a good publicity coach. One such resource that I recently added to my library is  Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penni Sansevieri. For all other resource books, utilize your public library and the internet.

Hope you found this tidbit of information helpful.

Happy Writing & Publishing!
L.A. Jefferson