Five months! I can’t believe it’s been that long since we sat down together. I do owe you another apology, and to make up for my absence, let me give you a quick overview of what happened while I was away. I’ve been busy being a writer!

October 26 – I had the pleasure of being on The Ron Shaw Radio Show, a part of Artists First Network. He is a retired police captain, and a prolific author and poet. As a radio host, his show is broadcast to an international audience and I was thrilled to be among truly august company. That hour-long interview is archived for your pleasure if you’re interested. Just scroll down to listen.

I also have new branding! The marvelous Marisa-rose Shor of Cover Me Darling worked up a branding package for me complete with new logos!  Here’s a sample:

 November – National Novel Writing Month kept me very busy. I was the Municipal Liaison for the Charlotte, NC Region and though I didn’t travel as much this year as I did last year, I was writing my own work (a challenge of 50K words in one month) plus tried to work with plenty of other writers. I enjoy meeting so many new, inspired folks but whew! And of course, there were the holidays too, and that’s always a busy time for everyone.

December brought more parties and visits and the writing never stopped. I felt as though I was working on a dozen projects. I confess to an extreme sense of chaos.

January – I started the dreaded task of editing last year’s WIP, and something weird happened. I began hemorrhaging poetry. I mean it wouldn’t stop! I hadn’t been this inspired in years. The poems bleed everywhere all over the house, every day, without warning. I was doing one a day, sometimes up to three or four. And I’m not talking about little four liners either! More on this coming.

Also in January I was privileged to sit on a literary panel at a local library. Another author, two publishers and I fielded questions on “things you need to know about self-publishing” and it was great meeting so many local writers and would-be authors.

February – Still bleeding poetry, editing, and I prepared for and went to the author signing, Book ‘Em Book Fair and Writer Converence in Lumberton NC. While there I sold quite a few books, and sat on one panel (another about Self-Publishing) and moderated another. I had a blast.

March –  I was honored to be featured twice with Focus on Women Magazine’s radio show, La Femme de Prose ( part of BlogTalk Radio) where I discussed my books Midnight Assassin and Paper Bones. Those broadcasts are archived and available if you’d like to catch up:  Miracles and Poems Episode (at halfway mark for me) and Community Love and Poetry (halfway mark about Paper Bones).

April – and here we are. This is National Poetry Month and the poetry that I started bleeding in January has finally slowed and nearly stopped. Because of so much of it, and as I mentioned on the La Femme broadcast, I decided to publish a new book of poetry. This one will be along the lines of Paper Bones, but more raw, more current, and I won’t be pulling any punches. The will cover current events and issues with brutal honesty. July 2016 is the current expected release date.

Sign up for my newsletter to read upcoming sneak peeks and get your chance at an early – perhaps free! – copy! PLUS, be prepared for a sneak peek of a new, upcoming fiction for this year!

So what else is going to happen now that I’m back? Well next week I will have a guest blogger for Princess Week! And I’ll be back to talk to you about writing, of course. Additionally, I’m updating the conference lists because next year I will be traveling. Maybe we’ll see each other, stay tuned.

Finally, National Poetry Month is half over but you still have time to dive into some delicious works by your favorite bard. Don’t have a favorite? Then explore. The poetic world is vast and you are sure to find a style to suit you. Ogden Nash? ee cummings? Perhaps a bit of Billy Shakespeare? I leave it to you.

Until next time, I remain,
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): Soulless by Gail Carriger (#1 in a series)

Off the Desk (book just finished): Burned (Alex Verus #7) by Benedict Jacka

Coming Soon:  Poetry Smoetry! Why should I bother? plus some award news!
And More Guest Bloggers

November 15 is the middle. It is the midpoint of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The middle of November is when sports teams begin assessing their players. Mid November is when teachers prepare tests and look at grades. November 15 promises that Oreo cookie fans may customize packages online (you can Google that). So much happens at the middle. Just ask the “middle” child.

The middle always annoys us.

• “Can I call you back? I’m in the middle of something…”
• “I don’t know what happens! I’m only in the middle of the book.”
• “The middle of the race is brutal. Get ready to hit ‘the wall.’ “

We speak of being in the middle of a mess, the middle child, the middle class, the middle mind, middle age, middle school, middle income, and we always meet up in the middle.

That’s why it’s interesting when writers speak about the – with homage to Jim Butcher – the Great Swampy Middle of their novels. The GSM (for short) is where plots get lost, characters wander off course, the bones of dead and confused are left behind and writers almost always give up. And that is the challenge, to make your way through the Great Swampy Middle and do so without losing the point.

Whether it is your life, or your novel, the GSM can be scary. It’s expansive and full of darkness. Lots of potholes and cliffs. Mountains to climb and sharp things to be avoided. And there are a few simple things that get you through it, safely.

1. Focus. Do not deviate from your path. Whether you are in middle age, middle of the book, middle of the race, you must keep your focus. Otherwise you will veer off course and lose your way, like so many before you.
2. Understand. The middle is necessary. Nothing is achieved by starting and finishing without something happening in the middle. Simply accept that this is how things go and don’t fear it. Necessary means ordinary. Make it less scary that way.
3. Believe. In yourself. Don’t make excuses. Don’t look for a way out. The best way is always through, said Robert Frost (shortest too). Know that you will succeed and you will. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you believe you can, obstacles are smaller. And so is that Great Swampy Middle that looked so immense when you initially began your project, your life, your race, your novel.

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo and I’m deep in the GSM. It feels a bit daunting to be here in a new story but I’m making the trek with purpose and having fun along the way. I have moments of self-doubt and then I ask myself, why? I didn’t doubt when I hit middle age. I’ve never flinched in the middle of anything. So why would I in the middle of writing a novel?

One answer explains it all – fear of failure. Racing, writing, reading, working, living. We fear failing.

Want the truth? The only true failure is the quitter. And that’s not you. And it’s not me. So, Keep Pushing on (Thanks REO Speedwagon) and the GSM will become a memory.

To all the middle children out there, I empathize. I’m first born. Failure is not an option. I’m an Aries, I barrel through. I’m a person, I perservere. I’m a writer.

Do I blanche? No! I am fearless.

Be fearless. Welcome to the Middle. Follow me….

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story

On the Desk: (next reading): Second Olympus by K.A. Stewart

Off the Desk (book just finished): Rogue by Karen Lynch

Coming Soon:  Book Recs, Thanksgiving Musings, and a new Guest Editorial

November is less than a week away! For over a million folks, that means the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). If you are unfamiliar with what NaNoWriMo is then here is what it means in a nutshell: A month dedicated to the completion of 50K words, dedicated to a single novel/project. That’s it. One month of writing goals, chaos, frustration, joy, confusion, late nights, silliness, too much coffee (or soda), with the end result being a boatload of words which, hopefully, will lead to a successful novel in the future.

Now, if you are a regular author/novelist, the first question I get is “why.” The answer is easy for young writers, the unpublished, untrained, and inexperienced. The pupose of NaNo (for short) is to help you find your writing habit, to show you what dedication and commitment to your craft can do for you, how to write without stopping to edit or question yourself, how to trust that you have more words (and something to say) than you imagined. NaNo is commitment, dedicaiton, inspiration, comradierie, and proof. Proof that when you put your mind to it, you can actually finish something.

Finish. Notice I didn’t say “win.” Yes, NaNo says that if you succeed at getting 50K words in one month, then you “win” some prizes or get discounts to prizes. But that’s not really what they mean. The idea is to finish the month by writing every day.

And if you don’t get to 50K, that’s okay. The concept is learning to write every day, to never give up on yourself or your craft and to develop a strong writing habit.

The only losers to the program are the quitters.

But why bother with NaNo if you already write novels and are successful at it? Well, to be honest you probably would do it for the fun, for the companionship of others (we writers do get awfully solitary), and maybe for the challenge.

Of course, I’ve had several authors tell me, “I don’t need NaNo because I write all the time.” Okay, good for you.

Yet there are millions of people who do participate. Who want to believe. Who DO believe. And there are successful, published, best-selling authors who participate (as well as editors and agents).

So I have a list for those of you thinking about Nov 1, and the start of NaNo, or maybe just reading about it.

11 reasons you can use to Not to Participate, Give Up On or Quit NaNo (use as needed):

1. You like to chat about writing a novel. You feel the excitement of it when you do, you’ve even tried writing about it in your journal or made some notes. You do it every year. You’re still talking about it. Stop talking about it. We know at this point you won’t do it. Just accept it and we’ll move on.
2. You have children. They have things to do. They have schoolwork. You have to drive them. You need to supervise homework. You don’t have time for writing when you have to do math.
3. Soccor, ballet, football, school programs, choir, band, karate, volunteer work, cheer squad, gymnastics. You are never home.
4. If you don’t clean the house it won’t get done. Who has time when the toilets are calling. And laundry? Oh we won’t even talk about how you have to supervise the washer and dryer.
5. You have a blog to keep up, facebook post, twitter to update, LinkedIn to add, Goodreads book reviews to give and sale (of your old books) to check on Amazon and Smashwords.
6. You feel headachy and tired. Who can write when the body says it’s tired?
7. Who wants to actually read what you write? No one cares about this stuff!
8. And worse, what happens afterwards when no one likes it? Why did I bother?
9. There will be other projects, other NaNo years.
10. You have a real job. You can’t be expected to do both especially when one isn’t paying the bills.
11. Your spouse/sig other/best friend isn’t involved and just can’t relate.

There. I hope those help you successfully rationalize yourself out of NaNoWriMo.

However, if you know that all of those are bunk, if you know that you must write and it doesn’t matter about what, if you know that you aren’t writing for others and you are writing for yourself, if you know that at the end of the day the day isn’t done until you do write, if you believe that words matter no matter how few, if you know that support will come from other writers despite those closest to you not “getting” you, then NaNo is exactly for you (no matter the word count).

Because you know that the writing must happen. Like breathing. Sick or well. Kids or job. The writing is important to you and must get done, will get done, because you make it important enough.

Because it’s a Nike (just do it) feeling.

If you know these things, then I’ll see you there (nanowrimo.org) on November 1. Because how could we not?

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Am being interviewed tonight!!  Tune in to the Ron Shaw Show at 8pm EDT to listen live! Or come back tomorrow (or later) to listen to the recording in the archive. I’m excited and nervous. We’ll be talking about my books By Light Betrayed – Poetry of the Vampires and Midnight Assassin: A Tale of Lust and Revenge.

Bring your wine and popcorn and a friend! And let me know what you think, ok?

Wish me Good Luck!

Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): Some Like It Witchy (#5) by Heather Blake

Off the Desk (book just finished): The Goodbye Witch (#4) by Heather Blake

Coming Soon:  What I love and hate about NaNoWriMo/More interviews/Holiday Chaos