The kids tell me a story

My boys new favorite activity lately is having Mom tell them a story. I love it because it gets my creative juices flowing, and also because that was one of my favorite memories of my dad growing up, so it's pretty special to pass on the tradition . Well, today I asked them to tell ME a story and the result was pretty adorable. It looks like my boys will be story tellers too! Yes!

Fun Little Art Project

Today I finished a little project I've been working on the last few days for an upcoming art contest.  Kinda fun!

Exciting news! ...And other updates.

Yesterday was a day of days! It was a day where history was made! It was a day where dreams came true! Ok, I'm sure it's not THAT big of a deal, but for me, it was huge! It's a start.

Yesterday was the first day ever that I got one of my writings published by a real life publishing company! ...(And they are even paying me for it, which makes it feel official and all). HURRAY!

Members of the New Spirit Journal are compiling a book of stories about hope - ones where the writers lost hope and gained it again. In my story, my hope came from a promise made by God. It took a little bit of time to be fulfilled, but the hope of that promise got me through years of uncertainty. The book will be called "The Book of Hope Anthology" and will be available this coming January, so stay tuned! 

I have to say, I am so grateful that my testimony of God's love and the hope of his goodness will be shared with others. I couldn't have picked a better first published project. That's really my goal in writing anything - to inspire, uplift (and sometimes make people laugh). So this is an extra special project to be a part of for me! I'll keep you updated on release dates and such, I think it really will be a great book!

In other news, I've been extremely busy Mommying lately and haven't had much time for writing projects. My little girl is now 2 months old and such a little sweetie! My twin boys (who I love, love love!) are busier than ever, and it takes all my strength to keep them from fighting or destroying the house.

The other day I was listening to a podcast on Writer's Digest where a Children's book author/illustrator was being interviewed and she was asked how she finds time to write. Her response: "Well, I really admire writers with kids- I don't know how they do it. I don't have kids and writing is all I do." Well, I'll tell you how we do it...We do it very, very slowly, one small effort at a time. And that's OK. :)

So, my plan is that in a couple months or so when things calm down, I'll get back to working on my book about Twins, which I hope to complete by next summer! In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes peeled for small contests that pop up - projects that take a day or two. For stay at home parents, or working people, this is a great way to stay in the writing world - many contests  are free, quick and easy to submit to. And you never know, one of them may get published!

Despite limited time, I have managed to join a local writer's group in the last few weeks and it's already proven to be great! I found out about the Book of Hope submissions through my writing group and also some pretty neat writing opportunities from fellow authors. Writing groups are so beneficial! I would say they are ESSENTIAL for any writer! So, if you love to write and want to improve on your craft, look up a writing group near you! They are everywhere and they are sooo worth it! I know it can be very intimidating putting your writing out there for other people's critique, but it's the only way to get to your goals of publishing (if that's what you want).

Stay tuned for more soon!

Why every writer needs a writing group

This is a picture of my writing group. I love these women! Just looking at this picture makes my heart happy. These are my girls. They are amazing and I don't know where I'd be without them. Yes, we are a pretty small group, but don't be fooled. It only takes a a few talented writers coming together to create a highly productive, incredibly helpful, and completely awesome writing group.

You may ask yourself: what is a writing group and how does it work? Well, every writing group probably does things a little differently. But basically, it's this:

You team up with other writers in your area and say: "Hey, lets meet every week, (or every other week, or once a month) at such and such place". Before you all meet, each group member sends out something they've written via email so the whole group can read it beforehand. (Note: It's important to have a maximum number of pages to send out so that the group isn't overloaded with 500 pages to read in a 2-week time period). Each group member will edit the writings and make notes for each author. When the group meets, everyone will take a turn to get what they wrote critiqued by the entire group. The author can ask any questions and get feedback on how they could improve on what they've written.  You can also discuss any related topics, like querying agents, marketing strategies, and whatever you want really.

And that's that! So...

Are you a writer with goals of turning your stories into something more than they are now? If the answer is yes, my next question is: Are you in a writing group? If not, then you should be! And here's why:

1. If you want your writings to be the best they can be, YOU NEED CRITIQUE! No matter how good you think your writing is, there's components of it that you just can't see need to be changed on your own. You need a new pair of eyes and a fresh brain to read it over and point out what may be obvious to everyone else but you. Is is intimidating to put your writing out there for others to edit? YES! But that's why you invite nice people into your group, who will tell you the truth (extremely important that they are honest) but in a nice way. :) And hey, getting advice doesn't mean you HAVE to change your story, it's just incredibly helpful feedback - and you should get as much of it from as many people as possible if you want your writing to improve.

2. Writing groups keep you MOTIVATED TO KEEP WRITING! Even if you think you write pretty often already, being in a writing group forces you to keep it up on a regular basis and gives you incredible motivation to FINISH projects. For example, my writing group meets every other week and we each are expected to have written something new each time. How motivational is that! Are you working on a novel but stuck in a writing slump? What about an idea for a children's book that you just haven't got around to putting on paper? Not finishing writing projects is what happens to 90% of wannabe authors - making any dreams of publishing impossible. In a writing group, having to have new material written every two weeks FORCES you to at least get something down on paper, even if it's not perfect. And after a few months of this, you'll be finishing that book in no time!

3. Writing groups connect you to amazing people who will increase your opportunities and skills! In writing groups, you'll meet other artists, other creative minds. People with great ideas who can help inspire your work. People with skills that you may be able to learn from - knowledge of other writing clubs, classes, or resources. Maybe someone in the group knows how to use Photoshop really well and you need to learn that to create a successful book cover. Maybe someone has connections with the local library and can help you get an author reading day set up there. Maybe one is an illustrator and can help you illustrate your book or give you information on someone else who can. Collaborating with other authors helps you find out about local author events, gives you other authors to split table costs with at the craft market when you sell your book, helps you find out about writing conferences or helpful websites, or other books that relate to your work (which is helpful in finding the right agent for you). If you are all writers with similar goals who are all researching ways to get your books out there - then you are all bound to learn and gain something valuable from each other. 

4. The Support is just the best! Being in a supportive group of other authors, cheering each other on, buying each others books and helping to spread the word for each other, having friends to go to writing conferences with or just to talk about writing with in general, having that support - emotional and physical - is just priceless. It makes all the difference. It keeps you going. It encourages you. It makes writing FUN. It's seriously like a party every time you meet. But then again, make sure the members in your group are nice, like mine...;)

5. You can meet in your PJ's and bring cookies. I think that pretty much speaks for itself. It's awesome. 


So I know it might be a little intimidating, but trust me, being in a writing group is SOOO much better than trying to figure everything out on your own. It may get you out of your comfort zone, but for those serious about writing, believe me, it's what you need. And hey, maybe you aren't really serious about writing and it's just something that gives you joy and you don't really have any goals for your works. In that case, a writing group can still be for you! If you just have a desire to share what you are writing or to just get free grammar editing, or just positive feedback, let the group know, and if they're nice like mine, then they'll be more than happy to oblige. :)

So, ask around. Find out who likes to write just like you do. You'll be surprised at how many people do! Try to find those who are truly talented and passionate writers, who will be honest - people who will inspire you and help you rather than be TOO nice to give you any critique. And then organize a writing group with these people. Even a group of two or three is better than one. If you can't find anyone you know , look up groups in your community - they are all over the place. And when you do, let me know how much your writing is improving and how much you are loving it! Because I know you will!

That time a TV Producer contacted me...

I finally feel like I can talk about this now that it's all said and done, so let me tell you the story of how a TV producer randomly contacted me one day...

A couple months ago, on October 1st, I received a message through my Youtube channel that said:

"Hi Debbie! My name is ______ I am a producer with the Dr. Oz show. I watched your nurse song video and loved it! I would love to talk to you about a segment that I am working on. Can you please call me at your earliest convenience?" She then left me with her number.

HUH??

My first thought was that this was a scam. This was NOT real. So I googled her name and looked her up on twitter. Turns out she truly was a Dr. Oz producer who had previously worked on other major television productions. This was the real deal. Meanwhile, she also found me on twitter and sent me another message to contact her.

Ah!!!

So unsure of what was happening I called the number she had left me in the first message. And this is what she told me.

The Dr. Oz show was doing a "Nurse Search" competition where they were searching the nation for a nurse to join their team of core experts. Apparently, they had received thousands of video entry submissions from nurses all over the country and so far, they hadn't found what they were looking for yet. So, they took to Youtube to see if they could discover any interesting nurses there.

Well, she told me on her first search of "funny nurses", she came upon my youtube video of a song I wrote in college and performed with my roommate like 7 years ago, and checked out my Youtube channel with my other songs. She told me she thought I would be a great candidate for the nurse search competition and that she wanted me to submit a video singing a song on my guitar about why I would be a great candidate for one of the core experts on the show.

Ok. Wow. ...Well hey! Why the heck not!?  So, long story short, I ended up writing a whole new little jingle about being a nurse and emailed it to her.

A couple days later, I got another call telling me I was going to be on the show that coming Tuesday!  They were going to pay my way up to New York City and my hotel room in Manhattan. They told me they were probably going to have me sing a whole new song that I would come up with on my guitar - that I would sing on NATIONAL TELEVISION as one of the nurse search candidates. AH!! Wait, What?!

Ok, breathe. Juuuuust breathe. My thoughts were this: Terrified, excited, and honestly perplexed as to how I got myself into this situation! I didn't ask for this and to be perfectly honest, I  probably never would have applied to nurse search on my own. But because I was ASKED to do it, I felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn't pass up! Why not just see what happens, and take things one step at a time? I said to myself.

So immediately I went to work on another song and came up with something for the show.

Well, spoiler alert! This is where the story gets pretty anti-climactic...

I got another call a few days before I was going to go in for the show. They apparently needed more time to prep for it.  I was told there wasn't enough turn around time from the last show.  So they said they would re-schedule me for a couple more weeks.

Well, sadly, that never happened! Of course I could never know exactly what went wrong, but in the end, other candidates and ultimately another nurse core expert was chosen. And that's the end of the story, haha.

 Now that it's all said and done, I have to say, I really am grateful for the experience, even with how it all turned out!  I learned and gained some good things, and like I said, it's not something I ever asked for or even wanted - it was just kind of an amazing opportunity that fell on my lap one day. Which is just crazy!



One thing I did find incredible that I wanted to pass on to you was that if you have your work out there in the universe, you just NEVER know who might see it.  So for all you who have a passion for your craft - if you are doing it anyway, you might as well get it out there!! Submit your writings to agents and publishers, Sell your artwork on Etsy or wherever you can, put your videos on Youtube (as long as they aren't embarrassing Ok (:), share your talents with others! Because who knows? You just might have a producer randomly contact you one day, and give you an opportunity you never would have had otherwise. :) 

Organizing a Community Author Event

Today I participated in a community author event along with several other wonderful and talented authors. Despite a little rain, I think it turned out to be a success and most important, a positive experience for everyone!

  

Are you an author who would like to organize an event in YOUR community?  

Well after going through the process, now I can tell you how!

1. Go  to a local bookshop and ask if they'd be interested in hosting a local author event. In my case, I went to a bookshop that was already selling my book, so they knew who I was, which helped I think.

2. If the bookshop agrees, ask them: "What dates would be good to hold the event?"  "How many other authors should I invite - is there a max?" "Will there be a fee to pay to you for hosting?"

3. Search out other authors. I did this by visiting the website of a recent book fair and looking up other self-published authors, and contacting them individually. Ask them to tell you a definitive yes or no by a certain date. Remember, the more authors you have, the more people are likely to come to the event.

4. Search among your contacts for people who would be willing to contribute their skills to make the event successful - something that would draw more people in. For us, it was our WONDERFUL artists. We had two amazing ladies who offered free face painting and free caricatures to kids who stopped by. This was SUCH a great way to draw more people in.

4. Once you know who all is coming, pick a date that works well with all the participants as well as the bookshop to hold the event.

5. Now that you know a date, design an eye-catching flyer (our artist, Marie did a wonderful job on ours).

6. Advertise the event! Have each author print out a set number of flyers (we did 100 each) and distribute them among friends, family, neighbors, and local businesses. Spread the word any way you can - facebook, craigslist, radio stations, word-of-mouth. The bookshop who hosted our event put it on their website and spread the word too, which was helpful.

7. On the day of the event, put up signs on busy streets around the bookshop with arrows pointing to the event.

Other helpful ideas DURING your author event:

• Have a stack of business cards ready to hand out.

• Be friendly to all the customers. BRING them to you by inviting them over. Don't be afraid to just hand them your book and start explaining what it's about (this is how I got almost all of my sales).

• Having free stuff to give out to kids (like leftover Halloween candy) is a great way to get customers to your table.

• Before the event, practice your book "pitch" - a short description of the book that will hopefully make people want to buy it. Mine went something like "This is my book that I wrote and illustrated. It's called Itchy Mitchie and it's about a little boy with itchy feet and how he tries to find a cure. The moral of the book is that positive thinking and engaging in good activities can help us overcome problems, such as itchy feet!"   (PS If I could do it all over again, I think I would have written down and  practiced my pitch a little more).

• Bring cash with you for customers to make change with. Also, get that "Square" app that allows you to accept credit cards from your phone - I lost a sale from not having one!

• Keep tally of how many books you sell (just in case you mix up the money you made with the change money you brought).

•  If you were planning on the event to be outside, ALWAYS have a plan "B" for if it rains! (and a tarp handy).

How grateful I am for the wonderful authors, artists, supporters and community I am so lucky to be a part of! Today could not have been anywhere close to a success if it weren't for them!

And also, how grateful I am for sweet little moments like this...

...when I see a mother reading my book to her kids, I can't help but think to myself, "THAT right there, is my lifelong dream come true." It truly warms my heart!  :)

Being a twin is pretty special

In light of the new children's book I'm working on, I put together a little video project for anyone out there who is blessed enough to be a twin! Watch it on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxsvT4ZCOOI