Guest Post: Marcella Swann, Hard Drive

Why is the tech industry so doggone interesting? Hardly a day goes by that I don’t find myself reading something related to what we once quaintly referred to as high tech. I follow the TechCrunch and Mashable headlines like my husband follows the baseball box scores.

It’s not like I’m invested in these companies. (Too broke for that!) And it’s not like I’m an early adopter. (After all these years, I’m still happily married to my Iphone 5C!) And yet I can’t help but read the latest about this company or that securing Series B funding that’ll surely skyrocket them to unicorn status, or, especially, the trials and tribulations of an ailing unicorn.

Good grief, I’ve even started reading Angel, Jason Calacanis’ book on becoming an angel investor should the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the next Uber or Thumbtack suddenly appear before you. (Hey, it could happen.)

I just wrote a 40,000-word novella and set it smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley, replete with a billionaire tooling around in a Bugatti Veyron. And I made it a love story to boot. Now I’ve come to realize that it’s also a love letter of a different sort—one directed at that stardust-laden digital domain where all things are possible.

Q&A with Railyn Stone, Love and Loopholes

Tell us about your writing - What genre do you prefer to write? What books, stories, other publications that you've written are your personal favorites? Anything new coming up?

I love romance. It’s my favorite genre to write, however, I love to read thrillers and suspense. I think out of all of the books I’ve written, I have a real attachment to The Christmas Tree Guy. For one reason, it was my first book that was published, but also the characters were like personal friends of mine. I loved writing Sydnee. I know a lot of people thought she was wishy washy or a little timid, but I loved the vulnerability of her. She was real to me and I think that’s what made her endearing and one of my favorite characters to write. Not everyone can be strong and direct at all times.

What about you as a person? What do you do to relax? Favorite movies or tv shows? Hobbies?

Honestly, one of my favorite movies of all time is Pretty Woman. Every time it comes on television, I watch it. I love to spend time with my family and this year I’ve gotten into couponing.

What gets your creative juices going? Do you write to a music, and do you want to share your playlist?

I do use music a lot when I’m writing. My last book was written entirely to a compilation of Eagles songs.

"All writers must have cats, especially if they write fantasy or speculative fiction." Do you have a stand on this one? Any cute pictures of your kitty or other pet?

What organizations do you recommend for those wanting to become writers? Any advice you'd like to share about writing?

I could sit here and tell you to join this organization or that organization, but truly, it’s up the individual. I think there is a lot of value in all of the different writing organizations and books and workshops that people can attend or participate in, but you have to do what’s right for you. A lot of times, things cost more than an aspiring author has the funds to shell out at the time, so I think you have to find what works for you within your budget and go from there. Also, don’t get caught up in what others like or what’s trending, etc. Write the story that’s living inside you. Write what you’d want to read and write what makes you happy.

If you could have dinner with any of your characters, which ones would you choose? What food would you serve?

I think it would be fun to have dinner with the characters from my newest book, Love and Loopholes. Mama Gem is a riot and I know we’d have a great time listening to her stories and just watching her make her son, Channing, squirm. I think dinner would have to consist of some good Southern dishes and loads of sweet tea.

If you could travel anywhere, on earth or off, where would you go?

Well, as you can see from my top 10 list of places I want to visit, Bora Bora is at the top of the list. It would have to be there. It’s my dream vacation to stay in one of those over the water bungalows. That would be glorious to me.

What color would you wear if you had only one choice?

Green is my favorite color of all time, but if I only had one choice of colors to wear, it would have to be black.

Describe your dream writing spot.

Some beach. Some where. LOL!

4 Book Challenges You Need to Try by Rosie Wylor Owen

You need a challenge, a big one, but marathons are ridiculously long and people die climbing mountains. There’s a reason psychic mediums don’t go to Mount Everest, and it’s not because it’s too cold. No marathons and no mountains, what are you to do for a challenge? How about a challenge where you can curl up on the sofa with popcorn and hot chocolate? Perfect!

Book challenges are all the rage these days, made popular by people wanting to up their reading game and explore new genres. Some readers use these challenges to yank themselves out of a reading rut, and others to test themselves. Whatever your motivation, book challenges are a great way to conjure up some extra commitment to reading and add more diverse titles to your reading résumé. Plus, you get to pat yourself on the back at the end for doing something you do every day. Do you need any more excuses?

If this is your first time, relax. Here are six tried and tested book challenges to help you lose your book challenge virginity.

The Goodreads Book Challenge

This one is nice and simple. You sign up to Goodreads and they ask you how many books you want to read this year. You tell them how many, and they start the countdown. Every time you finish a book, you record it on Goodreads and all the books you read in the year will be gathered into a little portfolio for you to marvel at and realise: you read loads this year!

The Goodreads Book Challenge allows a lot of freedom to choose the books you know you will love, and even re-reads count towards your end-of-the-year total. For this reason, it’s the best challenge to get you reading if you’ve had a break for a while and aren’t sure where to start. This challenge will let you pick up your favourite book and make it count.

Better yet, you can check up on how all your Goodreads friends are doing in the challenge and give you that extra kick to have them eating your dust.

(Check out how far I’ve gotten in this year’s challenge here!)

The “BBC” Book List Challenge

Why the “air quotations”? Well, allegedly, the BBC didn’t actually create this challenge, and its origins remain a mystery. Regardless, the “BBC” Book List Challenge is one you would be proud to conquer. The list is made up of 100 books, many of which are classics, some you will have read in school already and others that are popular, modern reads.

A fair warning needs to be given for this list, however, one of the books featured is The Holy Bible. Why the challenge creator decided to put this on the list is a mystery, because it is worlds away from every other book featured in the challenge. If you don’t fancy reading the Bible, you can do what everyone else did and just whittle the challenge list down to 99 books. Better yet, add your own!

The “BBC” Book List Challenge is perfect for anyone wanting to add the classics to their “read” pile, featuring the likes of Dickens, the Bronte sisters and F. Scott Fitzgerald. But you can still be sure to find some more recent books from the likes of C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll. Heads up, there are some great sci-fi and fantasy titles!

Find the “BBC Book List Challenge” here.

The British Book Challenge 2018

OK, I’ll admit to being biased here. As a born-and-raised Brit, you’ll have to expect me to push some British books on you, just a little. Hey, we’ve got some good authors over here.

Created and hosted by The Tales of Yesterday, The British Book Challenge 2018 is perfect for book bloggers as you are asked to write a blog post or create a YouTube video linking back to The Tales of Yesterday website stating the British books you would like to read. In addition, they ask that you review the books on your blog after you’ve read them.

While this challenge asks you to invest a little more time and effort than usual, there’s always a chance it can connect you with authors, writers and readers. In any case, you’re looking at the country that spawned Harry Potter, what’s not to love?

This year’s British Book Challenge can be found here.

The Sci-fi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge

No guesses as to what you’ll find in this book list. Based on GoodReads, the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge is hosted by the Sci-fi and Fantasy Book Club most years, and features a range of books in the chic-lit genre. Nah, I’m just kidding, it’s fairly obvious what you’ll find in this book club.

While I tend to shy away from book challenges that focus on a single genre, sci-fi and fantasy have so much creative potential that you’re never reading the same book twice. In any case, if you’re rabid about these genres, this is a book challenge you want to check out.

You can find the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Club Challenge here.

Avid readers of the world, let’s run a marathon the best way we know how. By committing to a book challenge and reading like crazy! Good luck, and I hope you find plenty of new favourites.

Glamping with Trailors in The Hometown Series

As an author, I take great pleasure in writing about topics that I find interesting, and of course my latest novel is a perfect example. Hometown Girl Again, book five of The Hometown Series, features vintage camp trailers from the 1950s! What could possibly be more romantic? As Katherine learns in the novel, restoring old trailers is actually quite difficult and dirty, but extremely rewarding work.

Six authentic vintage trailers are featured in the novel, and as the reader you will follow Katherine from her quiet orderly life where every choice is safe, through the unexpected adventure of restoring trailers for her new glamping park.

The first trailer in the book, Katherine’s home, is a 1954 Anderson 315-TB, complete with turquoise and chrome exterior, bubble window in the door, polished birch interior walls and ceiling, and a vintage 1950 style bathroom. Among the trailers she loving overhauls is a 33 foot 1950 Spartan Royal Mansion, similar to the one Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnez own in the movie The Long Long Trailer. If you have ever been curious about vintage trailers, this story is for you!

Katherine, as well as the other leading ladies in The Hometown Series, have their mind set on a task and just as everything is going great, in walks unexpended complications in the form of a handsome man. These ladies aren’t afraid to work hard and get grimy to make their dreams come true, and of course, they can’t help falling in love. In Hometown Girl Again, Katherine gets the added stressful bonus of falling for her ex, her first love from a decade past. I think most of us experience an inward shudder at the thought, but in all fairness, many us also harbor a tiny hidden place in the back of our heart for our first love.

I hope you enjoy returning to Smithville. Of course, the town folk you know and love can’t resist interfering with Katherine and Alex, and the trailers. I’d love to hear what you think about the story, as well as any photos you’d like to share of your vintage trailers!

5 “Insider” Facts about Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan

1. The Flamingo Club is named for the fictional Manhattan Club featured in several Nero Wolfe mysteries by author Rex Stout. It is also the name of a club owned by a famous racketeer in the British miniseries Foyle’s War.
2. Hamish is the Scottish form of James which fits well into his Scotch heritage.  But it is also, according to a theory presented by mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers, what the ‘H’ stands for in John H. Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame.
3. The working titles for this series were named for the Gadsden flags of the American Revolutionary War: Join, or Die; Don’t Tread on Me; and Appeal to Heaven.
4. While Boston is old enough that many of the buildings and streets Hamish and Reggie explored in the 1930s exist today, progress means that roads and squares (such as Scollay Square, home to the Flamingo club in my book, which as been demolished to make way for the Government Center, which exists there now) have changed. Thus, as part of my research, I spent hours at the Massachusetts Historical Society cross-referencing the notes on streets and roads I mention in the book with maps that showed what they were called in the 1930s. 
5. Regina Van Buren’s Boarding House in Charlestown, is next to the Warren Tavern, a pub dating back to the Sons of Liberty where Revere and Franklin and others would have a pint and plot their Revolutionary plans.

How to Find Time to Write During a Hectic Schedule by Sara Furlong Burr

Alas, like many indie authors, it's required of me to hold down a day job to pay those pesky bills. For me--and I'm sure the same is true for most people--my job doesn't end after I put in my forty hours each week. When I get home, I have to put on so many hats that I feel like I'm literally turning into the Mad Hatter. From mother to wife to dry cleaner to housekeeper to accountant to plumber to groundskeeper to chef to ninja (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating slightly on the ninja role in a futile attempt to feel cool), I always feel as though I'm too busy to keep my head on straight, let alone write.  So how does one balance such precious little time during the day between their jobs, family and dreams? Well, I'm glad you asked because, if the title hasn't already tipped you off, it's the subject of this post.

1.  Take notes:  Most of the time, for me anyway, the best ideas arise at the most inopportune of moments (while on the phone with clients, typing letters, driving home, fighting crime, etc.).  In order to accommodate for these sudden sparks of genius (or so I like to think) I've made it a habit of carrying around a writing utensil and something upon which said utensil can be used to write. For instance, in my proudest moment, I've made use of a tube of lipstick and a utility bill. I wouldn't recommend that method.

While I'm at work, I have a year supply of post-it notes at my disposal of which I use to write down sudden ideas that pop into my head to use when I can actually devote time to writing,  When busy at home, I've been known to use the nearest random piece of paper (including my daughter's coloring book pages, napkins, "to do" lists, and, if I'm lucky, a discarded piece of notebook paper). Fortunately, I've been lucky enough not to have to resort to the toilet paper...yet.  

The point is, when you find yourself consumed with absolutely no time to sit down to hammer out an idea, make use of those items available nearest to you (traditional paper, post-its, children's building blocks or smoke signals) to jot down your thought nuggets for further use and exploration later.

2.  Carry a recorder: Most of the attorneys at my firm have recorders ready to roll at a moment’s notice. Recorders are convenient if you have a sudden idea that you want to rattle off right away. Doing this saves time as, unless you're the Speedy Gonzales of the keyboard, most of us speak faster than we’re able to write. Use your recorder to record random thoughts, plot epiphanies, dialogue, or even complete pages of material.  They're handy, cheap, and can be used darn near anywhere (although I would recommend avoiding the bathroom).

3.  Use your head:  If you absolutely cannot find something to write on, try to find creative ways to remember your ideas. For me, music is a huge inspiration for my writing.  A few of the "scenes" in my first manuscript were inspired by various pieces of music. Perhaps there's a poem that has helped inspire a story for you, a location, a memory or a certain person.  Equate your ideas with something that is familiar to you.  It will help you retain them until you can actually write them down.

4.  Bring your laptop with you-While writing my first novel, I would, on my lunch hour, whip out my handy dandy netbook (oh God that sounded a little too Blues-Clusey) and use my one hour of sanctity to crank out sentences, paragraphs and pages.  That's one good thing about netbooks, the little buggers are tiny and easily portable. If you don't own a laptop but have access to a computer where you work, use a word (or whatever) program to write and then e-mail what you've written to yourself.  Use any break or opportunity you can get to write.  You'll be surprised by how much you'll be able to accomplish if you do.

5.  While the kids are out cold-I used to cherish nap times for more reasons than just the sudden silence that came with them. I'm big on being productive and capitalizing on opportunities when they arise. Therefore, nap times and Dora times were like Christmas in my house.  Now, getting my daughter to take a nap is like trying to fight a lion with dental floss and I have to make use of random five-minute blocks of time when she's occupying herself (and I literally mean five minutes as, if she's quiet for longer than that, I know I'm in for a mess to clean up).

6.   Become nocturnal:  Not surprisingly, I do most of my writing pretty late at night and I drag ass the next morning because of it. Usually, I'm unable to begin writing hardcore until after 9 or 10 at night.  Most of the time, I'm writing until around midnight or one in the morning. As writers, we need to adapt even if that means burning the midnight oil or writing at the butt crack of dawn--if, of course, it doesn't have any negative impacts on your family or employment.