Writing Book News Releases

How do you like the new Amazon.com slideshow? Pretty cool, eh? You can purchase the paperback edition for $14.95 or Kindle edition for $2.99 - get a copy and read!

Oh, and take a look at my revamped website - you can purchase copies of Daniel's Garden directly from me through the site. It's pretty darn cool. :)

Speaking of cool, I've teamed up with a good friend and she and I are going to start hawking this book about town. There are already four signed copies in the Maine Historical Society gift shop (boo-yah!) and I'll chat with the Longfellow House visitors about it this year.

So, yesterday, I drafted up a sample press release for my book. It's pretty simple. They are structured like a combination of book jacket copy and a newspaper article. You include the four W's, your contact info and exactly what's going on. Here's my sample release:

Meg North
22 Brook Rd
Portland, ME 04103
(207-415-5855
zuel_88@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2011


DANIEL'S GARDEN
by Meg North

From the luscious world of rich Boston to the bloody battlefields of the Civil War, "Daniel's Garden" is a sweeping epic novel about one young man's journey. Told in a memoir-like style, you will be there with Daniel Stuart as he decides to leave his cushioned past, joins three remarkable friends and they become soldiers in the Army of the Potomac.

Through visceral battles that shock him awake, tender friendship and blossoming love with an army nurse, Daniel rejects everything he's learned about how to live. His amazing friends - brash Andrew, studious Matthew and gentle David - become his new brothers at war, comrades until the end.

Portland writer Meg North spent ten passionate years researching America's turbulent war, walking battlefields and chatting with historical experts. "Daniel's Garden" is her debut novel.

Signed copies are available for immediate sale at the Maine Historical Society gift shop at 489 Congress Street. You may also purchase copies on the Amazon.com website.


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Don't forget to add the three #'s at the end of the release. I'll bring it to my 'publicist' tomorrow morning. It should be a lot of fun!

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Psychological Reversal

I read yesterday about psychological reversal. My greatest dream is to be a nationally published author and have my books be bestsellers, right? But then why don't I work on these novels? Why don't I push forward towards this dream?

I haven't written anything new in a week, which in the life of a writer (especially me, since I write at least something every single day) is a friggin' eternity! There are many novel-ish things on my to-do list, but every time I think about it, I go back to puttering about something else. In the case of the past week, I got an unexpected burst of nonfiction writing done for my job. I like the money in the bank, but I'm not doing what I love to do. Grrrr!

It's a matter of psychology. The negative programming about being a writer as a career is so strong it overcomes my biggest dream. So, I sabotage myself by not going after my dream and not pushing forward through my fears. There is psychological reversal. The programming that writers never make any money, so I'll be doomed to starve, and I'm shy and don't have social skills and will never be good at marketing are both strong enough to keep me from having the personal power to go after my dream.

When I feel deeply and to the core about something, it certainly shows up in my actions. My strong opinions about money have propelled me forward into the frugal life many times, even going so far as to sell eBooks about it! So, where is that motivation with my writing?

I want deep and strong feelings about being a writer to push me forward and propel my actions. I want my writing emotions to be so strong that I don't even think about it. I just feel deeply about what I feel, and so I take action. It doesn't occur to me to second-guess myself - why would I?

I feel to my gut that once I get my psychological reversal under control and I go after that writing dream with as much heart and enthusiasm as I put into living frugally, then everything else will fall into place. My moodiness will lessen, my income will expand, my life will align, my priorities will be in their proper place, and I will have the blessing of the gods. I have Leo in the third house (astrologically speaking), so I know that queen-power is within me. I have the ability to be the top of my field, not because I want to step on anybody, but because it will be living in my light.

I am motivated to do this. I want good feelings about writing. I don't want bad feelings anymore. I want to associate only good with my writing, to look at setbacks like rejection letters or the months a novel requires as all par for the course. The cost of doing business, and it motivates me to try harder. I don't want to shrink and make myself small anymore.

If J. K. Rowling (a Leo herself!) had made herself small, I wouldn't know about her and I wouldn't have been able to read her books. Same with my favorite authors. To be small is to limit my voice and miss out on the opportunity to pay it forward, to move the passion of writing and books forward to another new set of eyes. I am like a channel, where words pass beneath my eyes, enter my heart and my mind, then are transformed into new stories and passed along to new eyes.

To get this psychology reversed as fast as possible (for I am not the patient sort!), I put a StickyNote on my computer desktop that reads:

"Writing makes me feel so good that I go after my dream with heart and gusto."

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We all do what makes us feel good. People who are on a naturally healthy diet don't need a motivational coach to stay on that diet - the proof is in the way they feel, so they keep doing it. I'm of the firm belief that motivational input ain't needed if what you're doing makes you feel good.

Let's not live small. Let's not live in the dark, outside of our light. Be big and dream big. Go after the dream that makes you feel the best, and that's where the good stuff is.

That's where you shine the most! :)

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The Illusion of Author Support

It's 10:00 at night now, my favorite time to write. My last post talked about how I write at night. My freelance writing article work was done earlier today in the spring sunshine, but the night belongs to me and my thoughts on what I have seen and thought throughout the day.

Tonight, I watched "Creation," the incredibly deep and complex story of Darwin 'birthing' "The Origin of Species." He was creating a book and it caused him to turn from the Creation theory. Some have called it an inaccurate title, but what else is writing or thinking a new thought, but creation?

The thing that struck me the most was not the scientific vs. religion struggle Paul Bettany's Darwin felt (for he was not immune to it either), but how it played out as a personal conflict between him and his wife, Emma, played expertly and vulnerably by Jennifer Connelly. She feared for losing his soul and he feared he'd made a mistake in marrying his cousin.

During the entire writing process of "The Origin of Species," he wasn't supported by his wife. She didn't see his work as anything he should be spending time on; in fact, it took him away from his children. Even when he gave it to her to read (and she was the first reader), she did not return it with enthusiasm or luck. He wasn't supported by the local vicar or anyone else in the town. There were only two who bolstered his work: Joseph Hooker, an extraordinary scientist in his own right, and Thomas Huxley, a fellow evolutionary biologist.

Darwin was nearly alone and had such a tiny and fiery support system it's a blooming miracle we have any of his "Origin of Species" and other similar evolutionary and natural selection works.

Today, we tend to lean towards the support-system theory of art: that if we're well-supported in money, friendship, and general resources, then we will produce the greatest of works. "If only I had more money, I'd be able to create that." "I need you to support what I do."

Well, that's an illusion and a myth. Even when those who create and continually push themselves do finally receive buckets of money and accolades, their work can become lax and not have the heat or passion that it once had. Oddly, you see this with rappers a lot. Their early songs are alive with raw heat and power, yet after they become wealthy and cushioned it's a hollow search for what to sing about next.

Let my craft be forged in the fire of living, of struggling to keep going, keep pushing, keep trying. Let my need for support show itself for what it really is: a cry for sympathy when the going gets tough.

No. I need it. I need the toughness, the fire, the will to push deeper and go bigger each time. I rise to the challenge and I slice through the illusion of supported authorship. I get comfortable with discomfort, for that is when I know I am pushing and going.

The sign of Aries will be here on Monday, yet already I can feel its burning energy. It shoots up through the ground and lights the world alive again. Only in Aries can our spirits be renewed and the exhaustion of Pisces laid to its true rest. It feels good to shake off the rain and the snow and to awaken with fresh vigor.

Alight in me, and give me strength and energy to push forward. Arise and alight the fire in my belly. I am ready.

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Inward and Outward

Sometimes I think writing is not pen to paper, but eyes opening or eyes closing. When eyes are opened, I see the world. I look at what is around me. I project and interact and am 'out' there, in daylight and looking at others' eyes. When eyes are closed, I am tuned in to myself only. I am 'in' here and looking only to myself for guidance. I stay within and turn from the daylight world to night, needing none other.

I work at home, and so nearly every day there are hours of eyes-closed time. Time I sit in the sunshiny silence of the kitchen, looking out the window to the backyard. Yesterday a black-capped chickadee alighted on the back porch, and several weeks ago I saw the first robin. It may be daylight, but without the sound of others' footsteps and only the comforting hum of the running dishwasher, it is like the dead of night with silence. Nobody walks by the window, nobody comes to the door.

Some writers write in early morning and I have done that only once or twice in my life, usually from arising so early it is dark.

I write at night. I need eyes-closed time, I need the comforting cloak of night about me. It is time to look not out but in. Black is one of my favorite colors. Some say it is the absence of color, but I believe it is every color. For doesn't night embrace everything in her darkness? The earth does not disappear when night comes, but instead is absorbed into her eyes-closed arms. She is a good friend to me, like a gentle hand upon my shoulder and a murmuring voice: "I have closed off the world so you can listen ... listen to yourself."

Inward or outward. Do I go in today, to listen to myself? Or do I go out, armed with books to place upon a shelf, a smile for a visitor to the Longfellow House, a hand to clasp another?

Spring is coming and the earth's eyes-closed months are ending. The time of Pisces will end soon and I will be renewed with a blast of Aries energy as the world erupts to riotous color and sun. From cool water to sunny fire I go, and so the days of eyes-open will begin.

But I will not keep my eyes open for long.

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The Commitment to Write

I read a blog article this morning about finding your passion as a writer, which for me is the easy part of writing. I can't NOT be passionate about the 19th century, even if I tried! :)

However, there was one part of the article that really stuck out for me: Remove the Roadblocks. It's about removing tolerations from your life that have been sapping your energy and attention.

For me, unfortunately, these roadblocks often consist of unwanted commitments. I want to please people, so I'm not very good at saying "no" and setting boundaries. I like to participate and, combined with my enthusiasm at starting something new, this often pulls me into commitments I'm not comfortable with nor help my emotional state. These commitments can be anything from a toxic relationship to a responsibility I have undertaken to more tasks at work.

I dream of bookshelves full of my novels, not my name as editor on such-and-such newsletter or webmaster of such-and-such website. I've left unfinished projects and emotionally draining responsibilities by the wayside because, truthfully, my heart hasn't been in it.

But where does that leave my novels?

Second place, third place, fourth place. They slip farther and farther down the totem pole of priorities, until they, too, become part of the unfinished flotsam cluttering my hard drive and my heart. Pretty soon, I begin to think of myself as someone who NEVER FINISHES ANYTHING, when that isn't true at all. I DO finish things - but I finish the things I care about! I DO make commitments, but I make commitments to the things (husband, dogs, friends, home, writing, music) that I care about.

I should take it as a clue when my interest starts to wane about something that I should never have said YES to it in the first place. A NO would have been better, would have freed my time up for the other things I WILL make a commitment to.

I'm not superwoman, and nobody is. We need to set boundaries and say NO to the things that sap our writing time, our me-time, our commitment-time for the things that DO matter.

It's funny, that when I truly make the commitment to something that matters, it doesn't feel like a commitment. It doesn't feel like a burden, it doesn't feel like something I have to do. It becomes something I want to do. I'm fully present, no details slip by the wayside, and, miraculously, things get done. Scenes get written, chapters get finished, and soon completed rough drafts sit on my hard drive, ready to edit. The dogs get fed, walked and taken out and snuggle with me on the couch in the evenings to watch period dramas and Red Sox games. My husband and I share a laugh over a funny picture on the internet, chat about Top Chef and politics, and look forward together to our June Ireland trip!

My real commitments bring me joy and deep love, day in and day out. If I didn't care, I wouldn't put in the time.

Someday, thanks to my "no's" to the things I don't commit to, that bookshelf with those novels will be real. It is my castle in the sky and picturing it in my mind brings me joy and deep love.

I make the commitment to my dream.

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Historical Professions

I seem to have become obsessed with professions lately! Goodness. Well, anyway, even my female characters of the 19th century had to do something with their lives. I don't think I've invented anyone who lays about and looks pretty. Grin! :) So, let's roll up our sleeves and take a look at historical professions:

Actor/Actress, Artist
Baker, Barkeep/Bartender, Barrister, Basketweaver, Blacksmith, Bricklayer, Butcher, Butler
Cab Driver, Candle/Soap Maker, Captain, Carpenter, Chimney Sweeper, Clergy - Parson / Preacher / Priest / Minister / Friar, Clerk, Conductor, Cook/Chef, Cooper, Cowboy
Dancing Girl, Doctor/Physician
Editor - Magazine/Newspaper/Printing
Factory Worker, Farmer, Farrier, Footman, Frontiersman, Furniture Maker
Gardener, Glass Blower, Glove-Maker, Gravedigger, Grocer, Groom, Gunsmith
Herbalist, Housekeeper, Housewife
Indentured Servant
Jailer, Jeweler, Journalist, Judge
Lawyer, Librarian
Maid, Mail Carrier, Mapmaker/Surveyor, Mayor, Merchant, Midwife, Miller, Milliner, Musician
Nurse
Piano Player, Pioneer, Poet, Policeman, Politician - Senator/Congressman/Governor, Potter, Printer/Publisher, Prisoner, Professor, Prostitute
Robber - Bank/Train/Graves
Saddler, Sailor, Seamstress, Servant, Schoolmaster, Sculptor, Silversmith, Singer, Ship-Builder, Shepherd, Shoemaker, Shopkeeper, Slave, Soldier, Stable-Boy, Stonemason, Surveyor
Tailor, Tax Collector, Teacher, Telegraph Operator, Tinker, Toy-maker, Tycoon
Wainwright, Watchmaker, Weaver, Woodcarver, Writer

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Whew! That's quite a few! Many of them are still around today - newspaper editor, doctor, lawyer, and the like. Others are definitely a sign of the times - milliner (made hats), cooper (barrel-maker), shoemaker, tinker (made objects from tin), wainwright (wagon-wheel maker). It's fun to research.

Copy these occupations if you like and give them to your characters. :)

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How to Modernize an Antique Recipe

I have gorgeous antique cookbooks that I've collected, plus who doesn't love Mrs. Beeton and her recipes for crazy amounts of manc blange? And just what is manc blange anyway and how does it taste?

Well, I decided I'd love to find out how to modernize an antique recipe. It took a bit of imagination and I haven't made anything yet, but I was able to come up with the general steps. In addition to the antique recipe, you'll need some notepaper, a pencil and a calculator. Google helps, too! Here's how you would go about it:

STEP 1:
Select a recipe to update for the modern recipe format. It is best to start with an easy recipe that requires fewer than five ingredients.

STEP 2:
Write down each sentence of the recipe in separate sections. For example, an antique recipe for mashed potatoes reads: "Boil the potatoes or steam them, peel and mash them." Write down, "Boil or steam potatoes. Peel, quarter and then mash." Update the language for today's cooks.

STEP 3:
Write down the ingredients and amounts needed for the recipe. If no ingredient amount is listed, then find a comparable modern recipe and copy the amount. In the antique recipe for mashed potatoes, a quantity of 2 lbs. is given.

STEP 4:
Update antique cooking methods for modern electric and natural gas stoves. When a recipe lists, "moderate oven," then the temperature is 350 degrees F. When a recipe lists, "gentle fire" or "gentle heat," then that means to cook at a medium-low temperature on the stove.

STEP 5:
Calculate the exact time the recipe needs to cook. Some recipes give vague cooking times, since most antique kitchens did not have clocks or timers. Either find a comparable modern recipe or research approximate cooking times for the recipe's ingredients.

STEP 6:
List all of the cooks' tools needed in the recipe. Hand mixing can be replaced by a stand mixer and finely chopped ingredients can be put in a food processor. If a dish needs to simmer for more than two hours, it can be put into a modern crock-pot.

STEP 7:
Write down the updated recipe. List the ingredients first and then the method. Add the exact cooking times and temperatures. Incorporate the cooks' tools as well. The recipe is now ready to try.

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What do you think? Of course, to truly modernize an antique recipe is to get rid of such nuggets as prerefrigeration preserving methods. Instead, write: "Refrigerate for X number of hours."

Okay, ladies, a word of warning as well: Please research any unfamiliar ingredients to make sure they are not harmful or illegal. Adhere to modern safety precautions and cleanliness standards. We don't want to poison ourselves, dears. :)

Happy cooking!

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