Naomi Dawn Musch

It's very, nearly Spring. And appropriately, I'm bursting with fresh ideas. One bloomed today in fact. It's an idea for a Spring Contest. I haven't given away a free book in a long time, but I really, really want to! And not one book in particular, but a book of the winner's choice - either my contemporary novella Heart Not Taken, or either of the first two books in my Empire in Pine historical series: The Green Veil, or The Red Fury.

The contest is easy-peasy. The only catch is that you have to be on Pinterest to get involved. If you're a Pinterest junkie, here it is.

PIN IT TO WIN IT!

TO WIN A FREE BOOK go to my board "Books Worth Writing -- So I did" here: http://pinterest.com/nmusch/books-worth-writing-so-i-did/ Select at least one of the 3 E-books shown (The Green Veil, The Red Fury, or Heart Not Taken) and re-pin it to one of your boards ALONG WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS copied & pasted in the comments box. As soon as I receive notification of your pin, I'll enter you in a drawing for the book of your choice. I will draw a winner on March 20th, the first day of spring. Happy Pinning -- oh -- and Happy Spring!

Available in a variety of formats wherever e-books are sold or through the publishers:

The Green Veil & The Red Fury (Desert Breeze Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/43jbuvd

Heart Not Taken (Black Lyon Publishing): http://tinyurl.com/7l3jh4b

     The impending measure of time is ticking away against me as I struggle to select some scene excerpts for use in promoting my upcoming historical novel on my publisher's website.

     Why is it so hard? Don't I love my story? Aren't there plenty of scenes that made my fingers rattle on the keyboard as I wrote them? Absolutely! But without context, they might not mean a great deal to the reader who is casually scanning excerpts for their next read.

     To aid me in my decision, I'm enlisting some advice (written for teens, actually) from the nanowrimo.org site. They have a nice little worksheet for selecting an excerpt, but I'll just consider each of their reminders telling what I should be looking for.

     To choose the best excerpt I'll give regard to:

     Character - I need to find a scene that gives the audience a good clear picture of my main character. To me this means that I want to be able to draw a reader into a deep POV with that character in just a short section of the story. I want an excerpt that'll make my reader already feel invested -- at least a little.

     Action -- Whether it's done in a big way or only subtly, a scene infused with action pulls the reader along. This also means that it should show conflict (because a scene without conflict is dead). I think the scene should reveal that something is definitely at stake.

     Language -- I hadn't given a lot of thought to this, but you know, it's right. I can usually decide within the first few pages of a book whether I want to hang around, because the language is compelling. It might be lyrical, simple, or outrageous. It uses imagery and metaphors that help me visualize the scene without an overabundance of telling description.

     Dialogue --This one wasn't part of the nanowritmo site, but I feel it needs to be included. At the least, there should be some internal dialogue. I've read some good excerpts that don't include dialogue, but I feel that if a reader is only getting a glimpse into a story, a little bit of dialogue sprinkled into the excerpt will help attach them to the characters and get a better feel for the conflict.

     Length -- There are different lengths to consider depending on what the excerpt is being used for. If I was giving a reading before a room full of people, I could choose a longer excerpt, maybe as long as 5000 words (about ten pages). But for publisher's web site, it needs to be something much shorter. I personally don't like reading more than about 500 words in a clip when I'm looking at excerpts of this nature. That should be enough to makea reader long for more. You can always put a longer clip or sample chapter on your personal web site and direct curious readers there for more if they're interested.

     Stand Alone -- Yes, this is a biggy. A scene is really a mini story in itself. It's got a beginning, a middle, and an end. It needs to provide a bit of its own context or readers won't really care about it. You may know what's going to happen and why the scene is important, but if readers can't get at least a taste of that, they won't buy.

So now I'm ready to hunt for an outstanding excerpt representing my novel The Red Fury. It releases from Desert Breeze Publishing in October as Book 2 in the Empire in Pine series. I hope you'll drop by later and read my little scene -- see if I chose well.

Write on!

Have you seen that You Tube video going around which takes a comic look at the emotional stages of writing a novel? It's called Writing a Novel, posted by author James Andrew Wilson.

I just revisited it for another laugh. It's a creative, hilarious, yet painfully realistic insight into the glorious as well as the overwhelming moments involved in finishing a manuscript.

I'm deep in the ending stages. I just finished the pre-submission edit of The Red Fury, Book 2 of my Wisconsin historical series Empire in Pine. In essence, I've re-typed "The End". After some extraneous paperwork, it'll be ready to zip to my editor.

Not to mention -- drum roll -- I'm ahead of deadline!

REJOICE! Lalalalala!

I used to be like that guy in the video who got a little ahead of himself. He prevailed against the odds and climbed to the top of the mountain, experiencing stage four -- Triumph! -- only to discover his joy short lived as he smacked up against the dark forest of editing. VINK! VINK! VINK!

Now, while I do relish the pleasure of a completed WIP, I revel less in the finished first draft, and save most of my exultant revelry for the part after editing, the part I accomplished tonight. Because experience tells me that editing is coming, no matter what.

So tonight is a brilliant setting sun and ice cream. It's dancing and a little blog hopping. It's the right time for those things.

Alas, I know there'll be more edits to come. Once my book is gone over with a fine tooth comb by the lovely staff at Desert Breeze Publishing, there'll be further things to address, I'm sure. Something I missed, though I've done my best to make my story error-free and sparkling, and I've sunk deep into character and plot to keep my readers turning pages into the night. I think they'll find The Red Fury gripping and possibly my best work yet.

But until then, I'll have to give it another round. Like Mr. Wilson says in his author video blog (also on You Tube) "Much of a writer's life is spent editing. It's a sad truth. We'd like to say that it's spent writing, but that would be a lie."

     We're all a bit stumped -- all of us e-book authors that is. We love, love, LOVE our e-book publishing experiences, but we're stumped on ways to translate our passion into signing books for someone whose own passion is to own an "author-signed-copy".

     Now, granted, brilliant techies the world over are busy inventing ways to "virtually sign" e-books.The creators of an app called Autography are hot on the trail of doing that now. In fact, if you own an ipad, you're already pretty well equipped to take advantage of the technology.

     But I don't own and ipad.I just have my Kindle. So until they create a Kindle app that'll work for me to do virtual signings, I'm stuck with trying to think of other creative ways to interact with my readers and develop the more personal connection that book signings offer.

     Does anyone have any ideas bordering on genius to do that? How about pseudo-genius then?

     I've considered mailing signed bookmarks, photo cards, pens, and other book swag, but that can get expensive. What does a signature cost but a little of my time and personal attention -- the chance to jot a friendly note of encouragement?

     Hmm... Maybe that's it. Maybe there's something I can send in the form of a note, a little personal something, be it a Scripture, a prayer, a shared laugh, or an uploaded photo. A pretty little stationary email just getting to know them. There's not a lot of time to do that during a book signing, after all.

     That just about settles it then. I guess that in the meantime, while we await the next amazing turn of technology in the e-pub industry, the best thing is to simply use the internet to connect with readers and make new friends.

And here I thought I needed brilliance.

Here's a little more on the Autography technology: http://www.autography.us.com/signing.html

   Many years ago, a non-writer friend talked to me about an idea. I don’t remember it completely, but it was something like this:

What if there is this girl, raised by a family not her own, who falls in love with the family's son? What if the family rejects her, and ultimately sends her away? (Sounds like a Jane Austen tale so far, doesn't it?) What if the girl winds up married to a lumber baron in Michigan's vast forestland? Years pass. Then, the man of her youth steps back into her life. Will he recognize her? Will he still remember the promises they made as children? What of her marriage, conveniently, lovelessly, contrived to shelter her, but to which she's vowed faithfulness?

   There's nothing new under this sun, and though we don't read of lumber barons in Miss Austen's stories, we do love a tale of unrequited love and missed chances. Still, that is NOT the story of The Green Veil. It merely contains several elements of this early idea.

   Years of my own life passed while a seed germinated in my mind. I began to study my own state's history. I learned things about my hometown of Wisconsin Rapids that fertilized the soil of my imagination. (In the story, Grand Rapids and Centralia are the early names of the town that later became Wisconsin Rapids.)

   Rivers to the world. That's what Wisconsin's story tells about. The mighty Wisconsin River, placid and raging by turn, brought life blood to the western prairies in the form of lumber for homes and everything needed to complete them (shingles, sashes) and fill them (tubs, pails, broom handles, clothespins, and barrel heads.) In a period of less than eighty years, billions of board feet of white pine and other trees played out. Towns sprung up. Railroads criss-crossed the land. A state was born.

   The men who made it happen were laborers, farmers, merchants, miners, railroaders, and big time investors. There were natives and foreigners, rich and poor, young and old. Among them were the ones I call the Pine Kings.

   As I searched out these things, The Green Veil wove together:

   What if a girl grew up an only child of parents in a small lumber town in Michigan, but dreamed of marrying the young man whose father owned the mill? What if her own father got the financial backing to establish his own enterprise deep in Wisconsin Territory, somewhere beyond the vastness of Lake Michigan? What if she immigrated into the territory and began life over, yet always yearned for something of her childhood, and her unanswered love?

   What if time passes? She grows up. She's courted, wooed, and then tragedy strikes -- tragedy upon tragedy. Her heart, yearning, fighting further change, succumbs. She gives in to its pleading wiles, and marries. Then what if the boy she once knew, now a man of ideals and ambition, plants his own stakes in the young state? What if there is treachery and black mail between the pine king she married and the man she loved, and then -- finally, then -- she meets him again? Her marriage is bitter, but she has learned a hard lesson about following her capricious heart. Dare she follow it again, or can her vows prevail?

   These questions built the foundation of The Green Veil, and I hope I answered them well, with plenty of plot twists and turns to make you wonder each step of the way.

   The Green Veil is available wherever e-books are sold and in any e-reader format.

   Read an excerpt here: http://www.naomimusch.com/excerptthegreenveil.htm

   A second excerpt is posted on the Desert Breeze web site: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-134/Naomi-Musch-Empire-in/Detail.bok

     It's launch day for my novella. Shouldn't there be fire crackers going off and doves being released or something? Well, in my little world of downtown Naomi, they are. 

I know why they call it a launch. Think of watching the space shuttle or other rocket lift up off the ground. It lumbers. You propel it upward with your thoughts. It's this gargantuan thing, lifting off the ground, so huge and cumbersome, yet defying gravity. Will it make it? I pushes onward into the void. You watch the television as the Nasa space engineers cheer. That's how it feels to have your work published. It doesn't matter if it's a novel or a short story, a poem or a how-to article. The day comes. Anticipation builds. There is lift-off.

     There are a world of misconceptions about writing and being a published author, as most writers can tell you. It's a process fraught with long waits and disappointment. And yet I would tell anyone who dreams of seeing their work in print to never let anything stop you from pursuing your goal or hanging onto your vision.

     Don't give up your dreams,whatever they are. Follow through on whatever love and passion God has placed inside you. Even if it takes years to hone it, press on. Launch day is coming.

HEART NOT TAKEN, a contemporary novella of love, inspiration, and redemption. Only $3.99 at http://www.blacklyonpublishing.com and most major online retailers!

     What do you think of my book's cover? Not that I'm biased or anything, but I like it! In my experience so far --which has been very small, I admit -- the moment of getting to view the cover designer's rendition of my book has been the most freaky, heart-palpitating moment of all. The acceptance email was a scream. The edit approvals were a whoosh of relief. The inside galleys tickled my toes and warmed me. But the cover, why, that email took ceremony to open. And even as I pushed the button I held my breath, pinching my cheeks between my palms. Then POP! It was there right in front of me. Cyber-cover or not, I felt like Josephine March in Little Women when the professor delivered her a copy of her own book. With awe, she unfolded it from its brown paper wrapper and stared at the simple cover and title.

     Her heart palpitated. A moment later she went running off down the road in the rain. Well... I guess that part might have had to do with romance.

     My editor gave me two possible cover designs to look at, prior to my choosing this one. They were both grand. But this one sang to me because it combined so many story elements. And it so happened I liked the colors, too.

     I'm no graphic artist, and perhaps someone out there with greater expertise than I would find complaint, but I shall not. To me, the cover of Heart Not Taken points to the story. I think it will rouse curiosity. Don't you?

     I received my galleys for the interior of Heart Not Taken a few days ago. Opening it up to view the layout of the pages made my heart do a little dance. It's one thing to write a story and create this art form, and then it's another thing to place it in someone else's hands and let them have a go at it. They package it, they dress it, they muddle through the details, and out comes a masterpiece.

     It's always a masterpiece.

     No matter the book, the subject matter, the format - electronic or otherwise - the amount of energy, creativity, and form which goes into each volume, makes the result, in my opinion, masterful.

     My friend Linda is currently launching a novel which she self-published. It's called "Grow Old With Me" and is a story which she describes as a modern-day Beauty and the Beast tale. (Look her up on Facebook: Melinda Evaul-Author.)

     Melinda had to take on the entire publishing process herself, from writing and editing the book, to setting the type, arranging graphics, and designing the cover and interior pages. She actually formed her own publishing company. I have other author friends who've done the same. What mastery that takes!

     I'm not that entrepreneurial. I will throw a lot of energy into marketing, but I will depend on my publishers to bring their expertise to the process of production.

     Still, now that I've seen the interior galleys, it falls to me to look them over for flaws or something that they may have missed. Today, I just want to say that the next time you read a book, whether it's electronic or paperback, whether it's written by a friend or a famous person from the past, and even whether or not you liked it in the end, I hope you'll think of it as a masterpiece. Think of every book as an art form that took a tremendous amount of effort from a lot of people to produce. One average book represents thousands of hours of sweat and headache. Hopefully, if you read my book, you'll think my sweet agony worth it.

  I may qualify as a circus performer by the time my books release. You writers know what I mean. In the effort to stay on top of things, it's like I'm spinning plates on a high-wire act.

     Tasks keeping me on a precarious balance include:

• filling out marketing forms for my novella publisher
• setting up blog interviews
• rounding up endorsement possibilities
• reading, reading, reading
• editing for a future Port Yonder Press book
• blogging
• writing tutorials for A Novel Writing Site
• plugging away on book #3 in the series
• learning new things about writing via conferences and web archives

     Then, yesterday, I got my first round edits from my Green Veil editor. After my initial perusal of page one (taking a look at the comments in red balloons and choking down my ginormous gulp) I had to figure out how to use the Word feature that enables me to address them. That took a while. There's a learning curve to everything...

     Then I had to pray about how to make the changes that will satisfy both the editor and me.

     It's funny. I've worked on improving that manuscript for the past 4 ½ years. I've self-edited and rewritten dozens of times. I've reread with my most critical eye; and yet, it's amazing what another person's fresh view can uncover. That should be a lesson to me and to anyone. It pays to have another person's input on your work. That doesn't mean you'll agree with everything they say, but there's so much to learn in being open to critique.

     Improvement starts at teachability.

     We writers are very close to these "babies", and can suffer attacks of mother bear syndrome when it comes to their being tampered with. But just like raising children, we have to let them go to experience other careful tutelage. When we open our arms and release our book to our editors, our publisher, and the world, the result is like a free fall -- off the high wire, and into the net.

     I'm now on the brink of that feeling. I look forward to the exhilaration of my heart flying up into my throat, and open space rushing past me as I release my hold. Then I'll smile, take a deep breath, and climb back up onto the wire, to do it all again.

     A few days ago my publisher at Desert Breeze asked me if I would be willing to have release of The Green Veil moved up to January instead of April. Wow! At first I just sat there with my jaw hanging open. I could visualize the next couple of months getting jammed with things like final edits, book trailers, and marketing. At the same time I felt excitement buzzing through my body. Why would I say no?

     So the grease has hit the wheels of the e-pubbing machinery. Right now my editor is hard at work, and the cover artist is contemplating the "look" of The Green Veil. It will be so exciting to see the results. And in a mere three months, everyone will, because it will be available for download.

     Zippity-do-da! That's how fast e-publishing is. I feel like Ali-Baba flying along on this magic carpet ride. One moment I'm in the land of April, a moment later I'm in January.

The results of the change also include earlier releases of the other books in the series. Hence, The Red Fury will now be released in October 2011, and The Black Rose in July, 2012.

     So far, it's been nothing but a pleasure to work with my e-book publisher, Desert Breeze. I've found that their community of authors is fun and supportive. The editorial staff is encouraging and hard-working. I'm looking forward to the next two years of our working relationship.

     But for now, I'll climb back on my magic carpet. I'm curious to see where it'll land me next.