Tag: #IWSG

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#IWSG April 2018: Just keep writing; just keep writing; just keep #writing.

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Monthly Question: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

I honestly feel like my writing life is always cloudy. It’s kind of like the rest of my life, in that I’m sick all the time. Still, I get stuff done. If I stopped and waited to be healthy to do stuff, I’d never do anything. If I waited for the rain in my writing life to clear up, I’d never write anything.

For me, I think it’s more about being patient and not forcing it. I wish I could be one of those writers who writes 100 or 1000 words every day, but that’s not my reality. I have to work on multiple projects at a time so that whenever the muse strikes, I have plenty of material to work with. I also distract and inspire myself by reading and watching creative content; and again, when the muse strikes, I write (even if it’s 3 a.m.)

And, if and when, I get discouraged or overwhelmed, I look back at the few good reviews I’ve received and the two pieces of fan mail I’ve received to cheer me up. It helps remind me why I write. I write because I enjoy sharing my stories, even if I just share them with a few friends.

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Now on to the personal updates.

I’m on spring break and, oh boy, do I deserve it! Just in time for a full recovery from Strep. I just got back in town to enjoy the rest of my break on staycation. If you follow me on YouTube or Facebook, be on the lookout for some cool pictures and videos.

Illustrating is hard when you are not formally trained. I used my computer’s paint program to draw my first children’s books, but now I’m trying to do some hand drawings for the new stories I’m working on.

I’ve been cleaning up and rewriting a few stories for a short story collection I hope to release later this year. Plus, I have my ongoing project to rewrite my Eternal Curse Series for the 10th-anniversary release. We’ll see what happens with that down the road.

Over at A Small Gang of Authors, we reached 100,000 views. I’m so happy to have found this group of amazing author-bloggers to connect and collaborate with. If you’re up for it, please stop by and congratulate us.

And last, but definitely not least, I completed my Graphic Novel Read-A-Thon and had so much fun. If you’re interested, check out the video wrap-up below. My March wrap-up video will go up this Saturday, April 7th.

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What keeps you writing?

What are you currently working on?

Are you having a vacation or staycation anytime soon?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Olga Godim,
Chemist Ken,
Renee Scattergood, and
Tamara Narayan!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #57).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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About Toi IWSG

#IWSG March 2018: Is it time to celebrate a #writing goal? Why, I think it is!

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Monthly Question: How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal / finish a story?

If I’m being honest here, sometimes just finishing a project is the celebration (boy do I wish I had more time to smell the roses). There is a distinctive feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing any writing project, but one must ask themselves, “At what point is a story truly finished?” For me it varies; sometimes a story is finished when I write “The End” and sometimes it’s not finished until I approved the proof. Regardless, I do feel as though I should celebrate these achievements more than I have in the past. It can sometimes be a long period of time between launch parties, so finding times and ways to celebrate other writing achievements seems like a good way to stay motivated and keep on track.

I’m totally open to suggestions.

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Now on to the personal updates.

Soooooo, all H*LL broke out at my day job last week and I almost had a complete mental breakdown, seriously. With the help of co-workers, family, friends, and prayer, I’m holding it together. (For those who don’t know, I teach. That’s all I’m going to say about that.)

I finished my graphic novel read-a-thon just shy of my overall goal, and it’s motivated me to keep reading graphic novels throughout the year. I haven’t done an update video yet, but I’m working on it. I may even be doing a side by side comparison later in the year, reading a novel and the graphic novel version of the story together. We’ll see.

I’ve written three new children’s books and am almost finished with the fourth. I’ll begin the process of having the stories beta read and begin the process of illustrating them very soon. I even plan to vlog about it a bit.

I’m very excited to accept my first invitation to go and read to students at a school in my local area. This is not a sales event or a signing, though I will be reading my books. I’m happy to not have the pressure of sales. Sometimes the one thing that’s better than making a sale, is the look on a child’s face when they enjoy the words and pictures you’ve made. I’m so excited.

Last, but most definitely not least, I was honored with the Encouragement Award for the February 2018 W.E.P. challenge. Even though I don’t always meet the challenge, I can’t express how much the WEP community has helped me grow as a writer. I am so proud and happy to receive this recognition… And guess what? I did a happy dance and bought myself some ice cream (not frozen yogurt) when I found out I won. Guess I can celebrate my writing goals when I think about it. If you’d like to read mine or any of the other wonderful stories of this WEP Challenge, just click the award image.

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So, do you or how do you celebrate your writing goals?

Has all H*LL broken out in some aspect of your life? How are you coping with it?

Read any graphic novels lately or know any I should check out?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Mary Aalgaard,
Bish Denham,
Jennifer Hawes,
Diane Burton, and
Gwen Gardner!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #57).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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IWSG

#IWSG February 2018: For the love of #paranormal; oh, and some #graphicnovels

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Monthly Question: What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

I write in many genres most of the time, which isn’t always a good thing, but that’s a topic for another day. I’d say the genre I’m most passionate about is ‘paranormal’. I love to read and write about the paranormal in its many and diverse forms. Of all the speculative genres (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all subgenres) it’s the most speculative. I find that for, those like me, who like to blend a bit of spirituality and or religion into some of my writing, the paranormal genre is the easiest fit. I love to explore and manipulate ideas and concepts about myths and legends to find fun, new, and sometimes thought-provoking ways to show the many facets of humanity. Whether it’s vampires, werewolves, ghost, angels, or demons, I can never get enough of the supernatural goodness of the paranormal genre.

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Now on to the personal updates.

The IWSG Book Club is reading Lord of the Flies for our March discussion on symbolism. I’ll admit that I was a bit bummed by the outcome of the vote, but I’m not heartbroken over it. I was hoping to use this as an opportunity, a motivator, for me to finally read Moby Dick (I know, I can’t believe I haven’t read it either), but I think that ship has sailed (no pun initially intended). I just don’t know if I’ll ever get around to reading that, when I have so many other books that I really really want to read. In any case, I’m hoping my second read of LOTF will go better than the first. Perhaps being older and not being forced to read it for a class will make all the difference.

I’ve been struggling with how to approach the future of my writing. I feel like I need to start over from scratch, but can’t quite bring myself to make the leap. I’m trying to figure out a way to maybe take baby steps instead. For now, at least, I’m going to focus on reading, writing my rewrites, as well as the new ideas I’m developing, and am making no plans to publish anything in the near future. Perhaps in a year or two, I’ll be ready to take on the publishing challenge once again.

Over at A Small Gang of Authors, I’ve been writing a blog series about music, inspiration, and my writing. In today’s part 4 of the series, I talk about character theme songs, if you care to check it out.

I’m challenging myself to a graphic novel read-a-thon this month. Please check it out, if your interested.

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Why do you love to write in the genre of your choice?

Read any good graphic novels lately? Thinking about trying one out?

Have you clarified all your goals for the immediate future?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Stephen Tremp,
Pat Garcia,
Angela Wooldridge,
Victoria Marie Lees, and
Madeline Mora-Summonte!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #57).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords