End of Year Review - 2015

2015 was a tough year us. While that may not be an excuse, hopefully it helps to explain why I was only able to interview 6 out 12 fabulous authors this year. But I mean it when I say fabulous. These guys, and lady, couldn't have been friendlier, more willing to share, or knowledgeable in their particular fields.

Ed Vela was my first guinea pig. I chose him on purpose because of our twenty year friendship and experience in writing plays and screenplays. He was able to introduce me to fellow playwrights Fernando Dovalina and Carl L. Williams. Teri Mathis and her husband have been friends of ours for more than ten years. She and Tom Scanlon are both non-fiction writers. I met Tom and Gibson Michaels in a writing group. Gibson rounded out my novelists as a sci-fi/fantasy writer.

I had plans on asking other friends of mine that have published plays, cookbooks, are technical writers, and even reaching out to forming professors for interviews but I never got the chance. In August I had another seizure and went on driving restriction for three months. In September I had another seizure so I had to start the three month count all over again. I have just been released. It kind of puts a damper on interviews when you can never go out and actually interview people. So I decided to put it on hold.

What I decided not to put on hold any longer was finally finishing my education. This has been nearly a ten year process, longer if you count the first time I started college right out of high school and dropped out. I started earnestly in 2006, when my son started kindergarten, and I will be finishing his sophomore year of high school.

I made the transition from forensic science to creative writing and couldn't be happier. With one semester in the bag and three more to go, I feel like I am finally on my way to accomplishing a life long goal. Thanks to my incredibly supportive family for putting up with all my craziness. Just today I was so distracted I made a cup a coffee but forgot to put my cup underneath my coffee machine to catch the stream of coffee... Thank goodness for drip trays, right? And this was at the end of the semester...

Thank you again, Ed, Fernando, Carl, Teri, Gibson and Tom for sharing with me everything you learned about creating, brainstorming, publishing and most importantly, how to just keep writing.

Good luck to everything you do in the new year.

Merry Christmas Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from my family to yours.

Staying Motivated

One of the things I have found most difficult lately is staying motivated to write every single day. My life, for a short while at least, had become a little busier when I joined a local writing group. We were meeting nearly every week to critique and discuss each other's current projects. Unfortunately we are on hiatus because the founder of our group has fallen ill. Just when I was ready to get back in the swings of things after my own tangle with not feeling well. Too bad.

My current project is taking my short story, Youthanasia, (that you can read here) and expanding it in to a novel. (Youthanasia was entered into the Chilling Tales for Dark Nights short story contest in June 2014.) I started it during NaNoWriMo in November 2014. During that time I got about halfway through Not too bad, really for my second attempt at that particular challenge. But since then I haven't gotten that much further. Say 35,000 words or so. And, no, it's not the word count that matters, but I do not have a whole a story. Yet.

And I am the ultimate procrastinator when it comes to actually finishing anything. Why? Because I never feel that anything is ever good enough (even these silly little blogs). Because I don't think that anyone will want to read my story (even though you are supposed to write for yourself). Because I feel like I am wasting my time (again, what if no one likes it?). Because after this, what do I have (even though I have plenty of ideas for future stories)? Because I am afraid of rejection (from publishers, from readers, from critics). Because I keep changing my mind (that's what editing is for). Because I need to do more research (actually I just love to read more than anything). See? I'm full of excuses not to finish.

I haven't even been participating in Flash! Fiction Fridays lately, either. It used to be because I was busy on Fridays going to my writers group. But I haven't had that excuse lately. Now I'm just being lazy. I need something to jump start my creativity again in a serious way. I started looking up short story competitions again. (I'll post a link to the ones I found at the bottom.) I need something to get me out of this rut.

I still do my words on most days. I found a site called 750 Words maybe a year and a half ago. I use it as sort of a diary. The point of the site is to use it as a "brain dump" before you start writing. To sort of get it all out so you can start your day with a clean sheet of paper. Problem is, I do my 750 words - and that's it. Then I fool around the house the rest of the day. Tinker with our budget. Read. Watch some recordings on the DVR. Do some laundry. Do a word puzzle (love Penny Dell Puzzles!). Help the kids with homework. Probably yell at one them. Cook (a fabulous) dinner. Read. Sleep. Repeat.

So stuck in rut right now. Help!

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and write everyday? Or at least stick to a schedule? Leave your tips in the comments below!

Writing contests I found for April/May (That I was interested in)

sweatpants & coffee
Seeking fiction and non-fiction stories about transformation and redemption. They like well worded works, with "lyrical turns of phrase."

haunted waters press
Seeking fiction and poetry depicting life in rural America. Think country living, Midwestern tales, Southern Gothic and Country Noir.

Fernando Dovalina: The Interview

Fernando and I met and had a traditional Mexican breakfast at a little Taqueria not too far from the home he shares with his husband, Barry. What was comfort food to Fernando was just downright delicious to me. After we were sufficiently full and caffeinated, we headed over to his home where I was made to feel more than welcome, and I continued to pick his brain about life as a journalist and playwright.

Fernando and I could have spent hours talking about the two years he spent in Beaumont in the 1960's (I have family out that way). But as it was, we had to move on and talk about his work in Fort Worth before eventually settling down in Houston. Fernando has had a varied and wonderfully fascinating career in journalism alone, but now he has ventured into play-writing.

In play-writing, Fernando has studied under Edward Albee and Stuart Ostrow. He has collaborated with J T Buck to write the book for the musical, Gospel According to Tammy Faye, had several of his plays produced in the Houston area and is active in Scriptwriters/Houston. As if all these accomplishments weren't enough, Fernando is now working on his first novel(s).

Fernando was more than gracious to open his home to me and subject himself the multitude of questions I had printed out for him. He was full of funny and very touching stories, He was humble and patient. He never rushed me even though I probably kept him longer then he expected.

Fernando Dovalina and Laura Romero
Property of Laura Romero

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Fernando Dovalina. (click on link to listen to the interview)

Please visit Scriptwriters/Houston for more information on upcoming events (including the Home Plays you heard about in Fernando's interview)

Look up Fernando's plays at Doollee.com