Silver Dagger Tours is hosting a month-long tour for me that includes a giveaway for an Amazon gift card and swag. Full list at their site.
Monday – stops at Chapters through life, Books all things paranormal and romance, books are love, and Luv Saving Money
Tuesday – guest post at Maiden of the Pages and stops at Tome Tender, Books, Authors, Blogs, and Craving Lovely Books
Wednesday – stops at Dragon's Den, A Wonderful World of Words, and Breanna Hayse Romance
Thursday – stops at TNT Book Promotions, A Blend of Sass and Class Blog, and T.L. Gray Blog
Friday - stops at Drako's Den, eBook Addicts, and Girl with Pen
What Worries Me When I Write by Jacqui Murray
That I'll get a bad review on Amazon. You can't unring that bell. It ruins your averages.
That I'll over-think what I'm writing, take myself too seriously. I have to shake it out and start over.
That my characters come across as shallow--people even I wouldn't want to know.
Anton Chekov once warned: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." What if I miss that? What if I miss it twice?
That I'll spell 'siesta' with an 'f'--or 'Freud' with an 'a'. How about 'luck' with an 'f'? So much to worry about.
That I'll use 'was' twelve times on one page and drain the energy out of my story like a leaky boat.
That I'll 'tell' not 'show'.
That my novel will have so many problems, when new ones come along, it'll take me two weeks before I have time to worry about them.
That agents will say, 'There's a story that didn't live up to its query letter'.
That I've written a Goldilocks story--not too fast, not too slow, just boring.
That my writing has more enthusiasm than expertise.
That my novel will reach a climax and I won't notice. The corollary to that: I won't know where the beginning is.
That I'll think 'seriousism' is a perfectly good noun to use.
As if this list isn't bad enough, I found a bunch more on Twitter that sounded like me:
That I'll start to believe statistics like 83% of new writers don't get published, or the average American has one testicle and one ovary.
That I will bury my voice in the effort to 'follow the right rules'
That I will turn a world class ending into a mediocre one.
That my muse will abandon me.
That even now, the fat lady is singing.
That my lips will get tired before I finish all the writer's how-to books I need to read. That my woke story will come out stupid.
And here's my #1 fear and it's a bit of a conundrum: If I write from my heart and no one reads it, have I really written anything?
How about you? What's your worst fear?
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice, a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, In the Footsteps of Giants, Winter 2021.
New Releases
This one is from a very dear blogger buddy of mine and I am so happy for her!
From Simon and Schuster IN
LIES. AMBITION. FAMILY.
It’s a dark, smog-choked new Delhi winter. Indian American single mother Anjali Morgan juggles her job as a psychiatrist with caring for her autistic teenage son. She is in a long-standing affair with ambitious police commissioner Jatin Bhatt – An irresistible attraction that could destroy both their lives.
Jatin’s home life is falling apart: his handsome and charming son is not all he appears to be, and his wife has too much on her plate to pay attention to either husband or son. But Jatin refuses to listen to anyone, not even the sister to whom he is deeply attached.
Across the city there is a crime spree: slum women found stuffed in trash bags, faces and bodies disfigured by acid. And as events spiral out of control Anjali is horrifyingly at the centre of it all …
In a sordid world of poverty, misogyny, and political corruption, Jatin must make some hard choices. But what he unearths is only the tip of the iceberg. Together with Anjali he must confront old wounds and uncover long-held secrets before it is too late.
Buy it on Amazon
Already Home by Heather Gardner
A Maguire's Corner novel
Book 1 in the Maguire's Corner series
Find it on Amazon
MOTLEY EDUCATION: The Urd Saga, book I by S. A. Larsen
"A deftly crafted ... and entertaining read!" - Midwest Book Reviews - Children's Watch 2017
Motley Junior High: School for the Psychically and Celestially Gifted Terms of Enrollment
Order signed books from The Children’s Book Cellar via Facebook message.
Find it online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords There’s also a Twitter Giveaway.
New Trailers
Some interesting looking movies and shows coming soon…
What are your writing worries? Picking up some new books? Do those trailers look enticing? And are you following any of the CassaSeries tour?
91 comments:
Continued good luck with your tour Alex. It was interesting to read what worried you whilst writing a book. My worry at the moment is will I finish it?
Have a good week.
Yvonne.
Hi, Alex!
I appreciate your two lists of writer's fears. With all of those concerns darting in and out of the conscious mind, it's a wonder any writer has the courage to proceed to completion.
Z-2 Double Tap looks like my kind of film, loaded with funny characters and plenty of zingers peppering the dialogue. I like Woody, Emma and Abigail and now I also want to watch Z-1 which has another favorite in the cast - Amber.
Have a great week, good buddy Alex!
Congrats to everyone with new releases!
Congrats on your continued tour Alex and congrats to those with releases and re-releases. I think when an author doesn't have any fears about their writing, then they lose an edge.
keep touring and don't forget to exercise while "on the road". Ha!
Lots of good books by fellow bloggers - neat! And I wasn't but now I'm psyched for Zombieland 2 - looks like a hoot. Writing fears - that it's just not good enough. And thus I've been paralyzed. So I read and blog and enjoy the work of others who are brave enough to put it out there.
Happy "Fall". We're still sweating.
Yvonne, you will finish it!
Joanne, I never forget to exercise.
As much as those worries might give you heartburn, the fact that you are still concerned about them will keep you putting out your best work. Authors that have "turned the corner" and don't worry about these fears any more tend to produce muck. Use those fears to drive your stories forward.
Good luck with your book. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Those fears sound familiar!
Good luck to all!
Just finished Damyanti's book and it is AMAZING!!!
*waking up and wondering what year it is*
Yeah, that's me, museless for about a year and half. Well, more than that but who's counting.
Alex, you give me hope that I might find it again, the wonder and thrill of writing. Thank you for this post.
Oh dear, Alex, those fears sound horribly familiar. We all suffer from a variation of what you have written, if that is any consolation. My solution was to go back as far as childhood, search for the cause of these feelings. Once identified, in my case a strict Edwardian father, it can be faced and put to one side. Having self-published seven books, all of them with excellent reviews from many readers, adults and children, and having completed a masters in creative writing, I still hadn't the confidence to send my work out. But looking at the cause of my lack of self belief, I am now able to approach an agent and know I shall never self publish again. I hope you discover what is the cause of your insecurity, and you also banish those symptoms for good 🤗
I'm adding some ebooks to my library and You Beneath Your Skin is one of them. I'm so excited to read Damyanti's novel.
When I first started writing, I shared all those fears you listed. I guess age has either toughened me or dulled all my anxieties because the only fear I have now is that I won't get all the books in my mind written before I'm too old and creaky to continue. :D
Writers always have lots to worry about! I tend to worry about growing stale with my long series.
Those are some intense-looking films!
I can relate to many of those things on Jacqui's list :)
Congrats to everyone on their releases. I'm partway through Damyanti's book and really enjoying. Very compelling read!
The one about spelling "luck" with an "f"...I've done that. And many other bad words that were supposed to be ordinary words, like "shut." lol
Thanks for hosting me, Alex. Now I have one less worry--that I'll have a #bookblast event that no one will attend!
Ken, we don't want murk!
Jemi, no surprise her book is awesome.
Huntress! Good to hear from you.
Lost, I hope that advice helps Jacqui. (Those worries aren't from me - I have my own.)
Chrys - funny!
Jacqui, you are welcome.
Well an aspiring author exploring the galaxy I believe my biggest fear would have to be no-one buys my book! Show dont tell has to be one of the biggies and of course speling mistakes. I'm on my way to check out the Silver Dagger tour Alex.
Much, Much congrats on your 7th book. Amazing and wonderful. Here's to lots more great things ahead for you Alex, with a great big side of boogie boogie.
Good luck with your continued tour, Alex.
Jacqui, I can relate to a lot of those worries. ^^;;
I don't have that many writing worries. Maybe if I were writing more seriously I might, but I don't.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I wasn't worried until I read that. LOL
Anything with Jason Momoa, I'm in.
Oh, all of those writing worries sounded achingly familiar! I'm definitely picking up new books, and the trailers hit me in the middling zone. I'm not sure why but I'm not as excited about some of the movies coming out.
Congrats on your tour!!! I think you're doing an awesome job, Alex!
Congrats to Jacqui, Heather, Damyanti, and SA!
Those sound like some good books. Although I'm less sure about the movies...
Probably my biggest writing worry is that I'll lose all my writing. But I have the best bloggy buddy/Editor as a default - Bryan comes through when I lose stuff.
Have a great week, Alex.
Good luck (continuing good luck) with your tour.
I suspect that those writing fears are very, very common. Which is part of the reason the ISWG is essential.
Thanks and best wishes to all writers.
I'm glad that you confronted your fears, Jacqui, and wrote something meaningful to yourself and your audience. My greatest fear is to use the talents I've built up and hurt someone with them by thoughtlessly getting a major part of their life wrong. I've been careful with how I construct my worlds so that I don't forget that we all live in this one.
Thank you all--@cynicalsailor, @patricia, @tyrean. @john--I can't think of anything worse than that--to hurt someone by accident.
I can definitely relate to all those worries! Best thing to do is try not to think about it. Easier said than done, of course.
I was here.
But I'm too tired today to have a comment.
Hope your blog tour is going well, Alex.
I have a lot of fears too. Am I deep enough to make the changes a editor requests? Can I write fast enough? Can I be an effective marketer? Those are just some of my fears.
Hope your tour continues well. I loved the guest writer, as we all have such similar worries. Although, that "luck" misspelling had me laughing. It's one I hadn't worried about...yet.
I think if you write from the heart, that's what matters. Who cares who reads it? It'll find its audience.
So many trailers...
I just adopt the less you give a crap, the more you can take philosophy and keep on a going. Still got two down below too, so I wouldn't have to worry about that anyway lol.
@Sarah--so true. Maybe I've purged them by printing them! @Natalie--Yep yep and yep--those were all on my first list! Like you, they are just some of the fears! @rhonda--and not one spellcheck would find, don't you think?
My writing worries, well one any way, is that my day job is going to "thwart" all my writing goals and projects. Maybe the solution to that is just make smaller writing goals and projects.
Dude: You are amazing! That's all I have to say about that. The movies you reviewed were in perfect order for me to go see. They're all great... a must-see! Well, in my opinion anyway. So, thank you for always stopping by and making my day! Hope all is well with you and yours! hugs
Wish I was near one of your stops. Best of luck on this adventure.
Sounds like the tour is going well, Alex! Yay!
I can relate to the list or writer worries that Jacqui posted! Wishing her and all the authors with new books out the best of luck. :)
~Jess
Alex!
Best of luck on your tour!
Thank you so much for sharing my re-release! I appreciate it!
I don't really have any movies to look forward to right now. But, the new fall TV season is almost here!
Thank you again!
Heather
@steven Happily I was able to move my day job home which freed up lots more writing time. Some day, that will work for everyone
@DMS Thanks! And great thanks to Alex for sharing his platform!
Thanks, Spacer Guy.
Robyn, Bryan is your lifesaver.
Pat, I like that attitude!
Heather! You're welcome.
Thanks, everyone!
Zombieland 2 is the only movie of this list that appeals to the fam as a whole. Not sure what this says about us at the moment. And wait ... what, no Bill Murray. Could he at least come back as a zombie in this movie? How cool would that be!
Hi Alex - it's great you're around showing us the way with various blogging authorly friends - we all learn. Good tours - I'm looking forward to joining in with Jacqui and with Damyanti - I've 25% read hers and it is excellent ... cheers to one and all - Hilary
@Hilary--I loved Damyanti's book. It is one of the most original I've read on this subject.
The CassaSeries tour looks amazing! You'll be very busy.
Congrats to Jacqui on her new release! I love her lists. On the last point, maybe the question could be, if you don't write from your heart and everyone reads it, have you really written anything?
@Lee--I like that change. I had to read it twice, and now I'll never forget.
I think most people question what will happen when they try something new. But I'm sure it's especially scary for authors because they get reviews for their work all the time and can see firsthand what people think of what they did.
Looking forward to some Zombieland 2!
Oh those worries are plentiful...but you still wrote and you did well. I would love to see the first 2 picks. I liked the first Zombieland even though it stars Jeffrey Eisenberg. Every time he talks or looks a way, I just want to bitch slap him
Not following the tour, sorry, but wishing you best wishes with it.
Worries are the usual, but that will never change, will it :)
@Mary--New is frightening. I force myself to be a risk-taker but it's not my comfort zone!
@Birgit--I think not writing would worry me more. What's a gal to do?
Lee, good point.
Birgit, was it because he played the guy who owns Facebook?
Good Luck on your blog tour, Alex.
I read Heather Gardner's book 'Already Home' and I highly recommend it!! Congrats to Heather and Sheri on their re-releases.
My writing worries have hit an all time high. My muse has left me high and dry...
Some amazing new releases - congratulations. My writing fears are never getting published again as I'm always re-writing or rethinking my plots.
Oh dear, now I have a whole lot of more worries to consider. LOL...Never fear. We're all here to support each other!
JQ Rose
Gemini Man... Not another one of those movies where the actor plays a double role. We've seen that sooooooooo often.
Hello, Alex.
@Cathrina--Oooh, I'm sorry to hear that. About your muse. Can you call her?
@JQ--Yep. Before I took up writing, my biggest worry was if my kids would call that day.
Cathrina, I read it as well!
Blue, too often.
Wow, you're everywhere! Congrats on such a successful blog tour!
Good list, Jacqui! Right there with ya. You avoided those pitfalls with Quest:)
Hey, Alex!
@sandra--Yay!!!
Hi Alex,
I've followed a few of your tour stops, it's been an interesting month. I hope sales are picking up. (the series is great)
Have a happy week! You rock!
Congrats to the authors with new releases.
How's the tour going, Alex?
Heather, thanks!
Sandra, good. A lot of Facebook stops which I can't comment on though.
Jacqui, I know all those worries! Every time I release a book, it's the same. Congrats! Hope you're having fun on your tour, Alex. Handy that you put up trailers for me to catch up on what's coming out. Thank you. :) I've been watching Marianne on Netflix. Creeeeepy!
@Christine--I'm a nervous wreck at times. Sigh.
Best wishes on the tour, Captain!
Great post, Jacqui! I can identify with nearly every worry on those lists ;-) But I'd have to say - of late, anyway - its reviews that cause the most anxiety for me. Not that it keeps me from writing, I'm just more reluctant to share.
Congratulations to you and all with new releases! I enjoyed the trailers ;-)
@diedre--I definitely relate to that. I don't ask for reviews because I'm afraid to. I am way to thinned skinned for too much criticism.
Wanna go see Zombieland 2 together? Idk where you live.
Christine, haven't seen that one. Just finished Dark Crystal.
PTM, no idea where you live either!
I have a feeling the fears on Jacqui's list help make her a better writer. (A wee bit insecure, maybe, but skilled out the wazoo.) I wish her much luck. Same for all the other writers with new releases. Soooo many books to read, so little time...
@Susan--I am insecure ( which is why I joined #IWSG) but I can put that aside when I write. I love that.
The tour looks great, Captain!
Jacqui, I really enjoyed your insight and humor~
Your book sounds great and cool cover!
Congrats!!
I can't wait to watch SEE!
The preview looks amazing~
The new releases look great, too!
Congrats, Damyanti, Heather, and S.A.~
@Ella--thank you! I like life with a spoonful of humor. Makes everything so much more palatable.
The Zombieland movies doesn't do anything for me, but the other two look intriguing.
Cool movie trailers and new releases.
Interesting post. I recently finished a project only to realize that it wasn't actually finished. It fell well-below the average word count for stories of its genre. It made me realize that I'd underdeveloped some of the characters and left out a very important point of view. I guess I'm worried that I'll keep making the same mistakes.
What a great book tour! Good luck with all of it and have fun!
My main worry is that I won't be able to find the right words and string them together in the proper order. The good news is that most of my other worries can be fixed with revisions and by having other people read/crit my work. And of course, even if one does write an awesome an amazing book, there's still no guarantee that it will sell.
@Toi--that is a worry most new writers go through (or they make the book too long, either way!). Kudos for figuring it out before publishing.
@mshatch--That right word thing--I rely a lot on intuition. I listen to the story as it unfolds in my head and then rewrite afterwards. Sometimes, 'rewrite' becomes a dozen read-throughs as I am discovering good words but it works nicely.
Thanks so much for the shoutout, Alex!
Patricia, Jemi, Hilary, Jacqui, thanks so much for reading. Thanks, Tyrean and Ella, for the kind wishes.
Jacqui, I have all these anxieties as well--I accept that I have them, acknowledge them, and somehow that seems to help. Huge hugs.
Wow, Jacqui covered everything on that list. I'm really, really looking forward to Zombieland 2. It looks so fun.
Your tour is amazing.
Spell luck with an f is enough to strike terror in my heart, yikes! I did write flick once and the l and i combined into a word that I'd never use, due to the quirkiness of the font. Super foot-in-mouth moment.
Congrats to Damayanti and Heather!
All the best for your tour - and the new book. I'm sure it's going to be a success.
Jacqui, no Goldilocks in your stories:)
Alex, going to see Ad Astra this afternoon.
The list of worries is one every writer can relate to. At the end of the day, every one of us is plagued with performance anxiety. Good thing there's the Insecure Writer's Support Group!
Congrats on the tour!
Wow, that book tour's stacked! Awesome!
As for worries, that list was spot on. Thanks Jacqui.
Congrats to all the other authors and their releases/re-releases.
I haven't seen those trailers but will do. Thank you!
Congrats to all on the new releases, and congrats to you on the tour, Alex!
Congrats with your continued success with your tour Alex! Interesting to read about the fears! I understand! Thanks for the trailers! Take Care!
congrats on the tour my friend. Wishing you great success and many printings always. Oh and I just added the movie SEE to our list! Hugs
@Damyanti--That's a really good point--acknowledging them does make them more tolerable. Thanks for adding that!
@Susan--Hehee--I have lots of experience with this!
@Nilanjana--I am imagining that font. Oh boy!
@Sandra--I'm not into safe. Writing lets me escape that!
@Michael--I agree and probably why I joined!
@Mina--I'm creating a new one, too. For my new worries!
@Magic--A sense of humor with my truckload of fears helps me!
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