Hello, world! As any nerd knows, all introductions to computer programming start with the above phrase, so I think that's a good way to introduce me, since I'm someone who's done quite a lot of programming. Oh, programming was never my goal, of course. After all, who wants to be a computer programmer? But, long ago, I did discover something interesting about it. My third-grade teacher had a Commodore 64 in her classroom. During a class recess, I sat down and I wrote something like this: 10 PRINT "WHAT IS YOUR NAME: " 20 INPUT C$ 30 PRINT C$ " IS AWESOME!!! " 40 GOTO 30 Of course, I invited some kids in class to come over and try my program out. They were beyond amazed, and excitedly told my other classmates to come and see. One of the kids named Ryan watched in awe as the phrase "RYAN IS AWESOME!!!" repeated over and over. In a matter of minutes, I had gone from "that boy who reads books at recess" to something akin to god-like status. I didn't bother tempering their praise. Never mind that what I had written was about as simple as printing "Hello world." Writing something impactful, you see, is not about the complexity of language. In fact, impactful writing is just about writing something meaningful to the person experiencing it. I entertained Ryan in a way that he thought it was just for him. I've heard some people say that they write for one particular reader, real or imagined. The same is true for me, but there's often times when that particular reader is me. Another truth about writers is that writers write what they want to read. Both of these truths became even more poignant after I experienced a difficult separation. I found myself obsessing over things that went wrong. At the same time, I recognized that it was getting me nowhere. I wanted someone to smack me out of it, but I was not a fan of violence nor confrontation. I thought about therapy, but I realized I didn't really trust anyone at the moment. I tried self-help books, and they seemed to fall short of the mark, mostly because they were boring. Someone who wanted to help me needed to entertain me, because entertainment is what I value. They would need to make me laugh, because humor is like oxygen, only it bonds less with hydrogen, and outer space is not devoid of it. Then, one day, I heard a voice of a character (with a distinctive southern drawl) who said, "Just stop having problems, stupid!" Dr. Matt had arrived. As I continued to write down what this unique character said, laughter transformed pain and soon I had a finished book sitting on my computer screen. It wasn't a long book; it was more like Dr. Matt bursting into the room and shouting, "Hello, world!" Such a character does not, of course, leave the scene with just one book. Dr. Matt started to write blog posts, which were often in the form of short stories, and eventually, he recorded podcasts. Eventually, it became clear that he wanted to say a lot more about the subject that had started it all: relationships. Not one for tact, he decided to title his next book When It Comes To Relationships, You've Been An Idiot. The title made me a little uncomfortable, but that's Dr. Matt for you. Over the course of two years, he talked about relationships. Each topic was quite a journey, and by the end of each chapter, I had laughed and I had wept. That's when I knew I really had something. I didn't know whether to call it fictional non-fiction or non-fictional-esque fiction, but that's a marketing problem, not a writing problem. In fact, when it came to marketing, the way that Dr. Matt was fearless in his promotion of his finished books continued to teach me: this time about visibility. It stirred in me something I knew for some time. I didn't just want to write; I wanted to be out there with my writing. I wanted not just to entertain my friends or a few kids in a classroom, but to step out and be. After all, if Dr. Matt could do it, so could I. Just weeks ago, I started dusting off stories I'd previously written, some of them that I'd written with only the intention of one person reading them. They were stories written by "Matthew Dean Leichty". Know how to pronounce that last name? Don't worry, no one does. But that seemed easy to fix. I picked up the first story. I edited the byline to read simply "Matthew Dean". That was my name, after all. And Matthew Dean is awesome. You can follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdl. Dr. Matt's books, posts, and podcasts can be found at TheDrMatt.com
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A Fine Line: A Balance to Survive was not an easy book to write, and I am often asked by many people, who have their own stories to tell, the question, where do you start? As my book is a true account of severe abuse my answer was at the easiest place, and what comes into the mind first. Also to remember that my method suits me, and everybody eventually has their own style of writing. I also find that I have to be in the mood to write, but the hardest job a writer of a novel has is the sustainability, and at times I have to push myself, and set a target of either an hour a day or 3,000 words a day. As my book is a true account of survival against the odds, I also had to seek the advice of medical professionals. My consultant was initially against it and said it was too risky, as I suffer from post -traumatic stress disorder, which can be life threatening, I thought long and hard, but my story was seeping out to be written and I also knew that I was fortunate to have the support of a great medical team behind me. I was also very determined to give a true account of the consequences of child abuse, and the ambiguous care at a psychiatric unit which was all new to me and quite shocking at times. My book is not to everyone’s taste as it is quite distressing and disturbing in many incidents, and also includes graphical nature of scenes that are not nice. Yet the book is significant as I simply wrote it as it was. The police and medical professionals have stated I shouldn’t be here, after surviving many murder attempts, burning, rape, and being brought back to consciousness everyday under a cold shower for over twenty continuous years, I have been told that I should either have ended up on drugs, alcohol, in prison, or be dead. I am fortunate that I have ended up living very near to normal circumstances with a loving husband, two beautiful children and a decent life in the countryside rescuing billy goats from the slaughterhouse and many other animals. I also have gained many positives as I have to fight intensive flashbacks from time to time and fight to stay alive, I can appreciate little things in life that I think the average person might not appreciate and these are all bonuses. I feel privileged that the book has received many positive reviews and endorsements from the medical professionals. The British Psychology Society have praised it, the local NHS chief executive has endorsed it alongside a world leading Professor of biological psychology, and that the ebook has been number one in many categories on Amazon UK since before Christmas. The letters of thanks I receive from the public, such as solicitors dealing with child abuse cases, and reviews the book has received has changed negatives to positives and has also endorsed my love of writing. As I finish my degree in psychology I hope that my next book called ‘The Survival ‘ will be finished this year and also give beneficial insight. I would like to thank the people who have supported the book, as it has also given me some important insight to the nicer sides of people and life. A Fine Line A Balance to Survive by Lisa WB: The British Psychology Society 2010: Well done to Lisa WB who has had amazing success with her first book ‘A Fine Line. A Fine Line is based on Lisa’s own story of suffering years of child abuse. The main character, Bridget, is persuaded to check herself into a psychiatric unit, for what she thinks is a matter of weeks, which then turns into years as she unravels a sequence of appalling abuse, blocked from her memory. Lisa explained: "The book has taken a long time to write and a lot of really hard work but I felt compelled to write it to increase understanding of people who suffer from mental health problems, the treatment they receive, and what life is like in a secure psychiatric unit.’ A Fine Line has been positively reviewed and Lisa has been invited to speak at her local NHS Trusts about her experiences. Lisa hopes that books like hers can help to raise public awareness of the signals and patterns that come from suppressed abuse and that people are able to access the support they need before things get worse. To find out more about Lisa and her experiences please visit: www.afineline-lisawb.co.uk Professor Antony Sheehan, Chief Executive of the Leicestershire and Rutland NHS Trust. March 2010: A Fine Line is a very significant text for all those trying to understand what it is really like to use the mental health system, indeed why so many of the women who use MH Services need help in the first place. Lisa has been forthright in her account of the good, the bad and the indifferent. As the chapters go on we see a compelling story unfold with lessons for managers, clinicians and service users jumping out of every page. It's not easy but it's a must! Dr Ojeicha, GP: Nothing splendid has been achieved except by those who dared to believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances... The book, like its author is splendid. Nothing gives me more of a thrill when I meet up with old friends who ask - "Nice to see you, Pam, what are you up to since you retired?" I smile and say, "Actually I'm a writer now." It gives me such pleasure to say it, and to know that it's true. I'm a writer- there I've said it again. After leaving behind my career as an Interior Designer and a brief spell taking breakdown calls for the company with the very, very nice man and his yellow van, I decided to take early retirement and concentrate on writing. I wasn't sure how to go about "it" but I had this idea and a bunch of musically inclined characters living in my head who wouldn't go away, so I decided to get it all down on paper before I became to senile to remember. I bought a reporter's notepad and a couple of pens; took myself to sit on the beach in Brighton and that's how The Raiders rock group and the beginning chapters of my first novel Three Steps to Heaven were born. Obviously now, when I look back, it was pretty dire but back then I had no concept of how a book should be written. I had ideas galore, but didn't have a clue about the craft, how to structure, dialogue, settings, POV and all those things that go into the mix to come out the other end as a novel of acceptable standards that people might just want to read. My idea for Three Steps to Heaven came from my time during the sixties when I worked in the record department of a local store. I used to hang around with musicians who frequented the place. When you spend a lot of time with guys like that you get involved in their lives and loves, watch them playing in clubs and be there when they need a shoulder to cry on. Little did I know that one day, remembering the stuff that went on, I'd use a lot of those scenarios and immortalise them in words. Three Steps to Heaven was never meant to be anything other than a one-off novel. But I couldn't let go of my characters and before I knew it I'd produced a trilogy. The sequel 'Til I Kissed You and the third and final novel Always On My Mind. Even now I'm finding it hard to let the characters go. When I began writing I tended to switch heads as I didn't understand POV. Then it eventually clicked and I decided I liked a multiple VP story told in the style of a saga. This being the case, I find it easier to write in third person. I once tried to write a short story in first person but wasn't comfortable with it, so re-wrote it in third and sold that particular story. I have conversations going on in my head all the time, characters arguing with each other. I find I go over scenes when I'm driving. So if you see a woman, sitting at traffic lights, and she looks like she's talking to herself, it's probably me, but I'm not mad, honestly! I always choose settings I'm familiar with as this makes it easier to bring them to life. I centre my stories around the fictional town of Pickford in Cheshire, which is actually Stockport and the surrounding areas. Before publishing any of my work I joined online critiquing group, YouWriteOn where I received many helpful reviews from members who went out of their way to encourage me and teach me the way to go. I also struck up a friendship with AJ Hudspith, (Johnny Vee) who became my editor. Johnny's help has been invaluable. He also introduced me to JD Smith, contactable for further info at [email protected] who designed the fabulous covers for my trilogy. The main "character" throughout my trilogy is actually a band called The Raiders, so it's a collective. The two band leaders are Eddie Mellor - the drummer, and Roy Cantello - lead guitarist and singer. They are a mixture of just about every man I ever met, including my musician partner! I had great fun creating these two and the antics they get up to. My favourite author is Lesly Pearse and it was reading her novels, particularly Georgia that made me decide I'd like to try and create warm tales of people and their lives, really make them come alive instead of storing them in my head all the time. I also enjoy work by Erica James and Joanna Trollope. Having completed and published my trilogy I thought I'd try something different for my next project and create a novel based on my own life experiences, rather than everyone else's. I'm only up to chapter five at the moment, but I'm enjoying writing it, finding it a very cathartic experience and look forward to publishing "Fast Movin' Train later this year. The one thing I've never done, which may seem an odd thing for a writer, is send my stories out to agents. As soon as I discovered it was possible to go down the self-publishing route for very little cost, that's exactly what I did. I'm so happy that I chose that way. No rejection letters cluttering up the desk for me. Just a simple belief that I can do this on my own, well with help for the editing from Johnny of course. I'm afraid I'm too impatient to wait years. With the advent of Kindle it's made all the difference in the world. My books are selling well and collecting five star reviews that I'm really proud of. I've had several short stories published in the last twelve months. Two in charity anthologies and two that I actually got paid for in a Canadian e-zine called Pages of Stories. Maybe in time that's the route I'll go down, but while I've still got ideas for novels, I'll keep plodding in that direction. I am in a unique position as an author because I write with co-author, David W. Small. Dave is not only my co-author, but he is also my brother. We grew up reading the same type of books, fantasy and science fiction, and that love of books resulted in our collaboration years later. As authors know, it is hard work coming up with ideas for a new book, putting those ideas to paper and then editing those words into a book that is ready for public consumption. Having two authors trying to accomplish this takes extra effort and it means leaving egos at the door. Every idea must be vetted and our reasoning is "if you can’t justify why it should be included, out it goes." We do extensive outlines for the world we are creating, the plot lines and the characters. We found out with our first book that it is imperative to do all this background work first. It certainly saves a lot of editing at the end. I live on the East Coast, Dave lives on the West Coast and we both work full-time so we each must dedicate a portion of a day to writing. My best time to write is first thing in the morning and Dave likes to write at night. This schedule actually works out well because I can edit what Dave writes and he gets to read new lines most days. We don’t impose a word quota on each other; sometimes one of us writes a paragraph and the other finishes the rest of the chapter or we each write a few paragraphs. Because of our hectic schedules, it usually takes a year to finish a book. We are currently working on a new fantasy involving assassins, witches and the Stone of Prophesy. If all goes according to plan, we should finish this story by the end of 2011. It’s been a year since we published QUEST FOR NOBILITY and the sequel, THE CRYSTAL FAÇADE in our Rule of Otharia series on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. What a difference a year makes! First, we have to thank our graphic artist, T.M. Roy, for both of the covers. They are awesome! One of the hardest things authors have to do once their book has been published is letting the public know about it. This is where social media is key. New authors should plan on having a website or a blog, an account on Facebook and also on Twitter. Don’t continually spam people about your books; rather engage others in conversation about common interests. Once people get to know you, they’ll be interested in your books as well. I also manage a writing blog, TWO ENDS OF THE PEN, and it started out as a blog about our writing, but I soon realized that I would like to help other authors get recognition for their work as well. I started offering author interviews, panel discussions and reviews of indie books. It was my way of paying it forward to my fellow authors. Now 3 years after my first blog post, the site gets 200-300 hits a day. I’m happy that readers find it interesting enough to keep coming back every day. Writing a book is just the first step on this crazy journey of being an author, but I wouldn’t change any of it. I thoroughly enjoying writing stories and am happy that readers keep buying the books. Thanks very much Tim for inviting me to your blog and letting me chatter on about my writing. Okay, I admit it: writing is therapy for me. Yes, writing allows me to work out problems. And, even better, I get to play all the characters and have things go the way I want - most of the time, unless the characters take the story in a new direction. That’s when they drive me crazy and, in retaliation, I may have to torture them. Do I sound a bit insane? Imagine how nuts I’d be if I didn’t have an outlet. After my divorce, all I did was write. I finished Vestel Virgin (Suspense in Ancient Rome) and my (then) agent shopped it around, but it was too dark for New York. Of course, it didn’t help that I wrote the novel as my marriage fell apart. I poured all my angst into the story - even visualized my ex’s girlfriend as I wrote a torture scene. But the book has a happy ending. It was cathartic to have the love story part of the novel play out the way I wanted - and the characters graciously complied. Having spent that year after my divorce working and writing (often ten hours a day), hardly seeing any people, except my writers’ group, I put Vestel Virgin (Suspense in Ancient Rome) away. I felt discouraged that I’d had two agents and still hadn’t sold a book to a publisher. (I finally picked up Vestel Virgin (Suspense in Ancient Rome) again last summer and rewrote it - it’s not as dark, I promise.) Instead of spending all my time holed up writing, I began to have a life again. I ventured out into the world, and I met a man I really liked, a fellow writer. I was so excited about meeting a kindred soul, that I had no time to write. I wanted to play! Oh sure, I wrote lousy poetry - mostly love poems rife with sexual innuendo. I wrote so much lousy poetry, that it actually improved, and some of it was even published. But the guy I fell in love with, didn’t fall in love with me - and, out of desperation (and determination to get past my divorce) I began to date other men: online, offline, in line, listening to lines. Most of the dates were horrendous. Dating after age fifty requires courage or brain damage - in fact, the experience will probably give you brain damage. In order to retain my sanity, I documented my dates in short story format. I figured, if nothing else, I made myself laugh and I was entertaining my writers’ group. Sometimes, I’d even reenact the dates at dinner parties. Finally, I started reading the stories out loud at the local library - and people thought they were funny. That gave me hope. And I wrote a few more stories. Then, last summer, my good friend, Blake Crouch, convinced me to put together a collection of nine short stories and publish them on Kindle. I needed a good title, something along the lines of "The Vagina Monologues." I came up with Dating My Vibrator (and other true fiction). Aside from writing the stories, publishing the book has saved me hundreds of dollars in therapy. I’m actually making money, instead of spending it. Being an indie author has been extremely freeing. And, best of all, I now have readers! Writing without having anyone read your work is kind of like foreplay with no hope of orgasm. If that goes on for long enough, you could end up in the psych ward. I studied Gestalt psychology for five years, and for me as a writer, finally having readers is a Gestalt experience. According to Gestalt, energy flows in waves. All experience is part of a continuum that builds to a climax - a need that grows in intensity. Once that need is met, the energy releases and subsides. And then it builds again. If a need is never met, the energy gets stuck and causes anxiety, even depression. This plays out in relationships, and it played out for me with my writing. I became depressed, and I stopped writing, because I didn’t have readers. Essentially, I short-circuited. A writer needs readers to complete the writing experience. The ebook revolution has been a major Gestalt for the publishing industry - an industry that was stuck and dying. For me, the experience of writing, publishing, having people read my work and respond - has been a form of therapy. Releasing a book is definitely a Gestalt experience. This year I plan to publish two more books. Ghost Plane and Other Disturbing Tales, a collection of weird short stories, ranging from flash fiction to gothic, will come out this summer. And I’m currently working on another historical suspense novel, Agathon’s Daughter. The book is set in ancient Greece, so it requires lots of research. Sometimes the process drives me crazy: writing and backtracking to check facts, moving forward and then backwards - the characters have me going in circles. Writing a first draft feels like punching my way out of a bag. But when I get too frustrated I just kill someone or torture them, and I feel better - of course, I’m referring to a character, not my ex. |
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