Join Us on the TWIST OF FATE Blog Tour

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Welcome to the first stop on the Twist of Fate blog  tour! A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shawna C. Smith on our podcast, and I thought our readers could benefit from learning more about her writing process.   

My Writing Process

By Shawna C. Jones

I like to start a story by writing with paper and pen. When I hold a pen and jot down words in a notebook, my creativity opens up. It’s a freeing experience to be able to write something down, and eventually get into a flow with it. At times it seems to be an altered experience. Words start flowing, and sometimes after reading, I wonder if I actually wrote it, or if it came from somewhere else.

At any time, if I’m not sure what I want to say, I just start writing, and eventually the pen glides easily over the paper. At least for me, this seems to help “prime the pump.” Then later, finding a different way of saying something, or adding more to the picture, can give me an “aha” moment. I was once told in a writing class to not cross anything out while writing a first draft. They also advised us not to write longer than two hours, because you need to process the information you’ve written and let it percolate. Ideas for improvements could show up later that day, or in the following days.

It took several tries for me to write Twist of Fate. It started out as a memoir, but that didn’t work. Because I had so much travel in it, I felt like I was giving readers a tour. And that’s not my story, although journeying to foreign countries was an important part of it. So I decided to focus the story on the characters, and go into less detail about the landscape. I realize this way of writing doesn’t appeal to everyone. And that’s okay. It’s my story.

While reviewing my second try with the memoir style, an editor told me that certain events had to happen before this and that. She said it was a great story, but needed refining. By this time, I’d written over one hundred pages (twice), and I decided to rethink the whole process, and approach it from a different angle. I took out a lot of the travel, or used it as backstory. I removed several characters that didn’t add to the story, and weren’t really necessary. Who needs all those extras?

This new approach took another two tries by long hand before I was happy with it. Then I went to the computer and started typing. Now as I typed, other ways of making a sentence better would appear. Sometimes I would continue typing it as it was, and other times I would stop and use long hand again. Since this book is a memoir, I didn’t want to change a lot of it, but I had two separate journeys going on at the same time. I didn’t know if I could reconcile them without the story appearing disjointed. Somehow, I managed to pull it off, but don’t ask me how I did it. I just went with my soul. In fact, I would say my soul wrote a lot of this book. And sometimes in writing that’s all that’s supposed to happen.

When we get too caught up in the words, we miss something. Too much detail, for me, is distracting. I know some people prefer to have every little detail, rather than using their imagination. I’m not one of those. It will either bore me or put me to sleep.

So all in all, I wrote out my book at least four times. I had it edited three times, and proofread twice, by some terrific people. It took longer than I thought it would take: about ten months. All I know is everyone’s writing is going to be different because we’re all different. We come from various backgrounds and experiences. And guess what? It’s okay. My advice for aspiring writers is to not stop writing. Write even when you don’t feel like it. Write even if the only thing you write is about is the weather, or nonsense stuff. Deep inside you is a story dying to get out. And millions of us want to read it.

Best of luck to all of you writing. Please don’t quit.

Shawna will be awarding the winner's choice of a  $50 Amazon GC, a $50 Starbucks GC, or a crystal from Middle Earth Store in Mt. Shasta  to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and a $25 Amazon  or  Starbucks GC to a randomly drawn host.

Enter to win a $50 Amazon GC, a $50 Starbucks GC, or a crystal from Middle Earth Store in Mt. Shasta. They will dowse for the right one for you. Value up to $60.00.(winner's choice)—a Rafflecopter giveaway)

Join Us for a Conversation with Novelist Shawna C. Jones

Shawna C. Jones has always considered herself to be a seeker, both geographically and spiritually. Now she has added author to that list with her recently released first novel, Twist of Fate. It is the gripping story of a young woman's year-long trek through Europe and is based on Shawna's own adventures. Next week, Shawna will embark on a new kind of journey--traveling  the blog-o-sphere with the first of two virtual book tours.  We're thrilled to be a host site for both, so check back on May 28 to read more about Shawna's work. In the meantime, tune into our podcast to hear her dish about spirituality, wanderlust, and the inspiration to live the writer's life.

Join Us for a Conversation with Novelist Belinda Tors

Some of the best books tackle the toughest topics. In the case of Belinda Tors' new novel, Letting Go, it is the scourge of domestic violence. Letting Go is a moving and realistic account of what a woman goes through, not only during an abusive marriage, but after she leaves.  

Belinda Tors is a retired social worker and journalist who has published widely in newspapers and literary journals. Under the name Barbara Fifield, she is the author of two women’s novels, Photographs and Memories and Lucifer Rising, and a self-illustrated book of poetry, Passion’s Evidence. She is a member of several writing groups, including the Florida Writers’ Association, the Tomoka Poets, and the Ormond Beach Writers’ League. She resides in Port Orange, Florida. 

Tune into the WITS podcast this Friday to hear Belinda discuss her passion for writing, her creative process, and her own struggle to rebuild her life after leaving a violent relationship. 

Click here to read my review of Letting Go. 

Tune in for a Converation with Award-Winning Novelist Michael Loyd Gray

It’s 1966. The Beatles have taken over the airways, Star Trek is in its first season on NBC, and 389,000 American troops are stationed in Vietnam.  This is the setting of Michael Loyd Gray's latest novel, King Biscuit.

A war is going on Argus, Illinois as well, between sixteen-year-old Billy Ray Fleener and his father.  While his father dreams of Billy Ray joining the family business,  Billy Ray dreams of moving to California, becoming a surfer, and getting into Margie Heinrich’s pants—not necessarily in that order. Instead, he gets a summer job laying pipe and the dubious distinction of town hero after saving Purdy Boy, the mayor’s wife’s dachshund.

When his beloved uncle and role model Mitch is killed in combat, Billy Ray feels like he must leave Argus or be stuck there forever. With little more than the clothes on his back, he hops a bus for Helena, Arkansas to visit Mitch’s grave.  Along the way he meets up with a cast of characters as varied and polarized as America itself, from a marine captain home on leave to a band of hippies bound for Graceland. Each teaches him something about love, loyalty, and the true meaning of freedom, but what Billy Ray really learns is that everyone has the power to define who they are. He may have left Argus a boy, but he returns a man. 

Click here to listen to the interview

Like what you heard? Order King Biscuit here.

Michael Loyd Gray is an award-winning author, journalist and college professor. Born in Arkansas, he has lived and worked all over the country, including Illinois, New York and Arizona, Texas, and Michigan. He has a MFA from Western Michigan University and a Journalism degree from the University of Illinois. His novels have earned several awards, including the 2008 Sol Books Prose Series Award, the 2005 Alligator Juniper Fiction Prize and the 2005 The Writers Place Award for Fiction. Not Famous Anymore was awarded a grant by the Elizabeth George Foundation.  King Biscuit was originally written under the title December’s Children and was a finalist for the 2006 Sol Books Prose Series Prize. To learn more about Michael Loyd Gray's work, visit http://www.michaelloydgray.com/

This Week's Podcast Guest: Michael Loyd Gray

Join us on Friday as award-winning author Michael Loyd Gray discusses his latest novel, Not Famous Anymore. Both a poignant social commentary and an excellent read, this book cements Gray's place among America's best contemporary authors.

Elliott Adrian is in many ways a Hollywood cliché: small town boy who made good; a movie star with a mansion, a collection of sports cars, and an entourage of sycophants to fulfill his every desire; another celebrity behaving badly, without a care for anyone but himself. But beneath the flippant, arrogant façade beats the heart of an empty, desperately unhappy man. After his latest alcohol-fueled stunt lands him in rehab, Elliott decides he’s cashing in his chips and leaving L.A.—and fame—for good.

As he travels along the dusty back roads of small town America, Elliott learns that quitting fame is not as easy as he had thought. But as he struggles to shed his movie star persona and avoid a rabid pack of paparazzi, he encounters friends whose pearls of real world wisdom lead him closer to his truth. For Elliot’s real journey is not about escaping Hollywood, but about
rediscovering himself.

Michael Loyd Gray is an award-winning author, journalist and college professor. Born in Arkansas and raised in Champaign, Illinois, he has also lived and worked in New York, Arizona, Texas, and Michigan. He has a MFA from Western Michigan University and a Journalism degree from the University of Illinois. His novel Well Deserved won the 2008 Sol Books Prose Series Award. His story "Little Man" won the 2005 Alligator Juniper Fiction Prize and the 2005 The Writers Place Award for Fiction. Not Famous Anymore was awarded a grant by the Elizabeth George Foundation. December’s Children, another of his novels, was a finalist for the 2006 Sol Books Prose Series Prize and is forthcoming in 2012 from Sol Books as the young adult novel, King Biscuit. Currently, Gray is a full-time online English professor at South University, where he co-founded Asynchronous, the student literary journal.

Be sure to tune in on Friday to learn more about Michael Loyd Gray and his craft.