Free Reads!

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Hey everyone!  I'm recuperating from the writing whirlwind at the Muse Online Writer's Conference.  It was spectacular. I presented the workshop Sacrificing Your Novel to the Editor Gods? which I plan to available as a PDF on this blog soon.  I took some great workshops on author promotion, making book trailers, and quick plotting.  All of this is excellent info at any time but especially now, just before NaNoWriMo starts November 1st.  Any one else doing NaNo this year?  Please friend me!  My id is Karen McGrath. 

I've also been hostessing at the company blog for Muse for our Masquerade Festival in October.  I posted a number of ghoul things, lol, and here is one of my free reads for the Tween Set.  The next installment will publish tomorrow so stay tuned...


Shadow Trick or Treating

(the real reason parents accompany their children on Halloween nowadays...)

Instead of the usual sheet with holes cut for eyes, I decided to wear black and a pointy hat Mom picked up from the local drugstore. The better to hide from the Shadows, I thought. My siblings were far more inventive with hobo outfits. The big day was here. We drooled for hours waiting for the sun to set and the moon to rise. Candy time!

We slipped the cases off our pillows and lined up at the back door for last minute instructions from Mom. Don’t go past Hope St., don’t go in the other direction past Main St. And only one street on either side of ours, Rochambeau. I tabbed it in my head. Seven blocks east to west, three streets north to south, counting both sides of the streets at ten houses a block, it was a little more than four hundred houses altogether! Maybe I should have grabbed another pillow case, just to make sure I could carry all the loot.

“And visit the William’s…” Mom was saying bringing me back from candy heaven. “They want to see your costumes. If anyone invites you inside their house, be polite but don’t wear out your welcome and stay together. I won’t be able to find you in the dark if you get separated.”

“K, Mom, bye,” we called.

“Watch out for the Shadow Men,” She yelled. Yeah, yeah, stupid legend. I saw one once but he ran when I yelled. That was two years ago. Supposedly they came here every Halloween but you know, that’s just one of those grown-up tricks to make you go home on time.

I walked a lot faster than my baby sister and brother, leader of the motley pack that I was at twelve years old to their eight and nine. They beseeched me with dirty hobo-smeared faces as soon as we got out into the night.

“We’re going to the street behind the Temple. Do you want to go?” They asked, eyes shining with candy greed. Granted, Mom’d never know.

“Yeah, let’s go!” I said, racing to the first house next to ours.

The William’s loved our costumes and told us to stop in on the way back home to show them our haul and have a cup of hot chocolate. We said yes, but the minute we hit the streets again, the idea vaporized as thoughts of chocolate danced in our minds.

“Look, that house has no outside light but the living room one is on. Whaddya think?” Michael called.

“Yeah, ring the bell.”

We breathed heavy. I felt the sweat through my grease make-up. No answer. Drat… We trudged to the next house. No light. The next one, no light. The next one, a score – a handful of jawbreakers, yes! And a popcorn ball each, gross.

The next one had a light, too. We fidgeted, banging on the door. My tunic was itchy.

“Trick or Treat!” we screamed in unison as loud as we possibly could. A nice old lady handed us each an Almond Joy bar and we drooled into our pillowcases.

“Are you goblins?” she asked in that baby voice all kids hate.

She acted surprised that we weren’t. What is it with adults anyway? She even had her glasses on. We scrambled by some other kids pushing us on the way down the path to the sidewalk again. My brother fell in the leaves and the older kids laughed. Ava kicked one of their shins before the nice old lady distracted them with her goblin question. We heard the snickers.

Our regular route took hours it seemed and my feet hurt. By the time we got back to the Temple, our half way marker, most of the neighborhood kids were long gone, there were just a few teenagers running around boo-ing at stray kids. Michael was panting and Ava whimpered but we pressed on. We dragged ourselves to the extra street. This was where the rich people lived where the candy was always better.

Then I saw them.

Just out of the corner of my eye, mind you.

Three of them in long black trench coats and top hats, faces whiter than the moon. They floated along and I held my breath. They spotted us and ducked behind some trees.

“Look you two, we should go home. The shadow men are here.” I whispered huddling them together.

“What?” My brother asked incredulously, his eyes like saucers.

“Yeah, keep it down, they’ll hear you! They saw us and hid in the trees, maybe they left. I don’t want them to catch us.”

“For crying out loud, they’re ghosts, they can’t touch us,” my sister said, stomping her feet.

“I’m not so sure… and I don’t want to find out. They’re probably out ‘cause everyone will think they’re kids like us. They can get away with it, you know? I never heard of them actually taking a kid but we better hurry home.”

My brother shook in his sneakers and my sister pouted.

“Alright,” I said giving in. They’d never agree to call it a night. “I’ll wait here in the bushes for you, ok? If they follow you, I’ll run around the other block and meet you at the end and we’ll take the other way home, got it? If you don’t see me, come back here and get me before you head home.”

Two little hobo faces nodded quickly with gleaming eyes. I saw candy dancing in their eyes, I was sure of it. And I was left alone to guard.

“You guys owe me.” They double scout promised me extra M & M’s before I let them take off.

They looked both ways and tore into the new street. I found a small bush and set up camp behind it. I would have loved some of that hot chocolate from the William’s right about then. The wind whipped through my hair and my sweaty tunic making me colder by the minute. I hunkered down rubbing my sore calves that felt like aching lead weights.

Then I heard them...



Part two will publish tomorrow at noon so stay tuned!

photo credits: morguefile.com

Watch out for the Subaru

A few years ago I told a friend that I felt like my author’s wife, always nagging him about his writing habits. If I didn’t’ tell him to pick up his dirty socks off his manuscript’s floor, who would? I’m sure I drove him crazy as his editor.  His manuscript was wonderful to begin with and together we tidied his literary living room so he could have company over.

The definition of editing from the Online Dictionary is to collect, prepare and arrange for publication. I’m sure many of you have heard of the Red Pen. This refers to the red marks of an editor’s red pencil in a manuscript that tells the author what works and what doesn’t.


Why is it traumatic somtimes?

I liken editing to surgery. The editor, ahem, surgeon, cuts open the body, manuscript, and takes out what isn’t necessary or what causes problems. The trouble is, we love our words so much, after agonizing over each one, it’s hard to let go of our darlings. Besides that, the word, “offentrumount”, carried just the right nuance we were aiming for, right?


And there’s one other thing…


An editor has the task of looking at our work and finding out what makes it tick, by intuition many times, and what will make it tick louder, by technique, and sometimes by intuition, as well. It’s taken years for my husband to let me edit his posts. The reason is not because he wants to keep his perfect words, although he does that sometimes. He doesn’t like that he has a blind spot. No one likes this. All of a sudden some little Subaru comes out of nowhere and you swore you checked the rearview and the side mirrors. Guess what? You did. And you did nothing wrong. We all have those blind spots because of the seat we’re in. If we were in the back seat we’d see something totally different.

An editor is kind of like the back seat driver. The person in the driver’s seat cannot see the little car sneaking up on the side but the passenger can quite easily. Does that mean the passenger should drive? Perish the thought, especially if the driver is my husband and the back seat driver is me. He likes to be in control, we all do. But I can give a pretty good view of what’s going on from my position and help keep him out of a jam.

An editor is one who rearranges your masterpiece so it communicates well to the targeted audience. An editor helps you give a more complete picture of what you’re presenting. Is this unnerving? At times, yes, because none of us like to be out of the driver’s seat. We want to be in control and the fact that we all have blind spots, no matter how logical and normal that is, emotionally upsets us and says we’re mortal. Why we think we aren’t mortal is another matter!

I just got back first edits for Primordial Sun, the Heart of the Amazon from my editor, and she found my blind spots. I’m so grateful and a little freaked out that I had some uncovered bases. I meant what I said but I didn’t communicate it like I thought I had. This is why authors have editors. My editor is in the back seat warning me about the killer Subaru coming up on the left side out of my rear view. I am mortal after all.

The last back seat driver I had while driving the family van prevented me from getting in an accident, thank God I listened to them. Your editor will do the same for you in publishing. The Red Pen is your friend and as much as your editor may seem like a nag, they are pointing out the blind spots so you don’t end up as toast in reviews. You might end up as toast in reviews anyway, and if you do, keep in mind that a good controversy can drive sales. But let’s not go there because of plot holes or spelling errors!  We want all toasting to be the celebratory kind when your spouse, family, editors and publisher raise their champagne glasses to congratulate you on your great literary success.

If you have anything you want me to post about editing, please leave a comment or shoot me an email. karenmcgrathauthor(at)gmail(dot)com

photo credits: morguefile.com

Websites or Blogs? (Website & Interview update)

http://www.ericascottmcgrath.com/

I spent this week working on the new website.  Have a look when you get a moment! 

www.karenmcgrathauthor.com

I wanted to get it ready for my next interview which is today at Ginger Simpson's blog, Dishin' It Out.

I had to put 'author' on the end of my domain because there are many Karen McGrath's.  We are taking over the world, don't tell anyone!  It feels odd having this new appendage but I'm glad to have a domain name for interviews and promotion purposes. 

I used Dot5Hosting.com.  They have two web editors, one for non-techs like me and the other for computer gurus.  The non-tech web editor is drag and drop meaning you drag the elements you want from the tool bar and you drop them onto the page you're working on.  Simple enough.  There aren't a lot of elements to work with but I was able to use what I had with ease and efficiency so no complaints here!  Of course, for triple the money it will do magic for me but text and pictures are enough for now. 

I'm staying with the branding, "making dreams come true one page at a time..."  That is the genius of my middle daughter, Molly.  I told her I needed a slogan for the website to keep in line with the Dream branding I have for the blog and of course, with my writing.  In seconds, literally, on a  bus ride to the dentist, she quipped that one.  I love it!  She is a talented songwriter in case you're wondering.  

Why a website?  I've been mulling this over for the last few months.  Friends say having a website is a waste of time and money since blogging sites are free and have more pages now.  Some say you need a storefront and blogging is still considered sub par.  I didn't want to give up the interaction here on the blog for a non-relational site.  I came to some conclusions after sifting through many opinions. 

Having a website is more professional 'looking' than 'just' having a blog.  The public perception is that a blog is camp but a website says you know what you're doing.  It's just a perception thing but those perceptions can make a difference.  A website presence is necessary.  But I didn't want to give up this blog, this is where the interaction happens and I didn't want to lose that.  The website editor had blog pages available but I just linked the blog page to here.  The website is the cottage by the sea while the blog is my backyard cook-out.

http://www.ericascottmcgrath.com/

All in all, I'm happy with it for now, or for the next year at least!  I can change pictures in seconds so I'll update the sidebar and text ones from time to time. and I plan to add a photo page so everyone can see our kitten who has taken to stealing potato chips.  I'm setting up a sting so you can see her in the act!  That, and her sugar paintings...

The guest book was improvised from elements in the editor.  Technically it's not a real guestbook, whatever that is... but it functions perfectly well the way it is.  Please have a look and sign it!

What do you think about websites and blogs?  Are websites necessary anymore? 

What do you want to see when you visit an author's website?

photo credits not captioned: morguefile.com

The Muse Online Writer's Conference

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Hi everyone, Here is the info on the Muse Online Writer's Conference. Click the post title for the link.

Every year Lea Schizas coordinates the Muse Online Writer's Conference.  It's free and online.  Donations are accepted.  Also check out the two books on the right sidebar.  Both are excellent and on my bookshelf.

The free registration closes August 15th, which is this Sunday.  After Sunday, there will be $5.00 late fee per person and registration will close completely on September 10th. 

There is something for everyone at the Conference.  There are workshops and pitch sessions with publishers and agents and chats with authors, editors and publishers.  If you don't know what you're doing, pick a few workshops and hang out, ask questions and soak.  If you know what you're doing, I don't need to tell you anything!

Get a head start and register today.  Lea will upload the workshop agends by the end of this month and will begin uploading handouts in September.

Some special tips:  As soon as you register, write down your password and keep it handy.  This will save you a lot of time later.  The front page says that Muse is accepting submissions.  We are, but only for MuseItHot.  Mainstream is closed until October 1st.

Enjoy and hope to see you there!  ....and of course, Happy Writing!

Photos from The Muse Online Writer's Conference website.

Primordial Sun, The Heart of the Amazon

The cover art is in by the amazing Delilah K. Stephans.  Thanks Delilah!

Primordial Sun, The Heart of the Amazon

coming from MuseItUp Publishing

April 2011

Attorney Kylie Watson returns to Brazil to mourn her missionary parents where she's swept into the Amazon's current with vivid nightmares, family secrets, church corruption and international espionage.

Welcome to Boston daydreaming...

Welcome to my new blog!

This is my author blog for writing tips, novel updates and editing.

Please feel free to leave comments on things you'd like to see about the publishing world. Or at Boston dreaming... which is for devotions and homeschool.

I'm hosting author interviews here soon.

Thanks for stopping in!