Labotomy of a Writer

Another vlog to enjoy. Sorry for the glare on my glasses - recorded with the webcam instead of the digital camera but the lisp is gone!

Hey everyone! I know I said I would get this announced earlier in the week, but school started back and it's been a bit crazy here.

But! Now that the first week insanity is over, I'll get back on schedule here.

First thing, the results of the vote were 7 to 2 for having posts every other day, so that's how things will go from now on - at least as much as I can! Sometimes I might still have some posts a few days in a row, but only for important or funny things, I promise.

And, without further ado - the winner of the blogiversary giveaway!! I'm not going to beat around the bush here so, the winner is -------


Congratulations Annie!! Send me an email at harleydpalmer[at]gmail.com and I'll send you your prizes!!

Thanks to everyone for participating! I'm going to try and get some more prizes together for a 200 follower giveaway, so come back for that for another chance to win some awesome stuff!

Yes, as the title says, I'm going to do it. I'm going to jump in feet first and hope for the best! What am I talking about you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is coming up and I plan to enter this year.





Here is what Amazon.com says about the Award:

Amazon.com, along with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. The competition will once again award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.

The Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. If you're an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to sign up for regular
contest updates. Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 24, 2011 and run through February 6, 2011.

I'm really nervous about this, as will be the first novel contest I've entered. I made this decision actually a few days ago, to enter, but I wasn't sure which novel I would submit. Logic told me to submit Burden of Prophecy from the The Faery's Tale Saga that I've been slaving over this year, but I also have Cleanse Fire from The Kinir Elite Chronicles that is at about the same point in editing as the other.

Finally, it came down to which novel did I think would make it in a contest like this. I read all the rules and visited the CreateSpace site also to learn every detail of this contest. In the end, I decided to submit Cleanse Fire.

Why? Well, BOP doesn't actually end perse. It 'stops' and book 2 picks up to continue the story since the full story spans 4 books. CF, while part of a series too , is it's own novel and could stand alone if it wanted to, seperate from the rest of the series. With that in mind, I thought CF would be the better story to submit. I might be crazy for thinking that, but hey. It enabled me to make a decision at all! LOL

What about you guys out there? Anyone else entering this huge contest? Let me know in the comments and we can cheer each other on. I'll be working my fingers to the bone from now until Jan in order to have Cleanse Fire ready in time, but it'll be worth it!

I will of course keep you all updated on my progress before and during the contest.

If you want to learn more about this, see the official contest rules.

That's right ladies and gentlemen! The 11th marks the 1 year anniversary of this blog. Okay, I really started it in like June, but I didn't really begin blogging until Dec 11, 2009. So, that's what I'm going with.

To kick off this great birthday celebration, I have going to give away some totally awesome prizes! Yes indeedy.

But first, let's talk about how to enter!

First thing, you have to comment on this post to get your name into the hat at all. The list below tells you how many times your name is entered into the hat, after you make a comment. (As in, the comment alone doesn't get you an entry into the drawing! It's the "entry fee" if you will.)

1. Followers of this blog before this post get 2 entries.
2. Any new followers get 1 entry.
3. If you tweet about this give away you get 2 entries. You MUST use the hashtag #WriterLabotomy or it won't count! Don't forget to link to this post!
4. Writing a blog post about this give away earns you 3 entries. (Link in comment on this post)
5. Having a note about the give away in the sidebar of your blog earns you 2 entries. (Link in comment on this post)

Sounds easy enough right? Okay, so now we'll talk about the prizes because that's the bestest part after all! (Yes, I just said bestest. It's awesome. Admit it.)

Shiny Prize #1

An e-book copy of Cornerstone Deep by the lovely Charlene A. Wilson!









Shiny Prize #2



An e-book copy of Vampire Vacation by the wonderful C.J. Ellisson!

In fact, I'll be giving away a free e-book copy of this great book every month! So, keep checking here for details each month on how to win this book!






Shiny Prize #3



An e-book copy of Dance on Fire by the great James Garcia Jr.









Shiny Prize #4




A e-book copy of CassaStar by the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh









Shiny Prize #5 (New Addition!)




An e-book copy of Excelsior by the fabulous George H. Sirois









Shiny Prize #6



A $15 dollar Amazon gift card from yours truly!




I told you the prizes were the bestest! I'll literally throw all your names in the hat and the little man will choose the winner! Enter by Dec 30 at midnight (EST). Little man will draw the winner and I'll post it up on the 31st!

Good luck!

Oh, and I have to say a super special thank you to Charlene A. Wilson, C.J. Ellisson, James Garcia, Jr., George H. Sirois, and Alex J. Cavanaugh for allowing me to give away copies of their awesome books!

I planned to post about character building today, but I have to share something.

I got my first rejection letter!

I pitched my novel in a live chat pitch sessions during Muse Con as you might have heard on twitter and facebook. Both requested to see partials of my manuscript. One of those pitches was to acquisitions editor Heather Howland at Crescent Moon Press. It was a good rejection letter in the sense that Heather took the time to give some great suggestions for how to improve my story.

I didn't cry as I thought I would for my first rejection and I think that is because of the wonderful advice given in it. It wasn't a form rejection. Sure, I was dissapointed. I think for me I've just been writing and writing and editing and editing for so long and doing nothing about it, that I was actually glad for a rejection. For me at least I was making the next step. I didn't continue to just sit on my manuscript and hate myself for not being published yet. Well, guess what I discovered? You can't get published if you don't submit and get rejected a few times!

So, in a weird way, I'm sort of happy. I made the next step. I'm ready to keep moving forward in this direction. Like I said, I am a bit sad that I didn't get an excited "send it right now!" I actually gained a bit of confidence in this venture. I'm no longer just sitting on my MS feeling sorry for myself. I bit the bullet and jumped in feet first. And that is a great feeling.

I tried. Even though it was a no, I tried. I made that first step. I would have regretted not doing it more than any amount of rejection.

What do I do now? Well, I'm going to head back to my MS. Heather had some good points for me that I want to put into effect.

She said the plot was a little rushed. Which is funny. The specific parts she mentioned where I push the story ahead a week in a single sentence or two months in a paragraph were the same spots where I thought I would slow down the story if I added any more detail. But instead, I was rushing it by not having that detail in there. Adding it in will be good because I get to explore more about the hero and heroine after they first meet.

But, she did like the relationship between the hero and heroine! That made me happy, especially since their relationship had been difficult to portray in writing for me. She also liked the premise of the story, so I think I'm good on that point. Just need to fix the tempo.

Once I add in those extra details, I'll start submitting to more agents and publishers. Can you re-submit to the same publisher/agent? I don't know if that works or not. Do you guys know anything about it? Is it tabboo to resubmit or what? Please let me know!

...to your regularly scheduled program.

Did you guys miss me? I missed you, I really did. Let me get you caught up on what's been happening to me.

We moved to a new house. It's amazing! No more little apartment! We have a huge fenced-in backyard for the little man to run free, three bedrooms, and I get my own study! So fabulous! It has beautiful hardwood floors, but it does make the house really echo! We're buying area rugs one at a time (only 2 so far) but hopefully the echoing will die down soon. It's driving me crazy quite honestly.

As you can see I've made some minor changes to my blog here. Remember a while back when I talked about the Muse Online Writers Conference? Well, one of the workshops had some great advice about blogging - do's and don't's sort of thing. So, I took the advice mentioned and went to work. Then it was just a matter of getting back into the habit of posting on a regular basis. I have some great ideas brewing for the blog here and I hope you like them!

And speaking of the Muse Conference!! I was able to attend TWO pitch sessions during the week - one with an agent and one with a publisher - and BOTH asked to see partials of Burden of Prophecy! SQUEEEE!!!! I haven't heard from them yet but I will let you all know the result as soon as I do. Squee!

That is the major news. School is going good, but it's stressful. Takes up time to do the homework of course. Not a lot of time, but you all know how busy I am and every minute counts. But, I'm finally getting the hang of it so things should start to get a little less stressful for me.

I'm going to start back with character building topics like I started in September so tune in for more about developing and keeping up with your characters!

Oh - by the way, I want to say huge thanks to both Elizabeth Mueller and Kurt Chambers. During my absense they both were kind enough to check up on me through email, facebook, and twitter. It was really sweet of them to check up on me. It was very stressful there for a while with moving and everything else, so it really lifted my spirits to know I was being missed! You two are great and I love ya both!

Okay, many of your know about The Writer's Academy - my online writing workshop that I started on Writing.com.

Now, today is the day that my dream of having it on it's own site will come true. I finally have the money to buy the domain and hosting for the new site.

And I'm freaking out!!

It's my dream, I know! Why would I be freaking out? I've been planning and working on this 'upgrade' for months! But now that the time has come to put up or shut up -- I'm having a meltdown.

What if it fails and I spend my money for nothing? What if people don't like it? What happens if no one shows up? What do I do if it does fail? How will I deal with the huge financial loss? What happens if it explodes in popularity and I don't have the staff to cover all the students? What if...what if...what if....

I'm so afraid of failing, people. You might not know this about me, but I'm always afraid to fail. I put myself out there online in my blogs and moderating other workshops. I try to present this air of confidence and certainty in myself. If you were to really see me through my computer as I do all of these things, I'm a total wreck. The what if's clog my brain, give me the shakes, and sometimes I have full blown panic attacks.

What am I to do?

Well, I write. So I'm writing this blog post to share with everyone my fear to hopefully get it out of my head. I feel much better now than I did at the very start of this post. However, the nerves and anxiety are still there.

My husband is my biggest supporter and fan. He wouldn't give me the go ahead to spend the money if he didn't think it would succeed. I must remind myself of this. He is my rock and my foundation. Without him, I'd surely crumble.

Also, my dear friend J.D. Brown, my crit partner, friend, and sister in Fantasy has been there over the past month to help me put the final touches on the planning for this. I can't let her down! I know she has faith in me too and that gives me added strength - and faith in myself.

So -- after all of that -- I'm going to do it. I'm going to face my fear of failure and go for my dream. I'm going to run my own writing workshop. And I will succeed. Besides if I don't try at all, I'll always wonder what might have been.

So yea. I am still alive in case any one was wondering. I know I said in my last post I was back and ready to go, but apparantly the powers that be had other plans.

And who are the powers that be you ask? Depression, anxiety, and my muse. I have recently fallen into a huge, deep chasm of depression, I'm not sure what to do with myself. Thus the anxiety. My muse comes into play because she keeps throwing ideas at me that I can't use, adding to the depression. Sure, I am having great ideas - but they are getting thrown into the idea notebook and not doing my actual MS (any of them) any good. So it's a vicious circle and I am having the worst trouble trying to get myself out of it. Usually, it's a day, maybe two and I'm over it - just part of the cycle of me I guess. This time however, it's a bit tougher for some reason. Been in this rut for over a week now and it's just starting to piss me off quite frankly.

So, I logged into blogger at the wee hours of 1:13 in the morning. I couldn't sleep and I am determined to get myself out of this rut or depressive state or whatever you want to call it. I am forcing myself to write a blog post - even if you guys are so NOT reading this post anymore, in order to get off my butt to accomplish SOMETHING.

One of the hardest things for me as a writer, is to balance my dream and love of writing with every thing else in my life. Those of you who have been following me for a while, know this in gory detail as I have shared my extensive list of to do's with you before.

The last two weeks, I suddenly don't have time for anything. Or at least, that's how I feel at the end of the day. I had a strict schedule that I followed that allowed me to do all the things that I do and still have plenty of time with my family. Literally overnight, it was like I forgot how to run my own schedule or keep up with it! Maybe that's it. I burned out my energy and can't keep up with that schedule anymore. Who knows. Either way, it's irritating as hell!

Wanna know the only thing I have accomplished the last week and a half? I went to Guard Drill. Yea. That's it. How sad is that? Me! I was the one that could pull 7,000 words for a MS, teach her son a new song and a few new words to say, watch a movie or two with hubby, keep up with running workshops, the Academy, emails, campfire creative stories, and keep the house clean all in one day!!! Where did that person go!?

I thought if I took a little longer break to really get myself off this stupid depressive kick (yes, I'll be the first to tell you it is stupid), that I'd be good to go. Ya know, maybe I just needed a little more time off to recoup. Apparantly, I only made it worse for myself.

So, I'm taking a lesson from my Drill Sgt - JUST DO IT! And while this blog post took me longer to type up than any other blog post I've made (even the super long ones) at least I did it. And since I am here, I am off to post about the Character Interview Blogfest for today. That's TWO things so far! Let's see how much more I can get done today too. Wish me luck!

I am back! Did you guys miss me?

So, during my break I was able to get almost 2 chapters written for "Burden of Prophecy" and wrote 2 chapters for "Tutelage of Mortality" Oh right, you guys don't know! "The Faery's Tale Trilogy" had turned into "The Faery's Tale Saga" - 4 books. The new Part 2 is now 'Tutelage of Mortality". I'll post more about that later.

I have also temporarily closed "The Writer's Academy" It sucked and I cried all day about it, but it needed to be done. I do love helping people but I just could not keep up with it on my own anymore. When it does reopen next year, on its own site, it'll be focusing only on novels as that is where my passion truly lies.

Also, I have decided that I must make a schedule for this blog. I seems that everyone is going with the MWF thing, so I'll go with that too.

Mundane Mondays - random posts, awards, WIP updates, etc.
Writing Wednesday - posts about writings, tips and tricks
Fantasy Friday - posts about things relating to the fantasy genre (in the future this might include the sci-fi genre whenever I start on the sci-fi novels I have planned)

So there it is! I will see you guys on Monday! Woot!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen - it is finally happening! Thanks to the wonderful Ashy who gave me a fabulous idea, I can now pull this off! The Writer's Academy, as many of you know, is a group on Writing.Com. But I have now begun contruction on *drum roll* thewritersacademy.com! Woot!

I am so excited about this! Seeing it become it's own entity is just amazing! When I first started it, I never thought I would be here, over a year later. I have had so much support running this project, so I need to say a few thanks.

Thanks to the first group of students that went through the Academy (like Annie). It was buggy there at the beginning and they were so paitent as I changed things up on them almost every month. *5 students originally enrolled, and 2 went the distance and graduated! A 3rd, left but came back later and graduated!*

To my most dedicated professors -- Dawn and Ashy. Ashy was named Professor of the Year. She has pretty much been with me since the beginning. She's a great sounding board for new ideas! I'm so glad that she is willing to stay on as a Professor have this transition! Dawn has been with us a few months, but she is just as great. She always has positive and helpful things to say to the students and she also has some great advice for me and my ideas. I hope Dawn will be able to stay with us too!

There are so many others, but I just can't name them all! So many people have given me great ideas and suggestions - but the first group of students, Dawn and Ashy, were really dedicated and stuck by me through all the changes over the past year. I can't thank them enough.

Once the site is up, I'm going to make a call for Beta testers to run through the paces to make sure everything works!

Okay, I am off to grade homework! *cries* I just remembered two of my novel students graduate at the end of this month. *sigh* I am going to miss reading their novels! This is the hard part about running the Academy. I get so close to my students, especially the ones that take the longer 6 to 8 month programs. We really connect and help each other (yes, they help me too!). It's sad to see them go! Hopefully, they'll be like Annie though, and keep in touch. (She stills calls me Professor sometimes! HAHA)

**Update 6:33 pm**

I'm about ready to pull my hair out! Webs.com dude - it's a great site it really is. I've used it forever, but there are SOME TIMES!!!

*goes back to work, muttering curse words under her breath*

Tomorrow morning I am going to talk to the Columbus Chamber of Commerce about starting my business. I am really excited! My wonderful husband is a business guru so he is going with me to make sure all the right questions get asked. (He's so sweet sometimes!)

They have this great thing, a "One Stop Shop" with lawyers, tax representatives, and other business 'helpers' there on hand to talk to - FOR FREE - about starting a business.

Hopefully, they'll clue me in on the best (and perhaps cheapest) way to pull this off. I will do it regardless, it's just a matter of when. The more cost it is, the longer it will take. So hopefully, I'll get in on a great 'deal' so to speak to get this up and running sooner!

I am really excited and nervous - but I am so glad this opportunity is there. Columbus is really good about supporting small businesses, so it's no surprise really that this program is there. I am just so lucky that I found it! I just happen to call the Chamber of Commerce and a wonderful woman told me about it. I never would have known if I hadn't picked up the phone!

So - to all my fellow authors, business people, and dreamers - pick up the phone!! You never what they will say on the other end!

**Originally posted on my other blog "Abyss of My Soul"**

Oh boy am I stressed out people! I really want to start my own business but the cost it would take to start one is just depressing!!

Many of you from Writing.Com know of my group/project "The Writer's Academy". Well I feel it is time to upgrade it to it's own site, so that it can really reach more writers and not be bogged down by the other wonderful groups on WDC.

However, in order to do that, I need to pay for a server (either buying one myself or renting space from another persons server), a business license (which requires tax people and lawyers!), and a bunch of other small things. I'll probably have to pay someone to help me set it up as I do not know ALL there is to know about website construction (esp when dealing with a site that requires people to log in and have a profile etc). I know a little, but not enough for me to just do it on my own.

Then take into account the time and energy it would take to build something like that. It took me two months to set it up on WDC - and I was able to create pages and forums with a snap. With my own site, I'd have to configure the forums first and enable this setting and that setting and THEN set up the forum itself for people to use it!

BUT -- make no mistake, I will do this! It's just a matter of when! I was hoping it would be by August of this year, but with the cost and time involved it might be longer. *sigh* Which is a bit disappointing but, better than never right? Yea, right.

**Originally posted on my other blog "Abyss of My Soul"**

The start of a new year. I should be excited - but alas I'm not. This time of year is supposed to be about new beginnings and making improvements to your life. So - I should be ecstatic! I have my new blogs up and running - with my wonderful invisible followers!

In an attempt to lift my mood, I am going to make a list of my "goals" for 2010. Yes, I said "goals" not "resolutions" - hopefully that will actually get me to get off my butt and DO some of the things on my list here. I made myself have at least 10, the last few were the hardest to think up!

1. Quit Smoking

2. Gain a substantial income from writing.

3. Let my husband live

4. Get my teeth fixed

5. Learn to write legibly with my left hand. (I'm ambidextrous but if writing with my left hand, it looks like a 5 year old)

6. Finish my 3 part novel "The Faery's Tale" (Read about my journey to do this here: http://thelabotomyofawriter.blogspot.com/)

7. Learn to wake up before my son does. (This means waking up at like 6 or 7 in the morning by the way.)

8. Start my own business. (Doubt it'll really be this year, but I put it here to make myself get the ball rolling at least.)

9. Find some really cool layouts for this blog!

10. Write an Epic Poem. (For those that don't now, epic poems are ones like Beowulf - a huge epic thing that tells a story. Always wanted to write one of those.)

So there it is. My list of goals for 2010.

On another note, hubby built me a small little office in the dining room. Seriously - it's like my own little cubical inside our small apartment. It's the coolest thing ever! This way I can work and write without my son crawling all over me. Granted, that will only matter on days when hubby is at home and I can be at the computer all day. Otherwise, I'll only be in here during my sons nap time and after he's in bed. But still - it's the coolest thing ever! It is seriously a cubicle, so the walls are only like 4 feet high and it comes with a door! I have my own space to let my imagination run wild. Amazingly, hubby did not KILL himself building it either! He didn't get frustrated and there was no cursing! I'm so proud!

After it was built, I went on a furniture rearranging frenzy as the cubicle is now in the dining room. See, our apartment has one big room that L shapes into the dining room. So we had the "office", the living room, and our sons play area all in one room. Then in the L part, was the dining room that attached to the kitchen. So, we just moved things around for something new.

I am off to do some writing and maybe some reading. I'm sure my invisible followers will miss me!

**Originally posted on my other blog "Abyss of My Soul"**

I recently got fired from my job. Great way to start a blog uh?

How about - Hi! My name is Anastasia and I'm 25 years old. Too cliche perhaps?

Frankly, I'm not sure how to start this blog, so I'm just going to wing it. Usually is the best way. So, yes, my name is Anastasia. I'm 25 years old, married, one son. Sound boring? That's because it is. My life is pretty standard. Just the three of us, a two bedroom apartment, trying to make it in this tough economy.

Speaking of which, did I mention I just lost my job? Wonderful Holiday present don't you think? Yea. So here I am, trying to make a blog that is at least semi-interesting. How am I doing so far? You can be honest. It won't hurt my feelings any.

My husband says that my opinions would be very interesting for people to read. He finds them amusing a least. (Seriously, laughs quite often at the things I say.) Granted this might be due to the fact that I am quite an odd ball myself. Seriously, I am.

So, I actually listened to the hubby and decided to give this a shot. Who knows - might make some cool friends on here!

**Originally posted on my other blog "Abyss of My Soul"**