Corinne O'Flynn, Writer

Thursday Haiku - Waiting

2012-02-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

waiting like children 

minutes stretch elongated

swim in three short months

Wednesday Word

2012-02-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

We interrupt your daily hectic to bring you this:

Yogi Bear

*breathe*

Living in Hawaii - Guest Blog by Toby Neal

2012-02-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome my friend Toby Neal, author of Blood Orchids to the blog today! As a resident of Hawaii, Toby wanted to share a little bit about the things in her every day that make living in Hawaii so special to her. I admit I'm a tad jealous reading about her tank top moments right now as I look out my window at the inches of Colorado snow.

Take it away Toby!

http://hawaiiw.net/wailua-falls-kauai-hawaii/

Hawaii is a beautiful place to live—and in February in the U.S., one of the best places to be in the whole nation! Thought I’d share some of my favorite things, and not just the obvious palm trees and blue water (though that’s hard to beat.)

Whalesong underwater when swimming—in February, we have the most whales of the whole season.
Lilikois (passion fruit) falling off the vines—like untimely Easter eggs, passion fruit collect in the grass waiting for me to make scrumptious pies, jam, sauces out of them.
Going snorkeling in the rain. Something about the patter of rain all round as you swim through the warm ocean—bliss.
Playing tennis with my daughter, working up a sweat, in my tank top…while the rest of the world digs snow out of their driveways. I grew up in Hawaii, so it wasn’t until I lived in the Midwest for seven years that I really “got” this one—but now I relish every tank-top minute of it.
Clouds dancing elaborate ballet on the mountains—in Hawaii clouds are almost like another physical part of the landscape, they have such form and drama.
Wind—which means windsurfing, kiteboarding, and spectacular feats of athleticism on the part of many sporty friends (I prefer to spectate.)
Mynah birds commenting on everything, hopping around beady-eyed busybodies.
Sugar cane bending in the aforementioned wind, entire fields dancing hula skirts of green.
Waterfalls pumping rainbows as they refill our waterways.

We have our challenges here in Hawaii, and I explore some of them in my books—but living in this lush natural beauty isn’t one of them while making a living is!

__________________________________________

Visit Toby's Blog

Toby Neal was raised on Kauai in Hawaii. She wrote and illustrated her first story at age 5 and has been published in magazines and won several writing contests. After initially majoring in Journalism, she eventually settled on mental health as a career and loves her work, saying, “I’m endlessly fascinated with people’s stories.” She enjoys many outdoor sports including bodyboarding, scuba diving, beach walking, gardening and hiking. She lives in Hawaii with her family and dogs. Toby credits her counseling background in adding depth to her characters–from the villains to Lei Texeira, the courageous and vulnerable heroine in the Lei Crime Series.

About Blood Orchids:

Fast-paced crime mystery with a touch of romance, readers call Blood Orchids "un-putdownable"!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

"Sometimes in crime fiction you stumble across a character who lives on beyond the book's end by virtue of their psychological complexity, and the richness with which the author has drawn them. Will Graham, Jack Reacher, Alex Cross, and now they have a worthy female counterpart in Lei Teixera. Blood Orchids is that rarity among debut novels, in that it satisfies on every level. A powerful new talent is on the scene, whole-heartedly recommended."
-Drew Cross, former police officer and author of BiteMarks

Hawaii is palm trees, black sand and blue water—but for policewoman Lei Texeira, there’s a dark side to paradise.

Lei has overcome a scarred past to make a life for herself as a cop in the sleepy Big Island town of Hilo. On a routine patrol she finds two murdered teenagers—one of whom she’d recently busted. With its echoes of her own past, the murdered girl’s harsh life and tragic death affect Lei deeply. She becomes obsessed—even as the killer is drawn to Lei's intensity, feeding off her vulnerabilities and toying with her sanity.

Despite her obsession with the case and fear that she's being stalked, Lei finds herself falling in love for the first time. Steaming volcanoes, black sand beaches and shrouded fern forests are the backdrop to Lei's quest for answers—and the stalker is closer than she can imagine, as threads of the past tangle in her future. Lei is determined to find the killer—but he knows where to find her first.

A to Z Challenge 2012 is Coming!

2012-02-20T10:11:00.003-07:00

In case you have not already heard, there is something fun going on the web each April. In 2011, if you took away all the Sundays in the month of April you were left with exactly 26 days. This year it looks like we start on Sunday so we might have to bend that rule a little. Assign each day a letter and blog along that theme, and you're in! Check out the A-to-Z Blog Challenge.

Join me and more than a thousand other bloggers this April as we embark on yet another month of alphabet goodness. It sounds easy, but I have to say they call it a challenge for good reason. You get Sundays off, but that is still a lot of blogging. Sign Up here!

As you might have learned hanging around here, I love words and word origins. Last April I had a blast blogging about a fab word each day. Some were new to me, some were oldies that deserved some time in the sun, and some were just hilarious. Even more fun was finding images to go with the posts every day!

There is a lot of great information about the blogfest on the site, so go check it out and join me in April.

Peace, love, and alphabet blogs!

Stuff and happenings

2012-02-18T23:05:00.001-07:00

My dear friend S. shared this image from Orlando's airport on her Facebook a while back, and looking at my last post and the subsequent hiatus, I thought it would be the proper segue back into the blog routine.

How have you been?

What's New: I've got a guest blog over at my friend Jenna Quentin's. It is about inspiration and how images can help with that. Do you find images inspiring? I certainly do. Come see me over there and check out the teddy bear that ignited my inspiration for the post and leave a comment while you're at it.

What's News: So where the heck have I been? I spent the better part of last week preparing for a hearing at the House of Representatives in my state capital in Colorado. We learned while there that the dome of this building is actually still plated in gold leaf. The crew that installs it is one of very few in the world that have retained this skill as part of their trade, and they apply the gold from 7" squares of gold leaf sheets using cotton balls. Can you imagine?

Denver's Capital Building (dome refurbish underway)

My org's bill to create a Child Loss Awareness license plate was brought before the Transportation Committee. We were so nervous and excited about testifying, and were glad that we had prepared statements to be read aloud. There wasn't a dry eye among the committee as five of us shared our stories and explained why this license plate is important to us. The committee was so amazing, very moved by our testimony, and honored us with their own thoughtful words. Several made a point of having their statements heard about how heartfelt their "yes" vote was. In the end, the committee voted unanimously to approve the bill!

This has been years in the making, and we still have a few more hearings to go, but we are now one step closer to this:

remembering a child - www.rowantreefoundation.org

Reading: I'm about 3/4 of the way through Game of Thrones Book 3 - A Storm of Swords - and dear sweet Jesu this man can tell a story! If there is anyone out there looking for something to read who has not yet partaken, please just do yourself a favor and pick this up.

Enjoy the weekend people!

A Thursday Haiku - Combobulation

2012-02-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

I spent most of today trying to get recombobulated
after realizing that it wasn't Wednesday anymore.
You ever have on of those days (daze)?
T.G.I.F. (tomorrow)

http://dogs.icanhascheezburger.com/page/8/

combobulation

a state of zen, joy and peace

sometimes includes nap

Loosening the Tight Grip

2012-02-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Do you spend time being mindful about getting what you want? I don't mean actively doing things and checking them off your list - although is important too and is probably what comes next. I'm talking about visualizing and manifesting what you really want by using images, words, or other means.

-My prayer box-

When I look around my office I see dozens of totems and quotes and inspirational tools that are all meant to keep my mind and energy focused on whatever it is I need. Now that I am writing this, I am starting to realize I have oodles of things here. I wonder if visitors to my little space think this is a crazy place, lol. *considers decluttering*

I wrote once before about vision boards, and how powerful they can be as a manifesting tool. What I wanted to share today was my little prayer box. This was a gift from a friend and has become quite cherished to me. The gift was intended for me to use as a meditative tool, to write love notes to my deceased daughter, to put worries down on paper and let them go, to release any number of things by placing them into the box.

If you were to open the box you'd find all kinds of notes and scraps and little trinkets that are probably meaningful only to me. I have written prayers for friends, for my family, for myself, requests for help, requests for clarity, requests for the Universe to rescue me from the hectic. I've written notes about being ready to move on from something, about being ready to receive something into my life.

I have never gone back through to check the status of the things I have requested - I think that goes against the point. What matters is that when you put something in the box, you've given yourself permission to loosen the tight grip you've had on it - which allows things to happen (usually exactly what you need).

I once found an image on the internet that someone posted of their achievements in life, and I wish I had saved it because it was stunning. For me, it represents what comes after the prayer box. I'd love to reproduce this in my office.

In the image there was a shelf on a wall, with a mason jar on top. On the wall above the jar were dozens of plain paper butterflies attached to look as if they were flying from the jar. On each one, in neat lettering was a goal. Once that goal was achieved, the butterfly was plucked from the wall and placed in the jar. The goals were varied from the material, to the emotional and mental, to fun and very personal. If anyone out there has seen this... I would love if you'd send me the link.

What do you do to help you let go of the things that weigh you down?

2001: Stop Making Contact on Twitter

2012-02-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Scrolling down the list of my new followers on twitter *waves hi to you all*, I clicked to follow one of them and got an error that I was no longer allowed to follow any more people.

Seems I had hit the magical threshold of 2001 people being followed, and now must wait until I gain more followers of my own.

Back when I joined twitter, I heard grumblings about this mysterious follow ceiling, but honestly never paid it any mind because I was still hanging on every word tweeted by the 100 I was following. And so here I am wondering how in the world I am going to move on in Twitterland.

Enter google, to whom I posed the question about how best to cull the list of people I am following. I was pleased to find a bevy of tools to help me do just that.

There are oodles, but I decided upon: ManageFlitter because it was listed on several "best of" lists and it seems to be intuitive to a new user and most importantly, it was FREE.

In a few short minutes I was looking at a matrix showing a detailed analysis of my twitter makeup. Who was I following, who was most active, who was not following me back, etc. I don't really subscribe to the school of "follow me or I will unfollow you". It is counter to my purpose for using twitter. I'm not in a race to gain followers, I am trying to stay connected to people that interest me in the publishing world.

A few minutes more and I was able to zero in on people I was following who hadn't tweeted in months and years. Those are the ones I decided to cull. Now I am back down to 1800 or so, and able to continue hooking up with the people who are active and sharing things of interest to me.

Short of an explosion in my own meager following, I will be returning to ManageFlitter in the future when I hit that ceiling again.

By the way, did you know that once you hit 2001 people being followed, you're then held to a formula keeping your limit at the number of your following plus 10%. Thereby protecting us all from the robot twitter flood. Who knew?

Stephen King's ON WRITING

2012-02-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Leafing through Stephen King's ON WRITING for the umpteenth time, I was drawn to the section in the back called "On Living: A Postscript".

-click to see at Amazon.com-

The postscript is a retelling of the day he was struck by a car while walking in rural Maine. The writing is stark and a little bit funny in that way only King can do with the darker stuff.

I had heard about his accident when it happened in 1999 and I know I've read this part of his book before, but something about it resonates differently with me today. I guess it's true that who you are and where you are in your own life shapes the way you receive what you read. Thankfully, the world wasn't finished with Mr. King on that day in June 13 years ago.

ON WRITING is one of those books that you can move forward and backward through, I am not sure I've read the whole thing in order. Although, now that I've restarted it from the First Foreword, I think I'll move through it this time in order.

The book is about so many things, his life and stories he remembers from his childhood. And of course, writing. He calls it a Memoir of the Craft, and it is indeed that. King talks in the early pages about how there are so many books out there on writing that he didn't want to write that book.

Instead he describes his book as "my attempt to show how one writer is formed. Not how one writer was made. I don't believe writers can be made, either by circumstance or by self-will (although I did believe those things once)." (emphasis his)

All in all, it is an interesting read and I think any fan of his, writer or no, would enjoy what's between these pages.

Fun with Story Cubes

2012-02-05T22:13:00.001-07:00

One of my children is named Rory, and while shopping for Christmas presents I stumbled upon the game Rory's Story Cubes. I thought it would be exceptionally clever to buy it for my sweet daughter. Of course, someone else in our family had this very same idea and she got more than one. I've had the box on my desk ever since.

I thought it would be fun to give the cubes a roll and see what story popped out.

I give you... The Tale of Sir Belwin, The Daisy Knight

Once upon a time, on a rainy night so cloudy there was no moon, a masked man found a castle with the gates unmanned and locked. He pounded the iron portcullis with his sword for a long time before a pale white hand waved at him from the window above.

"Cease the clangor, man! What do you want here?" a reedy voice called from above.

"My name is Sir Belwin, The Daisy Knight. I seek shelter in your tower, my lord. The flood has washed away my tent."

Everyone knew the Daisy Knight to be fair and handsome, not one to hide behind a mask.

"The Daisy Knight, you say? Be gone with you. Or I'll send out my man and you'll be pushing up the daisies."

After a day of editing, this was a welcome distraction. I think I'll keep these little babies close. :)

Does a different story appear for you?

When do you write best?

2012-02-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

Nighttime or Daytime?

having a game of nighttime daytime

Do you tend to do your best work at a certain time of the day? Lately for me, I find the work I do at night is the stuff that sticks. There is something about the quiet that settles over my house at night. Dogs curl up near the fire, kids all nestled in (or at least playing near) their beds. Tea seems to stay warmer longer. Things flow.

During the day lately, I find myself holing up in my office to write only to be distracted by a million other things and then frustrated by my lack of quality progress. I can get through an edit or write a few hundred words but I usually come back to it again at night and do it again.

Night writing, which seems to produce better stuff, has started to become a challenge. I am reverting back to my old night owl habits which no longer fit when the days are full of kids and family and work and life around here.

And so tomorrow begins my journey back into writing by day. I figure with the Super Bowl I am not likely to be distracted by the phone. So its just a matter of avoiding the in-house interruptions. (Are you watching the game, btw? I get strange looks here in football country when I reveal my lack of football interest.)

Perhaps if I got dressed and walked past the family with my bag and my keys, waved goodbye to the cherubs and kissed hubby and then walked around the house and then--with stealth--climbed in my office window and locked the door (!) I would be able to hide and write all day.

I'm curious if you have scheduled writing time, or write all the time but find that night or day works better for you. Pray tell.

http://cheezburger.com/6208/lolz/View/2695442944

In case you've not seen the video whence the above image comes, enjoy:

Oh, and before I forget... I watched THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES last night with hubs. It was good. Dark, sad, tense, and good. Helped that the main character had eyes that brought on *instant* smolder. Worth adding to the Netflix queue.

If I had plotted this out in the first place...

2012-02-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

As mother nature dumps another foot of snow on top of the foot that fell earlier today, I find myself in my writer cave thinking. I've been thinking a lot about editing and the revision process and realize that much of the work I am doing now in these final edits on my novel could have been avoided had I been a plotter instead of the over-proud panster that I used to be.

omg crazy fractal maze...

Plotting? For shame, that is stifling my creativity!
Outlines? Please...
Plan? Folly!

Hubris.

Notice that I refer to the pantser that I used to be. Past tense. I am so totally cured of that. That does nothing to help me with the novel that I wrote by the seat of my pants. *tosses the pantser badge aside without shame and joins the plotting crew.*

I have come to realize the value plotting can have on my writing. You get to the same places when you outline that you do when drafting, you just get there sooner. You can have the same conversations with your friends about the story idea if you plot it into outline or short paragraph form. You can visualize all of the points in your head, making notes and blurbing the dialog in the margins of your outline. You can even draft a few lines of description if you must. But the thing you probably won't do a whole lot of is waste your time.

It is a hard realization relating to my work. Writing my novel wasn't a waste of my time. I think it is finally becoming what it was meant to be, albeit through many drafts and revisions. That said, I firmly believe that had I plotted this one out I would have been finished with it more than a year ago. I would have been able to use my time more wisely and might be putting the finishing touches on my shiny new witchy novel instead.

Ah, its easy to be sure about what could have been. I don't know if I could really say that I regret finding myself facing this realization. Because if I didn't happen with this book, it might have happened with the next, or the next. So, either way, I am in a better place for it.

I've shown you mine, so the question remains: Are you a plotter or a panster?

Cover Reveal! - xoxoxo

2012-02-02T14:58:00.001-07:00

I am excited to be a part of the cover reveal for my blog friend Bethany Lopez. Her new book, xoxoxo, is the second in her Contemporary Young Adult series, Stories about Melissa. The first book, Ta Ta for Now is available in the links at the bottom of this post.

xoxoxo will be released on March 2, 2012. Until then, feast your eyes on this:

Melissa has learned a lot since her freshman year began, but it isn’t over yet! Her world is about to change again with the birth of her new sibling, and she has to figure out how she will adjust to being the eldest of five kids.

She, Jess, and Jimmy are inseparable, and she is having a fantastic time although she can’t help but miss Brian as she tries to learn how to deal with his relationship with Layla.

Everything seems to be happening at once and that is when she is introduced to Ben Campbell, a senior at Dearborn High, who becomes an interesting distraction as he helps her deal with the new developments in her life.

Woot! This sounds exciting! Stay tuned as we near the book release in March and be sure to follow Bethany's blog and twitter @bethanylopez2

You can find also find her here:

Independent Author Network

Barnes & Noble

Sony

Join me in wishing Bethany the very best with her new book!!

A Thursday Haiku - Time

2012-02-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

time. standing, flying

it eludes, evades capture.

wanting more, we are.

Oh hi! Sorry to have left without a trace last week, but some exciting things are going on in my non-writing life that have required all of my moments, and the in-between was filled with sick kids, and mom-naps. #fordaysanddays

The exciting stuff is that my nonprofit org is one step closer to getting our very own specialty license plate in Colorado. For those of you who might not be aware, in some US States they have allowed causes and other orgs like sports teams and military groups create a specialty plate that you can purchase for your car. Our plate will be for Child Loss Awareness, and the bill is coming into committee in a couple of weeks. I am busy with this and excited by this, and learning a civics lesson all at the same time.

Anyone remember the Schoolhouse Rock that talks about how bills are made into law? I am involved in this, albeit on the State level #yay:

Send good wishes for our bill HB12-1131 to be voted favorably through committee, and if you wish to stay in the loop on how to contact your legislators and other news relating to this, subscribe to our newsletter at Rowan Tree Foundation and like RTF on Facebook!

Peace, love and license plates!

ORACLE Cover Reveal - Can you solve the mystery?

2012-01-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

My author friend J.C. Martin has revealed the cover of her upcoming new book ORACLE. Join me in sending congratulations for her upcoming release. (Congrats to you JC!)

But that's not all!

       There is a mystery afoot!

              Can you figure it out?

                     There is a prize to be had!

Read on to find out more:

As the countdown begins, the body count rises.

With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn’t need a serial killer stalking the streets. They’ve got one anyway.

Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police are no closer to finding their latest murderer than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter’s disability.

Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential next victims.

One of whom could be his own daughter.

Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer’s only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.

JOIN THE FUN!

Oracle’s book cover reveal tour has a mystery attached to it, one that the you readers must solve—in return for a $20 Amazon voucher! To find out more, head over to Mystery Tour Headquarters

Happy sleuthing!

#SOPA is NOT the answer

2012-01-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

SOPA/PIPA = NOT THE ANSWER

Go here:

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Go here:

http://theoatmeal.com/ (and stay for the animation...)

Go here:

http://distraction99.com/

Go here:
http://bit.ly/Ajj2Hj -------the day LOLCats died...

Post links to other sites that are up in protest today!

Contact your senator! Speak up!

Writers: Try something new

2012-01-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

I'm guest judge today over at Leah Petersen's #5MinuteFiction and wanted to take a moment and invite you to do something new.

As I stare at my Christmas tree and will it to undress itself, I ponder the possibilities of doing something totally different. I imagine draping it artfully with multi-colored bed sheets and pretending it is a nouveau soft-art sculpture and soon to be all the rage. We'll all laugh come next Thanksgiving when, over tea and pumpkin pie, I dismantle said priceless conversation piece to unveil my tree in its pre-lit glory. *instant festive* Can you see it?

Seriously though, I want you to take five minutes today (at 1230pm Eastern) and participate in #5MinuteFiction because it is important to do things differently, change things up, light a new fire.

When I first discovered #5MinuteFiction, I thought it was some exclusive club of writer friends who got together to stretch their collective creativity each Tuesday for fun. I watched in amazement as these writers created some truly awesome work in the span of five minutes with a prompt that was revealed only a second before.

When I found out it was a weekly contest open to all... I was instantly wary. Could I do it? What if my stuff sucks?

Well, let me tell you... some of my stuff sucked. But some of it didn't! And some of it made it to the finals. And some of it won! (see tab on this blog above) And all of it was so exciting and rush-inducing, not to mention the rather fabulous group of writer's I have met as a result.

So, come on down today (and every Tuesday) for five minutes of brain-explosion and see what falls out of your head. I promise you one thing... you'll never be able to claim "writer's block" as an excuse again.

And if this wasn't enough to induce you... carve out a little Time Bacon and come on over because Chuck Wendig said you should. (see #19)

See you there!

Be yourself: Write your own story

2012-01-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Just before the end of the year, I made good on a promise to myself to take up yoga again after more than a dozen year hiatus. It has been so amazing and transformative. There is something about being in a yoga studio and being so present in that moment - letting go of ALL THE THINGS.

Between the incredible music and the soothing direction of the different instructors, I find myself pondering their thoughtful words while breathing and moving through the different poses.

Since the new year, I've attended a variety of classes and each time the instructor has spoken about something so meaningful to me at that time. Letting go of the old and allowing the new things in. Defining the one thing that is holding you back at this moment and turning it out. Speaking into your mind the intention this year brings with it for you.

Of course, I was able to relate all of this to my writing. My intention for this year: head-down determination to get my work done. Letting go of the thing that holds me back: self-doubt.

This morning during my yoga practice our instructor spoke about being yourself. About letting yourself express your mind in your way. In that way that is uniquely you. This is fabulous life advice, of course. It also rings true to the writer in me.

I wish I could count how often I've picked up a book and found some element from my own stories in there and think, damn - do I need to change my stuff because it's now been done? Then there was that time I found my character was named the same as a character in another book that is now quite popular and I was unable to keep that name in my story because it was so particular.

But leaving yoga today I felt a bit more free and a lot more convicted about letting all of that stuff go and letting my stories be what they want to be. I feel rather light about releasing the fear that my books will never go anywhere because some element or other in my novels has "been done before".

The fact is even if all of us were given the same set of rules and told to go write a story, we would all come back with very different results. Proof of this actually happening can be found in last October's Rule of Three Blogfest where 70 writers got together and wrote 70 very different stories about the same thing. It can be done.

My story (here) is so totally me. Many elements of that story exist and have "been done before" in other written works and yet my story remains uniquely mine. At the time of this contest, all of us were marveling how each of our stories were so very different from each other and yet remained true to the prompts and the rules of the world we were given. I wasn't able to liken that to my novels at the time.

So, today's message: Be yourself. Write your own story. Stop worrying that there are too many stories out with zombies or that there are too many out there that have a prophecy, or that there are too many out there with vampires and werewolves. Just write your book and when the time is right, the market will be ready for it.

*ahh*

ok - back to work!

Namaste :)

Do you use Scrivener?

2012-01-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Happy New Year! I hope this new year brings you to a place of peace and contentment, and that you find yourself recommitted to whatever it is that will make your dreams come true. I am not one for resolutions but you can't ignore the opportunity for new beginnings when the new year comes. I plan to be more mindful of my time management in order to achieve more of my goals. I used to be so methodical about managing my time, but it seems resting on my proverbial laurels has ruined my good habits.

Any of you writers out there use Scrivener? If so, I want to hear from you! I downloaded a trial version and it seems quite useful for plotting. I am curious what you think about it overall. If you use it for your writing I wonder, what is your favorite feature?

I've spent some time over the weekend going through the comprehensive and very easy to follow tutorial and one feature that stands out to me is the research folder.

Looking around my office, I see paper. Lots of paper. There is paper stacked on my desk and stacked on the floor, sheets pinned on top of each other on my cork board, and a huge pile of shredding. I find stuff and print stuff and use a lot of it, but much of the paper ends up sitting here useless. I can imagine using Scrivener to keep these digitally (most of the paper is stuff I've printed off the web anyway) so I envision being able to save paper and ink as well as clearing space and clutter in my writerly cave.

I also have a white board that I stopped using because I have nowhere to hang it when it is out. Not to mention the frustration when one of my children takes some spark of their own creativity to my work or a dog walks by and wipes it clean with a swish of a tail. #truestory

I want to hear from anyone who is or has been using Scrivener to find out if you utilize this research folder--or any other feature, for that matter--in a meaningful way that makes this worth switching over to. I wonder if it is convenient enough to let me break the old MS Word and Paper habit and move into storing everything electronically. Speaking of storage, it seems to save everything immediately as you go, so no more lost work - bonus!

I'll give it a try and let you know what I think. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit so I'll make a note on my calendar and revisit this later in the month.

Scrivener Image from: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Thanks!

Quiet table in the back, please.

2011-12-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've got a guest blog today over at my friend Stuart Nager's. He's got a series going on about Creativity to which I have added my voice. Lots of neat posts there from so many perspectives on creativity. I'd love to hear from you over there.

The holidays have arrived and the kids are home from school until Jan 2. We've got the Holiday TV Special schedule printed out by the couch. We've read the Polar Express and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Wonder what book the kids will choose tonight?

Gone are the schedules and the calendar full of stuff. I've decided to heed the call of the holiday break and take a little working vacation myself.

I've promised myself that I'll get through this last round of edits on my novel by January 1. Back when I made this proclamation it was November and time seemed so abundant! Now I see the need to step away from the procrastination-inducing distractions that lurk behind my word document and hunker down.

I'm going to grab my netbook and step out of my cave for to the change scenery.

I'm going to sit in the big chair by the fire with the dogs.

I'm going to catch up on my giant dusty reading pile.

and watch Pride and Prejudice mini-series.

There will be banana bread.

and Peach Amazing.

and tea.

I'll be back. :)

I leave you with this:

10 Pieces of Advice from Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies That Can Transform Your Life

3 Tips for Beating Procrastination

2011-12-13T10:15:00.001-07:00

I wrote before about Completion Anxiety and how that fear-disguised-as-delay can so easily turn into procrastination. I remain convinced that there are degrees of procrastination which can be identified by their core reason. When you can get to the bottom of WHY you're putting something off, you can start working on steps to getting it done.

That said, sometimes it feels like there is nothing you can do to force yourself to get to work. I know. I am a Master Procrastinator. And sometimes I must resort to actual tactics and trick myself into getting things done. I've organized closets in order to not write. I mean, why work when you can curl up by the fire with your thick wooly socks and your faithful dogs by your side and read a book, or better yet: nap, right?

Alas, even I must get my stuff done and so the self-trickery begins. You may be wondering how it is possible to trick oneself. This is not exactly magic, here. You can be both the Great and Powerful Oz behind the curtain and sweet Dorothy Gale on the other side. But it is simpler than that, thank the stars, because who needs to add more work to the lack of work, all in order to get to work? Not I.

So, what can you do when the Procrastination Machine has you tied down to the gears of time and your poor project is a few cogs ahead of you about to be squashed as your deadline approaches?

3 Ways to Beat Procrastination

1. Reward Yourself - I used to scoff at my fellow writers who would buy themselves a cupcake or other delectable treat and place it on display knowing they would not be able to devour all the tasty goodness until they reached whatever goal they had set for themselves. That is silly, I’d say to myself. Who could fall for that? As an aside: Don’t ever say these things out loud to your friends because then you will have to eat your words when they share their completed project and you’re still making excuses.

For today... I have this in my possible future: delish!

A cuppa and some of my homemade Peach Amazing (my kids named it that). I can’t have it until I get this chapter completed. Just one tiny chapter and all the above is mine! I’m already getting motivated! Can you feel it?

2. Schedule Your Time – A doctor friend of mine once told me his secret to getting it all done: He and his wife schedule almost every moment of every day, even if the time slot says: free time. This way he can tell people "Sorry, I'm booked." and mean it when he has things he needs to do. I've tried this and it is a powerful tool. It automatically sets your boundaries for you and forces you to stay on track.

Granted, I can't possibly schedule every waking moment unless I use tags like: after-school-snack-mayhem-15 minutes, fight-about-homework-20 minutes, get-all-kids-to-bed-*not*: 1 hour. You get the idea. So give this one a try in a way that works for you. You might be surprised.

3. Gather Momentum With To-Do Lists – Lists are wonderful motivators. I’m a fan. When you make a list of the things you need to do and then cross them off, it gives you a sense of satisfaction you can’t get anywhere else. Give yourself credit for everything you’ve gotten done and suddenly you start to see that you are getting something finished (this feels good, and you will want more of it). But the trick is to put your project on that list... and then no skipping over it to do something else!

So, stop fighting it and just own the fact that you’re trapped in the lair of the Procrastination Monster. Tell yourself that you are bigger than your project and you refuse to lose. Break your project into smaller chunks if the big ones are holding you back.

What do you do to stay ahead of Procrastination?

Sick, Writing, Klout, and... Breaking Dawn

2011-12-07T09:25:00.001-07:00

So, one good thing about getting a horrible cold is that you get to cancel all your plans and stay home, and write. That, and peppermint foot balm rubbed all over your feet and then wrapped in socks all warmy warmy... slept like a log, I did.

I've been thinking today about how I work better under pressure, and the saying that goes: If you want something done, ask a busy person to help you. The more I have to do, the more productive I am. This is not to say I get more done because there is more to do. But rather when I have a lot to do, I am able to stay on it and can do more of it. The opposite is also totally true because when I have nothing going on I tend to get really lazy.

Not so with deadlines. If I have a deadline (self-imposed or otherwise) I will usually don my Master Procrastinator hat. For the most part, I can meet a deadline. But the mere fact that one exists causes me all kinds of angst. I don't find them to be counterproductive necessarily, but they don't inspire me. I have a deadline for this Friday to get work submitted and it is indeed going to be met. But I have to tell myself that it is my doing, me and assglue are going to get this done. Not some stinking deadline. It is not the deadline controlling me. It will NOT dictate to me! Control issues, much?

Yesterday, I deleted my Klout account. I remember being surprised to learn that I actually HAD a Klout profile, since I never actually opted-in to it. For a while I would add it to my list of sites to check daily, give +K to friends, and try to get my number up. But I couldn't figure out why. WHY? I still don't know. For me, the end came when it decided I was an expert on karate, and sea. Seriously? I think not. So, goodbye silly and strange tool to measure my effectiveness and influence in the social circles where I travel. I give myself a +K in separation.

Have any of you seen Breaking Dawn? It's ok to admit it. I won't tell anyone. Like so many others out there, I loved these books. Not for their beautiful prose or even for the amazing role model in the strong female lead character... The whole thing is ridiculous and yet the author has done something here. I totally wish I was 18 again, and my name was Bella Swan! #truestory.

Anyway, my sister and I finally went to see this the other night and all I could think about during the entire movie was: Who the hell chose all this terrible music? In the tender scenes we had cheesy drippy piano, and in the honeymoon I'm-just-a-nervous-virgin-scene we have the teenybopper getting pumped music, and then we're back to cue cheese. Let's not even talk about the sex-scene-that-never-was or the fact that every single scene was made to be twice as long as it needed to be in order to break this into two movies. It was distracted by these things while viewing. I was so disappointed.

As someone who really responds to music in general, and music in films in particular, this is one soundtrack that should not be released. Holy smokes... the first movie had Muse and Iron and Wine and Paramour and Collective Soul! And this one has... nothing worth remembering unless you want some cheese with your iTunes. Blech.

With that, I am off to work on my revision. Friday will be here in no time!

What say you?

Monday Memo - 5 Things for the Week

2011-12-05T10:54:00.001-07:00

Hello there! It's been so crazy busy at casa O'Flynn I had to go on a petite hiatus from the blog last week. But today is a brand new Monday and I have a full week of good stuff ahead! Let's see what's brewing (aside from the germs in my throat that want me to keel over and die of coughing).

Revisions - This week I will delve into the second quarter of my novel for the final edits. It has been such a journey getting here, but I know now that my book has found its groove and we've been chugging along nicely. I have a deadline of Friday to get this sent off to my critique partners, and so I am going to hunker down and do this thing!

Contest Winner! - My blog friend JC Martin had her fabulous 21-Again Birthday Party at her blog, it had fun stuff and giveaways that lasted for days, people! Well, guess who won prize package #3? MEEEEE! You need to hurry over there and check out TODAY's POST too... she has some news! Check it out:

An e-book copy of A to Z Stories of Life and Death by D. Biswas
An e-book copy of String Bridge by Jessica Bell
An e-book copy of The Rage of a New Ancestor, edited by Declan O'Sullivan
An e-book copy of The Matrix and the Alice Books by Voicu Mihnea Simandan

Oh yes... Miss Corinne is pleased!

Madness - How is it December already? I was under the delusion until very recently that having my kids so close together was only difficult while they were small. I stand corrected. Carting four active chitlins off to various activities is madness. And what is it with everything being scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday nights? Seriously.

Etiquette - Dear people of the world. The holiday season is upon us and so I find it is time. Let me re-familiarize you with a lovely little acronym: R.S.V.P. It comes to us from the French expression "répondez s'il vous plaît", meaning "please respond". If RSVP is written on an invitation it means the invited guest must tell the host whether or not they plan to attend the party. It does not mean to respond only if you're coming, and it does not mean respond only if you're not coming (the expression "regrets only" is reserved for that instance). It means the host needs a definite head count for the planned event, and needs it by the date specified on the invitation. Thanks to about.com for that tidbit.

I share this after last week's adventure with my son's birthday party. 26 invitations were sent out to my son's classmates with a note to RSVP by a date with my email and phone number. Nobody replied. I sent an email (two in fact) to the class asking if they got the invite. Three replied. Then two more. So, 5/26 people got the call that the party was canceled due to my son's illness. I don't know if the other 21 people carted their kids over to the venue or not. Not sure I care. Is that wrong? RSVP and let me know.

RSVP - It's the right thing to do.

Reading - ASHFALL - Holy cats... I was over at Mike Mullin's website and partook of the free chapters of his book that are posted there for a teaser. You must go. now. read. I promise you will click over to purchase the book... When I bought it, Amazon had the price slashed, too! I'll be back to tell you what I thought of it. Loving it so far.

Living in Colorado, I heard and ~~was~~ remain freaked out about the supermassive caldera volcano under Yosemite... what if it blew? Curtains, people.

https://sites.google.com/site/mikemullinauthor/home

Are you just a writer?

2011-11-25T13:39:00.001-07:00

I don't know any writers who are *just* writers. And by that I mean they are full-time writers with nothing else on their plates. Not to be construed as me saying that being a writer isn't among the most fabulous and honorable things in the world to be.

Frederick Lee Brooke, my blog friend and author of DOING MAX VINYL (currently queued up and being enjoyed on my Kindle) recently blogged about the multi-tasking writer and gave some worthwhile tips on successfully juggling a writing life. Good stuff, go check it out.

Multi-tasking is something I think most people, writer-or-no must struggle with on a daily basis. Whether you're talking about managing many things in your head or physically carrying out several jobs at once, we're all one slip away from the abyss. (Not that I'd mind being in The Abyss, not just any old one, but this one, what with my little crush on Ed Harris and all...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096754/

Being a writer and trying to multi-task your work isn't easily done. I know for a fact that I can think about my writing while cooking dinner, doing dishes, changing a diaper, talking on the phone, and carry a nursing baby all at once, but that is not something I could easily add actual writing to.

*shivers as that flashback falls away into 2006.*

Writing, for me, requires a bit of mood setting. I have to block out some other things in order to get into that mental place. I need to close the door and pretend it is locked. I have to switch on Pandora (currently on "Explosions in the Sky" channel) and start letting myself fall into that writing place in my brain. I have to pull my manuscript up on the screen, scroll back a few pages and read it aloud, sometimes in a mighty British accent. Only then can I tap into the stream of my muse and let her tickle my mind.

Granted, there is a timer counting down to the moment my eldest cherub must turn off the video games, and another timer will chime when I have to go stir the savory goodness that is simmering in my crock pot, and yet another timer will go off later this evening when I have to pause my writing and begin working on preparations for my non-profit event happening next weekend. And this is an especially free day due to Mr. Corinne being home to manage the spawn's every need in the interim. Thank you Mr. C!

So, I am juggling some things, in my head, but nothing is keeping me at this moment from the act of writing.

I found this fabulous book called THE NIGHTTIME NOVELIST by Joseph Bates in which he talks about many things relating to finishing your novel in your spare time. On craft, if is full of fab. I recommend getting the actual book form of this one, because it is 1) gorgeous, and 2) write-notes-in the-margin-worthy. In the introduction, Bates lists a few famous authors who wrote in their off time. Among them, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens... to name a few.

Hearing things like this only inspires me to get it done. Taking the time is a choice. So is making excuses. So, I leave you on this quiet Black Friday here in Colorado, switch off the interwebs and get to work. I am sending my husband telepathic wishes that he'll feel inspired to get all the Christmas stuff out of the storage closet. **~~*:* (I never could figure out how people create those magical swirly and whimsical little lines from the keyboard...)

Check out this list from Publisher's Weekly about famous authors who didn't *just* write.

Peace love and magic!

A Thursday Haiku - Thanks!

2011-11-24T10:55:00.001-07:00

best holiday times

family: born and chosen

gather laugh rest love

Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving or not, I hope you are able to spend time with the people in your life that matter.

Corinne O'Flynn, Writer

Thursday Haiku - Waiting

Wednesday Word

Living in Hawaii - Guest Blog by Toby Neal

A to Z Challenge 2012 is Coming!

Stuff and happenings

A Thursday Haiku - Combobulation

Loosening the Tight Grip

2001: Stop Making Contact on Twitter

Stephen King's ON WRITING

Fun with Story Cubes

When do you write best?

If I had plotted this out in the first place...

Cover Reveal! - xoxoxo

A Thursday Haiku - Time

ORACLE Cover Reveal - Can you solve the mystery?

#SOPA is NOT the answer

Writers: Try something new

Be yourself: Write your own story

Do you use Scrivener?

Quiet table in the back, please.

3 Tips for Beating Procrastination

Sick, Writing, Klout, and... Breaking Dawn

Monday Memo - 5 Things for the Week

Are you *just* a writer?

A Thursday Haiku - Thanks!

Are you just a writer?