t’s been almost two years since I released The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping, and it’s finally time for the sequel! Come join my release party for giveaways, the cover reveal, and other fun! The best part is that you can do it all in the comfort of your home.
Filed under Book Reviews, Books, On Writing, Uncategorized
Ah, Sunday evening: a time when most folks suddenly begin to dread Monday morning. They think about the white-knuckle drive to the office, the cringe-worthy coworkers, and the stack of work in their inbox a mile high.
I don’t feel that way.
As I was sitting here on the living room couch, reading a battered Lillian Jackson Braun novel from the local library, I began to think about the beginning of my week. There are a few things I dread, but none of them have anything to do with work. I’m excited to sit down with my planner on a Monday morning and figure out what freelance assignments I have due during the coming week. I’m thrilled to see how much time I might be able to carve out for my own writing, and I’m equally thrilled to find out that it won’t be much. I know that during the week I’ll be crossing off projects and emailing clients about new ones. I have to force myself not to work on the weekends, but by Sunday evening my fingers begin itching to type.
I’ve been writing professionally on the side for about five years and writing full time for about six months. Sure, I guess I could still be excited about it because it’s new. I could easily wake up one morning and wonder how I can possibly enjoy this lifestyle where my income is never guaranteed and I often don’t leave the house for several days in a row.
I’m not writing this to brag about how awesome my job is, but simply to say how grateful I am that I don’t have to dread the first of the week.
What about you? Do you have a case of the Sunday evening blues? Or are you excited about Monday morning?
Filed under On Writing, Work-at-Home Mom
The other day as my husband and I were out shopping, I ran into one of my first college professors. It’s been a long time, and I didn’t even recognize her at first. In fact, I was so flabbergasted when she stopped me and asked how I was that I wasn’t even sure how to respond.
It shouldn’t really feel like meeting a celebrity when you run into someone you already know, should it? But it really did. I was taking her classes at a time in my life when I felt ready to conquer the world. Sure, not everything was perfect, but going to a college where I knew absolutely no one was the beginning of a new era for me. I had nothing but respect and even a little awe for this woman.
Would you like to know what the best part was? (Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.) She seemed so genuinely happy for me when I told her I’m writing full time. I hear you, you’re saying that really isn’t that remarkable. But this wasn’t just your typical, “Oh, that’s great. Good for you.” This was more of a hand to her heart, wide eyes, “Oh, that’s wonderful.” Like she really knew what this meant for me. I didn’t even realize that she had understood me that well all those years ago. I was a biology major, after all. I never sat down and discussed my hopes and goals for the future with her, and at that time writing wasn’t really one of them. I had chalked it up as a pipe dream. But somehow, all these years later, she instantly knew that this was big for me.
Sometimes it’s hard to know when you’ve really been able to reach out and touch the stars. Meeting one goal often just leads to an entirely new goal. It’s good to keep going, to not be complacent, and I know that I still have so many more things I can do. But it’s also really great to look back at all the stars beneath you and to remember the people who helped you get there.
Filed under On Writing, Relationships
The movie is never as good as The Book. The Book is special and must be treated as such. The evil movie producers should never stray from anything as small as a line of dialogue in The Book. They shall scour the Earth to find the one person who looks EXACTLY as the author described the main character, or else we The Readers shall rebel.
Really, we get so upset over these things, myself included.
I was on this nice little fantastical train of thought the other day where The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping was being made into a movie. Of course, I would be highly involved in the production process and the movie would be wildly successful. (Hey, I said it was a fantasy, right?)
Anyway, I started to think: If these really talented Hollywood types who are experts at telling a visual story make recommendations and changes to the original story, would I be so selfish with my book as to not let it happen? Would I tell them, “Oh, hell no. My readers expect that wooden box to be square, not rectangular. I don’t care what your props department thinks; have them carve another one.”
No.
I just started watching the Outlander series on Starz. I have read and absolutely adored the books. Even though it’s been several years since I read the first book, I can already tell that the series is not an exact reflection of the book. But I do know that Diana Gabaldon was highly involved, and she has said on her own Facebook page that “the book is the book, and the show is the show.” She understands that some changes have to be made to convert the story into one that can be told visually. And the thing is, it’s still a good story. Yes, I am usually a staunch supporter of The Book. But I’m beginning to realize that just because it’s a little bit different in film format doesn’t mean that it’s wrong or bad.
You can all feel free to remind me of this when I do get a movie deal, and I’m yelling at the actors. 🙂
Feel free to stop by my Facebook page and drop a like on it!
Filed under Books, On Writing
I can’t even begin to tell you how many ideas I have for blog posts that never make it onto this page. And the rough drafts are endless. There’s no telling if even this will earn the honored status of “Posted.”
I’ve started to write reviews of movies that I’ve seen, but then I forget about them and they become irrelevant. Or I feel as though I’m not doing a good job of reviewing a book because I don’t feel like picking apart every literary element of it. Sometimes, I just like a book. It really can be that simple.
Sometimes, I have really great ideas. Epiphanies, even. These undoubtedly occur while I’m in the shower, or driving, or cleaning dog poop out of the yard, or any other situation where I just can’t drop what I’m doing and write it down. Or I make the mistake of thinking I’ll remember it. You’d think I would learn from that mistake, but I haven’t yet.
Perhaps the worse attempts are when I think I have a good idea, but it all just melts into sophomoric mush when it hits the screen. A topic that sounds truly amazing, like it could really be something special, comes out wooden and dull. Bluh.
So here’s to the failed blog posts. Here’s to the bad ideas, the good ideas gone wrong, the half-ass reviews, the drafts that just never get finished, and the ideas that simply get forgotten. Because without them, the good posts wouldn’t be nearly so good.
Please feel free to check out my Facebook page and drop a like on it. 🙂
Filed under Blogging, On Writing
Just a quick reminder that you should be writing. (And so should I!)
Filed under On Writing
If you do a bit of googling (which you’re probably doing anyway), I’m sure you will find plenty of articles about success. It might be tips for how to succeed, stories of how someone else already did, or inspiring tidbits for those who aren’t feeling motivated.
This isn’t really any of those.
I had a conversation recently about how success is measured. I made this absolutely crazy statement about how I don’t equate money with success, and I got some major side-eye followed by an outright rejection of my theory. No, they said, they definitely wanted to get paid and get paid well in order to consider themselves successful.
I get that. I mean, money shouldn’t be everything, but it kind of is. If you want a new car or a nice house, you must have some way of paying for it, right? And nothing is cheap these days. So in this sense, yes, money is how you know you’re successful.
But what a terrible cage that puts you in. If you make good money but you hate your job, then you’re successful? If you make good money but you never have time for your family, then you’re successful? If you make good money but it’s killing you in the process, then you’re successful?
Don’t get me wrong, I like making money. I’m not interested in working for free, because I have bills to pay, children to feed, and Doctor Who merchandise to buy. But I don’t think it’s okay to be a slave to the almighty dollar while sacrificing everything else that’s important in life.
I’ve never had a lot of money. (I mean, seriously. If you know me, you know that I have never had money.) As a freelance writer, I’m sure not raking it in. But I do feel successful. How is my success measured?
I get paid to do what I love.
I get to work from home, which means I am always here for my family.
My clients come back to me for repeat business, which is a huge compliment.
My husband has done nothing but support and encourage me in this endeavor.
My stress levels are pretty low.
My schedule is flexible.
I’m happy.
For me, all of this adds up to something that is worth so much more than a six-figure job. Would I turn down a multi-million dollar book deal? Heck, no. But I don’t need one to know that I’m successful.
Filed under Family, Finances, On Writing, Work, Work-at-Home Mom
I long for those days at the beginning of the month when my inspiration was high and my fingers were a blur over the keyboard. I rejoiced every evening as I updated my word count on the NaNoWriMo website, and it told me I would actually be done before December. It motivated me to return to my word processor and annoy my husband with the constant clack of the keys. (It didn’t really annoy him. I don’t think. I mean, he comments sometimes on how fast I’m typing, but I think he’s being supportive. Right?)
Now, as the middle of the month has come and gone and my word count has gone stagnant, I feel that I might have marooned myself in NaNo land. I took a few days off, ostensibly because I had a wisdom tooth pulled, and surely that’s reason enough for any sane person to set the laptop down for a bit and do some Netflix binging. People do it for less.
But the writing experts aren’t lying when they say you should keep a steady writing habit. I do this most of the time, and I really do feel that it keeps the creative juices flowing. It might also keep my mind churning with awesome story ideas when I’m supposed to be sleeping, but that’s a side effect I must endure.
My short sabbatical has turned into an entire week. A week! One quarter of the month has been lost to days of only eating soft foods, a tiny bit of freelance editing, and a few (okay, several) spontaneous naps on the couch.
This is why, even though I absolutely DO NOT feel like writing, I’m doing it anyway (and my husband is asking me why my clickety-clacking is going so slowly tonight). I might not be writing anything important or particularly creative, but there are words appearing on my screen right now. And I’ll take what I can get.
Filed under On Writing
Hello and Happy NaNoWriMo!
Last year was the first time I attempted this great feat. I achieved a whopping 17,000 words. I was pretty disappointed in myself, to be honest. I really thought I could do this. I had a good idea for a book, and I was excited about it. So where did I falter? You know what? I don’t even remember. I just know I didn’t get it done. I finished the book much, much later.
So I’ve had some qualms about signing up this year. Do I really want to make this commitment and then let myself down? Haven’t I been just so completely busy already without piling another 50k words on top? But then again, I have another great idea for a book. Shouldn’t I just do it? But on the other hand, it’s already getting late in the evening and I haven’t had a chance to write a single word. That big zero at the top of the NaNoWriMo page is not just taunting me, but making outright fun of me.
Hulu has the old Bob Ross shows now. (Don’t worry, this is going somewhere.) I used to absolutely ADORE this show. I watched it all the time as a little kid. It turns out that Bob is just as hypnotic as he was back then. His soft, even voice makes it seem like even I could pick up a brush and a gigantic paint palette and create a beautiful scene of trees on the water. It’s just a bunch of simple little paint techniques that don’t seem like much of anything when you look at them individually, but when you stand back and put them together they make something beautiful.
Hmmm. That sounds like something familiar.
And Bob starts with a certain type of canvas, but he tells me I can use any kind of canvas I want. And I don’t have to paint the happy little trees right where he puts them; that’s completely up to me. And sometimes, he says we’re going to get a little crazy and put a few extra plants over here in the corner, and just see how they look. It’s all just whatever I want; no big deal.
Okay, Bob. I get it. I can paint my own beautiful scene with my words. They might not seem like much by themselves. I have to stand back and look at them all together. And it’s okay if I don’t have all of my decisions made ahead of time. I can throw in an extra scene here or there and just see where it takes me. No pressure. It’s all just whatever I want; no big deal.
Time to start writing!
Check out more of my work on Amazon.
Filed under On Writing
I’m very pleased to announce that my short story “Home” is featured on The Penmen Review today. Please go take a peek and let me know what you think!
http://penmenreview.com/ashleyomelia/
This story was inspired by very true events. I have to think my dear sweet Porkchop, without whom this story and this opportunity would not have been possible.
Filed under Animals, On Writing, Writing Excerpts
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Ashley O'Melia, Author 