Category Archives: Writing Musings

Musings from author Denise Turney on writing, including freelance, marketing, self-help, nonfiction and journal writing. Here you will find book marketing tips as well as advice on places where you can go to sharpen your craft and network with other writers, including novelists. You’ll also find places where you can network with readers, editors, publishers and literary agents.

What Happens When Light and Darkness Dance

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By Denise Turney


love flowers

Wikimedia Commons – GNU Free Documentation License

The best experiences in this world still seem to showcase the illusion that there’s a dance between light and darkness. Sweet dreams are challenged by family departures, political upheaval, economic crisis and relationship disappointments. By the time you do fulfill a dream or reach the top of a long term goal, you might feel fatigued.

Getting to the top is only part of the path

Then, there’s the work of maintaining the levels of success that you worked hard to gain. If you earn an income as an athlete and you’ve been competing for longer than 15 years, you know how hard it is to accept that, despite how hard you work out or despite how many mental exercises, including meditation, that you engage in, you’re aging body is changing in ways that will soon force you away from the sport you love so much.

It happens to parents who invest years into their children only to stand at the edge of the front yard and watch those same children, now grown adults, drive away from the house that they grew up in for the last time. Intervals between change, times when you feel or sense that something is about to happen that you have no control over, can be tough.

Letting go is part of this world’s dance

You’ve got it. Life in this world is a series of “embraces” and “let gos“. It’s the “let gos” that can make it feel like darkness is dancing with light. You win to let go of the life experiences that made you feel like you were on top.

If you’re like Raymond Clarke, the main character in the novel Love Pour Over Me, you might seek the safest life possible as an attempt to avoid having to let go of someone or something you love. For Raymond, the dance started early, when Raymond was only two years old.

Continuing to move forward – advance; keep loving

That’s when Raymond’s mother abandoned him, leaving him to fend for himself while he grew up with his father, Malcolm. After Raymond’s mother abandon’s him, Malcolm sinks deep into untreated alcoholism. It’s at this point that Raymond becomes much more than a son. It’s at this point that Raymond becomes a target for his father’s disappointments, rage, fear and hurt.

It’s a miracle that Raymond survives, but survive Raymond does. Yet, a hard childhood has left Raymond with emotional and psychological wounds. Raymond carries these wounds with him to university in Pennsylvania. As much as Raymond seeks to conceal his wounds, they seep into his relationships, especially his closest relationships.

And the dance begins.

Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at –

http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

Sources:

Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Love-Pour-Over-Me-ebook/dp/B007MC0Z2C

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-pour-over-me-denise-turney/1109600654

Smart Life Choices Lead to More Happiness

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By Denise Turney


woman sitting in window

Wikimedia Commons – Picture by Leonardo Aguiar

 

Choices to more happiness require insight as Raymond Clarke learns in the book, Love Pour Over Me. Getting to more happiness also requires courage.

It’s easy to get stuck in patterns. Before you know it, you start to believe that without patterns (even the wrong patterns), you won’t survive.

Before you know it, you think that being unhappy is normal.

You Can Be Happy – You Deserve Happiness

Explore what causes you to experience happiness. A journal is a good friend to bring along on this exploration.

Write down experiences that cause you to feel angry, afraid, hopeful, under illusion or way too damned dreamy. Also, write down experiences that find you feeling free, light hearted, unafraid and happy.

Listen to friends, colleagues, family and neighbors when they say things like “You seem happy” or “You seem really excited about that”. What are you doing or talking about when people who know you make those comments? It could be a clue to what may bring you more happiness.

Pay Attention to Others for More Happiness Clues

Consider experiences that make most people happy. Reducing work hours, exercising, meditating and singing have long made people happy. So too does participating in a positive hobby (i.e. painting, sculpting, singing, acting, model plane flying) and attending group discussions. Other common activities that induce happiness include soaking in a warm bath, listening to beautiful, soothing music, nature walks, writing in a journal and dancing.

Who knows? Insight could pop up as you are engaging in one of the above activities.

If something deep within directs you to take a specific action, pray about it. Be willing to take action if your True Self directs you to do so. You may not want to get into the habit of resisting taking action on ideas that surface from deep within yourself. Excellence at resisting change could block you from receiving the very experiences that could find you enjoying more happiness.

Be willing to start small if you find yourself resisting change. Take one step that leads you toward what you want and give yourself time to adjust to the change, before you take a larger step, if needed. It’s also important that you remember that parts of you may still be resisting change. This may happen because a part of you thinks a new experience may be just like a previous experience that turned out negatively.

Above all, keep moving forward, again with patience.

Being patient is a sign that you love yourself. Practicing self-love may find you more open to making and taking action on greater choices that lead to more happiness. Stay on the path. There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy the love and happiness that Raymond Clarke steps into as he stays on his path in Love Pour Over Me.

Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at –

http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

Sources:

Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Love-Pour-Over-Me-ebook/dp/B007MC0Z2C

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-pour-over-me-denise-turney/1109600654

Real Love, What’s Holding You Back?

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By Rhonda Campbell


love

Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain

Real love is the most desired element in creation and yet, we often think about love through the lens of its complete opposite — fear. Real love quotes are often tinted with fear. Don’t think so? How about, “Real love is always chaotic,” “When love is real, it doesn’t lie, cheat, pretend, hurt you or make you feel unwanted. It’s supposed to be a cure to all your worries,” and “A person that truly loves you will never let you go, no matter how hard the situation is.”

Real Love Doesn’t Happen In The Past

It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been burned by what they thought was real love in the past. Guess what? It is past experiences and past memories that hold us back from receiving real love. We keep expecting the past to repeat itself.

If you think about everything that you’re scared of, the common denominator might be that the fear is rooted in something that happened in the past. Scared to be abandoned or to feel as if someone else was “chosen” over you?

Were you picked last to join school sports teams? Did a friend choose to play with someone else instead of you when you were a kid? Did a parent transition, walk out or not keep in touch following a divorce?

Fear of rejection or abandonment could worsen if you experienced one or more of the above (or a similar event) several times as a child then experienced a hard breakup as an adult. That includes getting cheated on, manipulated, used or lied to.

What if you’re walking around constantly telling yourself that if you let anyone get close to you the past hurtful experiences will only happen again? How close do you think you’d let people get to you?

When you think about it, it’s a warped form of self-love. It’s also proof that we cannot protect ourselves and open up to love at the same time. There’s too much that we don’t know. There’s too much that we miss.

In fact, as we try to protect ourselves, we could end up blocking or pushing love away.

Just because you’re in a relationship that doesn’t mean that you aren’t avoiding real love. To keep from feeling alone, you could feel desperate to always be in a relationship, but choose partners who mistreat you, people who, like you, are also afraid of love.

Take time to examine your relationships. It’s time well spent. After all, as Real Love by Mary J. Blige says, we’re all looking for real love.

Are they healthy? Do you feel afraid of being abandoned, chosen last, over looked or hurt by your partner? Did anything in the past happen to you that created these emotions?

You could be dragging the past into each present second, and not be aware that you’re living in the past.

As Raymond Clarke learns in Love Pour Over Me, real love and good living require faith and trust. If you’re doing what Raymond was doing in Love Pour Over Me and trying to avoid relationships or closeness, consider trusting that you’ll be cared for by the Creator, your Higher Self or the universe (whichever term you prefer).

How to write your best book

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By Denise Turney – African American Fiction Author of Love Pour Over Me


write your best book

Pic by Daniel Schwen – Wikimedia Common

Stephen King offered excellent advice when he encouraged writers to create stories for themselves first. Put aside concerns that you have to develop certain plots, character deficiencies or shocking dialogue to attract readers. Unleash your subconscious mind and write your best book.

Start with a technique that works for you. This is key. What works for another writer may not work for you. An author who I interviewed on Off The Shelf Book Talk Radio kept saying that she was struggling with finishing her latest novel.

She’d  decided to follow someone’s advice, let go of her usual novel writing technique and write as she said “by the seat of the pants”. This was an author who easily knocked out novellas within two weeks. She abandoned her normal writing technique and was struggling.

Techniques that you could write a great novel with include outline, character sketches, write a paragraph that reveals the moral of the story or identify the book’s plot. After you identify the book’s plot, write down scenes that you will use to climax up to the plot as well as scenes that will make the plot believable, even if you are writing science fiction.

Write regularly. I will never forget New York Times bestselling author, Walter Mosley, sharing that writing is mainly subconscious. Writing regularly can make it easier for you to access your subconscious when you sit down to create your best book.

You don’t have to write on a novel every day. You can respond to writing prompts. Other ways to write every day include journaling, writing poetry, working on short stories or writing articles and blog posts.

Read great books. But, don’t read to copy another author’s style. It is your personal style that readers want to enjoy. Every great book is not a bestseller. There are great books that don’t garner 1,000 sales, which goes back to author Stephen King’s advice.

Let yourself get into the story, really into the heart of the story. As you write the first draft, let your imagination flow. Wait until you have written the first draft before you start editing your novel. Don’t be surprised if your subconscious mind gives you surprising clues or scenes to write.

Some writers receive dreams about characters who they are writing about. Other writers may dream about a twist to take with a plot. This may not happen unless you let yourself get into the story. Exercising your passion for writing may well be the number one way to write your best book. You can focus on marketing and promoting your book after the first draft is written.

**Thank you for hanging out with me. Keep up with writing and the wonderful world of books by visiting my blog often. Grab your copy of Love Pour Over Me at https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html or http://www.amazon.com/Love-Pour-Over-Me-ebook/dp/B007MC0Z2C or http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-pour-over-me-denise-turney/1109600654

Things that make Ohio great

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By Denise Turney

Ohio, also known as the Buckeye state, is a Midwestern state that has helped determine presidential elections for years. Like neighboring Indiana, Ohio has a fair share of small cities. From these small cities (and larger Ohio towns) have come some of the world’s greatest achievers in business, society, politics, arts and sports.

Granville T. Woods, William H. Bennett, James Ritty and Orville Wright are great inventors who were born in Ohio. LeBron James, Pete Rose, Edwin Moses and Coach Chuck Noll are people who have had a significant impact in the sports arena who were born in Ohio. And who can forget Erma Bombeck, Toni Morrison, Rita Dove, Dorothy Dandridge, Clara Ward and Paul Laurence Dunbar, great artists who are Ohio natives.

Check out these pictures of just a few things that make Ohio great!

orville wright house ohio

Orville Wright House in Dayton, Ohio (The city is also home to the Paul Laurence Dunbar House which is located in West Dayton – tours are available at both historic homes.)

 

 

nfl hall of fame ohio

 

NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio

 

 

 

great american ballpark ohio

 

 

Great American Ballpark (This is where the Cincinnati Reds play.)

 

 

coney island ohioConey Island (A lot of Ohioans and tourists have created lifelong memories at Coney Island, especially during their childhood.)

glenn research center ohio

 

 

Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio

 

 

rock and roll hall of fame ohio

 

 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio

 

 

huntingdon gardens ohio

 

 

Huntingdon Park and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio

 

 

palace theatre ohio

 

Historic Palace Theatre in Columbus, Ohio

 

 

 

national underground musuem ohio

 

 

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

 

imagination station ohio

 

 

Imagination Station in Toledo, Ohio

 

 

 

river downs ohio

 

 

River Downs Horse Track in Cincinnati, Ohio

 

 

fort hill state memorial ohio

 

 

Fort Hill State Memorial in Hillsboro, Ohio

 

 

national air force museum ohio

 

 

National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio

 

ohio state university

 

 

Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio

 

 

It’s no wonder that Ohio has produced outstanding achievers. One of the state’s cities (Columbus) ranks as the 5th most literate city in America. The state motto is “With God, all things are possible.” The state’s name is derived from a Native American phrase that means “beautiful river”.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Ohio native, Raymond Clarke, Brenda and the other characters in the book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com ($3.03 – lowest price I’ve found so far) and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Stop lying to yourself

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By Denise Turney
“You forgot to lock your door” or “Your lover is mad at you” are statements, eliciting fear, that you may have told yourself not once but several times. Depending on how repetitive your thoughts are, just to gain a semblance of peace, you might turn back and check your home or car door. If the thought points to your lover, you might spend hours, perhaps days, trying to figure out what went wrong and how you can fix things.

What you might not do is stop and consider how many other times a thought popped into your head, telling you that you’d forgotten or neglected something or that there was a “big problem” for you to deal with when, in actuality, you’d hadn’t forgotten or neglected anything, when there was no problem to deal with. Considering how full your life is, one “to do” piling on top of another, it’s easy to see how you could miss mental patterns you get stuck replaying.

If you’re not watchful, you could get stuck in one or more areas of your life. Your relationships could go from bad to better back to bad, all because you keep believing lies you tell yourself. You could become worried or anxious each time you think you’ve forgotten something, when there was nothing you’d forgotten.  Your income could increase only to go back down again. (Oh, our precious and at times incredibly annoying “thoughts”.)

But, those aren’t the only ways lies you tell yourself could keep you stuck. If you’re generally positive, you might tell yourself that a person who appeared to be smiling at you wants to date you, when they might have been smiling at someone standing behind you. You might tell yourself that your supervisor scheduled a last minute meeting with you because she wants to commend you on the job you did on a recent project.

This type of thinking can not only alter your moods, it can keep you from moving forward. This happens because lies are like blinders, keeping you from seeing the whole picture. If you don’t think lies you tell yourself have impact, stop and think about people who tell themselves they’re going to hit the lottery (and I’m talking hit the lottery big), and the lie propels them to spend $100 on lottery tickets at a time when the person is already thousands of dollars in debt — debt that was created due to gambling.

You don’t have to be a gambler to lie to yourself.

One way to stop the lies (or at least stop believing them) is to see and accept what’s going on in your life. Don’t sugar coat or downgrade things. Take action steps to improve one situation at a time. Measure the results of your efforts. (It’s why goal setting was so big years ago.)

Don’t tell yourself something is happening if it isn’t. Don’t live on promises when you tell yourself that something “magical” is going to happen to bail you out of a situation. Also, watch how certain thoughts keep you from making decisions and taking ACTION.

One last reminder — Pay attention to your thoughts. You just might be conning yourself.

Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at –

http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

Sources:

Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Love-Pour-Over-Me-ebook/dp/B007MC0Z2C

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-pour-over-me-denise-turney/1109600654

This must be done to achieve book writing success

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By Denise Turney
Your new book is scheduled to hit the market in three months. Last night, you sat at your kitchen table reviewing the final page proofs, before shipping the manuscript off to your publisher with a few final changes. You’re excited, full of enthusiasm.

When your book publisher ask you about steps you’re going to take to get the word about your new book – the one you hope turns into a bestselling novel –  you rattle off a laundry list of activities, everything from attending book festivals to speaking at public events to upgrading your website to scheduling interviews. Fortunately, you won’t have to leave the comforts of your home to find and schedule dozens of the above events.

Follow through is more important than you think

Yet, scheduling book events (starting something) isn’t enough. If you hope to achieve success as a book writer, you have to follow through. It’s not enough just to add an event like a book conference or book signing to your schedule.

For example, if you schedule radio interviews, you can draft at least five sample questions to give to radio  hosts, making their job easier. You can also create a media page about your books at your website, so newspaper, radio and television interviewers can grab quick information about you to include in articles and interviews they do on you. And, of course, be sure to send the hosts your media kit.

What to do as interview dates get closer

One week before your interviews, contact radio hosts and let them know that you are ready for the interviews. Include the dates and times of the interviews in your correspondence to hosts. This way, hosts can reach out to you should the dates or times of interviews have changed.

Most importantly, show up for interviews at least 3 to 5 minutes early. Some hosts may ask you to show up 10 minutes early. Get in the habit of showing up for interviews late or not showing up at all, and you might earn yourself a bad reputation. Years from now, that reputation could make it very hard for you to land interviews which, in turn, could impact you ability to generate book sales.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in my new book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Find out if you’re falling in love

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By Denise Turney

You feel alive, alert and in tune with everything around you, in ways that you hadn’t before you met your lover!  To exclaim that life is wonderful feels like such an understatement to you. If everyone could feel the way you feel right now, the world would be a much better place. Emotions and moods like depression, frustration, anger and sadness might not exist.

Being in love with someone else is one of the sweetest, most rewarding, feelings and experiences anyone could ever have!  Yet, a racing heart, overflow of hopefulness and a constant expectation that rich experiences will continue to unfold right before your eyes, doesn’t always point to the fact that you’ve joined in love with someone else.

What you’re experiencing could actually be lust. If you don’t pay attention, the relationship you’re having with your lover may not ascend beyond infatuation, could even dip downward into obsession. Neither you or your love wants that. To increase the chances that you’re actually in love and not feasting on lust, find out if what you’re experiencing meets the signs of falling in love.

According to Live Science, there are scientific signs of falling in love. These signs include thinking that the person you’re in a relationship with is unique or special. When you’re in love, you also focus on the positive traits your lover has.

Furthermore, “You bounce between exhilaration, euphoria, increased energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, trembling, a racing heart and accelerated breathing, as well as anxiety, panic and feelings of despair when your relationship suffers even the smallest setback.” The trick with this is to avoid longing for the “high” being in love brings. Get stuck on the “high” and you could find yourself jumping from relationship to relationship,, moving on to someone new whenever the “high” of being in love starts to wear off.

Longing to be with your lover all the time is another sign that you’re in love. Another sign that you’re in love is if you wonder what your lover would think about an outfit you wore, a new job promotion you received, how your home would look if you rearranged the furniture, etc. Bottom line. You care about what your lover thinks. You also want to see and help make them feel happiness, joy and satisfaction.

If you want your relationship to last throughout the remainder of your physical experience, you’re going to have to learn how to honor, respect, celebrate and appreciate your lover long after the feelings of being “in love” have evolved into something deeper. Appreciating the small, everyday things the person you love does goes a long way. So too does communicating with your lover regularly so you can deepen the emotional bond that you share.

It’s this that Raymond and Brenda learn as they evolve and grow as scenes unfold throughout Love Pour Over Me.

Share the experience. Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at –

http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

Great gifts for freelance writers

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By Denise Turney
Freelance writers love to receive gifts that make it easier for them to start and finish writing projects. A new laptop, a waterproof keyboard or a multi-functional printer are great gifts for freelance writers. It’s these types of gifts that save freelancer writers time. Because freelance writers put in long hours, cranking out one article, white paper, press release or website content project after another, little beats a comfortable, high-back leather chair as a gift.

Great gifts that freelance writers will love

You can warm freelance writers’ hearts by gifting them with scented candles, back warmers or a pair of comfortable socks, the kind of socks that have cartoon characters on them. Writers love inspirational and motivational quotes; add in cartoon characters and you have a winning combination. Speaking of motivation, you can encourage the freelancer writers in your life to step away from working and take a deep breath, by giving them an iPod as a gift.

An iPod will give freelance writers a reason to exercise their imagination. After all, who doesn’t love to daydream, imagining that he’s setting an Olympic record or creating the next New York Times bestselling novel? Depending on their lifestyle, freelance writers also might turn on their iPod and take off running, skateboarding or bicycling around the neighborhood.

Hard to beat that for staying in good physical condition and keeping the creative juices flowing. If you know someone who freelances who doesn’t have a smartphone, it might be time to upgrade them. Should the freelance writer argue that she’s doing just fine with her old cell phone, consider pointing out that she can search the Internet, completing writing research work, email her writing clients and stay in touch with family and friends — all while using a smartphone.

Laptop cases, ruled executive calendars, spa gift certificates and foreign language software are other great gifts for freelance writers. Bookends and a tall bookcase are other gifts freelance writers appreciate and use. You can’t go wrong when buying freelance writers felt or quill pens either. The creative types will definitely make good use of those gifts.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in my new book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

How to sustain a freelance writing career

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By Denise Turney
Freelance writing offers a range of rewards, including the chance to work from home, set your own hours, travel and give yourself salary increases two or more times a year. Salary increases come for freelance writers when they market their skills and land jobs with higher paying clients. Freelance writers can also give themselves salary increases by working longer hours or taking on more projects.

Developing a successful freelance writing career

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, writers, including freelance writers and authors, earned a median annual salary of $55,940 in 2012. Sustaining a successful freelance writing career calls for tenacity, resilience and assertiveness. Assertiveness is crucial because rare are the instances when corporations and small business reach out to freelance writers, especially new freelance writers, asking them to create content for them.

This means, writers have to build winning portfolios that highlight key projects (i.e. website content, headlines, product reviews, advertorials, white papers) they’ve worked on. In addition to publishing their portfolios on the Internet, to land more higher paying clients, freelance writers research the market and contact companies they’re interested in writing for. They do this at least one day a week. It helps to keep their name in front of quality employers.

Continuing to grow a freelance writing portfolio

To keep themselves honest, successful freelance writers may keep a spreadsheet or database that details the names of prospective clients they reach out to, the date they contacted a prospect and the results of the contact. Should initial contacts not prove fruitful, freelancers schedule a date to follow p with those prospects. That’s right. Earning a living as a freelance writer requires these creative workers to perform sales work, and regularly, again – at least once a week. Rather than getting comfortable working for one to two clients who provide them lots of writing work, successful freelancers continuously market themselves.

In fact, some freelance writers don’t rest until they land 10-12 writing clients. It goes without saying that successful writers value each word they use. They work to get out in front of a story. Rather than copying work from other writers, they’re original, innovative. To stay sharp, they also complete certifications and continue learning.

When work is low, successful freelance writers contact clients they haven’t received work from in several weeks, asking if they have content they need created. They value these relationships and keep in touch with all of their clients throughout the year.

Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at – http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html