Lies in a Season of Tribulation by Launa McNeilly

The weather in this Northeastern little town has been wonderful. Warmer days, and above freezing nights are welcome. The economy is still in the dumps but my spirits are rising with the temps!!

I'm still trying to wrap up my third novel but I'm over 425 pages and the story continues. I keep finding more and more to add to the story. I'm enjoying writing it, so, I guess the story will go until it concludes.

My second book, now that's a quandry. I'm just not sure how I want to proceed with it. Do I publish it myself or get old trying to find an agent that will find a publisher that will put it in print? I'm not liking the latter. Funds for my writing is limited. I am talking with the graphic artist who did my first bookcover for, Lies, which was incredible. I love that cover!! Hopefully we can get that going soon. Do I do a paperback or a hardcover? Maybe, I don't do either, but to start, just get it into ebook format.  That I can do for free. At this point, free is good.

I'm looking forward to beginning book number four. I have it in my head and have started to write notes. I don't organize my books with the outlines that many do. I still do take notes of plots and thoughts so that when I begin the new book, they will arouse the memory of what it will consist of. I am a write and let the story unfold as I type. It is easier for me to do it that way and more enjoyable. My stories often surprise me with the twists and turns they take so I never get bored trying to conform to the outline. I often get as surprised as the reader of the finished book when I am writing it. Bonus!

Winter has been short in months this year but too long in hybernating form. I'm ready to get out and walk, commune with nature( as long as it's not a bear), and refresh my soul with lots of sun and warmth. It's always good for the constructive energy it provides my story telling mind. I am ready for Spring in Maine!  Heaven, if we don't have a mud season and even that is looking pretty positive.

If there are any readers of this blog that have any advice for me, please leave me a comment. I will respond. Thanks for reading.

I was checking out Twitter and the language was so horrific that I clicked out of it. It has made me think about my own writing. I think it is sad that we have to put in our books the words being bandied about in the world today. In my book, Lies, In a Season of Tribulation I used a few lousy words and I hated to do that but the reality of today is if I wanted the conversations to sound real, there had to be those choice words. I am not a purist in any sense of the word but our English has gotten atrocious.

If a movie today is not rated R then it won't recieve the kind of ticket sales the producers desire. So, they throw in a few bad words and VOILA, an R rating. Does it change the movie at all, not really, but we have become used to either listening to the EF word constantly or getting a peek at a boob. Constituting an R rating.

When writing a book with dialogue, you try to make your characters real and thus use the language they would speak if they were real. Unfortunately, unless you are making a children's movie or writing for children, then you are expected to throw those words into your prose. The EF word was always used for effect in relaying the emotions of the speaker, but now a days, it is used as part of every sentence by some people. Not neccesarily to emphasize strength in emotion but just because it is a habit to say it. My own young daughter has been overheard using it in simple conversation to my dismay. I am all about freedom of speech but boy I think it would be nice if we didn't have to use those words that make us cringe, just because we can.

I am hoping by writing this blog that any reader that has the EF word as part of their everyday language  might be more aware of just how many times in a conversation that they say it. Hopefully, it might reduce the use of it so much. Of course I could enrage a few readers and make them say it even more. It is a petty thing to be disturbed by, but it does turn me off when having a conversation with someone that uses it.  Have I ever used the word? Oh yes, to stress my anger, I have resorted to it a few times. Does it make me a bad person? No, but it does show me that I need more self control when I'm angry.

Everyone wants to clean up the Earth and I think that is noble. Maybe the first way would be to stop spewing toxic words around . I would much rather hear an "Ah" when speaking, when the next word isn't right there, then EF, EFFING, EFFED, for a substitute.

I'm just expressing my own opinion.  I guess respect for one that you are speaking with might keep the word in check but I find respect is another behavior lacking in this world of ours today. That, I'll save for another blog.   Thanks for reading. I know," EF you Launa McNeilly!" Sigh.

I didn't make any resolutions for this year but I do have some goals that I will strive to reach. I'll start with my writing.  I will strive to get the second book, A Spirit's Touch, published either with an agent and traditional publisher or by myself. It's a wonderful story that my editor, ( daughter in law, Sheila) loved. I think it's good. Trouble is, I'm not sure where it fits in with what catagory. Perhaps I will write a synopsis on this site and let my readers vote for which catagory they think it fits into. I have still not finished my third book and have been slow to do so because I am trying to pitch the second. The life of a writer. Anyhow, by the end of the year I hope to have second and third out there. The second anyway.  My hope for my first book, Lies, is to get it into the hands of as many as I can and let them spread the word. To do that, I have published in ebook format and it will be available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com on January 15th.  Two pretty good sites to be listed.

Okay, now we come to my personal goals.  Sooo many, but I'm approaching this rationally. I'm not expecting to metamorphis into a 58 year old woman that looks like she's twenty five. I've tried all the wonder creams, instant facelifts, movie star products and have come to realize that they may work on those that are only twenty five years old but not so much on the more mature. It wasn't that hard to look twenty five when I was twenty five. Not planning on going under the knife, book hasn't sold that much, so I've figured out that I need to get back to basics. Oh yes, diet, exercise (groan),and less stress in my life. Sound good? Not really, but let's face it, it's the only way that's free. Free I can afford. Besides, if I invested money instead of my own sweat and hunger, I would feel stress. This way I figure I can do all three and if I cheat every now  and then on two of them,( not saying I'm going to),  it won't create stress for me. I'm used to failure.  Success would scare the hell out of me!  Hence, stress. Makes sense to me. Do I need therapy? Hmm, probably, but I'll save that for next year. Maybe.

Phew, the holidays are over and now it's a new year. Time to get back to what is a normal routine.  My youngest is back in school and the college girl has a few more days and then she will be back at UMO. Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays but I also love the normalcy of my life which comes when all the festivities are over.

I have published my book, Lies, In a Season of Tribulation at Smashwords.com in ebook. I am quite proud of myself though I am still trying to figure out what I am supposed to do with the tabs problem I am having in trying to publish it in premium status. My book is downloadable now in all formats, kindle, sony, etc. but it's not listed on Amazon, B&N, etc because I can't figure out the directions on tabs. I'm not a computer geek, I'm computer basic. I'm learning though.

I'm still in search for an agent since I let my agent go. I have two books that need to get published and I'm debating how I want to do that. I would prefer the agent and the traditional route with the big publisher but then again, that could take years, if ever. I also have the option of publishing myself on ebook and going the paperback route with a book for minimal costs, now. Hmm? I'm not jumping at anything, at this point, but it is in my brain being processed as I write. If anyone has an opinion on this please leave me a comment.

Regardless of my current status, I am so pleased to have my first book in ebook format. It has been a big leap for me to do this on my own. Actually, quite liberating. Though the big publishers say they don't believe this new technology will last, I think they are just trying to convince themselves. I believe there were skeptics when the personal computer first came out and look at us now! The evolution of technology is an amazing thing and I don't see us going backwards any time soon.

It has been quite a year that is about to end. Thankfully, we end the year with such a wonderful holiday as Christmas, and all the other wonderful celebrations of faith. It is a time for family and friends which makes it so special.

Another year gone with much to reflect on.  Will I be making a New Year's resolution, I don't think so. I am horrible at keeping them so why make myself go through another guilt trip because I broke it before the month of January was even over. I might have done better in years past with some of my resolutions but I don't think I ever kept one going for very long. So, I will save myself that moment of recrimination and pass.

I will reflect on what has happened this year and some events will bring me to tears and some will make me laugh.  As with most years, we all have to take the good with the bad and hope we can end the year with a smile. I have had a few years where the smile never came but that's when you thank the Lord that the year is over and a new one is beginning.

There are a few more days to the end of this year and I am doing my best to keep myself out of trouble so that I can end it with a smile. Not everything went as I would have liked, but then again, when does it? Oh, I really can't complain too much. I'm sure most things ended up the way they were supposed to, even though, not exactly to my liking. For instance, my first novel was published, but come to find out, not with a reputable publisher. That's okay. I'm still licking my wounds but they will eventually heal. Because of this experience, I have studied and learned the ways in which to get back on track.  A big lesson learned and one I will never forget. All in all, I have a published book that, so far, everyone that has read it enjoys it. That in itself makes me smile.

I'm a wishing all of my members, visitors, and contributors to my site a wonderful Holiday Season. I'm hoping you all end this year with a smile. God Bless!

It's getting close to the end of another year and I'm going to reflect on the jobs that I have held in my life. I'm going to skip over the first job which was babysitting. That went fine since I hadn't had children yet.  I worked a summer job at a preschool type affair. Lots of kids, in a school setting, hated it. It might have been that since I was in school myself, that I really could of thought of better places to be on summer break then in a stupid classroom. I didn't repeat that job. Instead of being smart and going to college, I got married and had three children. Now that's a job!  Once I grew up and figured out what I had done, I filed for divorce. This took me about ten years of staying at home being just mom and wife. Liked the mom part, not so crazy about the other. I will give husband number one the credit of allowing me to grow up in a safe environment and giving me three great kids.

I got a taste of the real world while separated and waiting for a divorce. I worked for one week in a tanning factory. I'm not big on manual labor but I got hired because I answered the question, "whats nine times seven?" with sixty-three. Yes, I got it right. He hired me on the spot.  Now if I had been smart I would have run out the door and never returned, but, of course, being new at the outside the home job thing and having three mouths plus my own to feed, I stayed. They must of thought I was smart because I could multiply so they put me upstairs to mix chemicals. I don't work well with chemicals, especially when they tell you not to get any on you and they make you wear heavy rubber gloves that go half way up your arm with an apron that weighed more than I did.  Don't linger on that image too long because I didn't.

My next job was serving burgers and fries at McDonalds. That was exciting. I needed the bread so I could buy the other kind of bread. And milk, etc. My ego took a hit with that job.  Moved up the ladder to serving meals in a real restaurant. I liked the tips but that was pretty much it. 

I wanted a career, not a job. Without a college degree in my back pocket or some kind of special schooling, a job was all I was going to get. So I did the next best thing. I got married again.

Husband number two's family owned a restaurant which I worked at. I was now elevated to the position of hostess. Until the restaurant got swamped and I had to wait tables in heels. That, takes talent and alot of balance.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't marry just for the hostessing job. But this blog is about my working career and not about that.  Moving on, after six years of hostessing  I went to cosmetology school. Did wonderful for about three months and then due to unforseen circumstances, no fault of my own, I filed for divorce.  Should of been available to go on those business trips with him, but again, moving right along, divorce number two.

Once again, I am single with three children, one in college. I went to work as a teller in a bank. Now there I got to wear the nice clothes and they didn't have any chemicals that I needed to handle. It was going fine. Along comes husband number three. Don't panic, third time's a charm.

My husband was transferred to another city with his job and so I went to work at another bank. This bank put me in the drive up window at the busiest branch in the city. Forget the heels and the nice clothes, I was in the trenches. Not liking banking anymore. I got my real estate license and went to work at one of the city's agencies. My husband gets transferred once again to another city. This city was bigger and harder to drive in. I was lucky to find my way to the closest supermarket and home again. Real Estate was out of the question.

Once we had settled in our own new home (had rented a house for a year) I again picked up  the paper and read the want ads. An interesting position sort of popped off the page and I made the call. I decided that I was pretty good at child rearing (none of the kids were in jail) so I went into theraputic fostercare. Well, I should say my husband and I. Poor man, what he puts up with. Anyway, we had many children grace our doorstep, some stayed and some didn't. This career move led us to our four adopted children. Some kids you can't wait to give back to the State and then there were those that we wanted to keep. This was a job I did well. I am trained well and still alive.

My husband and I decided to move back to our beloved hometown of Owls Head and build our retirement home. Kids were happy, we were happy. Here I am and the last job that I had was jewelry store owner. Went well until the ecomomy tanked. I am selling all aspects of the business. Would love to keep some of my jewelry pieces but no such luxury for me.

This brings me to present day and I now have a career instead of a job. I write books. So far only the first is published but my agent is working to get the second sold. Understand at this point in time, my career does not pay well. Hopefully, like with all business plans, give me five years and see where I am.

I have pretty much told you of my life jobs. You are probably wondering why. I guess in life we have choices to make and we make them. People will sometimes comment,"Don't you wish you could be that young and know what you know now?" My answer to that is, God forbid, NO!  Why, you might ask, well, lets think about it. As hard as my life has been, I have lived this long, have a wonderful husband, and nine pretty special kids. If I were able to go back and do it all over again, would I make different choices? As difficult as life can be, what if I chose differently and it ultimately was the wrong way to go? I think some of my choices are regrettable but I learned from them and moved on. It could have been worse and I for one would not want to go down that road again.

The old adage, "when life throws you lemons, make lemonade."  What if you don't have the sugar to put in it? That in my opinion would leave a very sour taste in one's mouth. Or how about, "you made your bed, now lie in it." Why? That means you'll just mess  it up again! There are a litany of other sayings but I think you get my drift. You make your decisions the best way you can and if you're smart, you will learn something and progress. It has helped shape me into who I am today. I'm okay with that.

Day after tomorrow I will start making my pies. Usually we have an apple, pumpkin, and a mincemeat and so thats my plan. I am teaching my two daughters to make crust so that they will carry on the homemade pie tradition. I failed to do this with the first couple daughters. My eldest daughter is bringing over the prepped apples for me to, as she put it, "do what it is you do" to make her pie for her. She is quite content to let me make the pie and is not interested in learning. She is an excellent cook and baker so I was a bit surprised that she has no interest in making pies. I missed my opportunity to teach pie baking with her.  My second daughter, who has been married for several years and has children, finally learned how to bake a turkey a couple years ago. I am not sure what she does about the pies. These last two will leave this home knowing my secrets of making crust whether they want to or not. I am firm in passing on my great grandmothers pie baking talent to at least two of the five girls.

Thanksgiving morning is an early one. My husband always gets the biggest turkey he can which means that it has hours to cook before it is ready to eat.  I get up, make coffee because nothing good happens without at least one cup of coffee. Then I am ready to start my stuffing. If the bird is too heavy for me to handle I make my husband get up and bathe the bird. It gets stuffed on both ends and slathered with butter. I usually cut little slits in the skin and stuff butter inside. In my house, you don't count calories.  Once the bird is in the oven we go back to bed and when we get up the aroma is incredible! One of the great things about cooking for Thanksgiving is you don't need the scented candles to make your home smell wonderful. I won't bore you with the rest of the dishes that I cook but on the holidays the cooking takes on a different sense of inportance. The sense of family , togetherness, sharing, and tradition  makes those meals special.  My children do not all come home for the holidays but I have sent them off with what the day means and hopefully some skills in the kitchen. My boys that are married have wonderful wives that have learned the art of holiday cooking. They will eat well. My married daughters have no complaints from their husbands so either the men like their cooking or are smart enough not to say anything.

The season is one of sharing. Don't forget to give to those that are less fortunate than ourselves. The economy is bad for most of us but that is even more reason to share what you can with those who are hit the hardest. Try to remember why we have the holiday and all the sharing that went on back then. When it all settles, family is our most inportant asset.  Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day with family, friends, and most likely, football. Enjoy!

To keep myself optimistic about my life as a writer/author, I think about those that were minding their own business and someone walked up to them offering to make them a star. I'm keeping this clean. I'm not talking about the pervert or the pediphile. I'm talking about the agent that notices the beautiful girl, likes her mannerisms along with her beauty, and VOILA, she's a star!  No, I'm not trying to change my profession, just keep the dream alive that it still can happen. In my case, I'm looking at if from an author's position.  Take Stephen King, he finally got a book published and it was made into the movie, Carrie. That made Stephen King a star. Did he deserve it, of course, he is brilliant in the scary story department.  Was Carrie his best work?  Not by a long shot.

But it did put him in the position of writing some of his best as that was what he could concentrate on without holding down an outside job to feed himself.

I have watched some of these authors rise to star status in the writing world. Take Stephanie Meyers, now thats another story that keeps the dream alive! It wasn't overnight success but darn close to it in this world we live in. I'm not even going to get into the Harry Potter series but you get the idea. Yes, they wrote about fascinating subjects, vampires and witches, that caught on like wildfire, but once again, it took the promise of a movie, and with the sequels to come, that gave the superstar status to them. Do I write about such characters? No, and probably never will. That kind of story isn't in me, at least at the present time. Take Dan Brown, he made us think about something pretty central to most of us and got us questioning. Once again, made into a movie and now everyone rushes to buy  the new Dan Brown book. I'm telling you that unless your book gets made into a movie these days, you remain unknown. Not counting those already famous before they wrote a book.

I'm thinking luck has alot to do with hitting it big but talent does too. If you didn't write a good book then all the luck in the world won't get it made into a movie. I don't plan to sit in some coffee shop waiting to be discovered as the chances of that happening is just plain silly. Will my book be made into a movie? I think, predjudiced as I am, that it would make a great one but the chances are about as silly as sitting in the coffee shop. Although,as with luck, one never knows, now do we? That my friends is called optimism. That I'm loaded with as I wouldn't be able to write without it. Of course, some will call it foolishness though both have the same key ingredient, hope.

This is a time of green thinkers. What I mean is everyone wants to have a cleaner Earth. I am in full support of that if it allows those individuals to do what they can and not be brow beaten into doing any more than that. I personally cannot afford an electric car and probably won't be able to for many years if ever. I do keep my car in good working order which keeps down on any excess exhaust fumes. I don't throw my trash on the side of the road and I try hard not to waste anything. How does this relate to my  writing, well lets think about it. I am published POD, print on demand for those that don't know what that means. I didn't until I got published.

POD means my book is printed when someone orders it. I don't have several copies stored anywhere that I know of. Wish I did when I'm in author mode. I still get my book out to who has ordered it, usually in twenty four hours. By being POD there are no wasted paper used. My book doesn't gather unread dust in some warehouse and ends up being burned or what ever they do with the old ones which contributes to the world's waste and pollution. I haven't killed an unneccesary tree or two to print an unwanted book. So, in that respect POD is a good thing.

The other side of the story, of course, is what the POD will to bookstores. You know the ones. The little corner bookstore in your town that you love going into and mulling through the aisles looking for your next book.  I know I have one and I love that place! You won't find my book on any of their aisles as I am POD. Sad for me. I do have a bright spot with my closest Barnes and Noble, Augusta, Me., as they do have my book on their shelf. Of course you already know that if you have read my blogs.  For an author, POD doesn't do much for sales. You need to know what you are looking for to type in that information to even get a gander at the book. I have an intriguing cover and I believe that is wasted sitting in POD mode. I think the old adage "don't judge a book by it's cover" which we all do, is lost on the PODs. Of course you judge a book by it's cover. It's what makes you pick up the book from the shelve and read the back. It is what gives the book it's first showing. Very important. So for an author of a great book with a terrific cover, POD doesn't get you very far. What will PODs do to local bookstores? I hope nothing but as the world becomes more electronic with PODs, Kindles, Nooks, Sony's version of the instant download and whatever comes next, who knows. What do I think would help local bookstores? I think they need to take a chance on new authors and give their books a chance to be seen. I especially think this is true for the home State of that author. If the book is right there and the cover can be seen and the author is from their own State, I think the book will get sold. Do they need to stock a pile? Absolutely not. It will only take a few to let you know whether the book is a seller or not. The small bookstores have a chance to promote new authors and I don't think they are thinking about that very much. They are powerful if they use that power. I think each bookstore should adopt a new author and promote.  What happens if you have twenty books that haven't sold, ask the author to do a booksigning. You'll get rid of them if that's what you need to do.

I have read several postings about what is the difference between fiction genre and fiction literary styles.  There are varying view points which leads me to write this blog.  I write for the masses.  I like to tell a good story that keeps the reader anxious to read the next page. I try not to use words that makes the average reader go to the dictionary and look up the meaning to figure out what the author is trying to convey. I'm not saying that most  readers do not have the capability to understand an underused word but my thought is why use it if there is another word that has the same meaning and is used readily in the world of speak. There is nothing I hate worse than to be reading a novel and several words I am not familiar with is used. I am not one to run to the dictionary to look it up so I continue to read hoping I can glean from the book what that word probably meant. To me that is aggrevating and stops me cold in the flow of the story. So from what I am understanding from all the debate of genre versus literary is that I am probably a genre fiction writer. So be it.  My purpose in writing the story is to have those reading it to know what the book is saying and not have to guess. Not all of us have PHDs and are looking for higher meaning when we pick up a fiction to read.

I would hope when one reads my books, they can follow along and know exactly what the story is conveying. It doesn't mean my book is fluff and like all dime romance novels, which it is not. It means I try to write like average people speak. In my mind it keeps the reader wondering what is going to happen next not what the previous sentence meant. I will never win an award for writing a novel of great words. My satisfaction is when someone calls me at eight in the morning to tell me how my story surprised them and they never saw it coming. Or, they call me to say they couldn't put the book down and had to know what was going to happen next. That my friends is the greatest reward and compliment I could get.