I’m embarking on a new venture: a new kind of book club. The book of choice is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, a combination of an autobiography and fiction. This initiation book was written with rich imagery as it describes the relationship of a young boy and his redbone hunting hounds in the Ozark Mountains. The time period is 1920’s – 1930’s, a decade to which most senior citizens can relate and most people have had a pet at some point in life. The plan is to read this book together, a chapter at a time, and relate to the experiences of the main character, either writing them down in a booklet or drawing them. This exercise allows people to create a memory book about their life experiences to pass on to posterity. My husband, John, will be assisting in helping senior citizens create books about their life memories as »
A Movie for the Love of Writers
Just got to tell you about The Man Who Invented Christmas – one great movie! Don’t care much for the title; never thought of Christmas as an invention – more of a blessed and miraculous event, actually. However, this movie is able to show the amazing dynamic of the interaction between the author and his characters as they take on a life of their own. And it’s true; once they become believable – come alive – their personalities begin to drive their behavior and this begins to drive the progression of the plot. Sometimes, it’s like the writer has to buckle in and go along for the ride as the characters develop the storyline (which the writer has determined) in their own style. If you get a chance to see this movie, don’t hesitate! And if there are any writers reading this – you’ll love the truth as writers see it – for »
Writer’s Blog
I am someone who HATES revisions. And that’s pretty strange coming from a retired high school English teacher, right? My first book, Consuming Fire: An Alexa Silven Novel, was begun 30 years ago and went through 14 revisions before we published it as an ebook. Those revisions were basically due to changes in content as I got all the characters’ personalities figured out and as I realized that some scenes were just-over-the-line improbable. Now, since my son has become my content editor, we decided to REWRITE the first book, updating all references and usages of technology (including photography) and substituting ride-shares for cabs. What an amazing endeavor! I now know the depths that revision can take. The job is done and now we need a new title – one that incorporates the old title but definitely indicates this is one new & improved mystery/suspense thriller. Got any ideas? And finally, I’ll have »
My studio, a place I love!
And…a whole new career I’m embracing 100%. For those of you who like GarageBand, I’ve found that recording and editing on that program has become one of my favorite things to do. And of course, I liked it more after spending hours learning and perfecting my skills. My studio is a soundproof room in our house, complete with recording equipment our son Dan picked out for me. AND – he made wall hangings out of the book covers he’s created for each of our 6 books – check out this picture of my studio with those book covers hanging over my recording equipment. Creating the right environment is really encouraging, not to mention cool.
Finally learning to love revision…
…though it’s really not fun to rewrite or re-record your book, there are advantages. My first book was so difficult to write because the entire story line and characters and setting were being created for the first time. Writing sequels wasn’t as difficult because they fed off the basics that were put in place in the first book. But here we are, the entire trilogy online with BN, iTunes, and Amazon and all three recorded and available on Audible.com. Sounds like a done deal, right? Welllll….since I’m a lot more experienced writer than I was with my first book, Consuming Fire: An Alexa Silven Novel, my editor and now manager, Dan, and I have decided to rewrite and update Consuming Fire. At first, I was disagreeable because that’s a lot of work. But as we progress, I’m actually excited to see this story evolving into something I’m really proud of. My son Dan is »
Bulletproof Wedding is…
…finally available on Audible.com! This is the last book in the Alexa Silven trilogy. Can’t tell you how difficult it was to read, remove all extraneoous noises, and edit this recording. But I’m really glad I’ve learned these new skill sets. If you’re not learning and growing, you’re stagnating…at least that’s how it seems to work for me. You know, like spinning your wheels in the mud – lots of stuff flying in all directions, but you’re really not going anywhere. Catch the action in the Alexa Silven novels!
Cloud 9 and Grateful!!
Oct. 17 – Cloud 9 and Grateful!! Thank you to everyone who participated in the Amazon Giveaway of Consuming Fire: An Alexa Silven Novel !!! 50 free eBooks were claimed within minutes! I would love to know what you think about the book. Stay tuned for future giveaways. And don’t forget to check our blogs on cbhoffmann.com.
Voice-Over Training
Oct. 3 – Hi! It’s been awhile, but I’ve been busy recording our books and writing about planet Metus. Recording and voice-overs were totally foreign to me until Dan set up the equipment and got me started. He also arranged for a training session with Eric of Phantom City Studios. There are always some tricks and techniques you wouldn’t figure out on your own, so I paid close attention and got some hands-on training. Eric did a good job! Mark is helping with the media inserts for these blogs. Hey! It’s definitely a team effort! My thanks to Dan & Mark for keeping our boat afloat.
Trip to D.C., Day 1
The highlight of the day and my writing career happened after the funeral. My writing partner and son, Dan, and his wife Emille went to the Library of Congress with me to hand deliver the last three manuscripts for copyrighting. We followed the yellow brick road in the underground tunnel to the Madison Building. Helpful employees kept us going in the right direction to the Copyright Office where we gave our submissions to the clerk. Love the Alexa silhouette Dan made! Lots of fun photographing it everywhere! Dan has really creative ideas and made this whole event memorable while my husband and son, Mark, kept circling the block waiting for us to emerge victorious.
