Ednah Walters's Blog, page 25

This is where I'm at with my WIP. I'm lagging behind a bit, but at least my computer woes are over. Thank you, Dell! No, sorry Dell, I'm shifting to HP Laptops when this one slows down or conks out on me. Your desktops are great. Laptops? Not so much.



Have you heard the latest on image rights? If you are using a picture you've gotten online, you know,Googled and fixed it up a bit and slapped it on your banner. Or cropped and photoshopped it and slapped on your Hunk of the Week, of Hump Day or Eye Candy, the photographers with copyrights will sue your pants off.
Just as we authors lament piracy, these photographers have a right to demand you ask their permission to use  their pictures or pay for them. I recall when I was looking for a dagger to use on the cover of my book... that is when I tried to self-publish it before my super agent Leticia found a home for it, I found a beautiful kris dagger online. It is in a gallery somewhere in Mississippi. I e-mailed the guy gazillion times but never heard from him. Needless to say, I never used that daggger.
Also, I use a painted picture on my YALITCHAT and Youtube Channel, which reminds me of my MC in the Guardian Legacy series. I saw the picture and fell in love with it, so I contacted the artist. He's an Italian painter and his pictures are effing amazing. I mean this guy is super talented. I love his work because they have fantasy elements and the paintings just pop. Once he gave me permission, I was happy to link back to him. Thank you, Artist (lost his link when I changed computers but will find it)
However, it is so easy to Google pictures and post them on FB or Tumblr or your blog. Not anymore. I know of authors who've gone over their blog posts and deleted every picture they've ever used. Others are changing their banners.
Will I remove my pics? Yes. As soon as I can. Here is the author who got sued over one picture and her lawyers were involved in the case and she had to pay the photographer for a picture she didn't need. Head over there and read what she learned from her lawyers.
Bottom line? Bloggers and authors, no more posting pics on FB unless you've bought copyrighted free stock pictures.
To buy pictures, try Dreamstime and iStock .
Lucky for me, I have quite a few pictures I'd bought from Dreamstine, which I use on my book trailers. Dreamstime also have some freebees, so always check the free ones first before you buy any. 
Anyhew, just wanted to share. As for the saga of pirate sites selling your books, will blog more on that on Friday. It keeps getting worse...seriously.
Keep reading.

I'm starting Monday with a bang! Saturday night put me at 59,000words, so I'm happy.  Using the old desktop while waiting for Dell people still sucks big time. Miss my baby *clears throat*...laptop.


Meanwhile I'm trying not to think about a new book the characters are begging me to write. Don't you hate it when characters won't leave you alone when you can't afford to be distracted. Hate it!!

I'm writing the ideas for scenes down though.

Now on to my pet-peeve:
Websites that give away copies of books without an author's permission. I am a stay-at-home mother of five and writing is how I make a living. Now when my editor contacts me and tells me look what he's found, it drives me crazy.

Do you know how often we stay up late and agonize over our characters, stress over making the stories come alive for YOU, readers? A lot. Sometimes our homes don't get cleaned, our laundry goes unfolded and we live on takeouts...translate that to neglecting our families, just so we make deadlines, or because the muses are hounding us.  And how do some readers pay us, they DOWNLOAD our books for free.

FYI, these websites don't pay us a dime for these books. They haven't bought the books or a right to give them away for free or even distribute them. They may not charge you, but the more traffic generated to their websites means more companies will PAY THEM to place ads on their websites. In other words, they are making money off our sweat and readers make this possible. You ENABLE them by downloading our books for free.

Funny, if some of you e-mailed me and asked for an e-copy of my book in exchange for a review, I would send it to you. What's even worse, most of these books are only a few dollars. Some authors even sell theirs for $0.99, yet readers would rather download them for free.

Please, if you see any website selling any of my books, both adults and YA, drop me a line on FB or e-mail me. This way, my publisher can send them a warning letter to cease and desist.

For now, here is one one website ... either boycot it or tell the moderators what they are doing is illegal.  FINDFREEMEDIAONLINE.COM


Thank you.
Keep Reading
 I'm off my soap-box.

So after a nasty flu and many, many computer bugs...my laptop of less than a year old is effed up big time. Freezes every few minutes, so I spent yesterday with Dell peope and it is still not fixed. Grrr! The muses don't want me to finish this book!!!


Then my older laptop just upped and quit on me. Seriously? I was like, WTF? Turns out the mother board short-circuited. The stupid machine won't even turn on. Luckily I bought a hardware warranty for it and have 4 months before it expires, so a Dell rep will be here next week to replace it...YES!!!

So today, I decided to us my old...old...desk top. Have you any idea how weird a desk top keyboard feels after you've been using a lap top the last 2 years? Very weird.

I managed to scrape a little over 3000 words. Not bad, huh?

**




NOW I'm off to Girls Night Out. Woohoo!

Till Tomorrow.

Keep Writing.

So thre was no posts today and there will be none tomorrow because I'm down with the flu.
I didn't factor that in when I decided to write a chapter a day for a month, did I?

Still I'm halfway there....yeah!!!!




Well, I'll have something to post on Wednesday... I hope.


Anyway, here are the winners from Betrayed Tour. Thanks to Catie at Forbidden Passions Reviews for organizing. You are amazing, Catie. Luv you.

The winners of a signed book, a magnet and a bookmark. Congratulations too:
Raquel a.k.a. Skyla
Phoenix Carvelli
Shadow Kohler
Lisa Cox
Maria Behar

The winner of the Betrayed Tshirt, pen, magnet and bookmark are:
Jackie Lane
Kathy Ross
Allyson Brann
Michelle Grayce
Minnie Medina
Diane Sallans
Denise Zaky
Aliaa Jordan El-Nashar
Maegan Morin

And now for the winner of the grandprize Kindle Fire:
Susan Hatala

Congratulations to everyone who won a prize and thanks to everyone who entered this contest.

Okay, so I'm completely stroked that a fan wrote a short scene for one of my teen Guardians. I have these amazing bloggers who love the GL series and they even astarted blogs for their fav characters.

The Guardians, if you haven't started the series, have abilities to manipulate elements. Since there are 6 teens in the junior team, the guys seem to have quite a following (poor ladies). Needless to say, there's Fire/Energy Guardian  (Sykes)  blog, that's where the fan-fic was posted, Water/Ice Guardian (Bran) blog and the more recently started Earth/Solid Guardian (Remy ) blog. If you've read the series, join your favotie team.

Anyhew, enjoy the fan-fiction below. Meanwhile, my WIP is nearly 50% done...woohoo!!!


HERE IS THE FAN-FIC....ENJOY
Ok, so here's some fan-fic for Ednah who has created these characters that we love so much. I'm so excited! I'll set it up for you. Sykes meets a girl, and ~gasp~ her name is Jeannette. She's just moved with her younger half-brother and her mom from Texas. This is Sykes & Jeannette's first encounterI saw her storm out the front door of the school with her backpack slung over one shoulder. She hit the door so hard I heard it bang against the outside wall. Whoa, this girl was feisty. I ran after her. 
 “Hey! Hey wait up. Jeannette. It’s Jeannette right?” She stopped but didn’t turn around. One hand was in a tight fist while the other held on to the strap of her backpack. I could see her take a deep breath like she was trying to fight down rage or tears, I couldn’t tell which. The breeze blew her brown wavy hair and I could smell her vanilla shampoo.
“Hey, I’m sure whatever it is that’s got you so worked up, it’s not worth getting caught skipping class your first week of school.”
She slowly turned and looked at me. Anger flashed in her dark brown eyes. She took another deep breath. “Why does it matter to you if I get in trouble or not?”
 I grinned at her. “It doesn’t really. I’m a sucker for a girl who likes a little trouble.”
 “Uh huh. Well I’m sure that adorable smile and bad boy charm works on all the other girls, but my B.S. limit has been reached for the day. So, I’ll see ya.” She turned and started walking, completely unaware of how her southern accent affected me. “Wait, can I at least walk with you? I’ve got a free hour and I need to stretch my legs.” She stopped and without turning said, “Whatever.” “So, where’d you move from?” “Texas.” “Nice. How are you adjusting?” Out of the corner of my eye I saw her mouth tighten. After a few seconds I wasn't sure she was going to answer. “Well, considering I didn't know we were moving until two days before it happened, my mom is acting all weird, my step-dad is MIA and my only friend is my little brother, I’d say I’m just peachy. I have no idea why I just told you all of that.” Grinning, I said, “I have that effect on people. And hey, you can count me as a friend.” I looked over at her as she rolled her eyes.
“Oh geez. Does that crap really work on the girls around here?” Shaking her head “and y’all question our intelligence.”  We had reached the end of school property and she turned toward the wooded area bordering the football field. She glanced over. “Are you just going to follow me like some hall monitor on a power trip?”
I chuckled. She reminded me a little of another feisty girl with a sharp tongue. “I’m no hall monitor. I don’t think they’d trust me to enforce the “no running in the halls” rule. I just thought I’d get a little fresh air and see what had you damaging school property.” We came to a small cluster of trees where she chucked her bag to the ground, sat down with her back against a tree. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Some of the tension left her body as she took another deep breath. I sat down next to her our knees touching. She opened one eye and looked at me. “You do know what personal space is right? “ “Yes, but the presence of another warm body can often ease a person’s anxiety.” “Seriously, do girls really eat that up? They must since you seem to have a line for everything.” Instead of answering her I leaned back with my hands behind my head and looked up at the sunlight shifting through the leaves. It was one of those days when the weather seemed to make a conscience effort to be enjoyable. I found it interesting that I just wanted to sit there and relax. I usually felt like a lightning bolt was zipping through my veins. Weird. “Are you going to tell me why you stormed out of school?” She sighed. “Algebra and that stupid algebra teacher, whatever his name is. It’s not like I don’t know how to do the problems. We just learned a different way of doing them. I mean who cares what strategies you use as long as you get the right answer.” I could see her fists clench like she was trying to hold on to something. Or hold something inside. “Yah, Landis is a stickler for his way or no way. You know I've forgotten my manners. My name is Sykes.”
She turned her head but didn't open her eyes. “Oh I know your name. I've heard it spoken by almost every female in school, faculty included. Your reputation precedes you.” She smirked and turned her head back. “Hey, don’t fault me for being such a friendly guy. Most people would consider that a good thing.” “Well I’m not most people. So if you want to go spread your version of southern hospitality to those who appreciate it, you’re not required to stay.” I looked over at her. The breeze picked up a strand of her hair. I caught it and ran my thumb over the soft wave. Before she opened her eyes I let it go.“How long has your step-dad been gone?”
 She stiffened. “I don’t know. A couple of months I guess.” Shrugging she said, “It’s not like we were that close. But it hurts my little brother and mom.”
 I nodded.Then she opened her eyes and looked at me. Her dark eyes standing out against her pale skin sprinkled with freckles. “She won’t give me a straight answer as to why she moved us here or why he HAS to go to THIS school. We've never had secrets."
I could see the confusion and hurt swirling like a storm inside her. The wind blew a small leaf on to her arm. I brushed it off and as soon as my hand touched her I felt that lightning bolt zap something inside of me. She jumped back, shocked. I breathed out, “What the hell?” She swallowed. “What the heck was that?” I stared at her. What was it about her that calmed me one minute then electroshocked my heart the next? “You’re not all human are you?”
She blanched. “What?! We shock each other with static electricity or something and the first thing you jump to is I’m not all human?! Who asks that? I guess you've reached your nice guy limit.” She picked up her backpack and stormed off towards the school. After a few yards she stopped and turned to look at me. Shaking her head she turned back to the school and rounded the corner. I had no idea what had just happened, but for the first time in my life a girl had freaked me out.

LOVE IT!!!!  What do you guys think???

Yippee, my writer friend is about to release her next book, GRACE DOLL. Congrats Jenn. Grace Doll will be released August 20, 2012.

Blurb: Grace Doll had everything a girl could want: Fame. Fortune. Beauty.

Everything except, of course, her freedom. So when a powerful movie producer forces an experimental treatment on Grace--one that's purported to make beauty immortal--she stages her own death to escape him.

With the help of trusted friends, Grace slips into hiding. She's forever flawless, forever young and forever pursued by her past.

But when a stranger arrives on her doorstep, holding the key to a life she thought she'd left behind, Grace must decide between the safety she's known...and embracing the role she was born to play.

Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing 220 pages. Available in paperback, on Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook and in the iBook Store.

The Grace Doll Book Tour starts Aug 14-20. Over 30 book bloggers have signed up to read and review the book. I hope you'll join us for interviews, character chats, giveaways and the coolest Hollywood "premier" party a book launch has ever seen on August 20th!

WAY TO GO, JENN.


Where am I on my WIP?  Right here:

I've met some wonderful bloggers, authors, aspiring authors since joining YALICHAT. Once such author is Elizabeth who has so graciously given me TWO blog awards!







NOW I must tell you seven things about me...(pssst, just so you know I'm boring)
1. Once upon a time I thought I should be a model, had a portfolio and went from over advertising studio to another...didn't get a single booking (the power of thinking you are hot when you are not is priceless...hehehe
2. I grew up in a large family with 5 brothers and 2 sisters and 5 half siblings (2 girls and 3 boys)
3. I went to a boarding school run by nuns (hated it.)
4. I started reading romance book when I turned 13 (borrowed my older sister's stash)
5. I lost my mother when I was 13
6. I hate Macoroni & Cheese
7. I could live on salads (I make the meanest salad ever)
8. I love to dance (Zumba all the way!!!)

NOW WHO DO I TAG?
Page Flipperz Jowanna's YA BlogJennifer LaurensForbiddenPassion
United by BooksCatie's Water Guardians
Jeanette's FireGuardians

 Where am I on my WIP?  Right here:

First, I have a question.
80% of authors use fictitious town. 20% use real town or both. If you use fictitious towns in your story, is it in a fictitious state too and fictitious country/world? (This might work for some fantasies). Or do you decide where you want to have your town then research the place so you get the weather, vegetation and topographical features right. I mean, I can't decide to have a desert town in Oregon or a carpet of grass as far as the eyes can see in the Rocky Mountain region, which has huge mountains. How do you sketch your town?  Or am I overthinking this.
Second, I cheated yesterday and posted no progress report. Why, you may ask. I spent the whole day writing, writing and writing, had 13 beautifully crafted pages then made the mistake of reading what I'd just written (actually, it wasn't a mistake).
It was, to be blunt, bland...no tension...no sparks...no that special something that makes a reader want to continue reading. It was the big bang moment, the secret-revealing scene you are supposed to build up to, not dump in the middle of the book. Does that ever happen to you?
So what did I do. I renamed the chapter 9x and restarted this morning.Should I add that toward my word count? I'd love to, but I decided not to. So today I made up for it.
To celebrate, I've decided to share 2 brilliantly written Sheldon scenes from my favorite comedy, The Big Bang Theory:
SCENE I
"Leonard is upstairs right now with my arch-enemy," says Sheldon .
"Your arch-enemy?" asks Penny.
"Yes, the Dr. Doom to my Mr. Fantastic, the Dr. Octopus to my Spider-Man, the Dr. Sivana to my Captain Marvel..." says Sheldon.
"Okay, I get it, I get it!" says Penny.
"You know, it's amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees," says Sheldon.

SCENE II
"This is between you and me. You can't tell Leonard any of this," Pennys says.
 "You're asking me to keep a secret?" Sheldon asks
"Yeah," Penny says
"Well, I am sorry, but you would have had to have expressed that desire before revealing the secret, so that I could choose whether I wanted to accept the covenant of secret-keeping. You can't impose a secret on an ex-post-facto basis," Sheldon says.
"What?" Penny asks, looking confused.
"Secret-keeping is a complicated endeavor. One has to be concerned not only about what one says, but about facial expressions, autonomic reflexes. When I try to deceive, I myself have more nervous tics than a Lyme disease research facility," Sheldon pauses. "It's a joke. It relies on the homonymic relationship between "tick", the blood-sucking arachnid, and "tic", the involuntary muscular contraction. I made it up myself."
BAZINGA!!!

When you write a book, do you use a fake town or a real one? Why?

My Guardian Legacy series is an urban fantasy, but the Guardians' HQ/setting is in a town in northern Utah, my home town. To get my facts straight, I visited the local high school and got the layout for my fictitious high school, the hotel near and RV park, where my character and her grandfather lived, made calls to local business and city offices...you name it, I researched it.

Even though I found it easy to use a real town, my characters visit other places across the globe, so I do a lot of research online too as I write. Needless to say, I go nuts when I don't have internet, like today.

Our wireless has been acting up, so I had to vamoose to the library to use their wireless. Turned out great. I made today's deadline--finished chapter 8. Woohoo!!





TEASER (scene from Vegas) from BETRAYED

With Bran behind the wheel of the Suburban, we headed toward the Strip—the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South where the largest hotels, resorts, and casinos were located. The entertainment capital of the world pulsed with people’s hopes and dreams. Desperate-looking people stared out of taxi windows and disappeared into the flashy buildings. I reached up to touch the Cardinal pendant through my shirt. The jadeite core was warming up, typical of its behavior in Vegas, where demons mingled with humans in casinos and resorts. Despite that, my dagger lay calm in its sheath, which meant no strong demonic presence in our vicinity. The ravens were the first warning that things were not okay. The black birds perched on the Arc de Triomphe replica at the entrance of Las Vegas Paris. More sat on their Eiffel Tower. Ravens weren’t nocturnal birds to begin with. They were also a rare sight in Vegas.

I like to say that my life is fun
because it revolves around my family
and my writing, and that’s absolutely true.
How many can say they hear voices and not sound like a lunatic.
 We, writers, hear imaginary people demanding we write their stories, but they are so real to us we laugh and cry along as we write. Oh, and we we get to live vicariously through them too....first crush...first kiss....the excitement...the heartache...the making up... Can't beat that.

I'm also one of those people who never go anywhere unless the entire family comes along. It's our family thing, you could say. So I've never attended a conference or a writer's retreat. Here’s hoping one day I will.

HOWEVER, 2-3 times a year, I need a moment to rejuvenate and take off to a hotel.

You know, time alone when
1) I can hear myself think without hearing,

"Mommy, she’s being mean!”
“No, she started it!"
“She’s making faces at me.”
“Why is she my sister?”
(My 7 and 9 year old going at it)

2) have a shower without someone knocking on the bathroom door with a question.

3) kick back and write in blissful silence without doors being banged, children chasing each other, screams and oh, cats demanding attention. Our cats are like dogs. One actually follows me around nonstop. She even sits outside my shower…really spooky.


Anyhew, so usually I take off on Friday evening, book into a hotel downtown and come back Sunday. Yesterday, I just decided to do an overnighter  because DH wanted us to have a date tonight (watched Spider men after having dinner…loved the movie. Was hoping for an Avenger agent at the end though)
Still, my night alone paid off as you can see by the word count above.

Will take tomorrow off and be back on Monday.

CHUGGING...CHUGING...CHUGGING ALONG
Thanks for the well wishes, ladies