Category: Books

TIPS ON BECOMING A BETTER WRITER – DAY 23

On By SCLMRoseIn Author's Life, Books, Inspirational, Motivational Verse, NaNoWriMo, Positive Thinking, Writer's Goal, Writing Challenge1 Comment

Today I reached my goal. I made it just over 50,000 words. I have seven days left to the end of the challenge and I most likely add more to it. In the meantime, I am getting ready for Thanksgiving and I have a newsletter to write which has to come out no later than next Sunday. For now I’m just glad I made my goal.

The tip for today is :

  1. Finish the first draft and put it away for a while. It will give you a new perspective on what you have written. The last two years that I did the NANOWRIMO challenge, I put away my manuscript for a month. I did not look at it the whole month of December. Then in January, I reread the whole piece. I was amazed at some of the things I wanted to revise. You might not need a month but give it a rest for a while. Your brain needs a break too.

My book recommendation for today is Paris by Edward Rutherfurd.

This is the third book I recommended written by .Edward Rutherfurd. His books intertwined historical events with stories of multi-generational family living in that period of time. Fictional characters mingle with historical figures amidst the sights, sounds and events in the City of Lights.

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd

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TIPS ON BECOMING A BETTER WRITER – DAY 22

On By SCLMRoseIn Author's Life, Books, Inspirational, Motivational Verse, NaNoWriMo, Positive Thinking, Writer's Goal, Writing ChallengeLeave a comment

The last two days were fantastic. I made it to 44,602 words last night. It was a good run. Then today, I’m done for the day. I put in more than 3,000 words. My finished figure is 47,855 words. I’m hoping to make it to 50,000 words tomorrow. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The tip for today is:

  1. Familiarize yourself with general writing terms. There are a lot of commonly used words and phrases that pertain to writing, editing and publishing. All professions have their own words or terms that members of the professions use. Writers, editors and publishers are no exception. Example: active voice, denouement, ellipsis points, epiphany, foreshadowing, gerund, hyperbole, ibid, i.e., infinitive, Non sequitur, stet and a few others. Know what these terms mean. You don’t want to look like an amateur. When I was a CPA, I learned all the accounting terms and when I became a real estate agent, I learned all the real estate lingos. Same goes with being a writer. Learn your trade as they say.

My book recommendation for today is Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, a Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela’s Ashes. Teacher Man is about teaching and how his thirty-year teaching experience shaped his career as a writer.

Teacher Man

TIPS ON BECOMING A BETTER WRITER – DAY 21

On By SCLMRoseIn Author's Life, Books, Inspirational, Motivational Verse, NaNoWriMo, Positive Thinking, Writer's Goal, Writing ChallengeLeave a comment

Last night, I crossed another threshold. I went beyond 40,000 words by another 1705 words. I did not know I’d reach this far. But just writing one page at a time, the pages accumulate and one day I’ll have a full manuscript for a long novel. I don’t even have to sit on my computer all day long. It’s better for me to take a break once in a while. I did today and treated myself to wo pairs of shoes.

21. The tip today is write one page at a time. You’ll be amazed how those pages add up and eventually those pages add up to a full manuscript. Just look at what happened to me. When I started on November 1, I did not even know where to begin and now I have accumulated 180 pages so far.

The book recommendation for today is The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.

The author of this book had never been to Peru but he wrote this book brilliantly and it won a Pulitzer Prize. Since he never visited Peru, I’m sure when he started the book, he did not know where to begin but then he started one page at a time.

Bridge on San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

 

 

How many places did you visit this year? I went on a world tour. Did you?

On By SCLMRoseIn Author's Life, Blogging, Books, Historical Novels, Reading ChallengeLeave a comment

Did I visit any country this year? Oh yeah, plenty. I went all over the world.

The Earth

Most people go on big vacation during the summer. Some retirees go at different times during the year. I don’t go on vacation nowadays but I visited a lot of places. Been there, done that. My husband and I used to go on vacation when we were younger. When my kids were young, we went with the kids until they reached 15 and then they don’t want to go on vacation with us anymore. Funny at that age, they were embarrassed to be seen with their parents. It was not cool. We went on a grand tour of Europe with the kids when they were 9 and 12. After 45 years of marriage and my husband having difficulty walking, long trips are not an option anymore. Besides, Charleston where we live now is a great vacation spot so we are basically on vacation all the time. Charleston is No. 1 vacation city in the United States and No. 2 in the world according to Conde Nast.

Nonetheless, I still have visited so many places this year thru my reading. It’s the most extensive, least expensive and most enjoyable trips I have undertaken. Without leaving my home and the comfort of my favorite chair, I have been to several places this year. With all the books that I read this year, I have been to so many places and thoroughly enjoy my trips. Below are some of the books I read in 2015 and the places where I visited.

  1. I just finished reading Hawaii by James A. Michener which took me on an adventurous journey to exotic places in the Pacific – Bora Bora, Tahiti, the islands of Hawaii, an ocean voyage on the Atlantic from Massachusetts westward to Cape Verde Island, then down to Cape Horn, on to The Falklands, through small islands at the southern tip of South America then up through the Pacific to Hawaii. I visited mainland United States from San Francisco on the west coast to Connecticut on the east coast. I also visited Japan and China.
  2. At The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, I visited Peru and Spain.
  3. The Bells by Richard Harvell took me to the concerts halls in Europe in Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.
  4. Gifts from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh took me to the beach at Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and Maine.
  5. Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer took me to England and New York.
  6. Mrs. De Winter by Susan Hill took me to England, Monaco, France, Italy and Spain.
  7. With Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, I visited England, Monaco and Italy.
  8. The Glitter and Gold by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan took me to New York, Newport, Palm Beach in U.S. and France and England in Europe.
  9. The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh, I went to Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
  10. Dead Wake by Erik Larssen took me to the coasts of England and Ireland.
  11. Flapper by Joshua Zeitz took me to New York and Chicago.
  12. The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber took me to the Pacific Northwest.
  13. The Lady of the River by Philippa Gregory took me to England.
  14. With The Iron Butterfly which I, Rosalinda Morgan wrote, I took the readers to southern Luzon in the Philippines from Batangas to Manila.
  15. The Steep Ascent by Anne Morrow Lindbergh flew me across the Swiss Alps.
  16. Escape from Davao by John D. Lukacs took me to the wild jungle of Mindanao in the Philippines and Australia.
  17. Below Stairs by Margaret Powell took me to various great houses of England.
  18. At Howards End by E.M. Forster, I visited England once more.
  19. Winter of the World by Ken Follett took me to England, Germany, Spain, Russia and the United States.
  20. The Landower’s Legacy by Victoria Holt, I visited more of England.
  21. In Downtown Abbey, Rules for Household Staff, I visited England again.
  22. Upstairs at the White House in Washington, DC, by J.B. West, I saw the inside of the most famous home in the United States.
  23. All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank I went back home to Charleston, South Carolina.

Kindle Countdown Deals for The Iron Butterfly

On By SCLMRoseIn Blogging, Books, Historical Fiction, Historical Novels, KindleLeave a comment

Kindle Countdown Deals for “The Iron Butterfly” is set to begin on Aug. 30, 2015 at 8:00:00 AM PST.

You can buy your Kindle copy of my book, “The Iron Butterfly” at a discount price of $.99 on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015. The best deal!

The price goes up to $1.99 on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015.

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, the price goes back to the regular price of $2.99.

So take advantage of the discounted price at www.amazon.com/author/rosalindarmorgan.

The book is about a young widow left penniless with nine young children to support after her husband died and her struggles to be in business dominated by men. Will she be able to break the barrier? When the Depression hits the colonies, Regina Buendia is confronted with more problems about money. How is she going to survive with money so tight?

Read about her adventures in the business world, her heartaches and the outbreak of WWII. A gripping tale of a mother’s love, sacrifice and daring ambition.

Rosalinda Morgan, author, “The Iron Butterfly”.

Can you read 260 books in a year?

On By SCLMRoseIn Author's Life, Blogging, Books, Reading Challenge1 Comment

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I was browsing on the internet and something caught my attention. Someone claimed that he read 260 books in 2014. Another said he read 500 books in 2014. How do you do that? Do you have a life at all? Unless you are reading Children’s Books, I can’t see that is possible. Even if you are reading in your sleep.

My husband and I are both avid readers. We are both retired. My husband read a lot and he does not read quite close to that number. I very seldom watch TV except for Downton Abbey. My husband watches PBS News Hour and old movies. Yet we do not read as much compared to those readers.

Do you read or do you scan a book? There is quite a difference between the two. If a book is a page turner, I can possibly finish a book of 250 pages in two days if I don’t do anything else but read. A 500-page book or a book like Sarum which is 1035 pages will take me forever. Right now, I’m reading Hawaii which is 937 pages long. It will take me a while to finish it since I do something else in between my reading. I enjoy historical fictions and lately I’ve been picking up books heavy in history and it takes a lot of time to read them and absorb everything you read.

I read 26 books last year and to me that’s quite an achievement. I add 2 more books this year as my goal. In November I don’t read but concentrate on writing because I join the NANOWRIMO challenge in November when I have to write a novel of 50,000+ words in 30 days. I also have a life. I garden. I clean my house. I volunteer some of my time. I write – published my second novel, The Iron butterfly early this year. I am an editor of two newsletters (used to be three newsletters) and won an award with one of them. I chair the Landscape Committee in my neighborhood. I volunteer for the garden club. I sing at my church choir. I have a full life.

So how do you fit 260+ books to read in a year? How do you read a 440-page novel in one day? Do you just read the jacket and scan the pages from the top down to the bottom? You still have to sleep and if you are retired, you may even take a nap. I know you can eat and read at the same time. I don’t do that. I enjoy my meals. But reading a 440-page historical book in one day to me is unbelievable. What’s the secret? We all want to know how anyone does that.