E-book and Party News

So I have to admit that even after doing some research, I’m not entirely sure if the word is Ebook, eBook, ebook, or e-book. In any case, I have one. šŸ™‚

Click on the “Buy Book” page of mikelynbolden.com to learn where you can get the Escape From Differe e-book.Ā (Ahem, if you don’t have a Kindle perhaps you might consider blessing the author by buying your e-book from WinePressBooks – compatible with iPad, Nook, PC, Mac.)

Paperback News: Please view the invitation on the “Home” page or “Event” page for “Book Launch Party” information. If you happen to be in southeast Alabama November 29th – come celebrate with us! Ā For all you out-of-towners, well, hang tight. You will be able to pre-order that day…or maybe even order! The “big” print we got for all of you seems to be stuck in line at the printers. We’re just waiting on them to give us a date.

Thank you for all your support! I’m thrilled it’s finally here!

m

P.S. The husband says not to forget to write your rave reviews on the various purchasing sites šŸ˜‰

 

Need Something to Read?

I am happy to announce that Chapter One is available for your reading pleasure on the homepage of mikelynbolden.com. Click on the “Home” tab of the website then look for the “Download Chapter One Now” link near the bottom of the page. Click on the link to begin reading.

I’m even happier to announce thatĀ Escape from DiffereĀ is with the printer! They haven’t given me a release date yet…but “REALLY soon” is the date I’m hoping for. šŸ™‚

I’d love to hear your initial thoughts after reading Chapter One.

Happy Reading!

m

Book Maps!

The title of this post pretty much sums things up. The maps are located at the top of the “Places & Terms” page. I’m SO excited for you to check them out!

Just as with the book cover design, I did some original drawings for the designers. I’m no artist, but that didn’t stop me from trying to convey my ideas about these worlds. Below are my attempts at doing so.

 

I’ve done loads of unfamiliar tasks the past nine months and sometimes something as simple as drawing a map makes me feel like an idiot. Yep, I start to feel that way then the phrase, “you’re an idiot” runs through my brain only to confirm what I’m already feeling. Ā Hmm. Then I’m faced with a choice: Do I believe the voice in my head or do I throw out its words?

Though the feelings and phrases vary, I’m faced with this decision on a daily basis. I’m thankful I know I have a choice and these moments only help to fuel one of the reasons for my writing these books – Not every thought you hear in your head is true.

More to come!

m

The Good, and the Not So Good

Where have you been?

  1. Playing hooky
  2. Meeting filmmakers
  3. Writing, rewriting, writing
  4. Marketing, designing, marketing
  5. Editing, editing, editing

If you guessed all of the above, youā€™d be right (yes, it was a trick question). I had to officially change my job title to ā€œauthorā€ because it was driving me bonkers to be called the ā€œwriterā€ thenā€¦well, you see the list of writing distractions on the multiple choice list. So, Iā€™ve been ā€œauthoringā€ it up around here, but I hope to blog with a little more frequency now that ā€¦ well, just see below.

The Good: Besides some little details (like choosing the book genre for different buyers and SETTING A RELEASE DATE), everything for Escape from Differe is done. Holla! The back and front cover ā€“ done. The maps ā€“ done. The last round of edits ā€“ DONE!

How many computers did it take to review the last round of edits?

  1. Two Macs and One PC
  2. Two PCs
  3. Three Macs

ā€œAā€ is the correct answer. Yes, the Macs outnumbered the borrowed PC, and as much as I hate to admit it, the PC ended up being the most helpful due to a particular software.

How many editors has the manuscript been to?

  1. Two
  2. Seven
  3. Five

The Not So Good: Five editors equals five different opinions being thrown your way. People ask me if itā€™s painful to get the reviews back. Not at this point. So far everyoneā€™s been extremely kind. They love the story and have graciously provided input to make it even more fantastic; however, they do not all agree at times.Ā  In a nutshell, Iā€™ve had a challenging couple of weeks making thirty pages worth of corrections in this last round of editing (it was as fun as it sounds). I made my decision to change some grammatical elements based on the readers – YOU. I want this book and the writing to be a powerful experience for you. In fact, I donā€™t just want you to read the book ā€“ I want you to find yourself in the story. So, the not so good is that this decision may delay the release of the book. It was a tough decision Ā (Iā€™m SO ready for you to see it!), but the editorsā€™ overall advice caused me to rethink some areas. Then I had a dream regarding the changes, so figured that must be a sign. šŸ™‚

Thank you for your continued support, kind words, love, and, of course, patience. I am waiting in anticipation with you!

Much Love,

m

P.S. Happy Football!

What’s on Your Desk?

Well, so far today Iā€™ve been to Kohlā€™s, Ross For Less, Target, and Michaels in person and a host of other places online. We moved a bookshelf from our bedroom to my office, forcing us to move my desk, which means all the clutter I had neatly piled in the corner is now exposed.

As I sifted through notes from under the pile yesterday, I was elated yet aggravated to find information that I needed about a hundred pages back for the writing of Book Two. Awesome. Sigh. Not really.

The ā€œneed to organizeā€ syndrome set in swiftly.

Aha! Iā€™m starting to see the surface of my desk again. The printer that I have a love/hate relationship with (Iā€™m assuming someone knows what I mean here) has been moved from my desk to create more space. I intend for the space to be well-used aka not for clutter.

Now, I showed you what cup I drink from two weeks ago, but hereā€™s a mug that I showcase on my desk:

One of the coolest people in my life made this for me. I quit my job the week before Christmas and battled the voices of worry: ā€œYouā€™re quitting your job at the most expensive time of the year!ā€ ā€œWhat if the book doesnā€™t work out?ā€ ā€œYou donā€™t know what youā€™re doing!ā€ My sister is a ridiculously creative gift giver, and this Christmas gift was no exception. The gift and its message came at a timely moment in my life. The ā€œhappy writer mugā€, as I call it, sits on my desk as a reminder of who I am and of the people who love me. It also silences those stupid voices.

Hereā€™s another staple item that sits on my desk:

This is a note from a dear friend of mine. With this note came two bags of ā€œshare sizeā€ M&Mā€™s. Iā€™m only a tad embarrassed to say that I consumed them by myself in less than 24 hours (had it been two boxes of Junior Mints theyā€™d have been gone in less time). M&Mā€™s are a big deal at my house. I married a guy with an ā€œmā€ name also so thereā€™s M&M stuff galore around here. I received this gift just prior to heading into one of my toughest weeks of editing. In a nutshell her card brilliantly communicated the ā€œyou can do itā€ message. The card is a mainstay to remind me that, ā€œYes, I can do it.ā€

To take it a little deeper, this amazing friend and I have fought harder to preserve our friendship more than any other relationship Iā€™ve been involved in. So, her card also reminds me that some things are indeed worth fighting for.

So now Iā€™m completely curious…whatā€™s on your desk?

Much Love! m

P.S. Thanks for continuing to connect with me on the blog! I love your comments!!! Please know that I donā€™t post all of them, but read every single one. Some are so personal and encouraging that I keep them just for myself. šŸ™‚

Some of you have told me you feel nervous using the comment form. If you wish for your comment to be kept private, please indicate so or use the contact form on the ā€œcontactā€ page of the website to email me directly. Iā€™d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Moving and Motoring

Lots of moving/organizing going on in the office this week (will explain in next weekā€™s blog). No news on the release date, but I should hear something very soon (yeah, I know Iā€™m starting to sound like a broken record). In the meantime, Iā€™m motoring through Book Two and planning Escape from Differeā€™s big shindig. See you next week! šŸ™‚

Thanks for stopping by!

m

So, What Do You Do?

As far as professions go, if you havenā€™t noticed, speech therapy and writing arenā€™t really related (unless you count writing boring letters to doctors and insurance companies). When I got the idea for Escape from Differe, this former speech therapist put it in a file titled ā€œstoryā€ on my computer. I knew I was a good storyteller, but was hardly ready to call the idea a ā€œbookā€ or, least of all, me a ā€œwriter.ā€ So, the what-would-later-be-book sat there as the ā€œstoryā€ file for quite some time. Perhaps my reasons were twofold: 1) if I called the file a ā€œbookā€ Iā€™d have to pursue the publishing process, which felt like I would be agreeing to learn Chinese; 2) if the idea really was a book then what did that make me?

I couldnā€™t claim the ā€œwriterā€ title for a really long time. When I looked at myself in terms of writing I saw zero formal training, a C+ (the last grade Iā€™d received on an English paper), and the VERY close relationship I had with spellcheck. Lest you think Iā€™m exaggerating about my dire grammatical skills, the earliest feedback I received went something like – ā€œThe story is awesome, but I think if itā€™s going to be a book itā€™ll need to be more than one paragraph. Oh, and remember those things called ā€˜commas’? There should probably be a few of those in there too.ā€ (Paragraphs and commas are still so overrated in my mind)

In the spring of last year, I had ten readers and a writing coach telling me I was a ā€œwriter.ā€ This was good news considering Iā€™d finally decided to change the file name from ā€œstoryā€ to ā€œbook.ā€ It was time to start thinking about changing professions, which would mean changing my job title as well.

Sometimes youā€™ve got to see and say things a few times before you believe them. Hence the following:

My Work Outfit –

Stand in front of the mirror and it reads – “You’re an awesome writer. Now get back to work.”

My Cup –

My Clock –

I somehow discovered Iā€™ve got a knack for writing, but a few weaknesses in the areas that make writing great. But you know whatā€¦who cares? Those weaknesses donā€™t make me any less of a writer. In fact, they just give me the opportunity to become better at what I do.

So, what is it I do?

I am a writer.

Am I in Your Book?

So, people ask me (sometimes nervously) if they might end up in one of my books somewhere.

Meet Jeff & Lyndsay

Lyndsay was my college roommate and a bridesmaid in my wedding, and, well, I was named after her mom, so we go way back. We met Jeff our freshman year and quickly befriended the golfer extraordinaire. Jeff and Lyns tied the knot exactly two weeks after my husband and me. Like many, Lyns, of course, picked up a new last name -ā€œRutherford.ā€

I know most folks donā€™t typically keep up with their college friends, but thankfully my college buddies and I havenā€™t been the norm. I text or chat every couple weeks with these two and make an effort to see them once a quarter via football games, beach trips, birthdays, and any other excuse we can conjure up.

Okay, so something you should know about Jeff, is that besides being an excellent golfer, the guy can make a joke off nearly every word that comes out of someoneā€™s mouth. This is one of the key reasons I keep him around. He tells jokes for my personal entertainment, and I show my appreciation (no matter how corny) by laughing at every single oneā€¦though I have been known to have a delayed response at times.

These two found out about my book series long before most people. During one visit with them I was explaining the process for naming my characters and mentioned that I lacked a few names, the shopkeeper in particular. Jeff suddenly piped in, ā€œHow about Old Man Rutherford?ā€ He was absolutely joking, but I knew right away the name was perfect.

 

Meet Miss Josephine and Miss Mary Katherine

Now I know itā€™s not polite to ask a womanā€™s age and worse still to reveal it, but I have to brag on these ladies. Miss Josephine is 95 and a half (Iā€™m told you count the halves when you get to this age), and Miss Mary Katherine had a big 90th birthday bash late last year. Thanks to these ladies (and practice sessions with my father-in-love), Iā€™m becoming quite the bridge player. These two set up the card table, spread out homemade desserts, and dish out lots of good advice during their once a week bridge club meeting.

Itā€™s an amazing honor to play with these ladies, and our conversations range from friends passing away to friends having babies. We also take occasional jabs at one anotherā€™s generation ā€“ they canā€™t quite understand my blue hair, and I donā€™t see why itā€™s a big deal that the church organ was recently locked up in a closet.

Youā€™ll see soon enough that the North and South in Waiz have issues getting along. Old Waiz versus New Waiz could be translated into the traditional, older generations versus the progressive, younger generations.

There seems to be a wider and wider gap among generations in our society today. I take this to heart when I play with these special ladies, and Iā€™d imagine our friendship will have an impact on the rest of the seriesā€¦.

Staying Inspired = Knowing Yourself

Well, not a whole lot of time for a blog post this week, but thatā€™s because Iā€™ve been writing . . . A LOT.

Truth: I like to feel inspired when I write.

Thought: Stay inspired by knowing yourself.

Question: How do I keep enjoying what Iā€™m doing?

Answer: I study myself. Continuously.

I keep a running tab each week of what worked and didnā€™t work, or in other words, what drained the mess out of me and what gave me life again.

Life-giving moments fuel the inspiration needed for my writing . . . among other things (itā€™s hard to enjoy anything youā€™re doing when you feel ā€œkaputā€). I have to study myself because I am ever-evolving, so the things that inspire me are constantly changing.

So, what gives you life? What keeps you inspired to continue doing what youā€™re doing?

I suppose itā€™d been unfair for me not to at least share two of mine from this week.

1) I laughed. I find as many opportunities as possible to do this. (It helps that Iā€™m extremely ticklish)

2) I sat in the sunshine . . . aka I turned off the running ā€œto-doā€ list in my head.

Spilling water all over your manuscript for the SECOND time is not inspiring, but after I take a deep breath, I do find it funny . . . and I laugh.

Stay in the game. Stay inspired. Know yourself.