"A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings but a cat does not." -Ernest Hemingway

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

What Do You Imagine?

With only two days left in two thousand and ten I thought it appropriate to talk about winding down the year, mentally that is.  If you are like me then you can relate to that statement.  I always find during this time of year my mind tempts me to shut things off and it also does a pretty good job of coaxing me into just riding the ticking clock down towards midnight of December 31; every writer’s dream, for this will be the year.
As I pondered the reasoning behind this strange phenomenon for someone who constantly drives themselves to consistently write on a daily basis I realized I never really stop writing, only my fingers do.  You see I believe this is the time of year my imagination kicks into overdrive and my conscious mind takes a much needed rest.  As writers, what better time to take a little escape from the everyday pressures we put upon ourselves to go above and beyond our goals and just let our imagination take over.  Think of all the possibilities the New Year will bring!  What about you, do you seem to always find yourself at this time of year taking a mental vacation?  If so, what do you imagine?
I find it very important during this time of year to take advantage of my imagination and scribble down every detail it has bestowed upon me.  Each year I have a new journal full of fresh ideas, characters, plots or even dialogue on a work in progress to begin the New Year with, I call it my imagination journal.  How about you do you keep a journal close by?  It’s important to have one all the time but it is especially important to have one when your mind is on vacation but your imagination is in full swing.  Never rely on Mr. Memory because he has a tendency to let you down.  (I think that’s his main purpose in life!)
The time it has taken me to write this post the clock has ticked closer to every writer’s dream and my imagination journal is filled with sparks and twinkling lights waiting to explode into magical words, delightful characters and mystical worlds all wanting to come to life!
Happy New Year and until next time,
Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author       


Friday, December 17, 2010

Merry Christmas

The Unknown Author has exciting news to share!  In their last post (click here) they talked about how after NaNoWrimo they got some well deserved R&R, decorated their house for Christmas and even wrote a short story.  
Well they are happy to report the short story they wrote, The Christmas Cat, has been published (under their true identity) in The Hernando Today a publication of the Tampa Tribune.
 
Yep the cat's out of the bag now!

(please enjoy, click on link below)

The Christmas Cat 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

You Win Some, You Lose Some

It has been a week to the day since NaNoWrimo ended and in that time I have taken some well deserved R&R, decorated the house for Christmas and even wrote a short story all while pondering what my first experience as a NaNoWrimo participant meant to me as a writer.
My first thought was since I didn’t achieve the official NaNoWrimo 50K winner’s pin I am a loser.  Wanting to be sure I deserved that label I opened up my trusty writer tool and looked up the definition of loser.  Loser: Somebody who has not won a specific contest, somebody adversely affected by a situation or somebody who is unsuccessful or unlucky and seems destined to fail repeatedly.  Now since I am someone who did not win a specific contest well then I would have to agree I am a loser, but do I deserve to be labeled as a loser when it comes to being a writer?
Let’s explore the other two definitions of a loser.  Am I someone who was adversely affected by the situation?  Absolutely not, in contrast, my participation in such an awesome event was far from catastrophic and I had the good fortune to meet many talented authors from around the world.  Am I someone who was unsuccessful and seems destined to repeatedly fail?  As far as being unsuccessful, again, absolutely not, after all I have a solid good first draft to polish over the next coming year.  Am I destined to fail again?  Yes, if I give up trying.
Just like any explorer who feels compelled to conquer a quest, I too saw NaNoWrimo in the distance as a mountain standing tall waiting for me to climb as high as my imagination boots would take me.  Win or lose I’m proud to say I followed my quest and discovered how far my imagination could climb.  Because you see even though I may be a loser when it comes to not attaining NaNoWrimo status I am, however, a winner when it comes to writing.  Never in my wildest author dreams did I ever see myself, The Unknown Author, pushing beyond their limits and finishing a really solid 32,316 word first draft in less than 30 days.  Bring on NaNoWrimo 2011!   
Philosophically speaking, isn’t life all about winning some and losing some?  So the next time you think of yourself as a loser, open up your trusty writer’s tool and discover your definition as a writer.   
Until next time,
Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author
     

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Hitting the Pivotal Point

I have finally reached the infamous pivotal point where you have to decide between ignoring your inner voice and go all out for the glory or give in to its constant rambling voice, “hey you gave it your all but you just can’t do it so why not throw in the towel now and relax.”
What my inner voice fails to understand is that I am The Unknown Author and whether I win or lose the challenge I still come out victorious.  Because you see in a challenge such as NaNoWrimo it is more about the outcome of the experience than whether or not you hit the 50K mark by midnight November 30. 
For The Unknown Author it has been a personal journey to take that step outside their comfort zone, a challenge to their everyday strengths and a spark to fire up their imagination.  It is amazing what you can accomplish in a short period of time when you focus on the “What if” rather than the “Why bother” mentality.  Have you ever been challenged to step outside your comfort zone?  If so, what lessons and achievements did you accomplish in your journey?
Now The Unknown Author still has plenty of time to continue throwing caution into the wind and go for the gusto so stay tuned to see how far along they get in their NaNoWrimo journey and then share in their lessons learned (once they have rested and got caught up on their other WIP’s:  what is a WIP?  Work in Progress)
Until next time,
Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author

Friday, November 12, 2010

Novel vs Short Story: Now What?

When The Unknown Author set out to take on NaNoWrimo and write a full length 50,000 word novel in less than thirty days, they felt they had all the tools in their author’s talent skill box to help them accomplish this massive goal.  What they didn’t expect to discover was how quickly those tools would help them sit down and whip out a short story from beginning to end instead.
Here is what The Unknown Author has to say:
“Having established my roadmap ahead of time enabled me to sit down and quickly fill in verbiage that told my story.  Passionately typing away, because I knew where I was headed, I thought I would be at the end in no time and then I would have the rest of November to enjoy turkey, stuffing and family.  Can someone say, “Please Hold the Presses!””
Sure all the structure of the story has been accomplished, Act One has been told, Act Two with its crises, struggles and epiphany has been written and even Act Three bringing everything to conclusion with a plan, a climax and a super duper ending has been checked off.  So you may be asking yourself then what is The Unknown Author’s problem?  The problem is they have done it all with 22,397 words! 
Now does that mean The Unknown Author is not going to win their first NaNoWrimo Victory Pin?  Not if their plan has anything to do with it. 
So what is The Unknown Author’s Plan?  To do just like any author does when they sit down to rewrite their second draft; add depth.  Simply put, take the one dimensional first draft and add life to it by writing in the five senses:  seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.  Bring those characters to life!
Check in next week to see if The Unknown Author adds any additional words and what their next step to achieving a NaNoWrimo Victory Pin will be!
Until next time,
Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author
     

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

What did it take to survive day three?

Have you ever had so much sleep that you found it hard the next morning to find the energy to get going?  If so, follow along on what it took The Unknown Author, after ten hours of sleep, to drag them out of bed and sit down to write another word or two in NaNoLand!
It’s been three days since NaNoWrimo began and already The Unknown Author has written their way through the Hook, the Backstory and the Trigger.  In other words, they've already made it through Act One!  If you want to know more about getting through Act One, click here.  However, if you thought by getting a good ten hours sleep the night before to shut off the never ending rambling dialogue in a writer’s head found them waking refreshed and ready to go again, think again; instead, The Unknown Author found themselves struggling even to think of one word!
They tried left over chocolate candy from Halloween, splashing water in their face even doing laundry.  Nothing seemed to help.  But then they looked through their NaNoWrimo Merit Badges and found the day's inspiration!  They were going all the way today and win the CAFFEINE ABUSE badge!  Yep, you got it The Unknown Author consumed dangerous amounts of caffeinated soda in order to get one word closer to their quest of 50K words or more before November 30, 2010!
How did it work?  Well after every 500 words or so they refilled their glass with ice and cool refreshing caffeinated soda and before the clock struck time to end the day, they once again exceeded their daily word goal of 1,667 words and wrote 4,039 words, for a total of 12,108!  (For those of you who follow T.K. Millin's Facebook, Efi Loo’s writer’s scarf is getting pretty bogged down with winner badges, but she doesn’t seem to mind, she proudly runs around showing them off!)
Are you a NaNoWrimo?  What little goals do you find yourself setting each day to get through?  Please share them, I’d love to hear about them.
Until next time,
Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Day Two: The Day of Contradicting Contractions!

Well it’s day two of NaNoWrimo and I still seem to be surviving; however, I have to admit today seemed to go a little slower than yesterday. 
It’s not that I didn’t have anything to write about it was more like finding it hard to get my word count rolling.  So I opened up my packet of NaNoWrimo Merit Badges for inspiration and read all the pins I could earn throughout the month.  I found one I wanted to earn today and it’s the WORD-COUNT PADDING Badge.  I could either 1) Quote a song lyric or another book in my novel, 2) create a stuttering or triple-named character in my novel, 3) write all my contractions out or 4) introduce an unneeded dream scene or hallucination into my novel.
Which one did I choose?  The winner is:  Number three!  I thought how fun would my day of writing be if I tried to spell out all the contractions.  I had no idea how difficult that task can be.  I found myself constantly back tracking and having to retype, “I did not (didn’t) want to hear how you have not (haven’t) had any sleep in 24 hours,” or “I am (I’m) sure you were not (weren’t) going to tell him I would (I’d) punch him in the nose if he called me that one more time.” 
You may be thinking to yourself, is that not cheating?  Actually it is not.  For how can writing proper English be cheating?  We have just become accustomed over the years to reading contractions that we sometimes do not even realize what we are reading.  Did it help?  You bet, I exceeded my 1,667 daily word goal again and wrote 3,059 words for a total of:  8,069 and it is only day two!  (For those of you who follow my Facebook I gladly pinned my WORD-COUNT PADDING pin onto Efi Loo’s writing scarf!)
Are you a NaNoWrimo?  Have you found something that helps you keep striving and achieving, or exceeding, your daily word goal?  If so, please share.
Until next time,
Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author    
       

Monday, November 1, 2010

Wow, What a Day!

Have you ever set out to do something extraordinary but were afraid of the outcome?  Well that’s a little how I felt about my first day in NaNoLand. (That’s lingo for us NaNoWrimos)  Anyhow, I had grand illusions of sitting at my writing desk at 12:01 a.m. on November 1, 2010 and stroking the first letter of Falltime Frights. 

Instead, I rolled over at around 8:30 a.m., still feeling tired from the Halloween festivities a few hours earlier, wondering how in the world I was ever going to write today.  But then I remembered I was The Unknown Author and I leaped out of bed, threw on my trusted writing clothes, fixed my favorite morning drink (water for those of you who don’t know me) and fired up my trusty old friend, my laptop.

I opened up my Falltime Frights folder and reviewed all the structure notes I had made the prior month and before I knew it 500 words had suddenly appeared upon the page and then 1,200.  Now since I set my goal at 1,667 words a day and it was only 10 a.m., I figured why not go for 2,000.  At 3 in the afternoon after taking a long deserved break, and 4,000 words later, I decided I’m going all the way today and earn my first NaNoWrimo RALLY PIN and type 5,000 words.  When I added the period to my last sentence of the day my word count said, 5,010!

So the first thing NaNoWrimo taught me is preparations do make a difference!  Think, scheme a little and then plan, plan, plan.  Like I said before; once you find your passion, (click here) and discover your direction, (click here) it's easy to start writing and never look back.

Are you a NaNoWrimo?  Please share your experience here and share with us what you’ve learned so far.

Until next time,

Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author 

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Countdown to NaNoWrimo!

It’s finally here, my first NaNoWrimo challenge.  Now in case you have never heard of NaNoWrimo it stands for, National Novel Writing Month.  It is hosted by The Office of Letters and Light, a non-profit organization out of California.  Learn more here. 
NaNoWrimo challenges writers from all over the world to come together for one month and write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.  Wow!  50,000 words in 30 days!  That’s an average of 1,667 words a day.   
You may be asking yourself, how does The Unknown Author write over 1,667 words a day?  My answer being, I have no idea, but I’m about to find out!  Now just because the challenge doesn’t start until midnight tonight, doesn’t mean you couldn’t beforehand set out the structure, just like I’ve recently been talking about. 
My goal is to write the second book of my middle grade series, The Clara Jeane Mysteries, titled Falltime Frights.  The ideas of course have been floating around in my writer’s filing cabinet (my head) for some time now.  So this past month once I made the decision to take part in the challenge, I drew out the road map for Falltime Frights.  In other words, I know what the checkpoints of the hook, the backstory, the trigger, the crisis, the struggle, the epiphany, the plan, the climax, and finally, the end are going to be about. (All to be discussed in future blogs) Now all I have to do is sit down and for the next thirty days fill in all the gaps with scenery, dialogue and hopefully some killer writing!
So for the next thirty days, The Unknown Author, is going to take a break from their regular blogging subjects and instead give little updates as to their progress as a NaNoWrimo.  Then find out if on November 30 The Unknown Author becomes a proud NaNoWrimo winner! 
Only the ticking clock will tell…
Until next time,
Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!
T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Act One: How can it help me write the end of my story?

The last time we met I talked about creating a road map to help you along in your journey on becoming an author (click here) I hope you took some time to really think about what drives you to write and, hopefully, wrote it down.  This week we’re going to break down the story structure I talked about and does it really matter if you start from the beginning or the end of your story when sitting down to write? 

Let’s explore:

First, let’s begin by looking into the first element of Act One, the hook.  As all writers know, and if you don’t know I suggest you listen up, you need to establish an opening no longer than a paragraph to hook your reader, or for that matter, an editor.  You have to make them want to know more about your protagonist and what their story has to tell.  Let’s face it, if your main character has nothing to tell why read what they have to say? 

So what does the hook of your story have to do with the ending?  The answer lies in the second element of Act One, the backstory.  This is where all the juicy details of why your protagonist struggles and or anguishes over something are revealed.  Simply stated, what is it that your main character has to overcome in order to win in the end?  I sometimes find at this point in my plotting, or writing, it is very easy to write the ending of my story.  Then it is a matter of hooking the beginning up with the ending. (No pun intended) 

After formulating all the above I find the third element in Act One, the trigger, to be a breeze to write.  For knowing where my story begins, what drives my protagonist crazy and what needs to happen in the end to win reveals what sets everything into motion.  It’s no different than our own lives, (click here) to see what triggered the start of my writing career) what event in your life set something into motion that changed your life forever?  Do you have any techniques you’ve developed that help you discover the end of your story before you start?  Do you spend time plotting the course of your protagonist’s life?  If so, I’d love to hear about it.
 
Next I’m going to take a break from talking about the structure of writing and have you follow me, The Unknown Author, along on their first journey as a NaNoWrimo participant.  If you’ve never heard about NaNoWrimo, click here) to learn more.  

Until next time,

Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author

Monday, October 18, 2010

Putting pen to paper, metaphorically speaking.

So far I’ve talked about creating a hook for your story, which you’ll find here, writing a premise, click here, and finding your passion; look no further than here.  But I haven’t talked about what it’s actually like to put pen to paper, metaphorically speaking, and write that first manuscript.

For me it wasn’t an unconscious decision, it came after decisively knowing writing was a passion I had to pursue in life.  As discussed in my passion post, in case you missed it above click here, I never obtained the many accolades you associate with being a writer.  So instead, I sought out reputable writing courses taught by published authors.  It changed my world and it can change yours too. 

My first goal in starting out on the road to reinvent myself as an author was to immerse myself into the writing world.  For me it meant finding a writing course that tailored around the genres which interested me the most (mystery, thrillers, sci-fi and horror) so finding a course in fiction writing was ideal.  The first author I studied under was Steven Alcorn, author of A Matter of Justice, Everything in Its Path and Building a Better Mouse:  The Story of The Electronic Imagineers Who Designed Epcot.  In addition to being a published author/teacher, Steve Alcorn designs theme park rides.  

I feel at this point in my story to make it very clear my intent is not to teach Steve Alcorn’s courses.  If you are interested, please find them here (which I highly recommend) to discover his informative and creative teachings.  It is my intent, however, to share with other beginning want to be writers what helped someone in their shoes.

Steve Alcorn’s courses teach the elements of the three act structure and break down the meaning of scene and sequel. (Maybe they taught this in my high school English Lit class or my Drama class, but perhaps I should leave that for another blog!)  So for all you aspiring authors out there who may already know all this you’ll probably want to tune in to a rerun of Dancing with the Stars, but for the rest of you, if you wish, follow along on a journey that turned one want to be writer into The Unknown Author.

It was during one of his courses a light bulb turned on inside my head.  I was taking his Advanced Fiction Writing course and halfway through I suddenly realized I didn’t have to be a major league college graduate to write a book. (Hey I had an epiphany!)  I already had everything I needed . . . a great story to tell and the passion to tell it!  What I was lacking were the techniques writers use to structure their stories.  Once I understood them I finally found my "one day I’m going to write a book about that."  (See my post on passion here)  Soon after completing the course I started drafting my first middle grade mystery, Summertime Chills. 
  
From that point on I haven’t looked back because you see I already had the passion to write and something to write about, all I needed were the tools!  Sure I spend many hours, days and even months polishing that baby, but isn’t that what writers do? 

I want to challenge all my unpublished blog friends out there to sit down and write a passion statement.  In other words, what inside you drives you to write?  Then draw a road map of what it will take to get you out of your crossroad of dreaming of being an author and actually becoming one.  When finished fire up your most valuable author tool, besides your imagination, your computer, and seek a writing course which meets all your needs, desires and of course budget.  Then read your passion statement again and never look back.  It can change your world . . . trust me, I know.

Next week, I'll talk about the beginning and the end; does it really matter where you start?  Knowing what's in Act One can help answer that question!

Until next time,

Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What's your passion?

Many words can be found to describe passion, for example, desire.  There are times we desire something we don’t have or have a sudden urge to change our circumstances.  For us writers, passion is what drives us.  It’s a desire that never seems to be fulfilled. 
For many years I always had this urge to be a writer, but I never knew how to become one.  I assumed if you didn’t go to college and get a degree in fine arts or literature, you could never become a writer.  So being that I never achieved any of those accolades, I thought I was destined to become someone who just thought about being a writer.  Through all those lost years I continued to have a deep seeded passion that never left my conscious.  What I didn’t realize at the time was seeing a pattern developing in my life . . . a pattern that every time I experienced tragic, I had a deep down desire to write about it. 
It wasn’t until the death of my mother and grandmother, less than 24 hours apart, that the pattern started to take shape.  As usual, upon that tragic day, I felt this overwhelming need to somehow tell the story of how they influenced my life.  I suppose I’m like many writers out there who write because of pain, however, my pain was long in the making.  You see my mother and grandmother were there for me the day I almost died.  How’s that for a hook?  See my post about a hook here.  You see I’m one of the lucky few who have survived a severely broken neck and continue to walk and talk about it. 
Why is it when we’re young we think we are invincible and that the relatives before us never learned their lessons the hard way?  Are we just being naive or is it more than that?  Perhaps our inexperience is part of our destiny, which becomes our journey . . . our passion.

I clearly remember my grandmother praying over me as I lay upon the stark white sheets of my hospital bed and my mother never, and I mean never, leaving the hospital while I struggled to survive.  It has taken 27 years from that fateful moment and nine years since saying goodbye to the most influential women in my life to finally discover my passion in life; the passion to write.

What's behind your passion to write?   Every life has a story . . . what’s yours?

Next week I'll talk about how finding my passion led to finally putting pen to paper.

Until next time,

Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author        

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

So you wrote a premise, now what?

When I sat down to muse over what to write about for this week’s subject title, I asked myself, “Now, if I’m The Unknown Author, why in the blog world do I think anyone out there would care about my advice?”  Which got me thinking, why not write a premise for this week’s subject. 
 What if an unknown author, who sets out on a soul searching journey to share their writing experiences with other aspiring writers, discovers the true meaning behind putting off their next great story? 
After celebrating my success in creating a premise I neatly tucked it away in my “great ideas for a story” file, allowing me to put off having to actually sit down and turn it into something.  Why is it when we writers get a great story idea, or for any of you non-writers out there who just enjoy reading my collection of words this could apply to any of your great ideas, we tend to put off the really hard work of actually turning it into something?   I once read a long time ago procrastination is a trademark of geniuses.  Now I hardly consider myself a genius but for the sake of argument {fade in} classical music blaring in background, the unknown author sits upon an old rickety chair pounding away on the next big seller {fade out} 

Okay so the truth of the matter is I believe the real culprit is not procrastination, but fear.  Yes, I’m willing to share my inner conflict; the fear of failure.  As I said, I don’t think of myself as a genius, but I do consider myself a perfectionist and that is where my inner conflict comes in.  It seems to only arise at times when I want to be the best I can and that pesky little voice of my co-author in life, better known as my subconscious, says to me, “What if it’s not good enough?”  Do you have a co-author like that too?  If so, how do you overcome and achieve? 

Now that we have established a clue as to why some of us put off until tomorrow, or maybe even the next day, in writing the next great story let’s follow the clue and see where it leads us. . .  (For me, creating a relaxed atmosphere helps to drown out my pesky co-author’s voice.  So I set the digital station on my satellite to classical, burn my favorite scented candle, dim the lights and power up the laptop.  Do you have any ritual that helps you to get into the writing zone?) 

 I reach into my "great ideas for a story" file and pull out this week’s premise.  Okay, I know what I’m going to write about but something seems to be missing.  Now is a good time to think back about our clue.  But what does the fear of failure have to do with . . . wait I get it, what is my story going to be about?!  In other words, what’s the theme?  All good stories have a theme as a foundation.  Some examples are love, jealousy, trust, revenge . . . you get the picture.   So the theme for my premise is the fear of failure.  How did I come up with that theme?  It came from my inner conflict.  I find when I take some time and do some real soul searching my co-author is pretty good at creating good writing material. 
Finding my inner voice is crucial to survival in the life of an author.  It’s what keeps me driven, and it’s what drives my stories.  It’s also what has driven me to next week’s subject . . . passion.
Until next time,
Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!


T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author                       

Monday, September 27, 2010

What do you mean hook 'em?

Simply put, life is not always for the living.

As writers, we all know if you want to capture the attention of your readers, or an editor, you have to hook 'em before they dive back into the vast sea of written words, in search of their next catch! 


When I first started writing, after many years of always saying, "One day I'm going to write a book about that," I was clueless as to how to write a captivating hook, let alone a manuscript.  At times we all are, even well known published authors.  So how do you begin?  Well I can't say I have all the answers, or even thee answer (thee is for emphasis), but I can tell you what has worked for me.


Know your premise.  That is know what you are writing about.  For some writers, it can come naturally as they sit down at their keyboard, or pad of paper, and start spewing out the next great novel.  For others, it takes a road map.  I find having a road map, although it may get spotted with tea stains, or whatever you happen to be drinking at the time; it helps to know where you want to go.  Even if the final destination isn't what you had planned.  Like when using your newest technological gadget and you enter the destination to the nearest Starbucks and end up at the local butcher shop instead.  Life doesn't always turn out like we've planned, but hey plans change, adapt, overcome and survive!


So you may be saying, okay unknown author, what is today's lesson, because if you don't hurry up I can see why you'll remain the unknown author.  Well my fellow aspiring authors know your destination.  Whether you write it down, record it or enter it into your cerebral memory bank . . . have a plan.  Start with the What if?  and move on from there.  Then when you sit down to write that killer hook, sorry I love a good mystery, it will seem to appear out of nowhere upon the page.


What do I mean by life is not always for the living?  Just because you are alive doesn't mean you’re living.  So get out there and experience life, which yes sometimes means getting your heart broken or even experiencing deep seeded pain, but it sometimes includes finding the love of a lifetime.  Go ahead, get out there and live!  Then sit down, make a plan, and write the next great novel.


Next week's blog, So you wrote a premise, now what?    


Until next time,


Keep on striving, keep on thriving and keep on writing!


T.K. Millin
The Unknown Author