Category: Writing

Writing

The Story Is There

deborahanndykeman

Have you ever looked at a picture, and wanted to know the story behind it? It could be an old painting, or a photograph. I’ve seen pictures and I want to jump right into that time, hear the conversation taking place before the camera captured that image. Feel the temperature of the air on my skin, smell the aroma of the room, or the flowers the couple was standing beside.

Yes, I’m probably strange. I’ve been told so before. But it doesn’t really bother me anymore to fit into the little box others think I should be in. Everyone experiences life in different ways, and that is good. So these days, (most of the days since I turned fifty a few years ago), I just float along with some of those thoughts and feelings I have when it comes to creativity. It has helped me to write and publish five books so far!

Pictures say a lot. holding-hands-1772035_1920

This one speaks to me of young love, hope and a future. It is autumn, shown from the colors of the leaves on the trees. I think the sun is setting, but it could be rising. The train tracks lead you to believe there is more, a road to travel, life to experience. This picture makes me feel happy with a touch of melancholy. thunderstorm-2077667_1920

Of course the first thought for this one is something dark and sinister. I love the house, but not the setting, even on a bright, sunny day. It looks flat and somehow wild…and very lonely. The flashes of lightning don’t help the entire feeling of something bad about to happen. But I still love the picture and all the emotions it stirs up. relax-705817_1920

Peace is felt when I look at this one. I think it’s early morning, the mist on the water. It reminds me of an Adirondack lake. I actually saved this one to use for a meme on my third book in the Rubyville series, A Place to Heal. Much time in the book is spent on Lake George in upstate New York. There is a dock with chairs just like these. I could spend a lot of time here with my eyes closed, smelling the clean, fresh air, and listening to the sounds of the water lapping at the boards.

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I love country churches. Especially if they are white or stone. I prefer them nestled in a little valley with trees shading the steeple, but this one is intriguing. Just think of the stories this one could tell! A young couple on their wedding day, the wind whipping the bride’s veil as they climbed into the buggy to begin their future. There is a thought.

But of course, photographs of those we love are the most special of all. This one was taken of our grandchildren on Easter Sunday. They are all below the age of seven, and they each have a story to tell, a future to experience. My mind races with the possibilities of the thoughts in their little heads. There is a story to tell…18090708_10155275580618804_513646526_o

Writing

Thanks to Editors

deborahanndykeman

Editing, a very slow and painful process in my opinion. But it is a very needed one. It gives the writer and the editor a chance to find all those little mistakes and typos. Some that would have been read over by a reader engrossed in the story, or others that would have caused a person to come to a screeching halt.

I appreciate my editor. She is also our oldest daughter, so that is unique in the editor/writer experience. We are able to sit down together, and she reads my book out loud. Those mistakes jump to attention then. We are able to rewrite, correct, and talk about changes immediately. And that is also unique. I have a very good set-up for my writing, but it is still…slow.

And all of the above is the easy part. After we finish going through the book, reading it out loud, Britta Ann will then spend hours going meticulously through each page, checking sentence structure, word usage, and spelling. She will format and make the interior look pretty. Yes, I have the easy part!

Thank you to all editors out there. You are greatly needed by us writers. We appreciate you, even if we think you are a bit crazy with the red pen at times!

So, just a quick note to let you all know that I am here…just a little overwhelmed right now. Have a great evening!

Writing

Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews – To Thee I’m Wed by Deborah Dykeman

deborahanndykeman

Thank you, Yecheilyah for such a wonderful review! I just had to share it on here! Pick up a copy of To Thee I’m Wed, and readers, let me know what you think! I love hearing from you!

Yecheilyah's avatarThe PBS Blog

Title: To Thee I’m Wed

Author: Deborah Dykeman

Print Length: 239 pages

Publication Date: December 29, 2015

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Language: English

ASIN: B019YT5NC2

*I received this book as a gift from the author*

When Jason and Kathy Miller marries in June of 1985, they are in total bliss. As any young couple is they are happy and giddy and excited to start their lives together. They are so happy in fact, that even at the beginning I knew things would not be all peaches and cream.

Twenty years and three children later and the fire dies. Once happy-go-lucky Kathy is starting to feel unfulfilled. The life of a Housewife is now just her duty where it had once been so much more. It had once been fun. Now that the children are older, Kathy seeks work to rekindle the excitement in her life but her husband…

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Writing

A Wow Moment

deborahanndykeman

This past weekend, my editor, a.k.a. daughter, and I attended a writer’s conference in Pittsburg, Kansas. It’s the Called to Write Conference, held annually at the Lamplighter Inn and Suites. There is always a great turn-out for this event and the speakers are just phenomenal for a conference this size. This year, Kathy Ide http://kathyide.com/ and Twila Belk http://www.gottatellsomebody.com/ were the keynote speakers and they taught the workshops. They were terrific! Probably my favorite time over the few days was the Q&A on Friday night. It was just fun to watch these two women interact and answer questions. I learned so much!

The biggest take-away I had from this conference, was the gift I have been given with my writing. My writing is for a purpose, it sends a message, and I would pray it leads others to seek Christ. And that is a lot of responsibility! But, I couldn’t do anything else. I often wonder how I managed for so many years of my child-rearing days to not write. But our lives have seasons, and those years were not my writing season.

I was privileged to be able to donate A Place to Call Home for a door prize. Because of that donation, I was given the opportunity to share vocally about the book and the series. I think that’s the reason I was sold out of A Place to Call Home! That was very exciting for me! But to top that off, people even asked for me to sign their books. Yes, I know that is expected and a normal practice. But it’s still new enough to me that my jaw kind of drops and I want to ask, “You want me to sign your book?” I probably spelled my name wrong because my heart was pounding so!

During a quiet time, I was sitting in the garden room, looking out over the swimming pool. I was dreaming of my younger years, when the pool was all that mattered at a hotel. It’s been rather cold and rainy here in these parts, so swimming wouldn’t have been an option. Putting on a swim suit would have solved the ‘going swimming’ dilemma if any chance had been left. The woman standing among the trees approached me, apologizing for interrupting me during my retrospection. She asked if I would mind signing her copy of A Place to Call Home. Would I mind? Does chocolate taste good?

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Moments like these make writing so very special!

Yes, writing is a gift I have been given. But over and over, I have been the receiver of so much more in this writing journey. From the joy of working with our eldest daughter on editing, formatting and proofing, to our middle daughters giving their very needed suggestions on content. Our son reading the books has been great encouragement. And our youngest has been able to keep the house from tumbling down as I have sat in my office for hours at a time, glued to my chair. Hearing readers talk about my books, sharing them with others and reading reviews has gone beyond what I ever hoped to accomplish with my writing.

I have readers! Readers have asked me to sign their books! Wow!

Writing

Self-Publishing and Formatting Quick Tips

deborahanndykeman

I have just returned from a fantastic writer’s conference in Pittsburg, Kansas where I had the privilege to be a part of workshops taught by Kathy Ide and Twila Belk, or Twila Belk and Kathy Ide. (Now they each have first billing!) If you’ve been around writing, editing, publishing groups at all, you’ve heard their names. I learned so much! I am very thankful that editors, authors and speakers are willing to teach these workshops. So, when I read this post this morning, I just had to share it. More great information and so many helpful tips. Get out your notepad!

jorobinson176's avatarLit World Interviews

One of the biggest challenges to Indies is getting a professionally published looking book when up against the costs of editing, proofreading, formatting and cover designs. If you can afford these services then foregoing them is not a good idea, but when you really can’t afford them they can mean the death of some really great literature. There are a couple of things that can help though.

Editing or Proofreading Swopsies

Rather than simply asking for Beta readers, offer to swop proofreading services. Writers have a different kind of eyeball when reading. I’ve just finished a Joanna Trollope book, professionally published by one of the big houses, professionally edited and put together, but so far I’ve found a couple of typos and instances of poorly strung together sentences. As far as the cover design is concerned, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was specifically looking for and wanting…

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social media, Writing

Follow Me on Amazon for a Chance to Win!

deborahanndykeman

I’m having an Amazon Giveway!

All you have to do is follow me on Amazon, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of three Kindle editions of Rubyville: A Place to Call Home.

Click this link to enter: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/59b7bab3c87e81b8

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends the earlier of Mar 19, 2017 11:59 PM PDT, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules http://amzn.to/GArules.

 

 

 

Writing

The Reader and The Reviewer

deborahanndykeman

Goodreads badge read reviews

As an author, reviews are extremely important. Especially for authors that are self-published. They don’t have a big-name publishing company behind them. And I, as a reader really understand that. As a consumer, do I want to buy the brand that has been tried and tested, or strike out on my own into no-man’s land? I’ll probably go where others have been before. If this concerns ingesting or applying to my body, I really don’t want to be the lab experiment. I want all the quirks worked out of a product.

Now, reading a book from an indie author isn’t quite the same as putting drops in your eye or rubbing lotion on your skin that hasn’t been used before. If you’re an editor, it may be a bit painful to find multiple mistakes in editing and formatting. If you’ve read a lot of books, you may find plot and character issues. But it probably won’t kill you. (Although there were a couple books that I had to read in high school that were pretty excruciating!) To read an entire book completely out of your usual genre is very difficult for some. Which is why I probably would not make a very good book reviewer for some genres. I admire those people that are able to do that.

Since I publish my books through Createspace, and they are sold on Amazon, I was surprised to learn that Amazon also owns Goodreads. I was also shocked to read that this had happened a few years ago. I guess I’ve been living under a rock and need to find a new one! I think it’s pretty safe to say that I work for the Amazon company in a round about way! And so far, they have been pretty good to me. I just need to keep working on figuring out all the little quirks involved.

One area that’s becoming more clear is the review process. Pretty much, as far as I can tell, in order to review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million or even Wal-Mart.com, you need to have purchased through them. Which again, I really do understand. Their reputation is at risk, and they are running a business. A business that they want to be profitable. But that leaves  indie authors in a bit of a hole. Generally, especially in the beginning, an indie author is not known. Their name, their books, and their photo mean almost nothing to most of the reader world.

So once again, we circle around to the review process, which helps tremendously in getting an author known. People review, people read, more reviews, more people read. And so it goes. Goodreads, as far as I’ve seen, allows you to review any book that you’ve read. It is now my favorite place! sun-310144_640

Feedback is a wonderful thing. We all like to know how we’re doing and the areas where we need to improve. It hones our skills for whatever we’re doing in life.

Goodreads is also just a fun place to go if you’re an avid reader and like talking about…books. You can ask authors questions about a book, take part in trivia questions and have discussions about your favorite books. I’ve found this to be pretty enjoyable stuff. Even though I don’t have as much time to read these days as I would like, it’s fun to take part in activities involving books I have read over the years. And yes, there are some pretty big name authors on the site.

So check it out, and while you’re at Goodreads icon 16x16 Goodreads, have fun reviewing your favorite authors!

To Thee I'm Wed

To Thee I’m Wed

reviews: 3
ratings: 4 (avg rating 4.75)

 

Rubyville: A Place to Call Home, Book 1
Rubyville: A Place to Call Home, Book 1

ratings: 2 (avg rating 5.00)

 

Rubyville: A Place in My Heart, Book 4
Rubyville: A Place in My Heart, Book 4

ratings: 1 (avg rating 5.00)

 

Rubyville: A Place to Heal, Book 3
Rubyville: A Place to Heal, Book 3

ratings: 1 (avg rating 5.00)

 

Rubyville: A Place of Refuge, Book 2
Rubyville: A Place of Refuge, Book 2

ratings: 1 (avg rating 5.00)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/author_widget/14249195.Deborah_Ann_Dykeman?widget_id=1486043394

Writing

Cover War

deborahanndykeman

I know, I know, people are going to become sick of hearing this, but I really want to win this little war! The cover for the first book in the Rubyville series, A Place to Call Home is in a cover war at this site: http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/. You can vote on a cover once every 24 hours, and they are very strict about this. They won’t take your vote until it’s been the 24 hours. The cover war for this set of 15 covers will end on Saturday, the 19th. So, please vote for Rubyville…even if you think another cover is better! 😉 I personally think mine is the best one, but I’m a little bias on this one.

So please vote every day through the 20th and help Rubyville – A Place to Call Home to win!!! And of course, if it looks interesting, give it a read and let me know what you think. It’s available on kindle and paperback through https://www.amazon.com/Rubyville-Place-Call-Home-Book/dp/1518744672/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479222875&sr=1-1&keywords=deborah+ann+dykeman

Thank you for your vote!

Writing

Part Two Rabbit Trail

deborahanndykeman

It’s hard to let go. Does that sentence sound familiar? I’m going to try this again and see if I can stay on track. And speaking of rabbit trails, isn’t that a cute little guy, hanging out in the dunes by the sea?

The Rubyville series is finished. Some say it shouldn’t be, and they want the story to continue. And a very huge part of me agrees, because it’s hard to let go. The Barton family became my family. I lived with them fictionally for 100 years, but in reality, for the past year or so. I was a part of their dinner conversation, what clothes they chose to wear for the day, where they wanted to live, and I prayed with them. I laughed at their antics and I cried along with their losses. And now they are gone! And I feel a huge hole in my life. For those of you that don’t write, please don’t call the white coats. I’m really not crazy…just a writer.

Before I began the Rubyville series, before I wrote that first book of 65,000 words the month of March in 2015, I had another series. This series was near and dear to me for almost twenty years, at that time. I couldn’t even fathom starting another series. I didn’t want to be that close to another group of characters. I couldn’t stop thinking, or talking about that other series. And then along came the Barton family.

So that’s why I began my post yesterday with that sentence. I’m having difficulty letting go, and getting back to that first series. I haven’t visited with that other family in a long time, and I’m nervous about what they are going to think of me. Will I know them like I used to? Will we be friends again, close family that shares everything? Right now, it seems hard to believe. And it’s even scarier to think that this other series may not connect with my readers as the Rubyville series did.

But I have knocked on their door, and I’m waiting on the front porch, exchanging polite conversation until they invite me in, and include me in their lives once again.

I really need to say good-bye to Rubyville. Maybe not forever, but for now. So I’m going to share with you, my visions of the little town in Kansas that became so dear to me. I painted a picture of Rubyville and the Barton home. I used this to construct a little town using my village pieces. With the help of the paint program on my computer, I designed my proof covers for Rubyville. Each book depicts a new season. Here is winter and spring:

rubyville-1-book-cover

book-cover-2-rubyville-by-deborah

And summer and fall:

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rubyville-book-4-cover

I absolutely love the covers that http://www.DesignByJulia.com did for my books! They are beautiful and I’ve had so many compliments on them. Julia captured the Barton women, and the fact that they were Rubyville, not the town. But I will always have a soft spot for what I picture Rubyville to look like.

Thank you for sticking with me for these two posts! I really appreciate you, my readers. Change is difficult, but I will survive, and I’ll work on being patient in the process. Until next time…

Writing

Indie Publishing

deborahanndykeman

I absolutely love that I am self-published! For a control freak such as myself, it fits me wonderfully. I can write, design, book release, and write what I would like all at my own pace. And it is mine! I have had some amazing help along the way…couldn’t have done it without those two ladies…but I’ve still had a sense of control. And for me, that is huge!

So, when big-name companies are recognizing indie authors, that’s even more amazing. There are so many writers out there that have wonderful stories to tell, and now they can.

During the month of October, Amazon will be celebrating great writing self-published via Kindle Direct Publishing, CreateSpace and Audio Book Creation Exchange.
Share why you love being an indie author in social media and on your blog. Feel free to create videos, photos and posts about your experience! Remember to use the hashtag #PoweredByIndie so we can share your stories as well
Visit the official landing page www.amazon.com/poweredbyindie to discover great indie titles and learn more about indie authors – share the page with fellow authors!Like the KDP Facebook page so you can join author Q&As, stay connected to the campaign and get tips on publishing from AmazonLet’s celebrate great writing together!

I received the above from the Kindle Direct Publishing team and wanted to share it on here. It’s been a pleasure working with CreateSpace and Amazon to get my manuscripts into book format and available to the public. And now I’m very privileged to be participating in several events this fall where I can have my books available to the public, and meet my readers.

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This one was at the Wichita Public Library back in September.

I never dreamed of being a writer, and I’m still in awe when I think of all that has transpired on this writing journey over the past year! I’ve written a four-book series and self-published five books. That’s incredible to me! And it all took place in this little corner:

my-writing-desk

I do love to sit down and write, and I love to design. But as I’ve said so many times before, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. These two ladies, one a very dear friend and the other our oldest daughter, step in and take care of all the hard parts. Julia Ryan at http://www.DesignByJulia.com has created amazing, beautiful covers for all my books. She has been invaluable help to my daughter in showing her the ropes of editing, typesetting and making that interior look fantastic! I can get the words strung together, but that’s about all it is without those two. Britta Ann Meadows is beginning her own journey with Peas in a Pod Editing and Design. Thank you both so very much!

So join me in celebrating great, self-published writing!