Fire Star Press: holidays

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The Island of Misfit Authors

‘Tis once again the season to deck the halls, brush off the old traditions, and maybe even start a few new ones. When I was a kid, it wasn’t Christmas without the annual viewing of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. To this day one of the things I remember most about Rudolph is the Island of Misfit Toys. Some part of me identified with those toys because I was a misfit too. I was painfully shy and, due to the makeup of my extended family, I was far more comfortable around adults than people my own age.

Image courtesy of www.123rf.com

Over the years, I became more comfortable in my own skin. When I started writing, for the first time in my life, I felt like I had found my passion. Then, when I finally got brave enough (I still struggle with shyness) to meet with a local group of writers during NaNoWriMo, I knew I had found my people. They were just like me! These people knew what it was like to have a head practically bursting with stories. They understood how you can intensely dislike a character that you created. They also knew what it was like to have stories—and characters—take off in a completely different direction from what you intended. It was like magic.

As I joined professional organizations and took classes one piece of advice kept recurring—find others that write the same thing you do. Get to know them. Learn from them. Network. I tried. Really, I did. However, that’s when I discovered that once again, I’m a misfit.I joined one group only to discover that it was a bit… clique-ish. I had enough of that sort of thing in high school so I let my membership expire. I joined another group of sweet/clean writers only to learn that I couldn’t promote any of my work there because my first novel was sexy, not sweet. Strike Two. Finally I found another group of multi-genre authors that seemed to be a perfect fit… until the founder of the group got too busy to run it and it died a quiet death. *sigh*

I have written fantasy romance, contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and one genre-defying video-game themed romantic short story. My Kudzu Korners series is sweet, humorous, paranormal romance. I can find plenty of other authors who write humorous paranormal romance but their stories definitely aren’t sweet. I can’t help but think there are others like me but I have as yet to find them. Oh, well. Maybe someday.

In the meantime, I’ll be over here on the Island of Misfit Authors waiting to find a home. Want to join me? Everyone is welcome!

Until next month, take care and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/isabellanorse

Website: http://www.isabellanorse.com/

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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A Gift of Words

Hi everyone, Isabella Norse here. It’s hard to believe that a month has passed since my last post! As we enter this holiday season, I have gifts on my mind.

Ernest Hemingway is credited with saying “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” While few authors still use typewriters, there is still much truth in that quote. You see, a book is far more than just words and paper (or pixels, as the case may be). Every book ever written contains a bit of the author’s heart and soul.

We write when the words come easily. We stare at our laptops, mumbling to ourselves when the words don’t want to come at all. We write in the evenings after a full day at work, after the kids are in bed, and after the elderly parents have been checked on. We write when we should be doing other things, such as exercising or balancing the checkbook. We laugh when our story amuses us and cry when a beloved character dies. We experience the magic that occurs when our characters say and do things that we never imagined. (What do you mean you want to be a missionary? You’re supposed to be a hairdresser!) We agonize over book titles and character names. We wonder if anyone will ever read our words and hope that if they do, they will laugh and cry in all the right places. We tell ourselves that we must be thick-skinned, that we must not read our reviews. Then, we read them anyway and curl up in a corner with a box of tissues, five pounds of chocolate, and at least one cat while we cry over the mean-spirited ones.

Mostly, we write because we have to. We have been given a gift of words. Not using that gift leaves us feeling incomplete. So, the next time you pick up a book, be it a paperback or ebook, remember that you are holding more than just a story. You are holding a magical gift that not only transports you to a new world, you are holding a tiny piece of the author as well. Handle it with care.

In the spirit of the gift-giving season, I will be giving one lucky commenter a signed copy of the Nine Deadly Lives anthology. So, sound off in the comments. I’d love to hear from you and who knows, you may win a free book. ;-) Good luck and until next month, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!