WOW...LOOK WHAT I FOUND

So, I recently just saw that none of my 'scheduled' posts had posted. So here is one that I wrote right before Halloween.

In the days leading up to Halloween, what kind of inspiration do you get for your writing.

I don't like scary movies but I love reality police shows. I watch The First 48 every day.

Sometimes all day. Lifetime and A&E channels run marathons on Monday, Wednesdays and Thursday with the NEW episode on Thursday night.

I love this show and find myself thinking about the detectives on that show.

My favorite is Carolyn Mason. She is a weave wearing, high heel wearing, gun toting black woman who will make a grown man cry and a teenager ask for his momma.

She is the kind of heroine I need in my stories and well; she is my inspiration for The Stiletto Stalker.

I've been working on this book for two years and finally its done. 

Since its my first murder mystery, I am very hesitant to submit it because; well I'm an author and I don't want it to be bad. (please don't let it be bad)

So for now; it sits in my drawer and on my computer...waiting for the day that I am ready to 'give birth' .

So, what inspiration do you take from Halloween?

ALMOST TIME...

It's almost time for the Creatures, Crimes and Creativity conference.

Have you registered yet? 

You need to make sure that if you are in the Maryland area that you check out this great, local, small conference.

They feature local as well as best selling authors.

This event showcases products from suspense, thriller, horror, sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal. 

It's happening on Oct. 5-7, 2018 in Columbia, Maryland at the Sheraton Hotel.

This is where you can meet your favorite author, have lunch with them, have dinner and a few drinks. 

You can purchase novels and also make sure to get those selfies.

Are there other conferences that you attend that I should know about? Let me know and make sure to include the link. 

So will you be there? It's not to late to register.

Click this link and register today. Creatures, Crimes and Creativity 2018

CONFERENCE SEASON IS HERE

So we all await this time of year. 

Where we meet our fans and fellow authors. 

Where we exchange ideas and where we learn about new projects, new authors, share what works and what doesn't. 

We learn who received that multi book deal or who got a movie deal or movie options.

Yep; its conference time and how many of us will be traveling to conferences.

There is one in Las Vegas. There is one in New York and there is also one in Maryland 

I have helped you out by linking to those sites, via their city name. 

Las Vegas has the PSWA conference. New York hosts Thrillerfest and Maryland is home to the Creatures, Crimes and Creativity Con.

These three conferences make up a few of the places you will find Intrigue Publishing authors.

We love these conferences but most importantly we love C3.

This is where we get to show off (Intrigue Authors) and we get to prove that we know how to put on a great show. 

This year they have added Noir At The Bar and it promises to be a great time.

So, tell me what conferences you are going to attend this year and why do you like it?

MAKING THE BEST OF LIFE

Well here it is March 23rd (at the time of me writing this) and I am making the best of life.

I survived a snow storm on the second day of spring. 

I survived major surgery on Feb. 26th and I survived a severely broken ankle, foot and leg on Feb. 18th.

I'd say I have no choice but to make the best out of the life I am living.

It seems as if I have been living a nightmare for the past year. Things have gone steadily downhill, in terms of my health.

But you know what?

I'm still here; making the best out of my life.

See I could have given up, thrown in the towel and just gotten so down on life that I could have been miserable.

Now, this is not to say that I didn't.

I had my bouts with depression. 

I was on total bed rest for four (4) weeks. I had some really dedicated people in my life that shopped for me, brought me lunch and dinner and even bought my wine! They made me laugh and see how much they loved me.

I will never forgot them for making me see the sunshine when all I wanted to do was see clouds

So I started making the best of my situation.

I finished a novel! Yippee

I finished up my travel agent certification! Yippee

I even finished up my AA degree! Yippee.

It's amazing what you can do when you have time. 

I made the best out of my life and now that I am able to get out of the house. (I'm still in a cast for another four weeks) I am living life to the best of my ability.

Are you?

REFRESHED, RENEWED, REJUVANATED

That is how I feel when I spend time with other authors. 

In the past few weeks, different writer and fan conferences concluded.

MDC3Con (Creatures, Crimes and Creativity) and BoucherCon are two of my favorites. Thrillerfest is another.

This is the time of year for the three R's. 

Refreshing your desire to write. Renewing your goals and rejuvenating that manuscript that has been in your desk for months without seeing the light of day. 

This is also the time of year for the fourth R.

Reflection.

Reflect on what you have done for the last 10 months. Reflect on how your writing has improved. Reflect on what it is to be an author. 

This is the time that the leaves change, your wardrobe gets warmer and your writing should become easier as the day passes. 

This is also the time of year that authors gather to talk and share ideas. They share what they have learned with each other. They share their ups and downs. They share their successes and their failures. 

They also share what they plan on doing differently in the coming year. 

If you don't have a support group to talk to; you really need to join one. 

Better yet....create one. 

Create what you need. After all; writing is a solitary thing. But the benefits of being an author is that you get to meet some amazing people to reflect, refresh, renew and be rejuvenated with.

Are you ready for your new season? 

I am.

IT'S A FUNNY THING, BEING FUNNY

I’ve heard this often at cocktail parties, cookouts, and in the occasional ladies bathroom:

“Oh, you’re so funny. I could never be funny.”

Well folks, I’ll let you in on a little secret: writing good humor requires the same basic principles of writing quality prose of any kind: it’s all in the show, less in the tell. A comedienne may describe herself as a teller of jokes, but the great ones verbally paint a picture that vividly illustrates an awkward situation, a ridiculous reaction, or a profound insight.

Most humor writers are excellent observers of the human condition. Some of my favorites–Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Dave Barry–possess a keen eye for describing (showing) everyday life in a way that highlights the absurd, the offensive, and the ridiculous.

If, for example, you’re writing a humorous story about, oh, I don’t know, your personal journey through menopause, the reader needs to join you on your trip through hot flashes, middle-aged sex drives, growing a mustache, losing your keys (and your car) and  monster-size mood swings. Even if the reader can’t directly relate to the throes of menopause, they should be laughing along with you.

Jeff Goins (follow him NOW for great writing tips and advice http://goinswriter.com/) suggests three “tricks” for writing humor. These include:

1. State the obvious. Menopause: a ten-year journey through suck-town. You’re up, you’re down, you’re hot, you’re cold. You’re the emotional equivalent of a teenager, but with the added thrill of boobs that are in a race to see which will reach your knees first.
2. Be subtle (not this writer’s strong suit); entice the reader to want to know more. Menopause: women hate it, men don’t understand it, the military wants to bottle it for future warfare.
3. Surprise your audience. Menopause could get your husband killed.

I would add a 4^th trick: BE the joke (self-deprecating humor). The silver-lining moment of menopause: I’m now a very good candidate for the job of bearded-lady at the circus.

Here are a few additional personal habits of mine (OK, these may be tics) that seem to help me tap into my humor writing muse:

• Keep it loose. Sometimes what you need is a shot of tequila. Hemingway is often credited with noting: Write drunk, edit sober. When facing a midnight deadline, sometimes my go to writing partner is Jose Cuervo. However, you can’t be so blind drunk that you can’t see the keyboard. Be loose, not comatose.
• Be comfortable. Invest in a quality pair of good fuzzy bunny slippers. No one writes well when their feet are cold. Mine are pink, fluffy, and a size 11.
• Keep a notebook of observations. You never know when the universe is going to present you with inspiration. I’m currently working on the story inspired by this moment:

I’m still a long way from walking alongside the masters of humor such as the ever-inspiring Erma Bombeck. Her words of wisdom fuel me daily:

Hook 'em with the lead. Hold 'em with laughter. Exit with a quip they won't forget.

This is a pretty good overall life goal, don’t ya think?

Author Bio:

Kimberly “Kimba” J. Dalferes is a native Floridian who pretends to be a Virginian. Her accomplishments have included successfully threading a sewing bobbin, landing a 35 pound Alaskan king salmon, and scoring a ceramic sangria pitcher at an estate sale for $1. She also sometimes writes books. Look for her new book, “Magic Fishing Panties”, to be released in August 2015 by Booktrope Publishing. Her humor column–Dock Tale Hour–is featured in Laker Magazine. She is often found hanging out on her blog The Middle-Aged Cheap Seats. You can also visit her at www.kimdalferes.com

I AM EVERYWHERE YOU SHOULD BE

Where are you?

That is what I find myself asking whenever I am at an event and I am the only author there. I have been to wine tasting, grand openings, dinners, networking events and at least 6 out of the last 10 times, I was the ONLY author in attendance.

Why aren't I seeing more authors? You must know that this is the way that you make connections. This is the way that you get new readers, this is the way that you meet some people that can help you along in your journey.

Why aren't I see more authors at event's given BY authors? These are also the events that you need to be at. Supporting another author is also a way to make more connections to readers that might not know the genre that you write or maybe they may be the leader of a book club and want more local authors to come and chat with their members.

Why aren't I see more of you at these types of events? Why aren't I seeing more authors at event's like +MaliceDomesticConference or +LoveIsMurder or +Thrillerfest or +MDC3. These are all conferences or conventions that gather lots of readers and very few authors.

So again, Why aren't I seeing more of you at these events?

Marketing and Branding...two different things

A lot of people ask me, why do you always say that marketing and branding are two different things?

That's because they are. Marketing is what you do to get your novel, product or name out in the public eye. Branding is when you are in the public eye and people recognize your novel, product or name by the 'symbol' that you have associated it with.

I am sure that whenever you see an I Pad, you see an APPLE and that APPLE is their brand. When you see Under Armour you see the double U intertwined to look like a U and an A...that symbol is their brand.

For me, whenever people see B.S.W..they think B. Swangin Webster. and that is my brand. Those initials are something that I purposefully wanted to everyone to see whenever I am around. Everything I do, has B. S or W on it. That is why when I tell people start marketing yourself six months BEFORE your novel hits, and make sure that you know what BRAND you want people to remember because when you book comes out, you want that BRAND to be the first thing they see and remember...oh, that (insert your name here:__)

I'm all over social media and when you type in B. Swangin; you will immediately see me...yippee! So my branding is working and my marketing efforts are paying off.

So, tell me what BRAND are you creating to make sure that you stand out among all of the authors dropping books this month and have you started MARKETING yet?

Book Divas On Tour

This past weekend, May 3rd to be exact. The Book Diva's hit the road and was at the MGH Clubhouse in Capitol Heights Maryland.

Our host was Veronica and we had a blast! The crowd was small and intimate and we shared our stories and we shared a lot of laughs.

We, The Book Divas, know that we are undertaking a huge task by putting ourselves at the mercy of our adoring fans but that is what this is all about.

The question was raised, why are we doing this?

Our answer: so that you can get to know us.

We love what we do. Our motto is, Bold, Delightful, Outspoken, Talented, Sister's in Writing and that is exactly what we are.

We are sisters in every sense of the word. We cross promote each other, we share each other's passion and best of all we love hanging out together.

We have developed our own 'language' as it were and whenever you are in our presence, you can't help but laugh right along with us.

We are having fun bringing to you our readings, our stories and our passion.

You can find us on Facebook by LIKING our page. www.facebook.com/bookdivasontour and see where we will be next.

#HASH TAGS, STATUSES, UPDATES AND POSTS

Have you become obsessed with social media? Are you always posting a status, an update or a #

Do you find yourself talking in 140 characters or less. What does 140 characters look like?

In the time it takes you to read the next group of words you will have read 140 characters. Our lives are becoming short bursts of information that make our points quickly.

Those last two sentences were exactly 140 characters. The problem with this is, that our children are not able to communicate with us properly. They have lost the ability to answer in complete sentences. They have lost the ability to speak clearly on the telephone. In fact they are losing the ability to spell words correctly.

For example; have you gotten a text from your child that says. B Home Soon or I C U L (I'll see you later)

Studies have shown that more children are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.

In my younger days no child was diagnosed with this and if a child were, their parent was the expert and knew what to do for it. It was called, 'sit down until I tell you to move" . Nowadays we are given quick information and if you have to 'think' about it, you become frustrated and give up easily. This is due to the hash tags, the update of statuses and the posts on social media. All of the things that are scrolling up the screen so quickly we don't have time to digest the information

We want everything right now, at this very second, and if we don't get it; we move on to the next one.

So I ask you, has social media taken over your life? Do you need an intervention?

My prescription is; sit down, and write a letter. Yes, a good old fashioned letter. Write it to your parents, your children or your best friend. Then put it in the mail.

Trust me, they will love a piece of mail that doesn't require payment but makes them feel good.

STILETTOS, STETSONS AND STORIES

This past weekend, I attended the +Bay to Ocean Writers Conference on the Eastern Shore and when I normally attend there is always a good time to be had.

This year I took publicity photos with +KRRaye +Dee Lawrence +DBCorey +Austin Camacho. You see we are the people that make up the MysterWrite and Book Divas tour groups.

Yes, they are boots and comfortable

It was the brainchild of Ramona and myself last year. Of course being called a Diva is what led to the name becoming Book Divas

Now on Feb. 22, we met up with other authors and I am so well know for my +stilettos that everyone wanted to see what pair I had on and I didn't disappoint as you can see on the right.

I never go anywhere without my 'brand'. I didn't set out for it to be this way but I'm glad that it is.

B. Swangin Webster, KRRaye and Dee

Now, since we are divas, we needed publicity photos, right. so we grabbed our camera's (OK, camera phones) and posed and got some really great shots. Of course we grabbed others into our photo session and we were actually able to get two of the MysterWrite tour group to take a photo with us as well. Now if you notice DB Corey has on a stetson. This is becoming his brand, his trademark. I first saw him at the +MDC3Conference last year and he wore a really nice Fedora and I commented. Well, I think you found your brand. He wasn't so sure and I said, "there isn't a lot of times that a guy can rock a hat, and you are ROCKING that hat". I guess he listened and now that is what people will begin to recognize.

Dee, DB Corey, B.Swangin, Austin, KRRaye

 We all have stories to tell about how much we enjoyed the Bay to Ocean conference and I am sure that the next time we all get together we will share them. But until them, I will continue to rock my Stilettos and DB Corey will continue to rock his Stetson.

What have you made it into your brand? What? You haven't done that yet, what are you waiting for?

As you can see, DB Corey and I are camera ready, him with his Stetson and me with my Stilettos, all of the time.