Insecure almost Writer Support Group

Today is the first meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. If you're not signed up then head on over to Alex's, he's the ringmaster, and join in the insanity fun. I guess I'll go ahead and get the hard part out of the way.

Hi. My name is Dafeenah and I'm an insecure (almost) writer. 

My topic for this week is self doubt. I have not really talked about it on my blog, but I actually am working on my memoir. I've been working on it for some time now, but I never felt confident enough to talk about it. I don't consider myself to on the level as all of the other amazingly talented people I've met in the blogsphere. I worry I'll never finish my WIP simply because I tend to be so critical of myself. I go over and over and over what I've written. Trying to make it "better" or "good enough", but it's never better and it's never good enough. At least not to me. I worry over word choice. I feel because I don't have a good educational background that I am unable to express myself the way others are. Mostly because I don't have the vocabulary that others do and I don't know how to best use the words that I stumble across so that my point is made clear. 

A part of me knows I have some raw talent and if I could just shake off the self doubt and allow my writing to just flow, then I'd be a much better writer. However, that's easier said than done. So for now I'm just trying to get the words on the paper or in my case the MS word page. In my head I know exactly what I want to say, but when I go to type suddenly it all gets jumbled together. 

So enough of my whining. That's my confession for the week and here's a little writerly surprise for all of you:

On Monday I had the pleasure of having 16 yr old up and coming writer Jake on my blog. You can read the full post here. I asked him if he wanted a career in writing and this was his response: 

I wouldn't mind making my writing a career but I don't think I'm that talented. I'd love to but right now I'd just rather keep it a hobby. 

If you can, stop by and let him know he is talented enough.

Voices Within

Indie Ink writing challenge time again.  My challenge this week came from Barb and I challenged Kelly. Prompt will be at the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, honey, I'm home. Yum, something smells good. Whatcha cooking up in there?

Not a damn thing for you. I invited some people over. This is for them.

Oh, hi Rea. I didn't realize it was you.

That's why you should learn not to speak. It makes you look even more stupid than you are.

I'll be in the study when Leeza comes.

Leeza's not coming. I told you I invited people over. They'll be here soon.

Honey! Honey! Are you ok? What happened? There was a loud noise. Oh god, are you ok? How did you cut yourself?

I-I-I-I w-w-was c-c-cutting the the the p-p-p-uh-tah-toes and and and I-I-I c-c-c-cut my-my-myself.

Oh Jilly! You know you're not allowed to use the knife. Why were you using the knife? You know you're suppose to come and ask me when you need something.

I-I-I d-d-didn't wa-wa-want to b-b-bother you.

Jilly, you know you're no bother. Here we'll finish dinner together. I'll cut the potatoes and you get the salad made. Dinner smells lovely, Jilly. You did an excellent job.

Th-th-thank you. I-I-I tr-tr-tried.

I know you did and it smells delicious. Jilly, can you do me a favor? Can you get Leeza for me please?

K-k-kay. I-I-I'll tr-try.

Honey? Leeza? I need to speak to you. It's important.

Oh, Brian! When did you get home? I was. I was. I don't know.

It's ok, sweetheart. Dinner's started. Do you want to help me finish it?

Did I do this?

Rea was here when I got home. Then Jilly came and I asked her to get you.

I wanted to make you a nice dinner. I wanted to surprise you when you got home. I thought. I thought we could  have a nice dinner. Just the two of us. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Don't cry, sweetheart. It's ok. We can still have a nice dinner. It smells delicious whatever it is. I think it's ready. You just sit there and let me get it out of the oven.Wow. This roast looks delicious.

Roast! Yes I put a roast in the oven. A few hours ago to cook. I was. I was going to make mashed potatoes. With the cheese and garlic and and that's all I remember.

It's ok. There's plenty of roast and salad. We'll have that and some of these leftover rolls from last night.

It's not the dinner I had planned.

It's ok, love. Life would be boring without a few surprises.


prompt: ignore the elephant in the room. write a piece about two people discussing everything but the real issue, but make the real issue obvious to the reader.

16 Year Old Spawns of My Imagination

This week's writer's spotlight is  a bit different. I happened upon this very talented young writer by chance during an Indie Ink writing challenge a couple weeks ago. His mother, Deus Ex Machina, forced allowed him to do her writing challenge for that week and I was blown away. It was the first time I had seen his writing and it was amazing. If she had not said that he wrote, then you would have had no idea. It was that freaking good! So I thought I would have Jake on here and introduce him to you. I think it's important we encourage young people especially those who are as talented as Jake is. There are so many young kids today that have no passion, no desire, and  no drive to be anything more than someone who says "Do you want fries with that?".

I did a little interview with Jake and was able to squeeze a few words from his 16 yr old boy body which is no small task. So without further adieu, here's Jake in the words of his very proud mamma:

Jake is one-half of an ongoing social experiment my husband and I call "raising children."  It started 16 years ago, on July 8, 1995.  On that day, Jake burst through my uterus and forced himself upon the world 5 weeks early, all 2 pounds 13 ounces of him.  He was indeed a wicked tornado from day one.   An old soul.  The kind of kid you just know has walked this Earth before.  Part of our little social experiment has included forgoing formal education in lieu of a more relaxed and natural approach to life learning.  It's a fancy way of saying we homeschool.  More to the point, we unschool.  That's fancy homeschooling insider lingo for "we learn shit without books and junk."  And you want to know what's weird?  It actually works.  I know, I know.  It blows my mind, too.  Jake is a writer.  He is a musician, a self-taught guitarist.  He is a 16-year-old boy with an amazing imagination, a brilliant conversationalist, and an utterly filthy mind.  The apple doth fall not far from its mother tree, methinks.  I love him and I am proud of him and I will show him off to the world with the last breath in my lungs. 

My Q & A with Jake:

1.  Where do your inspirations/ideas for your stories come from?

I get most of my inspiration from my life, music, and the author Jeff Lindsay.

2. Do you plan on making some sort of career from writing or is it more of a hobby?

I wouldn't mind making my writing a career but I don't think I'm that talented. I'd love to but right now I'd just rather keep it a hobby.

3. Do people ever say that your writing is inappropriate for someone your age? How do you respond to that?

I've gotten a lot of horrible feedback for the content of my writing. Many people have told me that I'm going to hell, or that I should never be able to write again, a few people have told me that if they were my parents they would've raised me right. Which I find funny because that would SUCK for them. And I say the same thing to all to those people. "Go complain about it on FaceBook you sensitive Martha Stewart fangirl fuck face."

4. Does your family read your stories? What is their response?

Well, my mom reads my stories. My dad's not much of a reader and my brother...I wont get into much detail with him. But my mom seems to like them; she gives me helpful tips along the way.

5. Who are your favorite authors and what is your favorite book?

My favorite author, by far, hands down, no questions asked is Jeff Lindsay. He wrote the Dexter novels which is about a blood spatter analysis who has an urge to kill the ones who deserve it. It's written in first person which inspired my first person style of writing.

 

Places you can connect with Jake and read more of his writing at:

Blog: Spawns of My Imagination

Writing profile: If I get a100 fans my mom says she'll stop spanking me

What you'll find when you visit Jake:

Deadly Night 

 

He was walking on the dark and rocky sidewalk in the middle of the night (12:32 AM to be exact). He was coming from his twelve hour shift at McDonald's. His job was shit, his one bedroom apartment was shit, his pay was shit, he looked and felt like shit. His shitty name was Rich...Rich Crews. Rich is not a very lucky person when it comes to his job. He got punched by a customer because he accidentally gave him the wrong change back....even though it was only thirty-eight cents. The cool winds of the night made it all worth it though. Stuck in that god awful smelling building all day long isn't good for a man.

As the last bit of greasy french fry sweat dripped off his slowly cooling white face he heard a high pitched scream coming from the woods to the left. Rich couldn't see anything of course, it's too dark. He stopped for a second to see if he can look through the trees, but gave up and kept walking. Not even five minutes he was walking until that fearful scream can back, words followed it, words that echoed through the air and into Rich's ears. “Help me! Someone help! He's going to kill me!” the female voice screamed. Rich's curiosity took over and pushed through the bushes. As the screams got louder Rich grabbed his knife from his black pants and flipped the blade out.

What he saw made his eyes bulge, his face pale and his lip quiver in fear. He dropped his knife and started sweating again. His veins instantaneously filled with fear and fright. He stared at what was happening right in front of him: a beautiful blond woman was lying on her hands and knees completely nude. Struggling and squirming to get away from the large hairy claws holding her waist. The arms following the claws were just as hairy. It's chest was thick, and just as hairy as its arms. The beast had large pointy ears sticking out of its mane-like fur, reddish, brownish fangs stuck out of its snout slowly dripping a combination of blood and drool onto her arched back. It's eyes were red, bright red, bright blood red. read the rest of the story here

Winners and Free Blogger How Tos

I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway, followed, tweeted, and posted about it. But there can only be one winner. I entered everyone's name in an Excel sheet once per entry and then using random.org picked a random number 

Then I went to my Excel sheet and found the name with that number and it was 

HAVEN 

Haven blogs at Asylum Within. She is an amazingly talented person. She posts awesome recipes like gorgonzola potato soup. She taught herself how to paint and does fantabulous paintings like this:

copyright 2011 Haven

She had never painted and then one day decided she wanted to  and bought some brushes and the rest is history. Is it not fabulous? So please visit her, she's a fabulous person, and amazing blogger. So congratulations Haven, I'll be getting with you about sending your signed paperback copy of  Kiera's Moon.

I'm going to be starting a series next week on blogger how to's. I know a lot of people want personalized templates, but don't necessarily want to pay for their blog especially if it's more of a hobby or for fun instead of for business or promotion. There are a few tweaks you can do to the blogger template to make it a bit more personalized without having to buy a full template. I've been getting emails from people and have been helping a few people so I thought I would make up some how to guides and post them here. I'm also participating in the Platform Building Campaign so anyone who is in the groups I'm in (memoir, short story, nonfiction) and would like to do a guest post, just email me. I'll be posting guest posts from the people in my groups through out the campaign so if you're interested drop me a note or email or anything as long as there isn't a worm attached to it.

Final Day of Giveaway Enter Now

There's still a few hours left to enter the giveaway if you haven't done so already. Since I'm about 10-12 hrs ahead of most people I decided to go by US time instead of my time in ending the giveaway. I'm so grateful to those who have participated. I had a great turn out and am truly happy with it. Although I know it's due more to Lizzy's addictive writing than anything else. If you haven't entered yet, visit my giveaway post for details on how to enter. The prize is a signed paperback copy of Kiera's Moon by Lizzy Ford. 

If you've already entered and need something to read while you're waiting to find out if you're the big winner or not, then check out Lizzy's latest novel, Katie's Hope. She just released it today and I must say it is her best work to date. I realize I might seem a bit biased towards Lizzy's work, but if you read just one of her books, you'll see why. She is an amazingly talented writer. She creates characters that are flawed but so real you can't help but fall in love with them, and the story is indescribable. It twists and turns and jumps out from behind closed doors at you. Her books are so addicting once you pick one up you cannot put it down, and the best part is she gives them all away for FREE. To get your free copy of Katie's Hope, click HERE.

Three weeks after leaving Rhyn, Katie learns the Immortals have no intention of letting her go despite her deal with their leader. Rhyn discovers he can only protect her if he accepts his place among the Immortals. However, doing so may cost him the only thing that matters. Meanwhile, demons are closing in, and Death orders Katie killed. Death’s assassin and the demons pursue them, and Katie will have to choose between Death or Hell to save Rhyn from both.

The second book in the Rhyn trilogy also includes exclusive excerpt from rising indie star Shéa MacLeod’s debut novel, Kiss of Darkness.