Hey guys, I just wanted to give you all a reminder about UpLive. The site has been up and running strong since Sunday and has gotten a lot of positive feedback, but there are countless people out there who could use the type of inspirational messages we are trying to send. It’s going to take all of us working together to get it going strong and spread far and wide, so please make the effort. Go to the site, read the posts, share it with everyone you know. Share this post if you don’t want to do that. Just make sure that you help spread the message. There might be someone out there whose life really could be saved by the type of inspiration this site can give. It only takes a second to share, so come on guys, help us all out. In the meantime, whether you draw inspiration from it or not, I hope you will take the time to read the posts and appreciate the feeling behind them and the talent of those who have written them. If you like them, let the writers know. Feel free to comment and share. This is more for the public and those who need it than it is for us, either way. We don’t need gratification. We just want to help those who need it or could use it. Anyway, I hope you all had a great Memorial Day and a great first half of the week! The link to UpLive is below, please share and enjoy.
Authors
Networking is Key
Greetings people! It has been a while since I made an honest to goodness blog post that wasn’t just an update on myself. This one, long overdo, is going to be moderately short unless I run into a rant, which many of you know is very possible for me. I want to talk a little bit about networking, though.
Networking is incredibly important for any author, from the newcomer that was just published an hour ago to the man who has had 50 books published over 20 years. Without networking hundreds, if not thousands, of books (and authors) can go unnoticed, fall through the cracks and be left by the wayside. This is the last thing any of us want to happen to ourselves- and the last thing I want for any of you, faithful friends and fans! So what do we do to combat it? Network. Network. Network.
What is networking,some of you may ask. It is, quite simply, spreading your name and work as far and wide as you can, especially to those people whom you know are interested in your particular style or genre.Networking might sound like an easy thing to do, but believe me, that isn’t always the case. There are 7 billion some odd people in the world, and while the chances of anyone else writing your exact same piece are fairly slim, there are countless others who are writing in a genre or style comparable to yours, don’t kid yourself for a second to think otherwise. That’s not to say your work isn’t important, don’t get me wrong. Like I’ve said before; if there is a work inside you that wants out, it is for a reason and you owe it to yourself, the world and the work itself to get it out there to the best of your ability.
Networking can help with that. One way to do this, of course, is to blog about your work to others who may be interested. Another, and very important way, is social media. Social Media can be a huge help, or a huge dud for authors. There are hundreds and hundreds of pages of people trying to promote their own work, or the work of someone else (and I’m a part of a number of them for this very reason) but there are going to be people on there who will want to hear what you have to say. This is one thing that can be your saving grace. If you can find the right circle of people to market to on social media, a good portion of your networking is kind of done for you.
LinkedIn and other sites of the like are sometimes helpful, particularly if you can find other authors who are in your boat. Building relationships with other authors and readers is another way that you can be exceedingly successful. If your audience knows you on even the most superficial of personal levels, they’ll be more interested in hearing what you have to say and reading your work. One way to build this relationship and allow others in for interaction is by making a website. It gives you a way to show everything you do and allows others to comment directly to you in any way they’d like. Being a part of chats, symposiums and anything that allows authors and readers to interact can be hugely helpful. Really, anything that allows your potential audience to see the human side of you and make you more than just a name on a piece of paper. This is what is going to help.
I’m preparing to begin taking the symposium route this summer, as I have been asked to present at the Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Symposium at Southwest Virginia Community College in June. I made a post about that late last year, but as a recap I’m doing a presentation on a topic that, right now, is roughly titled; “Zombies and the Undead in Appalachian Literature”. All of the information about the symposium can be found here; https://appheritagewritersym.wordpress.com/ The site will be updated with specifics on each presenter and their workshops soon, so check back on it often. Hopefully some of you will attend, because I’d love for you all to have the experience- because I can attest to how enriching it truly is- and because I’d LOVE to meet you all.
In addition to this, I have created a vlog channel in order to attempt to let you all and fans of my other work see a bit into my life and see who I really am. The vlog channel will also include advice and talks of my works, and will see much more regular entries than this site does. That’s not because I favor it or anything, but because it’s much easier to pull out my phone and film a few minutes of me talking than it is for me to rush to a computer (or just an area with good phone signal) and pull up a website or an app and type everything out. The link to that channel is here; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2EU_YW9qBDfFWAB01Nc6wA It’s very new, but I hope you’ll all watch and subscribe.
Anyway, I’ll cut this off for tonight. Anyone with comments, questions or any concerns is always welcome to contact me in any way possible. I look very forward to hearing from everyone! Good luck, Good year, and Happy Writing!!
Big Things!
Greetings friends and fans! I know, I know, absences of late have been dreadful, but what can I say? School and work have been taking a great deal of my free time, and what they haven’t consumed I’ve been spending working on a number of things ranging from my three jobs, NaNoWriMo, and life in general.
Number two in the list of awesome things I have to tell you guys is the most recent and the one that may not excite any of you (although I sincerely hope you’ll all check it out). I have started my very own vlog series, to give everyone a glimpse inside the life of a college author (don’t you just love it when they use the title in the work itself…) and to show my friends and fans who I really am. Too long have I remained just a voice in the black and white, a light in the darkness (at least to me), now I want people to really see me for me!! So here’s your chance;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2EU_YW9qBDfFWAB01Nc6wA
Finally, the very exciting and next to oldest news; I have been asked to be a presenter at the 2015 Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Symposium at SWCC! The Appalachian Heritage Writers Guild reached out to me and asked me to do a presentation relating zombie, the undead and horror fiction to the Appalachian region. They literally told me that they feel I am successful enough in my genre that I am fully ready and capable to teach it to others! The feelings that gave me! I couldn’t describe if I tried! I was elated and honored and touched and moved and excited and scared…and so many other things! Anyway, more information on all of these things is to come, but in the meantime you have the link to my Youtube channel so please subscribe and view and interact all you wish! In case anyone might be interested in attending the symposium this summer, here is the link to that information; https://appheritagewritersym.wordpress.com/
Thanks for reading and being a part of this, guys. I really hope you all participate and stay in touch!
Halloween Collection!!!
Just as a reminder on this most epic of holidays, I have been featured in a very awesome Halloween collection of shorts and I would love for everyone to get it and let me know what you think. Below are links for both a paid and free version of the collection (the free one is in PDF format) and I would love it if everyone would get it, share it and read at least my story (because I want you all to love it) and let everyone know about it. There are a lot of authors in here who really deserve the recognition, so let’s help them out!!!
http://writersanarchy.com/press-releases/fwg-presents-halloween-drabbles-free-fiction
Inspiration
As I promised, here is my post on inspiration. The first and most basic thing I have to say about is that it can be absolutely anything. You simply cannot put a label on it in any way. What one person finds the stupidest and most pointless thing in the world can be something another person finds to be the biggest and best inspiration of their life. The best thing about a good bit of inspiration is that it can do many things to the person it inspires as well. For instance some things may inspire you in that they just give you a vague desire to write ‘something’, much as the smell of a summer evening does to me. On the same note some things may inspire you so much that they give you the full idea for a thousand page novel. You just can’t label it, and you can’t say that you know what to expect, because more often than not you don’t.
One of the things that gave me some of the greatest inspiration I have ever felt is a simple quote by Jules Verne. The quote lead to a 12 page short story that vastly exceeded even my own expectations and intentions upon completion. I intended on it being about 3 pages at most, but as I said yesterday, you have to be flexible. The thing that gave me the most inspiration, however is a simple 4 minute song that allowed me to literally envision the story line that became the complete basis for my Maverip series, which thus far in my career seems to be my ‘magnum opus’. It is certainly the work I am most proud of. I developed the entire story from this song, and basically had the ending before I even wrote the beginning.
My main point here I suppose is that every writer needs to keep their mind and eyes open for their inspiration. The mind must be open largely because you cannot expect something that inspires other people to be inspiration to you, and if you do expect that you are likely to be very disappointed, and let me assure you right now; disappointment can cripple an author. Period. You can’t allow yourself to slip into disappointment in regards to your own work. But back to the point. In relation to the mind, you must keep your eyes open in order to figure out exactly what it is that does give you the inspiration you so desire. You’ve got to look at every possibility and rule nothing out. Anything can be what gives you your idea for the biggest masterpiece in your collection, from the smallest pebble to the greatest and most magnificent experience of your life. You just can’t expect or gauge what any one thing may or may not do until you give it a chance and try. Granted, the word ‘eyes’ here is relative and more metaphorical than literal, as inspiration can come from any sense or sensation.
Basically you just have to be ready for inspiration to come from anywhere at any time. I want you to know that any item that gives you inspiration can be the thing that vastly changes your life. Don’t ever throw inspiration aside, and don’t ever squander an idea. Granted that doesn’t mean you need to rush them, but that’s a whole other post altogether; maybe even my next one. That sounds like a good way to go to me. So look for the next entry to come in the next couple of days, based largely on the dilemma of letting an idea ‘cook’ or throwing it straight out there. As always feedback is welcome, and I hope I have helped. Good luck finding your inspiration and giving the world its next set of masterpieces my friends.
A Little Back Story
So far I have given a number of tips and what I hope to be helpful pointers, but tonight I think I will largely focus on giving a bit of my history with the craft of writing. First and foremost, I should express the fact that I have been writing pretty much my whole life, as I have been reading my whole life. That is a very important part of writing, I have found. You have to read. It is the easiest way to get involved with your topic, the easiest way to know how to make your work flow, the easiest way to build your own knowledge and interest, etc… But that isn’t exactly the point of this post.
As I said, I have written pretty much my whole life, but it was the summer before my junior year of High School that it hit me that writing is what I really want to do with my life. It was in those moments that I dedicated my life to my work as best I could. The real ideas began to flow and I was immersed in my work more than ever before. That is a real incredible feeling, let me tell you; having those ideas spring up and allowing them to take over. Of the novels I have started since then, only one is complete. It is the third one I started, and it took about three years to finish, and I love it. As of right now I am looking for a publisher and a good deal to get it out there in the world.
As for my other works, I currently have around 7 other novels in various stages of completion, one of which is a sequel to Maverip, my first completed work. I have a number of short stories completed, and have five publications so far, all in non-profit publications, one of which I have been made Managing Editor of due to my contributions.
The main point of this post was to share a bit more about myself and my work. Tomorrow’s post shall be a bit more informative again, I assure you. I think tomorrow I’ll talk a bit about inspiration; what it can be, where it can come from, and what to do with it. As always, I hope this has helped, and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Feeling your work
One of the most important messages any author can get or share is that you must be able to relate to your work. It HAS to be something you can feel. You wouldn’t want a full time police officer trying to do your taxes would you? No. Well an audience is not going to accept someone whose interest level lies highly in the field of horror fiction trying to write romance either. You have to stick not only with what you know, but what you are comfortable with writing about. If you know horror, write horror. If you know cooking, write a cookbook. If you know history, write some historical piece. It is imperative that you love your work. That is something I can’t express enough. You should be able to wake up in the morning loving what you do and wanting to do it to the best of your ability. It shouldn’t feel like a chore, it should feel like a blessing and a privilege.
That being said, there are still many benefits of stepping slightly outside of your comfort zone and your area of advanced knowledge. Sometimes the slightest adjustment to your work can help you break writer’s block or monotony that you may feel if you let yourself get too immersed in the fine points of your work. This is a trick that not many people are willing to use, but the slightest tweak of your mental prowess in regards to your work can lead to a potential flood of work, and sometimes the floodgates are opened by a small amount of research or questioning.
Basically the love of your work is your best friend. That is something you should never doubt, and something you should strive towards. Do work you love, because if you love it chances are someone else out there will too.
The words are life
It is commonly said that many people don’t write because they want to, but because they have to. I know this feeling. That incredible sensation of an idea in your brain swelling, growing, writhing to be released. It is maddening at times, but unbelievably liberating at others. It is a feeling you would never forget if you’ve experienced it, and to many it is a feeling that tells you that you were truly meant to be an author. That isn’t to say that people who haven’t had the feeling aren’t meant to be one, not by a long shot. Every person’s inspiration is going to be different, just as most everyone’s style and writing itself is going to be different, so it only makes sense that the experience of writing itself would be different for everyone. That is one reason it is such a great thing to do. It is an amazing way to relieve stress and share your ideas, even if it is only with yourself. So my first message of inspiration stands as this; write. Just do it. Don’t question your methods, your inspiration, or your results. Just do it. Even if no one is ever going to get to see it. Do it for yourself. Don’t hesitate. If it comes to you let it out and relish in it. It is your creation, and it came to you for a reason. Don’t doubt it.
Damean Mathews 