Welcome to the first blog post for the month of August! This month, I’m going to post some author tips: things I have learned that have helped me with my … Continue reading Monday Blog: When and Where to Write
Tag: inspiration
Monday Blog: Patagonia Library, New Valentine Apart Books, Biologicals
Greetings, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I have some wonderful news for you, so let’s jump right in: one of my books is available for check-out at a public library in Arizona, I’m further along in my drafts for the next two Valentine Apart books, and Biologicals is currently available in paperback form!
Patagonia Public Library
First, I need to say thank you to Shannon Wright of the Patagonia Public Library, for sharing info about the Street Lit Program on Facebook! This was created in order to give indie authors some exposure. I donated a copy of Our Lady of Righteous Rage: Extended and Uncensored , and it’s available for check-out! So, if you’re reading this in Arizona, check out the books in the Street Lit collection!
https://www.patagoniapubliclibrary.org/
This has inspired me to reach out to public libraries beyond my home in New York. If anyone reading this knows of a library seeking book donations, please let me know! You can reach me on the WE website contact page, or just email me: woolent@hotmail.com
New Books in Valentine Apart
As I have mentioned before, I’m working on the next two books for the Valentine Apart series. So far, the drafts are coming along nicely. In Project Sleep, Jo Fuentes is not sure if she’s being paranoid, or if she’s being followed. Her suspicions are confirmed when Kelly McCormick gives her her next assignment.
Speaking of Kelly, in Young Kelly McCormick, Kelly attends a meeting and makes it very clear to the rest of the Syndicate, where she stands. She’s not there to be anyone’s secretary, and she wants just as much respect as the men sitting in the room. Of course, if she’s going to get a seat at the table, she’ll have to earn it the hard way…
I’ll keep you posted as I continue to write.
Biologicals
The paperback is ready! You can find it now in the Create Space store! By tomorrow, it should also be available on Amazon’s site. I will release the Ebook in a few weeks. I really hope everyone enjoys the latest Our Lady story!
Until next week, folks!
woolastonentertainment.com
A Moment Between Mother & Son
I sighed. “Nick wants to start finalizing the tracks for the album, but I wanted to squeeze two more songs on. I just can’t seem to come up with anything worth recording.”
“Don’t push yourself so hard, Jon,” Mom said. “You’ll come up with something; I know you will. You have no idea how extraordinary you are. You may not be able to see it, but I can.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “How?”
Mom smiled at me. “Because you’re my son,” she said, simply. “Because you’re mine. You were mine, even before you entered the world, because the universe declared it.”
This moment brought to you by “Biologicals”, coming soon from Woolaston Entertainment
Monday Blog: Words of Wisdom
We’ve arrived at the final Monday Blog for the month of April. Yes, I know: April 30th is a Monday, but it’s also the last day of the month, and I didn’t think it was necessary to discuss April any further. Next week, I will begin posting about all of the wonderful things I have planned for May.
This month’s theme was Inspiration. I wanted to end the month, with some words of wisdom.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Did you ever run into a particular person, who ended up helping you with a job or a project you were working on? Or, maybe you walked by a place you had never noticed before? Some people will say, it was by accident or by chance. I don’t believe in chance. I believe everything happens for a reason. For example, in 2014, I went to see Green Day in concert, in Brooklyn. While I would have loved to wait around after the show in hope of meeting the band, I figured it was a long shot, so instead, I went home. The following day, I went into NYC to meet my mother for lunch. For some strange reason, I took a train I normally don’t take, and would up near the Flatiron building. Tre Cool, Green Day’s drummer, walked past me. I caught up to him, said hello, and took a picture with him. Now, you could say that happened by chance. I happened to get on the wrong train, and I happened to get off at a stop that put me on the street at the same time as Tre Cool. It’s all coincidence. Or, maybe the universe was simply acting on my behalf.
“No need to fear screwing up a lot, as we learn more from mercy towards failure than we do from commendation for success.” —Julien Baker
“To do something that you feel in your heart that’s great, you need to make a lot of mistakes. Anything that’s successful is a series of mistakes.” —Billie Joe Armstrong
Fear used to hold me back from doing so many things. Fear is the reason I took so long to publish my first book. When I was going through that process, I thought, “I like what I wrote, but what if no one else does?” Later, I decided to let fear become my motivation. Sure, other people may not like what I write, but who cares? I’m going to do this for me. When you’re working to achieve your goal, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. But, mistakes are a GOOD THING. You can learn from them. Mistakes teach us to know the difference between what works, and what doesn’t. Once you learn from your mistakes (hopefully) you don’t repeat them. I worked with two publishers who ultimately failed me, before I made the decision to publish on my own. I’ve had to go back through some of the books I have published, and correct errors I found after they were made available for sale. But, it was all worth it.
Next month, I’m having a special promotion for the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series, so please continue to visit this blog for more info! Until next week…
Monday Blog: Reading Changed My Life (Guest Blogger Ebunnygirl)
Great news, everyone! Today I have a guest blogger! Ebunnygirl will be posting today’s edition of the Monday Blog. Please enjoy!
I had a revelation the other day. While there weren’t any sparks or canons blasting, it was still an important moment for me. I realized, reading changed my life. Discovering books and the places they could take me, literally changed everything for me. Yes, I know: I sound like a corny afterschool special. But it’s the truth! I learned just how big the world really was, and the variety of characters I read about, showed me how diverse people are. Girls don’t always have to be princesses and damsels in distress. Boys can be strong, or they can show some emotion. And as for nonfiction and fiction, I learned to appreciate both: facts about things in the world I was unaware of, and worlds created from the minds of creative authors.
Nowadays, I see people reading books on e-readers and tablets, but it’s always nice to see people reading physical books. I’m thankful for that. I’m considering writing a book of my own, I’m just not sure of what to write about. I have received a lot of encouragement from Nicole Woolaston, for whom I am blogging today. Reading opened so many doors for me, and made me feel as though anything is possible.
(thank you to Ebunnygirl for this blog post! You can find her WordPress page here: https://ebunnygirl.wordpress.com/)
Monday Blog: Drawing Inspiration from Nostalgia
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope all of you had a good weekend. In keeping with this month’s theme, I wanted to talk about drawing inspiration from nostalgia. I’ve been having a lot of nostalgic dreams lately, and thinking about things from my childhood. One such memory, is related to my desire to want to learn to play the guitar.
I thought this desire began when I fell in love with punk rock, but I recently realized, it started waaayyyyyy before that. When I was about seven years old, I had a large plastic boat, which was a replica of Noah’s Ark. It came with pairs of animals and everything. I used to dump the animals out of the ark, and stretch rubber bands across the top of the ark, to make a guitar. Then I moved up to using shoeboxes and rubber bands.
Of course, years later, I did acquire a real guitar, and then I began learning to play. This, combined with my love of punk rock, led to the creation of Our Lady of Righteous Rage.
I watched a lot of anime throughout my childhood, and started reading manga (or graphic novels, if you prefer). Shows such as Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, inspired me to write Fortune’s Wing and Valentine. I’ve mentioned this before, but if either of those series ever become films or TV series, I want them to be animated.
Then of course, there’s The Witch of Fulton Lane. You’re probably wondering what inspired me to write that story. I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, and The Craft is one of my favorite movies. I’ve been reading tarot cards for the past few years, and when I came up with the concept behind Fulton Lane, I was able to take all of my interests and knowledge, and work them into the story.
If you look carefully at what you’re creating now, you may find little bits and pieces of your own childhood weaved into your creation(s). This can be intentional or unintentional. Nostalgia can be very inspirational.
Until next week…
A little something from “Righteous”
I’m still working on Our Lady of Righteous Rage #4: Righteous. Here’s a little sample from Chapter 62. Enjoy!
“Think about it,” Nick said. “If it wasn’t for Our Lady, would any of us visit Kansas City or Chicago? Albuquerque or Scottsdale? Would any of us even venture out this far? We were just kids in New York, learning to play guitars and writing songs here and there. Now look at us! We’re playing gigs across the country. We’re just a little indie punk band, and people in Arizona and California and Illinois actually want to pay to hear us play! How’d that happen?”
We were silent. It made me think about where I was, just a few years ago. Graduating from high school. Moving around with Mom. Homeless and living in a hotel room. Then, working in a bookstore. Working at Urban Collective. Making friends with rock stars. How did that happen?
“It happened because it was meant to,” Mike said, standing up from his chair. “I don’t want to get too religious and freak anyone out, but I believe there’s a plan for everyone. Call it God, or the Divine, or the universe, or whatever, but there’s a higher power out there, that creates a purpose for all of us. I didn’t really know what my purpose was, until you asked me to be your manager. I didn’t think I could do it. But you had faith in me, so I just put my best foot forward, and did what I thought was the right thing. We’re here, because we’re supposed to be here. You feel me?”
Monday Blog: What Inspires You?
It’s Monday! It’s April! It’s time for the Monday Blog! Why am I so excited? Because Spring is here (I mean, it’s been here since March 20th, but now it actually feels like Spring). As a New Yorker, and a woman of Caribbean descent, I’m tired of the cold weather.
This month’s theme will center around inspiration. I’m also going to include Small Businesses, since I have one, and Record Shop Day is coming up on April 21. But, mostly, I will focus on inspiration.
Inspiration comes in many forms. A book, a song, your favorite movie, perhaps. Whenever I find myself in a creative rut, I turn to the things that inspire me, to help me reclaim my creativity. For example, I got stuck while working on Righteous, and picked up a copy of AP Magazine, which happened to have a section filled with inspirational quotes from musicians. Reading that issue gave me the inspiration I needed to start writing again, and it also gave me an idea for this month’s theme (so it was a twofer!).
Sometimes, inspiration comes from an act instead of a physical object. When I need to clear my head and come up with fresh ideas, a walk can be very inspirational. When I need to channel my energy, lighting incense or a candle really helps me.
So, what inspires you? Feel free to share in the comments below!
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