Time is Valuable!

Use your time wisely. Don't waste time. Time is precious.
Time waits for no one, it marches on, and it slips away.  There are so many time idioms! But I don't have time to list them all...

I budget my time between family, day job, and writing, for the most part. And there's never enough time in the day to get everything done I want! I have to prioritize my many projects and activities into set blocks of time. I set reminders and timers on my phone so I don't forget duties and deadlines too, because time flies when you're having fun (if you want to call work fun...) I'm sure you can relate.

When I found out the latest IWSG Anthology theme was time, the perfect story popped into my head. But I didn't know if I would have time to write it! I set all my other writing aside and gave it a shot, writing it as fast as I could. I had my beta readers take a quick look at it and edited it at the speed of light.

But after all that concentrated effort, I knew I probably still wouldn't make the deadline!

Miraculously, I was able to gather all my spare moments and put the finishing touches on my story. I sent it in the nick of time. I doubted the caliber of my hasty submission, but I crossed my fingers and began the worst aspect of time - waiting!

To my sudden surprise, I couldn't believe I'd been selected. Ecstatic was I! And it's been a whirlwind ever since. I have to praise Dancing Lemur Press for the fine job they are doing finding us promotional outlets. I'm so happy to be a part of it.

In TICK TOCK: A STITCH IN CRIME, time is a major factor in each story. Racing against time to solve mysteries, traveling through time to save a family, solving crimes in the nick of time... The time element in these stories makes them suspenseful, exciting, and readers will be anxious to turn the page. So many great authors and a wide range of stories!

In my story, RESET, the characters don't value the time they have until they gain some perspective. Luckily, they learn they can change their ways for a better future.

Twelve-year-old Casey has no time for her quirky family.
Mr. Zander has been searching his whole life for a way to save his.
When Casey walks into Mr. Zander's clock repair shop, he sees her as a prime contender and coerces her to help him. Hopefully, the machine will work this time.

I can't wait for TICK TOCK to release (May 1)!! Mark your calendars!
And thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Tara Tyler is a math teacher who writes to inspire others to follow their dreams -- anything is possible! She loves dogs, coffee, and is the lazy housewife, living in a world of boys with three sons and a coach husband. Join her for an adventure!

Mysteries and the Minor Characters

By Rebecca M. Douglass, author of "The Tide Waits."

I thought today I might introduce a couple of the characters from "The Tide Waits," and talk a little about what went into writing them.

The story is set in an unspecified historical period, but when I first met the characters, they were a bit disconnected from the real world. So I ended up with Lira, a female bartender and general problem-solver for a small fishing village. I like writing strong female characters, so I went with the woman who came into my mind: a bartender who can toss unruly drunks out on their ears, then turn around and outwit the people who would destroy the peace of her village. There's an element of fantasy in the story, not because anything magical happens, but because Lira hasn't been burned as a witch!

The story is Lira's, but I wanted to set her off against characters who were unlike her, perhaps blunted by lives spent fishing. The one who wandered into my story was Huw, who fishes alone because he's too old to go out on the boats with the others. Imagine my surprise when Huw turned out to be far more important than he looked at first!

On reflection, I should have known. Minor characters in mysteries so often are more than they appear. Huw is no exception--so I found myself having to learn his history and personality, not just handing him a body and moving on.

Huw's an old man now, but one thing we learn quickly is that he wasn't always old--and he knows the sea and land around the village and the Goblin's Head inside and out, perhaps better than anyone else.

 

 Excerpt:

The incoming tide made it a tricky scramble around the base of Goblin’s Head, but not impossible.

Like most of the villagers, Huw had been atop the sea stack many times. But this time he didn’t mount the steep, half-scrambling route up the rock. He had climbed it enough times in his youth, like all the others who had helped to carve the path, whistling at the danger to prove their manhood. More than one had died for that proof. Climbing around the base on the rocks the Goblin had shed wasn’t a whole lot safer.

Death had visited Goblin’s Head once again. Huw reached the body that sprawled on the rock, and took in the rough homespun pants and coat before lifting the man’s shoulder to look at the face. He knew the man.

Decades of gutting fish and mourning those lost at sea had hardened the old fisherman. What he saw made him regret his breakfast, but experience won and the meal stayed put.

He moved from rock to rock with deliberate speed, not haste; to injure himself here would mean death as the incoming tide swept over the rocks. On this morning, he was safe until about a half hour after the sun rose—and that sun now lit the top of the Head.








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Rebecca M. Douglass

                                                         WHAT ARE HEROES MADE OF by Jessica R. Ferguson
?

When I learned my story, The Little Girl in the Bayou, had been accepted for publication in the IWSG Anthology, I was sitting in a hospital bed awaiting heart surgery. For an instant, it seemed like a cruel joke—after all, how would I do the edits or meet any other publishing or marketing requirements? As you can see, all worked out. I’m alive, doing well, and to the best of my ability I’m meeting my obligations. I’m thrilled to be a part of this collection.

About my hero:

Construction worker Joe Mack Crawford (known as Mack in this story) came into my life in the mid-eighties. He’s a composite of all the heroes I’ve ever known: my quiet introspective dad along with his own hero Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke; the neighbor across the street who lifted me high over his head, muscles bulging; the pastor who baptized me in our little country church, and my grandpa who always knelt beside the pew to pray. No way can I forget my handsome 6^th grade Texas history teacher—even if he did accuse me of tracing that buffalo! And of course, my husband who introduced me to Joe Mack, and did a lot of brainstorming and plotting.

Joe Mack Crawford is the type of guy who will right wrongs or die trying. So when he found a picture of a child wrapped in fish net, looking fearful, no way would he ignore it.

EXCERPT: 

He wouldn’t be able to sleep or focus on his job until he found her. The terror in her eyes screamed at him to do something. She couldn't be more than nine or ten. He wondered if she would ever smile again or if they’d already pushed her too far. He wondered if she was still alive.  

Life has a way of teaching hard lessons, and Mack knew if the kid was still alive she’d already learned the hardest at a very young age. She might never get over it.

        EXCERPT:

      He got up, paced the floor, and watched the bayou meander behind his apartment. He couldn’t get the little girl’s face out of his mind. Was she asleep now? Having a nightmare? Crying for her mama and daddy? He didn’t know whether to pray for her to be alive or pray that God had saved her by taking her home.

Mack lives in three manuscripts: two short stories and an incomplete novel, but to me he’s out there somewhere—alive and well—much more than a fictional character. He’s all the good men in my life—men who were (and are) heroes.

Where do your heroes come from? A memory? A dream? Pure fiction?

I’m anxious for you to read The Little Girl in the Bayou and meet Joe Mack Crawford. And I hope you'll like him as much as I do.

You can purchase Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime from

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IWSG With a Touch of Horror, Crime & Mystery

Brain Child of Alex J. Cavanaugh

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

The awesome co-hosts for the April 4 posting of the IWSG are

 Olga Godim, Chemist Ken,

 Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Optional Question of the Month: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

When I'm in a writing funk, I shut down everything I'm working on and pick up a good book. Nothing snaps me out of rainy-day-writing blues faster than to read someone else's writing. I know they must have had rotten moments while they were creating the story. I know they must have walked away, shaking their head and wondering why they ever thought they could write. And yet, there that book is with thousands of words that draw me in and keep me reading.

I had real doubts that I could write a mystery-thriller-suspense story. I almost didn't, then one of those accidents happened. I stumbled onto an article about the great Chicago fire, and because writers' minds are nothing but a labyrinth of subterranean connections, I came up with the idea for Heartless. I knew I wanted to set the story at the time of the fire, so there would be two races against time: one to save a life and one to escape the flames. 

Now I'm writing another novel, and I'm half-way through the first draft and totally stuck! Even worse, I had a computer malfunction and lost my latest version (about 2K words weren't saved in my backup) I've had more rainy days than California has in a decade. I've cried on my critique partners shoulders and slumped over my desk, asking, "Why did I start this?"

Stay tuned. I'll be blogging about this one for a while. And you? What's your rainy-writer's-day strategy?