Saying Goodbye to a Writing Friend by Diane Bator

 

https://books2read.com/All-That-Shimmers

When you become part of a writing group, you tend to develop some close friendships. In joining the Headwaters Writers’ Guild in April 2007, I had no idea how that journey would become such a huge part of my life.

Founded by Nancy Rorke and Janet Bellinger after taking courses with Ed Wildman (who had trained with Natalie Goldberg), the HWG was never a large group. We fluctuated between 5-20 members depending on the year, the season, or the Sunday. We met every second Sunday in various locations for various reasons. When I first joined, we met in the basement at the Orangeville Public Library. Then were unceremoniously kicked out when they wanted to charge us rent. A few times, we met in the boardroom at the Meridian Credit Union since we held a bank account there.

One of our many great events!

As luck had it, one of our members was a pastor’s wife. She made arrangements for us to move to the basement of Tweedsmuir Church up the street for a few years. Then the library hired new management and had a change of heart. We were allowed to use the community room provided we assist with their new programming – WOW, or Words the Orangeville Way. And we did!

Open Mic Night!

Open Mic Nights, author panels, guest speakers, workshops, all went under the banner of WOW. Many of our writers participated and it was a great way to meet new writers to bring into our fold. We also offered retreats at Eramosa Eden in Rockwood, which was partly owned by two of our members, sisters Gloria and Alberta Nye. Our local coffee shop, Mochaberry, was often our after meeting destination.

Christmas parties over the years were held at a variety of locations. King’s Buffet was a favorite, also potlucks at the library, and another local buffet, the name of which escapes me.

My very first retreat with the group was the first time I dared to put a book out for critique. And regretted it! My story, my words, my baby was picked apart. I was devastated! BUT, I did go back and made some changes. In 2010, I found an agent, then a publisher. While The Bookstore Lady underwent many more changes and edits, I was grateful for the support of the group.

Why the longwinded reminiscence? Nancy Rorke passed away at the end of this October. I hadn’t seen her for a few years as she’d suffered health issues and I’d gone down my own rabbit hole, but her fire-cracker spirit has lived on in things I write. She was always heavy-handed with writing criticism within the group, but always with the best of intentions. She could be a great shoulder to lean on when you needed writing or moral support.

Patricia Gallant, Diane Bator, Nancy Rorke, Judy Zarowny at Authors & Armchairs 2011

Our lives went in separate directions a few years ago, but I still think of her fondly. She was one of those people who made me more determined than ever to “make it.” To be a published author and to share my stories with the world.

Thank you, Nancy, for your love, your endless support, and your spirit. You will live on in many hearts.

Love Always, 

Diane

BWL Publishing and Escape With a Writer are Heading to When Words Collide August 4 to 6! by Diane Bator

https://bwlpublishing.ca/bator-diane/

For anyone new to my blog, Escape with a Writer is the name of my blog where I have promoted fellow authors since 2018. I actually started it because while raising three kids, working all day, and writing, I never had time to figure out what to blog about! I started doing blogs every Sunday. Lucky for me, I have a lot of great friends who have been happy to share their books and their stories and I soon found myself posting twice a week.

Flash forward to 2022 and I teamed up with a public relations guy who sends me even more authors to share. Currently, Escape with a Writer is up to three days a week and may become a podcast as well! One step at a time, right? After all, I just moved!

Just when things have slowed down and the dust began to settle, I'm facing a whole new challenge. Attending one of the largest writing conferences I've ever been to! As a publisher!

Deep breath. I've got this. It's only When Words Collide, which has been sold out for months. How big could it be?

I started with the website and found the venue. Easy enough to get to. Seems to be lots of parking. One big breath out. Did I mention traffic makes me a bit anxious? Yes, I drove across Canada, but that was pretty much a straight shot. This is me driving in a city and... Taking one highway and one main street. No big deal!

When I get there, I need to set up the table for BWL Publishing. Another deep breath before I find THE VENUE MAP! Whew! No big. I'll keep it handy. This is why I love paper.

So what do I do when I'm not looking after the store? Did I mention it's a conference? I checked out the sessions available and had to sit down. Friday alone there are over 40 sessions! Saturday and Sunday there are about the same. Wow! How on earth is someone supposed to figure out what to attend? I don't see a cloning station on that map!

It seems as though the drive in might be the least of my worries!

Lucky for me, they provide a complete list that tells attendees about EVERY one of the sessions as well as who is leading them. Wait a sec! I know some of these people. Or at least I know their virtual versions from all the Zoom meetings I've attended since 2020. Maybe one solution to my problem is to find all the ones people I know are teaching and start from there. Then I can read the summaries and chose things I'd really like to learn about.

Would I prefer to learn about "Writing Short Mysteries that Sell" or "Murder, Mayhem, or Natural Causes? Inventive Ways to Kill of Characters"? Okay, bad example. I'm a mystery writer!

How about "Protagonists Under Pressure: Putting Your Characters in Danger" or "Why are Zombies Essential to a Writer's Group?" I think I may need to find out the answer to that one! 

Ooh! "Finding Time as a Writer" is on Saturday, but at the same time as "Troubleshooting Your Manuscript." Time for some serious coin flipping!

Back to more urgent matters. I need to pack my books and load the car. 

Now I need to decide which books I should bring.

Next month, I'll let you know how this conference went and fill you in on my next adventure in writing conferences! 

Keep Writing

Diane

Big News in the Sugarwood Mysteries Series by Diane Bator

 

Sugarwood Mysteries has 

a NEW LOOK and a NEW BOOK!!

Audra Clemmings loves Halloween. At least until she sees the display of voodoo dolls in the shop next door that resembles nearly everyone in Sugarwood, Ontario--including her.

Then there's the matter of the dead cowboy on the bench in front of her shop Stitch'n'Time...

A few great reviews:

"After reading the first book in the Sugarwood Mysteries, I became hooked on the characters, genre, and author. Ms. Bator penned a goodie in this murder mystery. Characters Audra Clemmings and Merilee Rutherford (best friends) hang in there together, always having each other’s backs through some terrorizing moments. Between the two of these women, figuring out the ‘who done it’ kept them guessing while wrapping the reader around their conjectures and info gathering. I enjoyed these women, completely enamored in their thought process. I adore cozy mysteries, and Ms. Bator just became one of my favorite authors of this genre." - Susan

"This is not your Wild West Cowboy story. No, this is contemporary and takes place in a small town. Yes, one of the shopkeepers in the charming downtown area is on the trail to find out whodunit. Lots of humor and speculation on who killed the cowboy and why, so I was not sure who the murderer was until the end of the book. Ms. Bator's description of the locations and the quirky fun characters engage readers in this well-written cozy mystery. Yes, I recommend the book to cozy mystery lovers." - Janet Glaser

"All the characters were well-crafted. One of my favorites is Miss Lavinia. She describes them so vividly it's as if you actually know them, great job.
Clemmings definitely has her hands full. However, in the end, she prevails. If you enjoy reading a really good cozy mystery then this is the book for you.
It has surprises, it's captivating, and keeps you wondering until the very end." - Digiecard

BWL Publishing Website:  http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

AND THE NEW BOOK...

Christmas blooms in Sugarwood in the form of a brightly lit tree in town square, colourful ornaments, and a snowstorm. It’s just Audra Clemmings’ luck that she literally stumbles over the local butcher in Miss Lavinia’s shop. Then a witch doctor arrives in town. Can Audra solve the mystery before the killer turns their sights on her?

Here's a little snippet!

 As I grabbed my red parka from the closet, I smiled. The colour never failed to give me a lift, so I paired it with my favourite red hat and black gloves. I left Drake home to babysit Rex who, as predicted, fell asleep on the bed and still hadn’t returned to the couch. I was at the deli before I realized I could’ve taken the key and the car and then he’d be stuck there. Darn it! I was such a creature of habit.

At nine o’clock on the dot, I set a large black coffee on Officer Grant’s desk and asked, “Did you find out who owns that token?”

He scratched the stubble on his chin as he reached for the cup.

I moved it out of his reach. “Not so fast. I want answers.”

“And I want coffee,” he said, meeting my gaze. “If you think we’re at an impasse, keep in mind I’m the one with the gun and the handcuffs.”

“Good thing I’m not wearing my pajamas then.” The words sounded better in my head than they did aloud.

A nearby officer smirked.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Jacobs,” Officer Grant snapped. “Last time I arrested her, she was wearing her pajamas out in public.”

Handing him the coffee before he bit anyone, I decided to consider it my good deed for the day. I sat across from him and asked, “So?”

He sipped the coffee. “Needs cream.”

“You’re welcome.” 

Dead Man's Doll Coming October 2022 

from BWL Publishing: http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

To request additional review copies or an interview with Diane Bator, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.    

We look forward to the coverage!

How Do You Come Up With All Those Book Ideas? by Diane Bator

 

Find me at http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

Studies tell us that the average human being has more than 6,000 thoughts per day. As writers, it can seem as though we have at least double that since our thoughts are conjoined with those of our characters.

Most writers are constantly taking in, processing, and developing new work whether consciously or not. Even when we’re doing something “mindless” like jigsaw puzzles or online games, there is a part of our brains that just never slow down or become distracted. They’re always working on plot holes and great sentences.

My significant other has grown used to seeing my vacant stare when I have an idea percolating. Or when I suddenly run from the room searching for pen, paper, or laptop then disappear down the proverbial rabbit hole for a while and he’s unable to get my attention even with bacon, wine, or cheesecake. A writer’s mind is a funny thing. We can be swayed by food or drink, but even that might cause sudden fits of writing as we insist, “I have a great idea!” It doesn’t always mean we actually do, but sometime those bursts of creativity can lead to something bigger. A scene, a chapter, or an entire novel.

What I find interesting is having people tell me I think differently than they do, which I used to take as a bit of a slight and wondered what was wrong with me. Recently, I spent a week with my mom who came to visit from across Canada. More than once she gushed, “I have no idea how you keep all those books and ideas straight.”

I suppose it’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice! Pen to paper is the best way. Going with the flow of head to heart to hand. While most writers use computers these days, nothing beats the old school sound of a pen scratching paper. If you ever had writers block, give it a try!

So how do writers actually come up with the ideas they write for readers to become absorbed in for hours on end? Truth is, no one really knows. Not yet. The following is borrowed from a great article called The Science Behind What Writing Does to Your Brain - CraftYour Content. (The article is from 2017, but an interesting read!!)

“Expert athletes have trained their muscles to perform certain functions, and expert creatives can do the same with their brain.

Lotze and his team of researchers discovered that, while writing down their stories, the expert writers used an additional part of their brain — the caudate nucleus.

The caudate nucleus is the region of the brain that handles automatic functions, or functions that are practiced over time. For example, the act of handwriting letters on a page. You learned the letters when you were a toddler, traced them, and learned how to write them yourself. After years of practice, it’s now an automatic function. When that region is active, it means there is some form of memory involved.

What kind of memories are expert writers pulling from? It’s kind of hard to know what someone is thinking when their brain is cycling through ideas, sentences, and the many automatic functions it takes to write. Our technology is advanced, but not that advanced.

We could hypothesize that they are pulling memories from sentences they’ve formulated in the past, stories they’ve thought up before, or maybe even techniques they’ve learned about storytelling. But we may never know.

They also discovered that, in the expert writer’s brain, the regions that deal with speech and word formation (known as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas) are used more frequently in the brainstorming stage compared to novice writers, who tend to visualize in pictures more. This could mean that, before even putting pen to paper, expert writers are already thinking about words or phrases they are going to use to tell their story.

It could also mean that expert writers have trained their brain to see things differently, to be more language oriented, and to visualize not just with the occipital lobe.”

Experiments and lobes aside, I’ve always found it fascinating—from a writer’s perspective—how other people DON’T see stories in everything. How things I find intriguing and inspiring, can be meaningless to the next person. While science keeps trying to explain what makes some of us writers, we just have to keep plugging along to create the stories and the worlds we love.

Intrigued? Here are a few more rabbit holes to dive down and find out more:

·       The Science Behind a Writer's Mind - Craft Your Content

·       Scientists study brains of writers,attempt to make creativity boring » MobyLives (mhpbooks.com)

·       How Writing Benefits Mental Health - NeuroScientia

 Happy Web Surfing!

Diane

http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

New Year, New…Who Am I Kidding? by Diane Bator

 

Buy All That Shines

Happy 2022! New Year, New…Who Am I Kidding?

Every year it’s the same old:

·       “I’m going to get in shape and lose weight.”

·       “I’m going to finally get that new job/career.”

·       “I’m taking my dream vacation.”

·       “I’ll eat healthier.”

·       “This year, I’ll budget and save money.”

·       “January 1^st, I’m writing my book.”

Nothing wrong with that except life gets in the way and derails our plans. Not all the time. But who can resist when your spouse brings home pizza? Or a blizzard hits and the most exercise you get is shoveling the sidewalk and driveway before you collapse on the sofa? Then the car breaks down or the dog gets sick and it’s bye-bye dream vacation and budget.

But that book. Now that’s something you can work with, right?

What’s so hard about writing a couple hundred pages of that epic story you have swirling around in your head? It’s only 70,000 words and you probably speak that many on any given day. It can’t be so hard to write them down.

January 1:  Fresh notebook and a pen Aunt Matilda gave you for Christmas because she didn’t know what else to get you and you could use it for work. Big cup of coffee—the lifeblood of writers—and…GO!

January 2:  That empty page is still staring back at you. It’s so crisp and white why would you want to mess it up?

January 3:  Maybe you’d be best off writing on the computer. That way I can do some research at the same time.

January 4: Did you know it’s National Spaghetti Day?

February 1: Okay, January was a bust. It snowed far too much to write and you spent most of your time shoveling snow and working out the plot. Time to sit down with that notebook and stay off social media.

February 14: If you got caught writing today, the love of your life would disown you! Tomorrow’s the day.

February 15: Today’s the day! You sit at your desk. At work. And get pulled into meetings all day. By the time you get home…zzzzzz…

March 1: You read an article about how to write a book in 15 minutes a day. One you’re done laughing, you read it again. Maybe it could work. What you’ve been doing so far this year hasn’t helped you make any progress. You get home from work, have dinner and…sit in a quiet corner with a timer set for 15 minutes. Lo and behold! You’ve written an entire paragraph by the time your alarm goes off. It may not be as much as you wanted, but it’s a start! You celebrate with a piece of celery then add a cookie chaser.

March 13:  According to the Internet it’s Smart & Sexy Day and you’re feeling it! That 15 minutes a day is going so well that you’ve started taking another 15 minutes during your lunch break. Your story may not be Pulitzer material, but it’s your book coming from your imagination and the whole world will love it!

May 2:  Whose dumb idea was it to write a book?

June 6:  Those 15 minute sessions have expanded to 30 minutes now that you can bring your laptop and/or notepad outside into the sunshine. Fresh air and a little mental exercise never hurt anyone.

July 3:  While the U.S. has Independence Day tomorrow, you’re celebrating your own milestone. 50,000 words! Over halfway there!

August 20-28:  What should’ve been your incredible week at the beach ends up with you in bed with a stomach bug. How could you possibly get so sick in mid-summer? At least you have more time to write—when you’re not running to the bathroom. Back to 15 minutes a day. Better than nothing.

September 4:  The kids are back in school here in Canada and you have a surge of motivation. You spend the long weekend doing a final sprint to finish that book! At 4am Sunday morning, you type THE END. Your heart races, your palms sweat, you have a celebratory glass of wine and pace the house accepting awards and contracts from every publisher you can dream of. Sleep? Who needs it?

September 5:  You excitedly show your masterpiece to the love of your life who tells you not to quit your day job. You debate tossing your manuscript in the trash. Wait. Is that really what it’s called if you’ve a first time writer? It sounds so…Professional! You do a little research about editing and discover it’s harder than it looks. Good thing your friend is a teacher!

October 12:  Still waiting for edits from teacher friend. Maybe asking them to read it at the beginning of the school year wasn’t such a great idea. The teacher suggested you run Spell Check on it before you send it to anyone else. Why didn’t you think of that? How do you find Spell Check?

October 31:  There is nothing scarier this year than that manuscript you stuck in the drawer months ago! You’re about to stick roast it in a bonfire when you find something that makes you realize all may not be lost. A social media ad for a Book Coach. With butterflies in your belly, you do a little digging to see if this is legit or just someone else wanting your hard-earned bucks.

November 1:  Good news. The coach has a link to offer you some free advice on your first chapter. Should you? Shouldn’t you? If you don’t, you’ll burn the book and never speak of it again. If you do…

November 15:  The coach loves your story idea. Gives you some great feedback and gives you a few options regarding working with them. Hesitant to sign up, you take their advice and start rewriting your book from Chapter one to The End.

My editor...and boss.

November 20:  Love of your life gives you the gift of the Book Coach’s services for Christmas before you tear out all you hair.

December 31:  You spend the day polishing your revised book then sit back to put your feet up. Your coach sent you a list of a few editors to research and several publishers and agents to consider. Your eyes ache and your head is spinning but this is the best you’ve felt since you first typed The End.

January 1:  Fresh notebook and the brand new pen Aunt Matilda gave you for Christmas because you drained the old one. Big cup of coffee—the lifeblood of writers—and…GO!

Happy New Year & Happy Writing!

Diane Bator

https://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/

 

A Writer in the Okanagan Valley by Diane Bator

 

Dead Without Remorse by Diane Bator

Sometimes even writers need to take a few days off to regroup before they face total burnout. After a loooonnnngggg summer between writing and being back to work in the office, I was fortunate to have some time off with a few of the ones I love and fly out to Kelowna. Aside from having to show proof of vaccination and wear masks, the trip seemed almost normal.

Our first view of the Okanagan!

My brother joked there are 400 vineyards between the airport in Kelowna where we landed to where we stayed on holidays this fall near Osoyoos. While he and my mom are impressed I can keep storylines and whole series in my head, I’m baffled at how he knows every road and every vineyard in the Okanagan!

It was wonderful to taste wines, eat meals I didn’t have to cook, and stop to smell the roses. Literally. We came across a couple lovely vineyards with showy roses.

Despite being on vacation and making a vow not to work, my writer brain was eager to learn more about wines, vines, and how things worked. I took as many pictures of the vines and plants as I did of the wines we tasted and bought. All of those things sparked a few ideas for future books. Or a series.

How could a mystery writer not wonder how long a body would last in a wine vat?

Or how to poison people using wine or even the grapes?

After having seen more than a few Hallmark movies featuring wines and vineyards, the possiblities for a cozy or two seem limitless. The opportunity to taste wines and learn  more about the fermentation process helped too. And how they press the green grapes for the juice.

We also took time to savour the fresh fruit. Amazing to see apples nearly the size of my hand! That set off a whole thought of someone moving to the valley to take a break from life and pick fruit... Mostly me!

I can honestly say I kept my word and didn't do any real writing. I took a break and read a couple books on the plane, but enjoyed my time away from my computer and work. 

Now I'm back, refreshed and awaiting the wine we shipped home. While I wait, I have time to do some research for the things we can do next time we go. Places to research for my future book ideas while I sip my BC wines!

Have a wonderful October! Cheers,

Diane

Why write a mystery featuring martial arts? by Diane Bator

 

I’m excited to share my new release Dead Without Remorse, which is the 5^th book in my Gilda Wright Mystery series! It originally took place before book 3 but I had to wait to get the rights back from a previous publisher.

Here's the blurb:  An explosion leaves a gaping hole in the streetscape where the Nine Lives Consignment Shop and the former martial arts school once stood. When police find remains of a bomb inside, Gilda Wright needs to track a killer before her suspects scatter like debris.

 Why did I choose to write a mystery series about martial arts? The Gilda Wright Mystery series was inspired by the karate school I used to work and train at. Our school was in the basement below a hair salon and by the end of the training day, humidity from the sweat of all those people training literally hung a foot thick near the ceiling! The atmosphere and camaraderie of the students was very inspiring and I wondered what would happen if this was a tournament, not a seminar, and the referee never showed up.

 We had a similar sign in our karate school to remind students to remain humble and leave their egos at the door. None of us are perfect! In order to focus, we had that reminder to leave that part of us and our problems outside the training hall.

 My fictional town of Sandstone Cove is based very loosely on a larger town along the shores of Lake Erie called Dunkirk, New York. The shoreline and layout of the town was exactly what I needed for my little town (although I certainly modified the basic map to become Sandstone Cove!)

Dunkirk, New York

 

I’ve had a lot of fun over the years watching my main characters grow and adapt to changes in their lives. My four main characters are:

 

Gilda Wright is the receptionist at Phoenix Martial Arts. She’s an avid karate student, runner and not so sure about yoga. After a disastrous relationship with Jason Thayer, she took a job at the karate school to build up some confidence.

 

Marion Yearly is Gilda’s best friend and a 911 operator. She is has an eye for the men at the karate school and, after a little coaxing, started taking classes with Gilda. She’s enamored by Razi Mauli, one of the instructors.

 

Mick Williams ran the original Yoshida Martial Arts, then built Phoenix Martial Arts with Razi. He is a 3rd degree black belt goju-ryu karate; black belt in jiu jitsu; 1st degree black belt tae kwon do; kickboxing; MMA trainer and coach.

 

Kane Garrick is former MMA fighter and an expert swordsman. He is a 3rd degree black belt goju-ryu karate; black belt jiu jitsu, trained for over 10 years in Japanese sword fighting and Japanese Jiu Jitsu; has a fake Australian accent. Gilda first meets him while he practiced with a sword on the beach near her house. 

 

I was also inspired by a photo I cut from a magazine years ago of a log on the beach that has become Gilda’s “thinking place” and her usual meeting place with Fabio, her police officer friend. 

 

Is there a real Café Beanz? Yes, there is, but with a different spelling. I found it purely by accident in Barrie, Ontario. I haven't been inside yet, but it's on my bucket list! My version of Café Beanz is a little deli-style cafe that serves sandwiches and soups for lunch and several kinds of coffees and teas. It's based on the old 50's style diners but modernized in colors and textures. Along with Happy Harvey's, Beanz is one of the hubs of Sandstone Cove.

Gilda's favorite all time drink is a latte with cinnamon and chocolate curls (and wine in the evenings when the mystery solving gets her down!)

Mick loves a "double-double" as we call them in Canada, coffee with two milk and two sugar.

Marion takes her coffee hot, strong and with a little milk.

Razi and Kane are both tea drinkers. Green preferably.

Thayer and Fabio, the police officers Gilda has often had to deal with, love their coffee. Thayer takes his black. Fabio prefers to mix it up a little bouncing between coffee to lattes.

 

Happy Harvey's Hangover Hut wasn't the place to go if you had a hangover, more like if you were in desperate search of the means of one. A glorified, tiki-infested liquor and convenience store, Happy Harvey's was owned by Happy—no one had ever called him Harvey—a seventy-year-old man who'd become disillusioned with retirement. He was also one of Gilda's good friends.

Happy Harvey’s is my favorite setting in the series. Sometimes ideas will just pop into my head and I have no idea where they came from. Happy Harvey's was one of them. I combined my love of the tropics with a local convenience store run by an older man who wasn't afraid to be a little different. Happy is one of Gilda's main supporters and cheerleaders who lets her know what's on his mind and will happily give her both advice and a bottle of wine from time to time.

 

Writing a martial arts-based series was in the making, ever since my family started karate and Brazilian jiu jitsu classes. I was actually a Karate Mom for about 6 years before I started working at the martial arts school and began my own training. Due to my health and life getting in the way, I stopped training at blue belt in Goju-Ryu karate, but the Gilda series lives on. 

One part of training I enjoy, was helping our instructors at self-defence courses we did at local schools. At one high school, we were in lock down after a teenager from another school came in and stabbed a student. It was very sad to see the kids so calm because this happens at least once per semester. Most students were very grateful for us coming in to give them an option to deal with the bullies. One day, that incident may become a whole new Gilda mystery.

Aside from training and self-defence courses, I helped to run the school and rewrote the school's karate manual and Black Belt grading information packages.

 

One question that comes up from fans is “Who will Gilda choose:  Kane or Mick?”

Gilda started to work for Mick after breaking up with her former boyfriend Jason Thayer in spectacular fashion - she threw him into a large bag of coffee beans after catching him with his latest fling and split his head open! Karate and learning how to defend herself in a more empowered way seemed like a logical next step.

Just when she and Mick take the next step and start to develop a romantic relationship, along comes Mick's long time friend and colleague, Kane Garrick. Kane has eyes for Gilda, but is it because she's Mick's new girlfriend or do his flirtations run much deeper?

Okay, readers, who would you choose and why?

You can find ALL of my books at BWL Publishing Inc!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

 

Book Coaching 101 by Diane Bator

 

NEW RELEASE!! An explosion leaves a gaping hole in the streetscape where the Nine Lives Consignment Shop and the former martial arts school once stood. When police find remains of a bomb inside, Gilda Wright needs to track a killer before her suspects scatter like debris.

 

In today’s world, anyone can write and publish a book, but few of us get the help we need. Sometimes we’re stopped by external forces such as lack of money, lack of tools, and lack of support, which is a big one. Sometimes, we’re stopped by internal forces like fear, Imposter Syndrome, and a perceived lack of knowledge.

Imposter Syndrome is that voice in your head that tells you, “I am not talented enough to make this happen,” or “I’m afraid of messing up,” or “Why bother? People will hate my work.” If you’ve ever read Brené Brown, then you recognize that is vulnerability at it’s finest.

We’ve all dealt with it no matter who we are and what we’ve achieved. I have a friend who’s a comedian and author. He’s been fortunate to meet some amazingly accomplished people who will say, “I don’t know why I’m at this event. I’m just a writer/astronaut/musician.” Meanwhile, he’s trying hard not to beg for autographs, but he does have some great photos!

One of my biggest reasons for starting my Escape with a Writer blog, was to help promote other writers brave enough to launch their books. To be honest, when I first started my blog in 2019, I never expected to have authors sign up to do an interview with me. After all, “Who am I to think I can do this?” But I did. In no time, I had my calendar full 4-6 months ahead and now work alongside a publicity firm in Saskatchewan.

Then I learned there was such a thing as a Book Coach. That was my AHA moment!

It took me ten minutes to sign up and I’ve loved every minute of the training as well as working with writers and a great accountability partner. The funny part is, I wrote an entire series of blogs for BWL Publishing about the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of Writing two years before I’d ever heard of book coaching. That’s how naturally the role comes.

So, what is a Book Coach and what do they do? A Book Coach is someone who assists with the book writing process. We help writers improve their work, their writing, and give moral support along the way. Whether you plan to self-publish, reach out to agents or traditional publishers, or use a hybrid publisher, a Book Coach can help you smooth out plot problems and improve your book. We can help you smooth out your entire book or clean up a pitch to send to agents or publishers.

How can a Book Coach help me? That varies from coach to coach. Some do strictly Developmental Editing to help make sure your book flows without any flaws in timeline or storyline. They can also help prepare your book to be line edited before you submit. Others will help you get from the basic story idea right up to preparing your manuscript to be submitted to an agent or publisher, which we’re happy to help you find. We cheer you on throughout the process and celebrate with you once your book is in print!

How do I find the right coach? When writers reach out to a Book Coach for help, we have a list of intake questions we ask to see if coach and client will be a good fit. Not all coaches are comfortable working with all writers—and vice versa, just like any other sort of coaching. The best way to see if a coach (or even an editor, for that matter!) is a good fit, is to ask if they will edit the first ten pages of your manuscript. If you like they way they edit or give suggestions for your work, chances are you may work well together.

Won’t a good agent or publisher do all that? Not as many publishing houses have the staff or capacity to do all those things. The cleaner, better, and stronger you can submit your book, the less time and energy they need to spend to get it prepared for publishing. Agents and publishers love it when writers do their homework and send them solid stories they don’t have to spend days editing.

Where do I find a Book Coach to learn more? Right now, there are some fabulous coaches out there! You simply have to Google to find us! We’re always seeking new clients who are eager and willing to work with us to develop their manuscripts into things they’re proud to publish. Be sure to read the fine print, check out what genres they prefer to deal with – please don’t send a romance coach a sci-fi novel! –  study their packages as to what they offer and what they’re fees are, then find out how they prefer to be contacted. Most have an intake form attached to their contact page and may ask you to attach the first 10 pages of your manuscript so they can get a feel for your work.

What if the coach I contact doesn’t accept me? There could me many reasons. Some will contact you to let you know if you’re not a good fit. Others may say they are already overwhelmed and refer you to another coach. Either way, there’s always another coach, just like there are more than three agents and publishers. The right fit is out there.

Does having a coach assure that I’ll get an agent or publisher? Nope. But, we can definitely help you to submit a great query and synopsis that will give you a solid chance at getting their attention.

If you’re interested in learning more, please check out my brand new website at www.dianebator.ca.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Diane