Yes I Disappeared...

Confessions From An Invisible Writer.

Okay, so I didn't literally disappear. No magic rings or invisibility capes for me. Sorry about the fakey attempt to intrique my readers...which I'm 99.999% certain didn't work anyway.

But I have certainly been absent from this blog for months.

Sorry about that too.

But lets be honest. It wasn't much of a loss. This blog has devolved into a dull "Hey look I published a short story you should buy it and by the way this is what I did yesterday" accounting of things. Who wants to read that?

Well. Alright, so I'm always interested when writers that I love do that on their blogs. So I won't bash myself.

But still we need something more interesting here.

And this summer has been one with some amount of soul searching for me. At least as far as writing and art and creativety and What Shall I Do With My Talents And Life In General goes.

I've been doing a course from Kevin Kaiser that is helping me "revise" my online presence...for lack of a better description of what I'm trying to do. It's a course for online creative entrepreneurs anyway ("Did you here that?" My Muse just said wonderingly. "Creative Entrepreneurs. That's what we are!").  Its very simple and straightforward and starts with the basics. So I've just been focusing on that (especially as I've been rather sickly this month and didn't feel like doing much else with my brain...). And I finally think I know where I want to go with this blog and everything.

SOOOO.

A Few Promises From Me:

• I, Leslie Marie Dawson, hereby promise to write something funny and interesting here at least once a week (I've been reading essays and short stories by A.A. Milne lately. That could account for my desire to write dry-witted nonfiction pieces...)


• I also promise to send out a weekly email full of links to interesting things I've collected from the internet that week.


• And I promise to write at least fifteen minutes a day on stories I would like to share with you. The idea is to get used to the fifteen minutes and increase it as I go along...


• I also promise to create and share more art here on the blog (any art actually. As I haven't shared any so far...). I know, to follow through on this I should make a deadline of some kind. But I'm trying to focus on writing for now. So we shall say one piece of art a month...and see if I manage to stick to it.

And that's about it for now.

So, now to brainstorm what that first witty blog post shall be about. Hmm...

See you next week!

May Goals and Updates

It seems I have neglected the blog for a month but I haven't been idle. I've set some writing goals. And I realize I need to make some changes--to this website, to the stories I'm publishing etc. Try new things and all that.

My main goal this month is rewriting the Snarktales. Yes, even the two I've published. Everything gets a new look. I'm excited about this and hopefully I'll finish by the end of the month.

I've also been participating in Story a Day May. The name is self explanatory. You don't technically have to write a new story each day, but can set whatever goal you choose. I decided to try a new story every day though. What I've discovered is that, unless I plan microfiction--a Twitter fiction series, a drabble, or anything under a page or two--I generally can't finish the story. But at least I'm writing super short fiction, finding new plots, and having fun. And I haven't missed writing something daily all month!

I have one other project going. I asked three friends to proofread the Cinderella Snarktale back in February. As a thank you, I'm creating a piece of artwork for each of them--characters from their own fiction. This is a ton of fun. Have been scouring Deviant Art for free stock and reference photos, and creating inspirational Pinterest boards (which said friends can pin too, of course). Right now, I've just got some quick pencil sketches down.

And that's about it! The changes to the published stories and this blog will, hopefully, take place next month. :)

April Goals and Camp NaNo

I had some grandiose plans for this month. I was going to do Camp NaNoWriMo and finish a Cinderella retelling...and hit a 50,000 word goal. After all, I hit 70,000 words last NaNo. Piece of cake, right? Despite the fact that I've never started in on a Camp NaNo session yet and finished. Most of them I didn't do more than a 1000 words.

One reason I never finish Camp NaNo is that there's a lot of building anticipation while waiting for November. Plus I have at least one friend who always Nano's with me. And the dreary fall weather probably helps too. Yeah. April's too nice. I want to be outside. With the daffodils and the redbud trees, watching the trees leaf out, and enjoying the warm weather and the lovely breezes.

I should finish this and then get outside!

Anyway. I have scaled back on my writing goals. At least for Camp NaNo and Cinderella. Just 15,000 words (500 a day. Thats doable). And I will focus on other writing work I need to get done.

For one, posting to this blog regularly. And doing a weekly email (though I've only a handful of people so far....mostly loyal friends. Or family). And getting snarktales revised and published (I'm finally back to work on Beauty and the Beast. Hopefully will have it published in a week or two...).

I'm trying to read and learn about marketing my books. Jeff Walker's book about Product Launches (Its called, quite simply "Launch!") is very helpful. I'm planning to experiment and see what I can come up with, based on the advice in this book. Should be fun!

Trying to Find Something to Say, Introducing Myself...

“We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb.” --Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice

"[Emily] had once shocked Aunt Elizabeth by coolly telling her that she would 'rather be bad than ridiculous.'" --Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery

Perhaps these two quotes, put together, could sum up the reasons it has taken me so long to start a blog. Not that I am really of a "taciturn disposition" (though strangers might assume I was unsociable at times), nor would I go so far as to say I'd "rather be bad" than ridiculous. But still, I've always sympathized with the feeling behind it. I guess I've always been afraid, deep down, that what I'm saying doesn't matter, that it bores someone, that horror of horrors, I am actually making a fool of myself. Thusly, I'm afraid to try new things. Dancing sounds fun, but I'll just look silly. I love to sing, but not in front of anybody. I could post artwork online, but is it really that good? I could start a blog but why would anyone care what I have to say?

Indeed. What am I doing here?

Umm...because it would be fun sounds like a pretty good reason to me! At least if the only reason stopping me is "I might look stupid." Yes, I probably will sound ridiculous at times--to myself, if no one else. But why should I let that bother me?

With all that out of the way then, what sort of blog is this to be?

I did a thorough search (aka, read several posts) on "how to write a blog." It seems you're supposed to go with some sort of "theme" and only post about one particular thing. But that means I'd have to do 2 or 3 blogs if I were to sort out the different things I'm interested in blogging about. I obviously shall have enough trouble keeping one going. So I'm going to be unprofessional and throw everything in here. A regular mish-mash, hodge-podge, hash, conglomeration, crazy quilt, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink....

Okay. Sorry, went a little wild there with Thesaurus.com. Gallimaufry and salmagundi may apply as well.

Words obviously, are a big interest. And writing in general. I love reading and writing fantasy, especially Christian fantasy (many blog posts will hopefully be in the fantastical theological vein. Or at the very least we must discuss Narnia. At least once!). But I also like old-timey, quaint, regional stories--classics, children's books, romances. L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen (surprising, I know...). I really want to write Ozark stories similar to Anne of Green Gables. I love anything old fashioned--Victorian, Regency. Or anything of the 50s and 60s--old movies, tv shows, dresses.... Have I mentioned paper dolls yet? No. I draw/design paper dolls (because I'm awesome like that). And I like Old Time Radio shows. And music, of course. Any of these things, plus random incidents from my daily life, and the odd passing thought, are likely to show up here at anytime.

So there you are. Welcome to my blog. I hope it does prove interesting.

I think I was right about one thing. This IS going to be fun!