Author: J.I. Soucie

Christian, wife, mom, and pet lover with a love and passion for reading and writing.
A Daughter's Reflection

A DAUGHTER’S REFLECTION – RELEASE DELAY

J.I. Soucie

A couple of days ago I had just about finished writing A Daughter’s Reflection and was going to re-release it on Amazon. However, I started reading The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story and it has some great advice on how to write your own memoir and what you should and should not include.

Since when I write, I like to make sure I produce a good quality piece of work, I thought I would finish reading this book and take any advice from it that I see might be helpful to my my book. I don’t like doing anything half way, or if I think I can improve on something then I will, but I am going to take my time to make sure I do it right. I may not do it right the first time (who in this non-perfect life can?) but I will work at it until I think I have done as well as I can. This goes for anything I write, whether it be a nonfiction novel, article, poetry, short story, or fiction book.

Please bear with me as I go through this process. A Daughter’s Reflection WILL BE released this year (2013), just not within a few days as I was expecting with my last post.

I will keep you all updated with any further developments.

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“To craft a memoir means wrestling with the nature of truth and the muscles of story structure. It means that you travel back in time come back with treasures of memory that must be strung together like beads on a string.” ~ Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D – The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story.

Publishing News

Anne R. Allens Blog: Indie Publishing in 2013: Why We Cant Party Like Its 2009

J.I. Soucie

Anne R. Allens Blog: Indie Publishing in 2013: Why We Cant Party Like Its 2009.

 

After reading the above blog, my head is left spinning. Part of me wants to dump Amazon all together for what they are doing. I thought it was great what they were doing for the Indie Authors and now, they have put so much restrictions on us it is making it hard for us. And not only that, they are going to other companies they pay and putting restrictions on them, or they will not pay them. What are we Indie authors supposed to do? What is left out there for us? Especially now that some of the big publishing houses are buying each other out or changing their publishing formats.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this leaves me scared. I was going to release an updated version of one of my books and put for sale again on Amazon but now I am not so sure I want to do that. At least, maybe not Amazon exclusively. This will take some great thinking and praying.

What are your thoughts about the above blog? Does this change your perspective of Amazon and where you will be publishing and/or buying your books in the future?

A Daughter's Reflection

A Daughter’s Reflection – Updated Publication Time Frame

J.I. Soucie

This past week and especially this morning I have been hard at work with this re-write and last night I had hit a block. I was so confused where to go, so what did I do. I literally just dropped my papers and pen on my desk and prayed for guidance. God has answered my prayer and more quickly than I had expected. I not only know what to do next, I am almost finished with this re-write and this will be the last re-write because I finally, the first time since 2007, feel comfortable and happy with how my story turned out.

So I am going to finish working on the last chapter of this book and then it will just be making the corrections on the manuscript on my computer and then I will be releasing the book for publication. I am looking to have this posted to Amazon by tonight and it should be available in Kindle form by tomorrow. The paperback should be available by the weekend. I will keep you posted the closer I get to publishing the Kindle version and then the paperback.

Keep your eyes open for the updated release!!! Free Kindle promo will be coming soon.

A Daughter's Reflection

A DAUGHTER’S REFLECTION – REWRITE

J.I. Soucie

Today is a good day for writing, I think. I am working on a memoir I started in my late teens but never fully developed because I wasn’t sure where exactly I wanted to go with it.

A Daughter’s Reflection is my account, as a teenager, of having a mother who was ill with cancer, and having to take care of her for several months both day and night. The book consists of several journal entries. I don’t think I had ever kept a journal until that year. I know, I know. A teenage girl without a journal. Strange, right? I just had never thought of writing until that year when so much was happening and becoming overwhelming I needed a someone to talk to when no one else was around and a place to vet everything. A notebook became that place and God was that person I talked to.

This book will serve to relate my story as a teenager going through grief, depression, anxiety, and a sense of loss, not just in losing a loved one, but not knowing where I stood in the world, you know, where I belonged. In my story you will see changes of the teenager I was while caring for my mother, then through depression, anxiety and loss of self, and then through finding myself in Christ.

I have written a new preface and reorganized the chapters. I have to go through them for some editing. After that, I will need to determine the last chapter or two of the book. I am hoping to have this book out by summer time. I am aiming before that. I will keep everyone updated as I go along. God bless.

General Updates

Organizing Writing Projects: What Is Your Favorite Software?

J.I. Soucie

So the past couple of days I have been sifting through files some paper, some digital, and trying to figure out how to categorized and put together all my writing ideas. Some of these ideas have generated beginnings of stories, while others are still ideas. I am trying to decided how I want to organize everything and I am thinking of using Microsoft OneNote. I love the program, but I am hesitant to use it because it doesn’t syn up with the Microsoft OneNote app on my iPad. Now if I use EverNote, I can sync from my computer to my iPad no problem. The only with that is if there is no Internet, you can’t get your files. Ugh! The frustration.

In light of this, I have created the following poll. Let me know what your favorite software is to use when organizing your writing projects. Thanks for your votes!

 

Book News

Free Kindle Book

J.I. Soucie

Yep! You read the title of this post correctly. You’re not seeing things! The History of Sackets Harbor, New York is free until February 6th 2013. If you like history and learning about places you have never been to, then I urge you to read this book. You may just find yourself packing your bags and heading to this historic village. Take it from one of my reviewers:

 

5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic read for a history buff & on my wish list for places to visit!, January 25, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This author from Watertown, has really done her homework on the History of Sackets Harbor, New York. This is the best researched and most well-written book on the history of a mid Atlantic state that I have had the pleasure to read. It is worthy of textbook material for high school and college students because the history lessons are rich, including highly detailed accounts of the Sackets Harbor regions and shipyards, and its national importance during the War of 1812. Lots of important and notable people are covered within the history accounts of this famous village, founded by Augustus Sackett over 200 years ago. The author brings the history up to date, with descriptions of the area sites, museums and shops that are tourist attractions today. With the beautiful lake views and railroad, I’m ready to take a trip to this historical place myself and I have placed it on my wish list of places to visit. What a great learning tool this book is, that gives new nuggets of info with each re-read of it — lots of information that can be studied and enjoyed. It’s a five-star hit for me!

_________________

 

This book was written not just for those who love history, but also for younger generations, or teachers who might use this for educational purposes. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did researching and writing it. :) Have a great weekend!

 

General Updates

Book Formatting & Entry Into Contest

J.I. Soucie

Tonight I am working on re-formatting a book for my friend (Phyllis Georgina Rose) who wants to put her book (The Rose Garden)  into the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards contest this year. When I am finished with her book, I will be making some minor adjustments to my book, The History of Sackets Harbor, New York, which I will be entering into the same contest. I am so excited about entering my book. I don’t usually enter into contests, but I found I wanted to try something different and exciting.

I’ll probably be spending the next several days working on these books, but I’d rather spend time and make them look as professional as I can. I know how professionalism make an impression on people and how they can tell if you really care about your work by how much time you spend tending to even the smallest detail. i

With that said, I best be off and get back to work. Have a good night!

 

General Updates

Busy Brain

J.I. Soucie

I’m sitting here in my living room with my four year old playing with her toys on the floor and my husband reading on his Nexus 7 tablet. I am honestly trying to relax, but the creative and imaginative spirit in me is too anxious and exited to let me sit still. My brain is running in zips and zings with ideas of manuscripts almost to their first draft stage. These manuscripts are:

A Daughter’s Reflection and The History of Watertown, NY

Then I am in the process of reformatting my book The History of Sackets Harbor, New York, so I can add it to the Smashwords.com library. I am also going to add it to Kobo. I have also lowered the price of the Kindle ebook from $6.99 down to $4.99. The more I thought about it, would I really be willing to buy an ebook at $6.99? Not so much. At $4.99, yeah. I would.

I also have some notes I need to work on for Voice4Society. So much is flaring in this brain of mine. I try to relax but knowing I have so much work to do it makes it hard. Being a homemaker and stay at home mom, plus a writer has its challenges. Oh, and then there is school work!

So my task for today….prioritize! And then set a schedule. Ha! (Sorry. An ALF moment there!) I do pretty well prioritizing, it is schedules I find hard to keep because I take my time doing things so I do them right and to enjoy what I. I don’t like rushing anything unless absolutely necessary. Guess we shall see what happens. I know what I really WANT to work on and then what MUST be worked on. It is so hard to put the WANT behind and do what SHOULD be done and what I have committed myself to doing for another. I must do what is right. I shall work on an article for Voice4Society during the day today and then tonight, perhaps that is when I’ll work on my books.

So with that, I am off. To drink some Yerba Mate tea and do some research and study in the Bible. have a great day!

General Updates

Editing

J.I. Soucie

Tonight I am working on editing some posts for my husband’s blog. He has decided to develop apps for Android and is starting…well…more like continuing a blog on developing that he started several years ago. The blog doesn’t have much on it yet, but there will be plenty more to come. If you’d like to check out the blog, you can view it here. New posts will be arriving shortly.

 

While I am on the subject of editing, I bought this book a short while ago titled Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, by James Scott Bell. I am an Indie author and though I know I can do a fair job at editing, it wouldn’t hurt to work on tightening those editing skills. Both writing and editing go together and in order to have a well written piece, you have to keep flexing those writing and editing muscles.

Here is the Table Of Contents:

Introduction to the 2nd Edition

On Becoming a Writer

PART I: SELF-EDITING

Chapter 1: A Philosophy of Self-Editing

Chapter 2: Characters

Chapter 3: Plot and Structure

Chapter 4: Point of View

Chapter 5: Scenes

Chapter 6: Dialogue

Chapter 7: Beginnings, Middles, Ends

Chapter 8: Show Vs. Tell

Chapter 9: Voice and Style

Chapter 10: Setting and Description

Chapter 11: Exposition

Chapter 12: Theme

 

PART II: REVISION

Chapter 13: A Philosophy of Revision

Chapter 14: Before You Revise

Chapter 15: The First Read-Through

Chapter 16: Deepening

Chapter 17: The Ultimate Revision Checklist

 

Epilogue: The Trick That Cannot Be Explained

Appendix

Index

 

Whew! Sure seems like there is a lot to that book, but I cannot wait to start reading it. I may write a review of the book when I am finished.

 

An article written by WritersDigest.com’s Brian A. Klems titled, “HOW TO REVISE YOUR WRITING (& AWESOME EDITING SYMBOLS YOU SHOULD KNOW)” is pretty good and also gave me a laugh!

Well, I must get back to work! Night all!