Vicki Hinze: NOVELIST, I AM--My Kitchen Table

New Address

2011-09-26T12:05:00.001-05:00

My new website is now up and running and the following blogs will be posted on it:

On Writing Thinking Aloud My Kitchen Table My Faith Zone

The new url is: http://vickihinze.com/blog

Blessings,

Vicki

New Release-itis

2011-09-19T12:34:00.001-05:00

An original, general market short story. Kindle 99 cent exclusive.Includes bonus material: Seascape Series Sampler.That’s the first three chapters on:Beyond the Misty Shore (10/1/2011)Upon A Mystic Tide (11/1/2011)Beside a Dreamswept Sea (12/1/2011).

It’s a special day. The day that I have the privilege of seeing my 30th project published (articles aside because I quit counting those after I hit 100).

Before the White Rose is a general market short story I wrote for the love of it. I didn’t write it intending to publish it. But I am thrilled Belle Bridge Books has. In it, three people who are at wit’s end and despairing all take action--and discover something they wished they’d discovered sooner.

For long-time readers, I wrote it as one of my Sunday book projects. Those I write for me, ignoring everything except the story itself. This one I wrote and it continued to nag at me. I wasn’t sure why, and I ignored it as long as I could. But it didn’t stop. So I pulled it out, read it again, and saw something of value in it. That’s when Belle Books got involved.

They’rereissuing many of my earlier works, and added a sampler of the three Seascape novels in Before the White Rose.

It’s a Kindle 99 cent exclusive. I’ve never done one of those in fiction, so I’m eager to see how it does.

Someone asked me this morning on Facebook when you stop getting the adrenaline rush on the day a new project is released. “You’d think it gets old after you’ve done so many,” she said. My response was this.

“If and when it does, and if and when I ever stop being thrilled to pieces about a new release, I’ll let you know. But I have the feeling doing so might frighten you.”

She asked, “Why?”

I responded. “Because as tickled as I still am, I have a feeling that won’t happen until I’m dead.”

Have to chuckle here because I am tickled. I do still feel that same rush I did on holding my first book in my hands. And I hope and pray I never stop feeling it!

I also hope and pray your work brings you joy and after decades of doing it, it still thrills you!

Blessings,

Vicki

It's Not Just About the Writing

2011-09-16T08:48:00.000-05:00

www.christiansread.com or on Wordpress or Facebook. You can also follow Christians Read on Twitter.

Disclosure: Christians Read is a Vicki Hinze Special Project created for the purpose of giving readers and authors of Christian books a place to discuss books, interact, find information, encouragement and inspiration.

Characters: You and Them and Attitude

2011-09-13T11:49:00.001-05:00

On Writers and Characters: Alone

2011-08-30T13:52:00.002-05:00

At times, we all feel alone. Whether we’re facing seemingly overwhelming obstacles or feel as if we’re drowning in a shark-infested sea and being swamped by waves of opposition, we feel as if we’re on our own and getting to safe harbor, whatever that might be, is solely up to us. There is no lifeguard, no rescue coming, no help on the horizon. We sink or swim alone.

And we feel . . . abandoned, betrayed, even angry.

Those are human reactions, and not unexpected. But there are other times when we feel alone and we resent it. Times that are celebratory. We seek a goal for a long time and finally achieve it--and have no one to celebrate with us. We experience a life-changing event, and have no one to tell. We have climbed the career ladder and gotten to the rung we sought, and the world doesn’t notice. We devote our lives to accomplishing a purpose, and do it, and look around and we stand alone. Not only is no one there to celebrate, no one notices or cares.

And we feel . . . let down, abandoned, betrayed and even angry.

In mentoring, I run into this a lot. Writers so dedicate themselves to learning the craft, the business, to networking and promoting and marketing and writing and producing that they sacrifice everyday life. Depending on where you start, singleminded devotion for a time might be needed to achieve your goal. The college of seeking to master your chosen path, so to speak.

But that college can become a treadmill that the writer stays on for decades or even a lifetime, and if s/he does, there are going to be problems that spill over into the emotional realm. Why is that?

There’s a strong correlation between physical and emotional. What we experience in one, manifests in the other. You can think yourself sick, exhaust yourself physically and tumble into emotional instability.

During the course of a career on that treadmill, there are many inclines and declines. You’ll know moments of joy so complete you pinch yourself. You’ll also know moments of such profound disappointment and disillusionment that you don’t want to pinch yourself, you want to escape.

Too much of a good thing is like a prison. Doubt it?

Have you ever walked out into the bright sunlight and been blinded by it? Walked from the bright sunlight into a darkened room and been blinded by it? On either side, you can’t see a thing. It renders you immobile--in writer’s terms, frigid. You can’t move because you can’t see--unless you have something else present to counter and restore balance. Something bigger, that resides inside you that acts as an equalizer.

If you’re walking from light into the dark, that something might be memory of where things are positioned. Saying you’re entering your own home. You know the entry has a rug--so you don’t trip. You know that in two steps if you turn left, you need to skirt a table with a vase on it. Or it’s ten steps to the living room. You know what’s where. That gives you the confidence and certainty to walk on. But what if you’re walking into a stranger’s home?

Odds are pretty good you’re going to pause until your eyes adjust. You’re going to have the discipline to hold on until you can assess your surroundings and not trip, walk into a wall, bump the table and knock the vase to the floor where it shatters. What makes you do that--pause, wait, have the discipline to hold-on? The fear of injury, of doing damage, of making a mistake, of misstepping. It’s some emotion driving the physical action.

Whether you’re dealing with a character’s character traits or the character traits of the writer, there’s a direct relation between physical and emotional. As a writer, you might want to jump on the epublishing train, or not. Your decision will be made, consciously or subconsciously, based on both physical circumstances (as they are or as you see them and potential as you see it) and emotional circumstances (as they are or you see them and potential as you see it).

If you have a great working relationship with your publisher and are content with what you’re producing, you’re less inclined to want to change something. But if you’re not content with your current circumstances, you’re more inclined to want to change. Your emotional reaction to your physical circumstance weighs in more heavily.

Let’s say you’re getting on well with your publisher but you suddenly experience artistic differences. The publisher wants more of the same kind of books but you want to write a different type of book. The publisher isn’t interested in that type of book from you. Your emotional reaction to that circumstance well might drive you to seek another or an additional publisher--or to epublish yourself.

Now you might be fearful of doing it, you might assess and deem it a fiscally sound move, but you will go through a process where you weigh the publisher’s reaction--will or won’t they drop you for doing this? Will or won’t they demand exclusive publishing in your next contract? Will or won’t they continue to market and promote at the same level or a higher one? If so, you have one emotional reaction. If not, you have another emotional reaction. You, of course, can choose to go either way. But you’ll endure the process in coming to your decision, weighing the physical and emotional.

As human beings, we all go through this same sort of process, which means our characters should go through it too.

Now one aspect that I’ve neglected thus far other than to allude to it as that something inside you that acts as an equalizer is on par with the physical and the emotional. That is the spiritual.

It’s often neglected overtly but is in truth most powerful. The spiritual aspect of a human being is home to beliefs, motivations, judgments, purpose. It’s the core that stirs together all of the intangible things the writer or the character considers of greatest value and highest import.

This core that is uniquely our own trumps the physical and the emotional. It leads to tackling insurmountable obstacles, into taking risks and doing that which all logic deems impossible. When we’re leaden and weary, it drives us to keep trying. When we’ve been knocked down over and again, it gives us the strength and endurance to get up one more time. When all signs say stop, it’s a pipe dream, a waste of time, it says go, go, do it! It’s what enables a mother to lift a car, a man to dive into raging water to save a stranger, a fireman to run into an inferno building thousands are trying to escape.

The spiritual side of writers and therefore characters is the home of heroes and villains. Like everything else, that of greatest value and most import can be used for good or evil. It is here, in the spiritual realm, that those choices are made and those judgments defining good and evil are housed.

If your characters lack spiritual aspects, they lack essentials that make them not just human but uniquely human and memorable. Something significant is missing. And its that something that ties and binds between writer and character and then between character and reader.

If the writer fails to acknowledge his/her unique spiritual aspects, then s/he is going to experience a lot of moments--some really long ones--where s/he feels s/he is walking around with a big hole in the chest. See, it’s these spiritual aspects that generate the fulfillment and contentment that resides in the heart.

Now let’s put this all together. If your reason for writing is to earn a lot of money, that’s physical. Bluntly put, it’s not enough. If your reason for writing is to be famous, that‘s not enough. Yesterday’s celebrities are forgotten names today. If your reason for writing is seated in purpose, then fulfillment is possible. And by leading yourself from the spiritual aspect, you factor in the emotional and physical. Odds of success are far greater, because you’re addressing all aspects with balanced weight.

When you do that, you engage balance. And with balance engaged, you and your characters are still going to experience inclines and declines, but they won’t do it alone. The force behind the purpose of it all is there with them.

Another human might not be present, but that gut-wrenching sense of loneliness is not.

There is an enormous difference in being lonely and being alone. Many stand in a room surrounded by people they know and feel alone. The challenge for them is they’re looking outward for someone to make that loneliness go away. But the answer to it, to filling it, lies within.

So in your writer’s life and in your characters, be aware of the dimensional aspects of the whole person/character. Understand that balance defines character. Gaps and absences define flaws and conflicts. And plunder the spiritual aspects of your character first, because it’s where the best of the best and the worst of the worst resides.

It’s where you’ll discover how to be alone on those inclines and declines and still be content.

Blessings,

Vicki

How Do We Inspire? What Inspires Us?

2011-08-12T10:59:00.010-05:00

WARNING: THIS IS A NO-EDIT ZONE...

Inspiration comes to us all in different ways and it impacts us in different ways. Let’s prove it. Listen to Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson, USAF in this video of ROLLING IN THE DEEP:

What’s your emotional reaction? Note it. Stop and write it down.

Now, what did you react to? The music, the lyrics, Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson’s voice? The group’s environment? The lack of adornment? The BDU--battle dress uniforms--these soldiers are wearing? Write it down.

On the lyrics. What is this song about? What does it speak to you? Is it a song about love lost? About despair? About falling down but getting back up? About the kind of crying that runs so deep inside you, those tears are rolling in the deepest recesses of your soul? Or maybe the lyrics evoke a feeling of frustration and broken dreams, for coming so close to realizing your dreams and missing, of being used or betrayed. Or maybe of being under-appreciated or underestimated.

Or maybe none of those things snagged you. Maybe you related not to yourself or your situation but to the other person in whatever conflict challenge has occurred in your life. Perhaps yours is a “you blew it reaction” and contains a “Man, when it hits you what you’ve lost, you’re going to regret it--HUGE.”

Yet your reaction might be none of those things. It might be that you homed in on the verse that advises: “throw your soul through every open door.” It also suggests counting your blessings and seeking whatever you most want, addresses sorrow turning to gold and reaping what you sow. Maybe that’s the part that resonated with you.

My points are these:

1.Whatever your take is, odds are high it is an emotional reaction.

2.Whatever your emotional reaction is, odds are high it is seated in your personal perception of the whole of this. Music, lyrics, environment--your sensory perceptions--filtered through your current circumstance and your feelings and attitudes toward and about that circumstance.

3.Any and all aspects and reactions that are honest are valid.

4.Whatever is tapped in you is very likely rooted in universal emotion. Meaning, emotions that most human beings relate to as individuals. The emotions that spark not sympathy but empathy (love, anger, shame, despair, regret, honesty, fairness, retaliation and on the list goes).

5.Your reaction and the aspect or attitude you have changes. Listen to this again in a week and you might well have an entirely different reaction--and it too will be seated in emotion but through your own shifted perspective. Why? We change. Our attitudes change. Our emotions change. But you still will react. You just get a different emotional tap.

How does this relate to books?

The exact same thing happens in books. The reader reacts to a universal-emotion tap and sees the story and characters and setting--all aspects of the novel--through that prism. The prism that is influencing whatever is evoked in the reader.

Writers write stories that evoke emotion in them. Readers react to the emotion--but not necessarily in the same way that the writer reacted. Not necessarily on the same emotion but on one relate-able to them in their own lives.

So what do we as authors learn from this? What can we take away from it that best serves our work and our readers?

First is an understanding about the universal power of universal emotion--that relate-able aspect that creates a bond and a connection.

Second is that a story isn’t always the story for the reader. While we might write a story about betrayal, a reader could perceive that story as one about broken dreams. A response can be personal or professional. It can bring up close and personal the troubles of another--a friend, a child, a parent, a resented stranger who has impacted someone close--or not so close. (Think Casey Anthony. Think Callie Anthony. Think George or Cindy Anthony.) Same story, different reactions. Different relate-able aspects.

Does this insight help or hurt the author? The answer to that, in my humble opinion, is up to the author. If s/he writes honestly, plays fair with the reader, tries to be even-handed in both sides of a conflict, then the insight should benefit the author. If not, it’s definitely a hindrance--and worse, a missed opportunity to connect with the reader in a way that is significant to that reader.

Whether through a song, a music video or a book, inspiration comes in many ways and is related in many ways. Some are intentional, some are not but are as a consequence of tapped emotions.

That’s the biggest point. In the end, storytelling, whether through song or book, requires a potent vehicle. That vehicle is emotion.

And carried on that emotion in whatever form is inspiration.

Blessings,

Vicki

P. S. I’m considering combining all of my blogs into one--this one. But out of respect to my readers, some of whom have been with me for over a decade, I want to hear what you have to say about it. Please pause a moment and take the poll. It provides a place for your vote and your comments. Take the BLOG POLL here.

Blog Poll--Need Your Opinions

2011-08-11T07:30:00.001-05:00

Considering changes on my blogs. Please voice your opinion in my BLOG POLL. http://ht.ly/60At2

Random Thought: The Last Time

2011-08-09T11:34:00.002-05:00

Free Read: Invitation to a Murder by Vicki Hinze

2011-07-29T18:11:00.001-05:00

INVITATION TO A MURDER

A few years ago, I wrote an ebook, INVITATION TO A MURDER. It’s a prequel to the IT GIRLS series, which was later optioned for a series as Gotham Roses by Twin Star Entertainment.

Right now, Mills and Boon has INVITATION TO A MURDER as a free online “daily” read. (Daily = a chapter a day.) 29 of the 31 chapters are currently online.

In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten dozens of letters from readers wanting this story and it wasn’t available. Right now, it is, so I wanted to let you know it.

I don’t know if the daily reads add chapters on the weekends or if the final two chapters will be added on Monday and Tuesday, but 29 are up and available now.

You can read INVITATION TO A MURDER at http://ht.ly/5QR2C.

So far as I know, this is the only way to read this book.

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Vicki

Bare Face, Bare Soul--A Writer's Fairy Tale

2011-07-13T15:14:00.004-05:00

Authors' Publishing: Traditional or Independent?

2011-07-12T11:35:00.002-05:00

WARNING: THIS IS A NO-EDIT ZONE...

The debate hasn’t just started on this subject and it’s far from over. We hear of traditional success stories and independent publishing success stories. In either forum, at this time, we hear many more stories from authors who are struggling.

About five years ago, I wrote a post about my belief that mid-list wasn’t dead, it was morphing. That the new mid-list would be in ebook format and that only when an author reached a certain sales level would that author be put into print.

Just as the world wasn’t ready to receive my “romantic fantasy” (now a genre tagged as paranormal romance) in the early 1980s, it wasn’t ready to receive that mid-list prediction. But just as a the paranormal genre birthed and thrived so too, I believe, will mid-list novels in ebook format.

That isn’t to say that there won’t be some serious bestsellers by authors who elect ebook and shun traditional publishing. There are already and will continue to be more of them. But I still believe publishers will move to ebook for mid-list and only major bestsellers in fiction will be out in print. Another couple years maybe...

I also believe the pressure is on our traditional publishers. One question I hear repeatedly is: “How can traditional publishers stay relevant?”

It’s a fair question and honestly asked. Publishers find themselves in a new world now. One where authors can and are publishing without them. The reasons why vary. Some authors write niche books--ones that appeal to a limited but dedicated audience. This lack of volume makes these book less appealing to traditional publishers, and the authors want to write them anyway and do it then publish themselves.

Some authors have written to the genre/market dictates and haven’t gotten publisher support or pushes to elevate their book’s standing in the market, so they opt out and publish themselves. Some are weary of the submit and reject process--whether it is to a publisher or an agent (or committee of agents at the agency)--revising the book to the point the work has become a work-by-committee and the author no longer recognizes it as the book s/he wanted to write anymore. And for still other writers, they’ve done the math on their specific book sales and determined that publishing traditionally is costing them serious money so they opt out and publish themselves.

There are some authors who feel to be taken seriously they must traditionally publish. However, when those same authors talk to other authors who are independently publishing and discover that they’re out-earning the traditionally published authors who are at the same level in their writing career, they hop off that ladder rung or pause and rethink their position. Some go, some stay with traditional publishing.

Traditional publishers can do things for authors that independent publishers can’t do for themselves. At one time, many things. But as the market changes, that list is dwindling. How much or how successfully it will dwindle, whether or not the list will disappear, is another topic of debate.

Where once authors found an immense stigmatism attached to independent publishing, they’re now using adverbs like “liberating” to describe the writing experience. Some do however resent the time required to market what they publish. Some authors just want to write their books.

I fall into the “I just want to write my books” category. However, let me assure you that it doesn’t matter if you’re traditionally or independently published, you’re not going to just write your books and sell. You might hire someone to handle the other aspects for you, but in either forum, you have obligations and responsibilities and seldom do few of them come with the tag, “Optional.”

These days, traditional or independent publishing is a personal choice. You know there are advantages and disadvantages to either selection, and that regardless of your choice, you are going to have to engage in some level of promotional activities.

If you hate deadlines, don’t care if you are paid an advance (that actually pays in advance of publication) or are weary of the submission process and rewriting of your books, you might do the math and determine independent publishing is for you--or not.

The bottom line at this point is traditional publishing is driven by bottom lines as they’re interpreted by said publishers. Editors don’t have the luxury of buying books they love, they buy books they love AND they can sell. That’s fiscally responsible and wise. Independent publishers bring a lot of different and personal-to-the-author priorities to the table. They weigh the bottom line and add those personal priorities and decide accordingly.

A guess on how publishers stay relevant is content but also execution. If they develop killer marketing and promotion forces that drive sales and if they create an environment that is author-friendly and fiscally friendly, then they will. If they cross-media market, that’s a big perk--one too time-consumptive for an author to do, unless s/he hires a firm who does that specifically. There are ways, IMHO, for publishers to stay relevant. But it’s not going to be in the ways they’ve relevant previously, and they’re aware that authors look at the matter through different eyes. They now have options.

I suspect that many major sellers will elect to opt out of traditional publishing eventually. Some have already, finding in cost-benefit analysis that it behooves them to subcontract editing, cover artists and other production aspects, as well as marketing/promotion.

Now understand that these opinions are predicated on professional level work being done in both traditional and independent forums. Does this mean I believe traditional publishing is doomed?

Of course not. Publishers can be nimble and flexible and creative. Traditional books will be with us for many reasons. But I do expect it to change. It must. Just as independent publishing has and will continue to change.

It’s the nature of all business to change. Stagnant industries die. It’s that simple, and complex.

When you get down to the bottom line, what you find is the answer is in the author’s bottom line. Whether to publish traditionally or independently is a matter of choice. And the reasons for making the choice you, the author, make are as varied as the books authors write. Key is to study your market, study your path, so that you’re making informed choices based on reasonable expectations. This isn’t the place for off-the-cuff decisions. Know what you’re getting into and what is required. Understand that publishing a book is and always has been a craps-shoot. Some books have all the push there is to be had and still tank. Some get zero push and soar. The readers choose.

And that--the readers choosing--is the one constant in all of publishing, traditional or independent.

Blessings,
Vicki Hinze
ⓒ 2011

WRITERS: THE AUTHOR YOU DON'T KNOW

2011-07-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

HACKERS AND CHARACTER: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

2011-06-21T17:09:00.002-05:00

Contrversial Writing and Writer intimidation

2011-06-20T12:19:00.002-05:00

Career Path--Your Choice

2011-06-16T11:50:00.002-05:00

Novel Writing: Scandals and Credible Characters

2011-06-08T07:59:00.000-05:00

CHANGING STRATEGIES: FALL BACK AND REGROUP

2011-06-04T12:26:00.001-05:00

MY TOP FIVE WRITING TIPS

2011-06-02T15:13:00.003-05:00

Writing and Career Leaps of Faith

2011-05-26T07:29:00.002-05:00

Characters and Unintended Consequences

2011-05-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

Third Time's a Charm--Occasionally

2011-05-10T07:56:00.002-05:00

Contest Scores and Reviews: 3 Coping Tips

2011-05-09T08:08:00.000-05:00

What Do You Do When the Writing Just Doesn't Work?

2011-05-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

MKT: UBL is Dead--but the Threat is Not

2011-05-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

Oops!--See? Flawed to the Core

2011-04-11T11:05:00.001-05:00

Writers Write--and Blog, and...

2011-04-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

Crafting Characters: A Short-Take

2011-03-29T06:30:00.001-05:00

Author-to-Author: Do Articles on Writing Help Sell Your Novels?

2011-03-25T14:08:00.001-05:00

Author-to=Author: Creating Trilogies

2011-03-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

An informal chat on writing trilogies...

Author-to-Author: The Industry

2011-03-23T13:12:00.003-05:00

Be sure to enter the Facebook contest. Details at facebook.com/vicki.hinze.author

Coping Skills: Writer's Guide on Negative Feedback

2011-03-22T10:31:00.002-05:00

Critical Analysis

2011-03-14T07:29:00.002-05:00

Note: Today is the last day that WRITING IN THE FAST LANE will be 99 cents at Kindle. After today, the price returns to normal.

Moments of Grace

2011-03-10T10:13:00.000-06:00

Creative Writing: Assets in Writers

2011-03-02T08:44:00.001-06:00

Writers: Turn the Page

2011-02-28T07:36:00.004-06:00

Which are You? A Candle or a Mirror?

2011-02-25T10:00:00.001-06:00

Patience: The Writing, The Writer

2011-02-21T08:56:00.002-06:00

Discussion on Writing--Characters and More

2011-02-17T08:33:00.003-06:00

Cupid's Arrows

2011-02-15T23:43:00.002-06:00

Book Fair--Elementary School

2011-02-09T06:49:00.004-06:00

DEADLY TIES is Released Today!

2011-02-08T08:08:00.006-06:00

As an author, do you have a clear total vision of the book before writing?
As an author, do you discover unexpected gems in the book after you've written?
As an author, with what do you infuse your work? Do you have specific or general hopes for the book before it is written, while writing it, or after it's written?
Are those hopes different for each book? During each phase of the process?

Please share your comments. I'd love to hear them.

MKT: Great Debate Fresh Fiction Blog and Contest

2011-02-07T07:27:00.003-06:00

An FYI: I did a guest blog today at FRESH FICTION. There's a one-day contest as well as the DIAMONDS AND DEADLY TIES, BE GOOD TO YOURSELF, VALENTINE!, AND RECIPE contests going on now also.

Great Debates and Moral Dilemmas is posted HERE.

Today's contest (for an autographed copy of DEADLY TIES) is posted HERE.

The other 3 DEADLY TIES contests are posted HERE.
Blessings,

Vicki

Choose, Writer--Easy Road or Higher Ground?

2011-02-03T09:34:00.001-06:00

WRITERS: Imagination

2011-01-31T13:10:00.007-06:00

Old Book, New Review

2011-01-28T07:08:00.002-06:00

Roundtable Discussion, the Big Thrill, eBooks or Print

2011-01-25T09:59:00.003-06:00

DEADLY TIES CONTESTS

2011-01-19T08:59:00.001-06:00

Click the icon above for details on all three contests.

Blessings,

Vicki

Writers: Deadline Dementia

2011-01-17T11:07:00.003-06:00

Lessons to be Learned from the Tucson Tradegy

2011-01-10T09:41:00.003-06:00

Weary of Resolutions in Week Two?

2011-01-08T07:12:00.002-06:00

A Contest: Your Recipe for JUST DESSERTS

2011-01-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

Mean Spirited

2011-01-04T05:35:00.001-06:00

Just Be

2011-01-04T05:20:00.003-06:00

Backups and Blessings

2011-01-01T08:57:00.001-06:00

2010 has come and gone and 2011 has arrived. With it comes opportunities. Ones for fresh starts. For doing the things we intended to do last year, but didn’t. Opportunities to review our pasts and set our eyes on our futures.

Change is hard for us. We get comfortable and when things upset our apple carts, we typically first react with annoyance or, in some cases, despair. A few weeks ago, my domain file corrupted. I had over 79,000 things on that site, and 4 other sites that corrupted as well.
I’ve been faithful about making backups. So much so that my “non-corrupt” copy was overwritten by my corrupt copy–a fact possible, I learned, after the overwrite and corruption occurred. My safekeeping copy was also corrupted and the disk safe-safekeeping backup copy.

They all got zapped.

And so the reality of having to redo and recreate set in. I promised myself a good attitude. Focus on the solution, not the problem. And I worked exclusively on this from arising to konking out for over a week. But tonight, it’s done.

I have a uniform, clean site. I have a separate book site. I have recreated the additional sites. And I’ve diversified segments on them so that never again will I have to recreate everything–even if backups do corrupt.

There were low points. Like when I discovered that I couldn’t import a blog because I couldn’t get it in the right format. After a little muttering, I set out recreating. And after I’d done the last of them–days of work–I discovered that the file in the correct format could have been had, though everyone I asked said it couldn’t. But in doing all this work, I discovered a way that I now can share with others.

So I’ve learned a lot and gotten new sites and diversified. Not a painless task. Not an easy one without sacrifice, as this happened during the holidays when I was supposed to finally have some time off. But good has come from it.

In addition to the new sites all cleaned up and shiny, I gained a few new skills. But maybe the best thing I discovered is that faced with calm and focused on the solution, not the problem, forcing myself to slow down and think before acting, I didn’t lose any of the 79,000 plus documents/tidbits/graphics, and I didn’t make myself sick with tension. There was no tension. Just nose down determination and lots of prayers that nothing else corrupted and wiped things out before I could get them.

Calm prevailed. And won.

So I start the new year a wee bit tired, but also excited. What was viewed as a bad thing actually turned out to be a good thing–a fresh start. Learning lessons come all throughout our lives. We can’t avoid them. But it’s nice to know that sometimes they’re good things–proverbial blessings in disguise. So I guess that makes it a blessing too that sometimes there just aren’t enough backups.
Seize your fresh start this 1/1/11 day and remember the solutions focus holds the key to calm.

Remember that even when there aren’t enough backups, you’re being given the opportunity for a fresh start.

Blessings,
Vicki
©2011, Vicki Hinze
www.vickihinze.com
www.vickihinzebooks.com

Ebook Update

2010-12-03T08:47:00.000-06:00

This is an update on your requests to make my nonfiction writing books and articles available on Kindle. We're making progress, and this lets you know what's now available...

Blessings,

Vicki

How to Snag an Editor's Interest--and Catch a Fish!

2010-12-02T12:26:00.000-06:00

November Newsletter

2010-11-20T09:50:00.000-06:00

The November Newsletter is up! View it HERE.

Special holiday contests as well as news.

Blessings,

Vicki

Mission? Detonate the Debt

2010-11-18T09:43:00.000-06:00

The national debt has all Americans on life support. Don’t take my word for it, look at the debt clock: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

It’s clear we can’t depend on our leaders to handle this. They’re too busy worrying about getting or keeping their jobs to worry about the health of our nation. Unkind comment, you say? Yes, I suppose it is, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Unfortunately, the evidence proves otherwise (see above clock).

We Americans--don’t start party nonsense; I don’t want to hear it. We’re Americans and if our country falls, it won’t be a party that pays the price, we all will--are a resourceful bunch. We’re compassionate. When there’s trouble, we’re first in line to help out. Look at our response to aid in 9/11, in Hurricane Katrina, in the tsunami and in pledging aid to Haiti. There are scores of examples where Americans noted a challenge and addressed it. We held concerts, benefits, bake sales and telethons. We collected via corporate donations and millions of personal donations--and we provided much needed resources to address the problems faced.

So now our nation is on life support--we’re crippled in everything, including our own security--and I’m looking around for all those entities and individuals who have both fame and fortune and are capable of responding to the distress call and I’m seeing... nothing. Why is that?

Someone has to pick up the stick. Someone has to say, “Hey, let’s fix our problem so we can live our lives without being worried sick. Let’s do something.”

It’s a big problem. It’s complex. But that doesn’t mean we should sit silently and worry and take that as a license to do nothing.

One thing is clear. No one person is going to fix this. Don’t bother me with who caused it---we all did. Directly or indirectly, it’s every American’s fault. So let’s forget that blame nonsense and focus on the solution.

Let’s start with the power of one. One person, one act. Do one thing to detonate the debt. Inspire one other person to do one thing to detonate the debt.

This year for Christmas, I’m asking in lieu of gifts that my loved ones forget buying me a gift. Send the U.S. Treasury a check instead and designate that it is to be applied to the national debt.

From the Treasury Direct website:

You can make a contribution online either by credit card, checking or savings account at Pay.gov

You can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it's a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:

Attn Dept G

Bureau of the Public Debt

P. O. Box 2188

Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

To celebrate my family, I’m making a contribution. I don’t need a new tax. My country needs this. I’ll give what I can.

If others give what they can, we’ll whittle down the debt and demolish it.

I recall the celebrity fundraisers, telethons and concerts. You’ve stood for everything from animals to disease to strangers in foreign lands. Won’t you stand for your own family, your own country?

What about our athletes? Our singers and writers and unions and autoworkers? What about our corporations, those bankers, Wall Street workers? What about getting our kids involved? Car washes, bake sales?

My point is that everyone, every individual and every group has a vested interest in demolishing our debt. Everyone can do something. Everyone should because everyone pays the price for failure to do so and everyone reaps the benefit of success.

Bluntly put, we can’t look to our government to fix this. We have to do what we do best in America: get creative and help ourselves.

America is special and every American knows it. Americans are exceptional and every American knows that too. It is our innovative spirit, our ability to rise from ash and fashion something worthy. Slavery to debt is abolished in such ways. Freedom is embraced in such ways.

Some will say, even if we’re successful, the government will just spend us into oblivion again. My response: Only if we let them. If we require a balanced federal budget, we won’t let them. The key: America will be here to fight that fight.

The bottom line is that if we don’t detonate the debt, we’ll be DOA. What American could possibly want that?

Please, join with me. Together, Americans can do whatever they set their minds and hearts to doing. The government can’t--it considers billions nothing, but we know billions create trillions. Americans live on budgets, they save for what they want, they know how to struggle and strive to thrive. Americans can do this. I believe it, and you should believe it too.

Press the plunger in your own way, as an individual and with your groups, and let’s do what we can to detonate the debt. ❖

---------------------------

Copy/Forward at will.

Writing Books/Articles on Kindle

2010-11-17T13:52:00.000-06:00

My assistant Cheryl has been working to fill your requests of putting my writing books and articles up on Kindle. She still has a lot to do, but she's gotten a good bit done on this project (see photo above).

You can read excerpts on the ebooks page on my website at: www.vickihinze.com, or read them on the Kindle site by clicking HERE. (Note that there are two pages.)

When the next batch are up, I'll post a note to let you know.

As always, I hope the information is of use to you, and wish you every success in your writing.

Blessings,

Vicki

scene, structure, conflict, narrative, novel elements, fictional dream, writing and staying sane, one way to write a novel, mistakes we make, writing in the fast lane

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T09:01:00.003-06:00

Remembering your sacrifices and those of your families this Veteran’s Day.

God Bless Our Vets

With gratitude and wishes for many, many

Blessings,

Vicki

The Changing Market, The Changing Author

2010-11-09T12:26:00.000-06:00

It's Election Day--VOTE!

2010-11-02T06:12:00.000-05:00

After the most expensive mid-term election in our history, it’s finally here--election day!

We the people are grateful for many reasons, not the least of which we can almost see all the negative ads in our rearview mirrors. Soon the robo-calls and the pleas for financial support will be behind us.

Oh, we’ve still got all the allegations of voter fraud which are anticipated by all to run rampant this year--and no doubt will. These shenanigans that undermine our faith in the validity of the vote have many of us wishing our country, since it can’t depend on honesty and integrity, would depend on the purple stain on fingers. (Don’t laugh: it would eliminate the dead and jail votes which are significant in number.) Maybe next election...

For this one, we vote, watch and hope.

And we keep watching after the vote.

Because we understand if we aren’t part of the solution, then we’re part of the problem. And while we’ve treated voting as a privilege of citizenship, we have given too little thought to it also being a civic responsibility.

Privilege and responsibility always run hand in hand. You don’t see or experience one without the other. We’ve neglected that too long. So today, a reminder:

If you want to retain your griping rights, then vote.
If you don’t vote, don’t gripe.
You’ve forfeited the privilege.

Today Americans will decide who they want to be as a people. They’ll decide on many rules and propositions that impact how they will be governed. It’s your day to have your voice heard in the one way that isn’t ignored. Will you use it? Or lose it?

Blessings,

Vicki

T.L. Dunnegan: May Cooler Heads Prevail

2010-11-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

This is a bittersweet day. I’m joyful and mourning. It is the day that my dear friend Teri--T. L. Dunnegan’s--book, MAY COOLER HEADS PREVAIL is being released by Barbour in its Hometown Mystery series.

Teri and I first met through our husbands. Both were assigned to the 53 WRS--the Hurricane Hunters--at Keesler AFB in Mississippi. It was 1976. We met at a formal military function, recognized each other as kindred spirits and were close friends from that day forward.

We raised our families, put our heads together to cope with our challenges, wept through our sorrows--the loss of her father, mine, and my mother. We were there for each other in ways only sisters of the heart can be there for each other.

We began writing at about the same time, helped each other, shared those joys and sorrows, too. We talked about everything and nothing, shared lost days where we took off, and let ourselves and our kids enjoy adventures. So many memories. So many years.

Teri and I talked about this book being published today many times. Her sense of humor in her writing and her life shone like brilliant beacons. Even in times of tragedy, she found the nuggets of humor to make things bearable. So many memories and stories I could share. She’s an amazing woman with unshakable faith.

I admired and respected her. I loved her. Now I miss her, and that’s why today is a bittersweet day. You see, Teri passed away in 2006. She wrote this book but did not live to know the joy of feeling that first copy placed in her hands. But I know Teri, and I know she’s smiling that her family experienced that.

I’m mourning, missing her today because she was such an important person in my life and the writer in me knows how much this book and seeing it released meant to her.

I’m joyful because she was such an important person in my life and the writer in me knows how much this book and seeing it released meant to her.

I’m mourning and joyful because I am so proud of her and this accomplishment of her dream.

Teri, your job was well done, and all the lives you hoped to touch through your work, will be touched. Rest well, my beloved friend.

Love,

Vicki

Dare To Dream Feature Article

2010-10-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

Read the latest feature article, Dare to Dream HERE.

Author--Adapt!

2010-10-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

Because You Asked

2010-10-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

Character: Bitterness

2010-10-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

WARNING: THIS IS A NO-EDIT ZONE...

I few nights ago, I watched an interview with a “personality” that intrigued me. At one time, he was funny, bright and interesting. Listening to him was entertaining and at times enlightening.

Now, years later, he’s still interesting but for very different reasons. He’s grown rude and arrogant--considers himself superior to others and makes no bones about it. He projects the image of being wise and all-knowing and yet gets the facts he offers proving it wrong.

It was hard to reconcile these two distinct and very different people as one person. And it yet was, and that’s what sparked my interest.

My imagination went into overdrive. What had happened to him? I continued to watch, seeking clues, watching for tips or hints that would give me insight. He offered nothing of value beyond his arrogance, attacking and belittling others who happen to be different. Simply put, those who agree with him are worthy of breathing. Those who don’t agree with him are too stupid to live.

And then toward the end, I caught a glimpse that carried a sense not of what happened, but of the results of that something. Bitterness.

What happened to cause this man to become jaded or cynical or bitter isn’t known, but his disillusionment was apparent.

So while I and half the rest of the world were insulted by this man, it was easy to let go of the irritation created by his comments. They were still unreasonable, arrogant and rude and well as inaccurate, but he, like the rest of us, is imperfect and flawed. And whatever caused him to change into this person he’s become, carrying that bitterness is a heavy load.

I don’t envy him his path. True, he’s choosing daily--even hourly--to walk it, but sometimes when you’re mired in the maze, the way out can be hard to see.

And that got me to thinking that a person who drastically changes makes for a very interesting and complex character. One caveat. The man didn’t show a single redemptive quality. I’m sure he has them, he just didn’t show them. A character can’t do that and carry much story weight. So give your character a redeeming quality and you’ve got a strong complex character--a worthy villain.

Has to be a villain. A hero just doesn’t hang onto bitterness. He isn’t rude or arrogant. He doesn’t consider himself superior to others. He doesn’t have to tell you he’s heroic; his actions make that evident. A hero might be bitter about something, but he resolves it and moves on.

I hope the man too finds his way to a resolution. That will take seeking one, of course, and for whatever reason he doesn’t at this point seem to be ready to do that. More’s the pity. But hope springs eternal, and for his sake, I dare to hope that he gets ready soon. His soul is clearly weary. And that is an even heavier burden to carry than bitterness.

Blessings,

Vicki

2010 SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

2010-09-13T09:56:00.001-05:00

The September newsletter has been posted.

Read it HERE.

Insight: Audio Post--Coping with Aging Parents

2010-09-10T07:40:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHy3_w_x6o4

An audio of insights gained in coping with the care of aging parents and their deaths.

THE POWER OF SILENCE

2010-09-10T06:44:00.000-05:00

Celebrate--It's National Book Week

2010-09-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

FORMAT MATTERS BECAUSE...

2010-09-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Punctuation Matters

2010-09-06T11:04:00.001-05:00

PSYCHIC DISTANCE

2010-09-01T07:24:00.000-05:00

Psychic Distance is the amount of emotional space you put between the reader and the character. Writers use psychic distance to manipulate the intensity of reader involvement in whatever event is occurring within a scene.

Largely, writers attempt to draw the reader in to experience the story firsthand. But there are times when the author doesn't want the reader to experience an event firsthand, and yet the reader must know this information or this background in order for what is happening in the novel to make sense, or for the way a character is reacting to make sense. (Motivation disclosure.)

An easy-to-grasp example: Let's say you're writing a romance novel. Now you know that the primary focus of the novel must be on the development of the relationship between the hero and heroine. That's the novel focus. But say your heroine had been a victim of rape at some time in the past. The rape certainly influences her motivations and actions now, yet you're writing a love story. You don't want the reader to be up close and experience the rape. So you, the writer, generate psychic distance to buffer the reader, so to speak. You make the reader aware of what happened and how it impacted (and continues to impact) the heroine, but you don't make the reader relive the rape. Rape is not the novel focus.

Let me pull an actual psychic-distance shift from a published novel excerpt so you'll see exactly what I mean. This excerpt is from Mary Higgins Clark's BEFORE I SAY GOOD-BYE, page 118:

"Can I win? Nell wondered as she walked up Madison Avenue. Will you still feel that way when you find out Adam's former employers are trying to throw the blame for their own bid rigging and bribery on Adam and Winifred?

It's so easy to blame two people who aren't around to defend themselves, she thought angrily. And so convenient.

Still, Nell realized that a persistent thought had been rattling around in her subconscious: Was it possible that Adam and Winifred were dead because they knew too much..."

Note that you're inside Nell's head ("Can I win?"), then you're outside it, in the author's company when the author tells you that Nell is wondering and walking up Madison Avenue. In paragraph three, ("Still, Nell realized"), the author again shifts the psychic distance. We're not inside Nell's head anymore. Now, we again have the author telling us what Nell is doing. There's more figurative space, or psychic distance, between the reader and

the character.

I've been an avid fan of Ms. Clark's for many years, but in my humble opinion, in this particular book--where psychic-distance shifts are made continually--the story suffers for it. The reason is that every time the reader attaches to the character, the author severs the attachment by shifting the psychic distance. Each shift interrupts the fictional dream and reminds the reader that s/he's reading, which prohibits her/him from living the story.

So how do we eliminate the shifts, or narrow the psychic-distance focus? By closing the gaps and getting rid of the filters.

These filters, which are also known as "author intrusion," (wondered, realized, and thought in the example) plant the author between the reader and character. So let's ditch them, narrow the gap in the psychic distance, and see how it reads:

Can I win? Nell walked up Madison Avenue. Will I still feel that way when I find out Adam's former employers are trying to throw the blame for their own bid rigging and bribery on Adam and Winifred?

It's so easy to blame two people who aren't around to defend themselves. And so convenient.

Still . . . A persistent thought rattled around in her subconscious. Was it possible that Adam and Winifred were dead because they knew too much..."

Now, let's use this same example and widen the psychic distance--without filtering Nell's thoughts through the author:

Could she win? Nell walked up Madison Avenue. Would she still feel that way when she found out Adam's former employers were trying to throw the blame for their own bid rigging and bribery on Adam and Winifred?

It was so easy to blame two people who weren't around to defend themselves. And so convenient.

Still . . . A persistent thought rattled around in her subconscious. Was it possible that Adam and Winifred were dead because they knew too much...?

Hopefully now you see (and feel) the difference in psychic distance in the examples. Note too that when the distance remains constant, the reader isn't jarred or distracted.

This shift challenge is comparable to those created in "head-hopping" or constantly changing point of view (POV). Like POV shifts, psychic-distance shifts hold diverse expert opinions on when shifting should and should not be done. For that reason, I won't cite suggested rules. (Any writing rule made can and has been broken.)

What I will share is a reminder that every time you switch POV characters, the reader needs a little time to settle in and attach to the new POV character. Too many shifts and you lose the reader, who no longer can attach and get emotionally involved in the story. The same holds true for psychic shifts. Too many continually jar the reader, remind her she's reading, and prohibit her from living the fictional dream you've created.

That said, don't be afraid to shift the psychic distance, (remember the case of the romance novel, where shifting is vital to the novel's focus), but be judicious and make the shifts for a specific reason that strengthens the story.❖

Cyberstalking

2010-08-26T07:25:00.000-05:00

Two years ago I wrote the following article. It’s in the Writers’ Library--and, I think, in this blog, but since I’ve received several requests in the last few weeks to run it again, I’m figuring it’s getting hard to find. :) I’m including the Tip Sheet that was a separate article with it. Realize that more has been done now to protect victims on the legal front. These are general tips and I hope helpful to you, but do check with law enforcement agencies for the most up to date information and protections.

Blessings,

Vicki

CYBERSTALKING: WHAT IT IS. WHAT IS DONE. ARE YOU A VICTIM? WHAT YOU CAN DO. WHO CAN HELP.

(FMI Visit: Cyberstalking )

At one time cyberstalkers–those who stalk someone via the Internet–was easy for a criminal to do and difficult for a victim to charge, prosecute and convict.

The advent of the Internet caused explosive changes in daily life and put lawmakers into a tailspin on what changes to make first. Immediate need became the byword of the day, and lawmaker’s actions followed suit. But that time has passed, and today there are significant laws and legislation protecting victims–and more pending.

WHAT DO CYBERSTALKERS DO?

Many track or monitor a person. Groups and organizations, too, can become targets. A cyberstalker might make false accusations against the victim, might gather information and use it illegally (identity theft, solicitation, subscribing a victim to numerous spam lists, pornographic websites, or levy threats.) The purpose is typically to harass the victim and/or to damage his/her reputation.

Often the repeated behavior persists to the point that the stalker is directed (directly or through a third party, who may or may not be an authority) to cease and desist. Depending on the mental health of the stalker, and the depth of his/her obsession, the stalker either chooses to stop stalking or continues.

Of those who continue, many use an associate and/or friend, who might or might not be aware of the harassment and/or the warnings to the stalker to cease and desist and to leave the victim alone. In a real sense, they too become victims.

With cyberstalkers, the stalking isn’t normally a matter of any one action. In fact, singular actions might be legal ones. But the continuous pounding of action upon action upon action collectively completes a larger picture of the depth of a mental assault on the victim.

WHO IS A STALKER?

Some stalkers are strangers. Others know their victim.
Generally those who know their victim have no current relationship with the victim. Either they never did, or it ceased to exist some time ago, and the choice to sever well might have been the stalker’s decision.

Stalkers are notorious for making false accusations. For claiming they are the victims. For encouraging others to harass and/or make disparaging comments to or about the victim based on false information fed to them by the stalker.

Some take stalking even further, into attacks on data, infringing on copyrights, posting material in public forums under the victim’s name, claiming the victim’s identity. Even reprinting the victim’s material without express permission to do so. Some violate personal email by uploading it into a public forum without the author’s consent.

Still other stalkers cross over into deeper identity theft by placing orders in the victim’s name or participating in objectionable activities while impersonating the victim.

Understand that the cyberstalker is obsessed. What might have started as curiosity escalates to obsession.

WHAT IS THE CYBERSTALKER’S GOAL?

The stalker’s goal is to initiate contact where none exists.

I’m reminded of the child. To get attention, a child will attempt to gain attention through constructive means. But if that doesn’t work, the child will adopt destructive means. The end goal is attention. How it is obtained is insignificant to the stalker. A crucial difference worthy of note is that a cyberstalker might or might not be immature but s/he is not a child and his/her actions are far more destructive. (To the victim, but also to him/herself.)

CAN A CYBERSTALKER GET PHYSICAL?

Yes. It’s documented in the form of abusive phone calls, snail mail, packages left at residences by stalkers told to stay away (a mental home invasion). Reports have been made of vandalism, trespassing and even physical assault. Some say the deeper the stalker’s frustration at not being in control of the victim/situation or at having his/her attempts to contact thwarted, the greater the odds that frustration will escalate into more severe attacks.

IS THERE LEGAL RECOURSE?

Yes. Lawmakers have made strides to protect victims. Not surprisingly, California first put laws into effect in 1999. The State of Florida followed in placing a ban on cyberstalking in 2003. Many other states have followed. (So have many countries. Visit the notes section on the above link for more specifics.) That’s legislation on a state level. On a federal level, the lawmaker’s are still catching up, but they did address cyberstalking by incorporating it into stalking statues addressed in legislation passed in 2000.(1) So victims are not without protection.

DOES THE VICTIM ALWAYS KNOW S/HE IS A VICTIM OF CYBERSTALKING?

No. The victim well might not know s/he is being stalked. At least, not until the stalker’s obsession escalates. In some situations, however, the victim might know it from the start. Or s/he might know it but not identify the behavior as stalking until the stalker’s actions escalate to an obvious point.

Often, particularly in the case of sex offenders and/or those with malicious tendencies toward minors, the victim is not aware that they’re a victim until they are in significant danger from the stalker, which makes it imperative that parents and authority figures in minors’ lives educate them to the risks and warning signs. Armed with information and alerted to the warning signs, the kids then have a better chance to protect themselves and they know to alert parents and/or authority figures to potential dangers so that they might take steps to protect the children before they become victims.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE A PUBLIC PERSONAE?

If you have a public personae, it’s all the more important to be aware–or to get aware, and stay aware.

To get a complete listing of what you can do to protect yourself and your interests, visit your state’s website and/or contact local law enforcement.

Remember that cyberstalking isn’t typically a single event but a repetition of events that collectively constitute criminal activity. It isn’t a matter of threats being levied. Monitoring you is sufficient violation.

PUBLIC PERSONAE TIPS:

For a listing of things you can do to protect yourself and your interests, see the Cyberstalking Tip Sheet below.
If you incorporate those tips, do what you can to avoid contact with the cyberstalker, then you’re taking reasonable measures to protect yourself and your interests.

If those reasonable measures do not work and the stalker persists, then you’ve got indisputable proof of actions in your records: Preventative actions you’ve taken, and hostile actions the stalker has taken.

The authorities then have what they need to do their jobs–and you can go back to living your life.

Most importantly, be aware. The Internet is a wonderful tool, but it can be used as a weapon. Don’t willingly become a victim.*

(1) See the FMI [for more information] URL above for more information/resources on domestic and foreign information on cyberstalking. Be sure to check the notes section for in-depth references.

©2008-10, Vicki Hinze

_____________________________________________

CYBERSTALKING Tip Sheet. ©2008-10, Vicki Hinze

Public Personae Tips (some of which benefit others, too):

1. If you maintain a website, incorporate activity reports so that abnormal activity is noted and reported to you. An example would be abnormally frequent visits by the same person to the same page during a short period of time. (Or if s/he has recruited a third party to monitor your site, then that individual’s activity will be reported and incorporated for your records.) Remember, this third party might or might not know that they’ve been recruited. 

2. Set up alerts with search engines to inform you of searches run on you. When a search is requested, you’re notified and have the report for your records.  You can do this at, for example, Google at this URL: http://www.google.com/alerts.

3. Run your own search on your name at least once a week. Under advance search options, you can restrict the dates and review documents. (Not long ago, I discovered several mom/breast-feeding articles I’d supposedly written only I hadn’t. Authorities investigated and they were removed.) The point is, your search will reveal these type of violations against you, your professional, public personnae and your reputation. 

4. Have your webmistress/webmaster monitor RSS feeds. (The obsessive nature of the stalker is often indicated by their repetitive behavior. For example, the stalker will read the same article over and over again, often during a short period of time. And if there is nothing new to view on your site, then s/he will home in on something old and compulsively read it multiple times in short order. It’s amazingly simple for an experienced eye to catch this behavior--all one must do is look.) 

5. Document. Keep explicit records and the originals--a hard copy (printed) as well as electronic versions. When you print, be sure to “view details” or “long headers” in the messages. This tracks the messages you received not only back to a specific server but back to a specific computer.  

6. Off-site storage. Since stalkers can become aggressive and even eventually engage in assault or other destructive behavior, it is sensible to keep a copy of your evidence file off-site, meaning away from your office or home or wherever the stalker most often attempts contact. You can: 
a. Have a friend keep a copy of the file. 
b. Set up an email account only for record purposes and store a copy in that account.

For items sent snail mail, keep the originals off-site in a safe place. Keep a scanned copy in your off-site email account and in your records file. For objects delivered to your home, place of business, or other physical place: photograph and store a scanned copy off-site, keep the originals in a safe, off-site location and a scanned copy in your records. 

7. Block the stalker on your email address/addresses. Remember, this is an obsessive behavior and the stalker’s objective is to demand a response/reaction from you to initiate contact. In several case studies, it is at that point where tensions escalate and some stalkers turn violent or subversively destructive.
 
8. Insist (in writing, retaining a copy for your records) or through an authorized third-party that the stalker leave you alone. Once this is done, do not engage in any further contact. Notice has been given and served. 

9. Live your life. While a cyberstalker creates turmoil, havoc and/or distress, you have a job to do and a life to live, and you should do it and live it.

If you incorporate these tips, do what you can to avoid contact, then you’re taking reasonable measures. If those reasonable measures do not work and the stalker persists, then you’ve got indisputable proof of his/her actions in your records: Preventative actions you’ve taken, and hostile actions the stalker has taken. The authorities then have what they need to do their jobs. They’ll deal with the stalker, and you can go back to living your life. 

Mostly importantly, be aware. The Internet is a wonderful tool, but it can be used as a weapon. The perception of being anonymous entices others to say and do things online they’d never do in person. They aren’t anonymous, of course. Even those on rerouters deliberately trying to hide their identities can be tracked. But sometimes it takes time for them to figure that out, and in the interim, they cause trouble.

While you can’t control the actions of others, you can control your own and take reasonable steps to protect yourself online. In doing so, you don’t willingly become a victim.◆

Characer Creation Tip

2010-08-25T17:02:00.000-05:00

TRUE POWER

2010-08-13T07:31:00.000-05:00

READ ARTICLE

SELF-SABOTAGE

2010-08-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

TURN ON A DIME

2010-08-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

Life, they say, is what happens while you’re otherwise occupied.

I’m not sure if I believe that, but I do believe that you can miss life by being occupied.   We can get caught up in crisis living and miss the turns on our personal paths that are most meaningful. What do I mean?

Honestly, I’m grappling with what exactly I mean, so we’ll just talk through it together, since the matter is very much on my mind this morning due to two significant events. The two events. I guess that’s a good place to start.

Event #1: a neighbor died. He and his wife had one child, a son. He was college-age, a smart guy with character and tons of potential. A few years ago, he was crossing a bridge and a car veered into his lane and hit him head-on. He had nowhere to go, and was killed. His parents suffered the heartache of losing their only child and now his father has passed, and my heart aches for his widow.

She’s buried her child and will now bury her husband, and she’s left to cope with the loss alone. I find myself asking how will she bear it, and praying she’s a woman of faith because, I’ll tell you, I watched my mother bury two sons and then my father and I know that only her faith got her through it all intact.

Event #2: all the tornadoes that hit in the last few days, and all the lives cut short because they did. Each of those people had lives and hopes and dreams and aspirations. I’m sure many had enormous potential and mile-long to-do lists, too. Things that just couldn’t wait, so they put their lives on hold–the things important to them personally–to do those “can’t wait,” or crisis-living things.

Yet in the span of mere minutes, all of those things became insignificant. Every bit of every one of them did, because in that twinkling, they lost their lives. All that potential and those hopes and dreams and aspirations went with them, too.

I can’t shake thoughts of them in those last minutes. When they knew what was coming and they couldn’t avoid it. What were they thinking then? When the realization hit them that they were going to die, what were their thoughts?

I’m sure there was fear. I’m sure there was anger and cries of, “But it’s too soon. I’m not ready yet.” And I’m sure there were regrets. Things done that they wished could be undone. Things left unsaid that now would remain unsaid forever.

Self-recrimination on priorities and perspectives of what most mattered no doubt shifted. I’m not sure of the nature of those regrets, but I wonder… Were any of them thinking of the crisis-living things they simply had to do before the storm?

We all have duties, responsibilities and obligations. Often so many of them that we keep pushing aside high-priority personal items. It’s those things I wonder how these people felt about at that twinkling moment. I know that during crisis moments we often see most clearly. Our focus becomes laser sharp, intense on the matter at hand and we give everything–our all–to whatever is on our minds at that moment in time.

I know that on the other side of crises, people who have experienced those moments and survived often make a sharp turn in their lives. They consider the crisis a wake-up call and redefine their lives. They take a look at their priority list and turn it on its ear. They shun crisis-living and adopt personal-priority living. And often that personal priority living has to do with dreams they’ve carried with them for a lifetime, or maybe hints of that dream that in that moment of intense clarity came sharply into focus.
This has me calling the question: Can we reach that twinkling moment, that point in time where we have laser focus and gain that clarity without experiencing a personal, life-threatening crisis?

We can. It isn’t hard to mentally place ourselves in the positions of others who have been there and done that. And if we do, then we have the opportunity to learn from their experience. We might not share all of the emotional impact that they endure, but we can grasp and project and imagine, and gain deeper insight and understanding. We can awaken and seek wisdom in this way.

There is always merit in seeking wisdom. In looking at our own crisis-living items and personal-priority items and weighing what we’re doing. There’s wisdom in evaluating these things when we aren’t in crisis because we still have an opportunity to change them.

Some will choose the status quo. Life’s comfortable and they don’t want it any different. That’s their choice, and I’m sure there’s comfort in having weighed the matter and made the call. The peace that comes with knowing you’ve considered it and you’re doing what’s right for you.

Some will redefine aspects of their lives. Of those who do, some will stick with those new changes and some will slide back into the old. Their choice. Again, better because decisions have come as a result of deep thought and not of apathy.

Some will challenge every single thing that has been a part of their lives and make significant changes. Life-altering, life-defining changes. Of these, some will be reborn into a life very different from the one they’ve been living, and they’ll thump themselves for waiting so long to make those changes.

Some will wonder what they were thinking to do this—make all these changes--at this point in their lives, in their careers. Regardless, they will choose from a broader, more insightful perspective.

You know, I don’t think what’s significant is the path one takes so much as that one takes the path chosen with a deeper awareness of life. Taking it deliberately. Intent on taking it. That is a good thing.

Whether that awareness brings a person to a point on their journey where they move straight ahead or turn on a dime, veering sharply in a totally different direction, well that’s a choice. But the awareness, and all it brings to the person, well that’s a gift.

A gift? Yes. Absolutely, a gift. It’s one of those gems of wisdom that is home to solace and comfort and peace.

Now I know what I mean. And I’m going to reassess from this perspective. Will I stay on the current road or change directions on a dime?   I don’t know. But I will know soon. Will you?

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze

AN UPDATE:

In 2008, I did reassess, evalute what most mattered to me, and made a lot of big changes in my life. I wanted to share with you a few of the insights that have come with it.

1.Change is easy. It’s sticking with it that’s hard.

2.Others don’t always react well to your change. They want you to be the person you were, not the person you’ve become. For some it’s an insurmountable difference, for others accepted and embraced. Some in your life fade away and others replace them.

3.Clarity of vision brings calm and unexpected serenity. You don’t wonder if you’re doing what you should be, what most matters, you know you’ve thought it through and are attempting to, and that brings an inner peace with yourself—even as your Most Matters list refines itself.

4.Along with the moments of great clarity come moments of fear and doubt—especially if what you’re doing has spiritual implications (and most things do) and especially if you’re shaky on how to go about doing what you most want to do. That said, if you face the doubts and fears head on, admit you’re unsure or wary but you’re doing it anyway because it’s the right thing to do, these insidious fears and doubts flee like the scurrying rats they are.

5.This reassessment led to new challenges and some obstacles—clearly in place for two reasons. One, to make sure this is what you really want, and two, to keep you from doing it—particularly if it’s purpose work linked to your calling. Busy-ness defers your attention and focus from the constructive things you’re determined to do—but only if you let it. If you refuse, it too becomes a scurrying rat.

6.You have to make choices. Some popular, some unpopular. Some easy and some that are really difficult. All are not well received. All are not understood. All are not in the best interests of others who want you to continue to act in their best interests and take it personally when you don’t. You don’t shun commitments, but on new ones, you factor in the impact on your overall assessment and weigh the impact of a yes or no before you utter a yes or no. Sometimes far from easy, but in the end, always best for everyone involved.

7.Life is more fulfilling and less chaotic, though I’m busier than ever. But by prioritizing, the most critical things get done first and that keeps me organized and out of crisis mode.   That’s important to the overall health—physical, emotional and spiritual—of any individual.

8.The old thought that creative people can’t be organized is proven false. It might not come wholly natural, but you can discipline yourself to be organized, and—here’s the perk—doing so is very liberating. No wasted time searching for the unfindable. No irritation or acid-stomach for the misplaced or forgotten. More peace, serenity and calm.

9.New and unexpected challenges and obstacles arise. The difference isn’t in the absence of those things but in the mindset when facing them. It takes a lot more to rock the boat. A lot more to upset the applecart. A whole lot more to get under the skin. There’s an acceptance that there’s a reason for what comes. Maybe it’s to allow time for ducks to get lined up that need to be lined up before x can occur. Maybe it’s that what seems like a good thing will prove to be an awful one. Maybe it’s that if x happens now, it gets in the way of y two months from now. Initially I struggled with this one. Patience is hard when you know what you want and you’re going after it. But after two years, and especially in this last year, I typically don’t even question delays or stumbling blocks. I accept them, put them in their proper place—the reason will become clear or if it doesn’t, it’s because I don’t need to know it—and press on, which is a whole lot healthier attitude toward things out of your control than is fretting.

All these things have proven to be significant differences within that extend outside of me. But above all, one lesson has risen to the top like cream and gleamed like the jewel it is:

Balance and clarity—these are the stuff of blessings.

The blessings were always there. I was just too focused on chasing the elusive something to notice them. Now, I’m noticing and savoring and I’m awed by how abundant those blessings are.

Even—no, especially—in the hard times.

Blessings,

Vicki

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

2010-08-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

Today I’m welcoming guest blogger, Peggy Webb, to My Kitchen Table. At the RWA conference recently events occurred that that shed new light on the entire conference experience for Peggy. Ones that shifted priorities. I was moved by it and asked her permission to share this here. Peggy granted it.

When Things Go Wrong

©2010, Peggy Webb

Everybody I know starts planning for the RWA conference weeks in advance.

You make appointments with agents and editors, make plans to reconnect with long-distance friends, buy plane tickets or plan a fun road trip, shop for the perfect clothes, and agonize over which shoes to wear so you’ll look good without killing your feet. You scroll down the long list of workshops, note the ones you want to attend. If you’re lucky enough to be a presenter, you put together handouts and enough notes to sound intelligent but not so many that you don’t sound off-the-cuff. If you’re really organized, you create a day planner for the convention – one small enough for a purse - so you can see your personal schedule at a glance.

You make arrangements for the dogs and kids you leave behind, the husbands and boyfriends and aging parents. You sign out of church choirs, tell the mailman to hold the newspaper, tell the post office to hold the mail, tell the neighbor to water the herb garden and harvest the tomatoes.

Finally the big day arrives and you head off to Orlando full of high spirits and big plans. If you’re already published, you’re going to blow your editor away with your brilliance. She’s going to salivate to send you on book tour and give you a huge print run and put you on the Today Show. If you’re unpublished, you get your pitches ready, perfect the hook, figure just the right angle so that you will rise above the masses and come away the chosen one.

But what if things go wrong? What if you’re a thousand miles from home, the conference is just getting into swing and your best friend has to be taken to ER? What if she has to stay?

You stay with her. You hold her hand. You assure her everything is going to be all right. You pray that it will.

Suddenly the meetings in your day planner no longer seem important. While your friend is in x-ray you call your agent and ask her to contact your editor to please explain why you won’t be at the luncheon. You call your friend’s agent and tell her the same thing. You call your friend’s family and tell them what happened. You pester doctors and nurses for answers. You pray some more.

When your friend comes back from x-ray you bathe her face with a wet cloth. You ask for an extra blanket to cover her feet. You go to the water fountain and call another friend to see if she will please present the workshop that by now you know you can’t.

You go back to your friend and the nurse shoos you out. You update the family again. You call to make sure plans are going forward for the workshop without you. You find a vending machine in a hospital you don’t know but that you believe was designed by the Devil. You get a bag of chips for lunch. You hurry back because the doctor is coming (FINALLY!!!) and if you miss him you just might kill somebody.

He’s not there, but your friend is worried about the workshop, because she was supposed to be a presenter, too. She has you call the dear-friend-sub and tell her to get the handouts from your room. The front desk at the hotel won’t let her in without your permission, so you call them, too, and make arrangements. It’s like coordinating the train schedule at Grand Central Station.

Your nerves are shot. You’re worried sick. Your stomach rumbles, signaling starvation. You believe that both you and your dear friend are half dead. You pray that you are not. In spite of the fact that she’s the one on the gurney, her spirits are high. Yours are not. Your feet hurt, your asthma meds are back at the room, you’re still worried sick, you think the staff in this hospital was trained by chimpanzees and you might just bite somebody’s head off. You don’t because you’re from Mississippi and contrary to what some people expect you know how to smile and say, “That’s precious,” when you really want to use language you read on bathroom walls.

You’ve now been in ER with your friend for nearly eight hours and it’s obvious they’re going to keep her. You tell her family and you wonder if things would have turned out differently if you’d pitched a hissy fit and insisted they transfer your friend to a hospital designed by God where the nursing staff would get her something cool to drink without you having to threaten to cast yourself on the floor in front of the desk. A hospital with doctors who show their faces, for Pete’s sake! You’re aware that your civility is slipping a tad.

Maybe you’ll write a book about it. Maybe you and your dearest friend in all the world will plan another workshop at another conference. You’ll tell how to arm yourself with phone numbers instead of cute shoes – the numbers for your roommate’s family and her family doctor, her agent, her editor, another writer she knows at the conference but you do not.

You’ll tell how to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door of your hotel room so that no one will come in and leave a trap behind for you, - a little puddle of water on your bathroom floor, a wastebasket out of place that you might trip over, a wet spot on your foyer.

You’ll tell how to take extra cash in case you need to ferry back and forth from the hotel to a strange hospital run by Godzilla in a taxi that charges two arms and a leg every time you set foot in it.

You’ll make sure that if you plan a road trip, both of you know where the car is parked. Both of you will be comfortable driving it. Both of you will be capable of driving home alone if necessary.

But most of all you will tell that friends are more important than conferences. That there will be many more meetings and workshops and extravagant parties and agent appointments, but there is only one of your dear friend. And she’s worth every sacrifice.❖

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peggy’s website: www.peggywebb.com

I just posted my August newsletter. Click HERE to read it online!

Blessings,

Vicki

Published with full permission of author, Peggy Webb.

Attitude

2010-08-07T08:28:00.000-05:00

QUICK-TAKE ON CONFLICT

2010-07-22T06:36:00.006-05:00

MKT: WRITER v MUSE

2010-07-20T09:24:00.002-05:00

Time to Raise Our Standards

2010-07-19T06:50:00.004-05:00

TIME TO RAISE OUR STANDARDS
We Should Be More Selective with Our Admiration.
© 2010, Vicki Hinze. All Rights Reserved.

We hear a lot about pop stars and golfers behaving badly. We hear a lot about icons in business or pop culture avenues. We hear a lot about people who aren’t admirable, but have done something titillating or scandalous or outrageous, or just plain nonsensical. But we speak too little, and hear too little of acts of courage. Of selfless acts of heroism.

Take for example, the case of Captain Ed Freeman. Better yet, imagine that you are one of those who did witness his courage...

The date is November 11, 1967. You are a nineteen-year-old kid, critically wounded and dying in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam at LZ (landing zone) X-ray. Your unit is outnumbered eight to one and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you will not be getting out alive. Your family is halfway around the world, and you'll never see them again.

The world fades in and out, and you know this is the day. Imagine the helplessness, the hopelessness, imagine your mother’s face at being told you’re dead, your father’s huge shoulders shuddering. Imagine...

Machine guns fire all around, kicking up dust and dirt and over the sound you hear a faint thump, thump, thump--a helicopter.

Looking up, you see an inbound Huey. It has no MedEvac markings--can’t be real.

But it is real. It is real, and Captain Ed Freeman is coming in under enemy fire for you.

He's not in a MedEvac chopper, so coming isn’t his job. But he’d heard the radio call and decided to take on the risks to get you out anyway--even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come.

Captain Ed Freeman drops in and sits there, taking on machine gun fire while you and two others are boarded, then the captain flies you up and out through the gunfire to doctors and nurses--to safety.

And Captain Freeman kept going back. Thirteen more trips, he made that day--doing that which was not his job. Taking risks he didn’t have to take, but because he did, men lived, enjoyed lives--they survived.

Thirteen more trips he made through enemy fire. Until all the wounded were out.

Until the mission was over, no one knew that Captain Ed Freeman had been hit four times in his legs and left arm.

Captain Freeman took twenty-nine men out of harm’s way and to a safe place for the medical care they needed. Without him, some would not have survived.

He received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day--years later, in 2001.

In 2008, he died in Boise, Idaho. God bless him and rest his soul.

We likely didn’t hear about Captain Freeman’s passing. In our culture, the news is flooded for days on overdosing or misbehaving celebrities, but few spare so much as a mention of courageous men who willingly sacrifice for others. Men like our captain. We’re poorer for it.

We should feel shame about that and change our ways. Oh, you and I can’t control what the media elects to cover--except by changing channels. But we can start with ourselves. We can raise the bar, so to speak. Elevate our standards.

We can choose to direct our admiration and express our respect for men like the captain.

In our jobs, in our lives, we can raise our own standards. Be more selective on what and whom we admire.

Worthy heroes are not in short supply. They abound still today. The change is in us, that we don’t notice them. Their honor is intact. It is ours that is lacking.

But today we can make different choices. We can choose to acknowledge the best in us and others. We can choose to raise our standards and give respect and admiration to those among us who impact positively the lives of others.

We can raise our standards. And in doing individually, we do so collectively.

Thank you Captain Freeman. For what you did for those twenty-nine and their families that day. For what you’ve done for the rest of us today.

A THIRD KEY TO SUCCESS

2010-07-15T09:43:00.004-05:00

1 More Key to Success

2010-07-14T11:30:00.000-05:00

1 Key to Success

2010-07-13T06:36:00.002-05:00

FINDING HOPE THROUGH FICTION

2010-07-08T09:24:00.003-05:00

These are indeed days that try men’s souls--and you know what that means for women.

We all experience trials, challenges and tough times. And we go about getting through them in a variety of ways, but to get through them at all, there is one key ingredient that must be included in the mix: hope.

We must believe that we can get through them. Otherwise, we face our trials with the absence of hope. That leaves us overwhelmed, hopeless. And hopeless, we typically don’t make an attempt to overcome anything.

We typically settle into destructive things, like looking for someone else to blame for our troubles, into resentment that we’re suffering troubles. We settle, feel put upon, forget that we had a hand in our troubles.

Our lives are not happenstance, though unforeseen incidents come to us all. But for the most part, the lives we live are a result of the choices we make.

Choices create paths. Choices carry consequences. Choices create your reality.

Once we realize that and grasp the significance, we’ve unlocked the reason we should have faith--and that reason is potent, though too often underestimated and ignored.

That reason is at any time...MORE

Dig Deep and Soar

2010-06-29T10:23:00.000-05:00

WRITER'S ROAD

2010-06-25T10:11:00.001-05:00

Networking Parts 1 and 2

2010-06-23T11:35:00.003-05:00

Recently I was asked to do a workshop for RWA PRO Members who are
preparing to attend the annual writer’s conference.
While geared specifically for PRO, I thought I’d share my notes here.
Perhaps something in them will be useful to you.

For Part 1, click HERE.

For Part 2, click HERE.

Email questions to:
infoandrequests (at) aol.com

Blessings,

Vicki

WOMEN IN MEDIA EVENT

2010-06-15T07:31:00.001-05:00

On June 25th, along with others who work in various forms of media, Sandhandle Workshops in connection with the Okaloosa Applied Technology Center, will host the first of a series of lectures and workshops about passion meeting purpose in your work. Hope to see some of you there.

Please note that women and men are welcome and that reservations are required due to limited seating!

WHEN and WHERE: Friday, June 25th, Fort Walton Beach, Florida

AGENDA:

6:30-6:45 Welcome with Introduction and Bio's, Don Jordan

6:45-7:05 Lisa Burwell

7:05-7:25 Chris Clauson

7:25-7:45 Shelley Normand

----

7:45-8:15 Refreshments

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8:15-8:35 Andrea Todd

8:35-8:55 Vicki Hinze

8:55-9:00 Closing, Give-Aways (classes, books, promotional material, etc.)

There are no fees or costs for this event.

Blessings,

Vicki

Chat with My Father's Oldsmobile, Shawna Williams

2010-06-15T07:26:00.004-05:00

I recently had the privilege of chatting with Shawna Williams about writing, books, and general advice. It was a pleasure. You can read the chat at the following link:

READ CHAT

Hard Knocks: Fighting Back

2010-06-08T06:33:00.001-05:00

Why Write from Honesty?

2010-06-02T07:19:00.001-05:00

Novelist I Am: Writer's Block and How to Avoid It

2010-05-29T08:43:00.003-05:00

Once I believed that Writer's Block didn't exist. Sincerely, truly, and--I thought--irrevocably. Then, I woke up.

Actually, that wake-up call came in the form of it being pointed out to me that soldiers who go to war (and people in accidents) and lose limbs still feel toes or fingers no longer attached to their bodies. READ ARTICLE

Revision Tips

2010-05-12T14:39:00.003-05:00

READ ARTICLE

Mother's Day--Do You Remember?

2010-05-09T11:18:00.003-05:00

It’s Mother’s day. A day of breakfast in bed, lunch out with the family, a day of remembrance of our own mothers who are no longer with us. It’s a day a year set aside as a reminder of moms, step-moms, surrogate and foster moms--the woman in your life who helped shape you into the human being you have become.

My thoughts turn to a mother today who gave birth to a healthy baby boy. At five-months of age, he contracted meningitis--which was at the time never before seen in that area of the country. He went down for a nap--typical and ordinary--but he didn’t wake up. He stayed in a coma thirty-one days. When he awakened, he was paralyzed on the right side of his body. His elbow permanently bent, his brain damaged. The doctors expected that he wouldn’t live long. The brightest prognosis was that he would be a vegetable. That he would never speak, never walk, never sit, never feed himself, never develop mentally. He would not live beyond the age of three. They recommended that he be placed in a permanent medical facility; one woman couldn’t take care of him twenty-four seven year in and out.

The mother and father refused, and there were mumblings afoot that there would be a court order issued to demand he be institutionalized. This, authorities then deemed as merciful, removing the heart-... READ MORE...

What is Your Body of Work Goal?

2010-05-07T11:01:00.002-05:00

Read Article

This Week's Features at Chapter 1 Zone

2010-04-28T19:42:00.004-05:00

READ ARTICLE