A Bunch of Characters

I don't know how other authors do it, but my characters come to me sort of nameless and shapeless at first.  As they begin to interact with others, they begin developing personalities and physical characteristics.  The last thing they usually get is a name.  Usually a name will "come to me" so to speak.  Sometimes I love the name and sometimes I have a moment where I want to say "Really?  That's their name?"  It's actually rather odd.  You would think that I have more control, but somehow the characters almost seem to name themselves.

Georgia was a character that named herself.  It wasn't really a decision on my part.  That just seemed to be her name.  It wasn't until I began to write her story that I realized why that was her name.  While I was writing I actually thought, "Oh!  That's why her name is Georgia!"  It wasn't planned ahead of time.  I don't know why it sometimes happens that way, but I always think it's cool when it does occur like that.  It feels as if they are more alive that way because it's almost as if I'm learning about them as I go.

When that happens, it's only after they have a name that I write them into the story.  Sometimes, as I'm writing, a character comes in that I suddenly have to name.  In that case, it's usually the name that first comes to mind.  I've only had a couple times when that name ended up changing because it didn't seem to fit.

Someday I'd like to write a book where the names mean something.  I read a series one time where I liked the main character's name well enough that I had to look up it's meaning, and it fit the character so well that I ended up looking up several more characters names to find that their name meanings fit perfectly with their characters as well.  I think it would be fun to write a book where the characters have names that are relevant to their personalities or positions.  I enjoy researching names and meanings so I think I could have a good time with that.

For now though, my KW Consulting Series characters have been naming themselves and it seems to be a system that is working.  If you haven't read book one yet, you can click on the link below to purchase it and if you have read it, I'm hoping that book two will be available this fall.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Father's Day

There is a book called The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  In his book Gary Chapman says that there are five love languages and that everyone has one that is their specific love language and they might have a secondary one as well.  His idea is that when we don't feel loved in a relationship it's because we may be speaking different languages.  According to him, the five love languages are physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving, and acts of service.  These languages can affect any relationship.  It's not solely in for marital relations.

One of my love languages is words of affirmation.  A kind word, an encouraging word can put me in a glow that can last for days.  I'm pretty sure that my dad also has words of affirmation as one of his.  He has probably encouraged me verbally through the entire writing process more than anyone.  When I first brought up that I was writing a book, my dad talked about "when" my book would be published, not "if".  He's always been positive that my book will do well and that I would succeed as an author.  I love that he never tried to convince me to try something less risky.  He never once intimated that I might fail.  I love that about my dad.

Another thing I love about my dad is that he actually read my book.  I wrote a romance novel.  That is not my dad's "thing".  He reads a lot, but he enjoys histories, biographies and thrillers.  Romance is definitely not what he wants to read.  Yet he bought my book and read the whole thing.  I would have understood if he hadn't read it, but I appreciate that he did.  Again, he only had positive, uplifting words for me afterwards.  

My dad has been such a support for me.  He encourages me when I get discouraged.  Most of all, he believes in me - or I should say, he believes that God can work in me.  He always reminds me that God is in control of my situation and that my future is in His hands.  I have been blessed with a wonderful father!  I love you, Dad!  Thank you for your constant faith in me!  Happy Father's Day!

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Rejected!

There is a certain risk of rejection in being an author.  In traditional publishing I think you pretty much need to accept that you will be rejected tons of times before you will receive an acceptance.  I got to avoid that part of publishing.  I didn't send out my manuscript to every publisher I could think of only to have it sent back repeatedly with varying degrees of harshness in the letters accompanying it.  I just went ahead and published it myself.

I did send it to a writing competition before deciding to self-publish.  It was through Women of Faith and Westbow Publishing.  I did not make the top thirty and I have no idea how far under the top thirty I was.  I choose to believe that it just wasn't the type of book they were looking for and not for any other reason.  Wishful thinking, I know, but I'm fairly certain that I would never have taken the next step if I hadn't decided that was the reason.

Putting the book on Kindle, I was concerned about people not being interested or people writing negative reviews.  What I didn't know is that when someone returns it, I can see that.  When you buy a Kindle book you have a short window of time to say that it was a mistake and send it back.  When I look at my sales report it has a column for books sold, books returned and net books sold.  It's amazing how difficult it is not to take it personally when a book is returned.  There's always a feeling that they quickly read the first chapter or two and then decided that it wasn't good enough.  Again, I lie to myself and choose to believe that they had intended to buy another book called "Best Laid Plans" (because there are a million books with that title) and bought mine by mistake.

I've actually been rather blessed by this as well.  It's not often that I have a book returned.  I think maybe in the nine months it's been available, I may have had eight to ten books returned.  Yet each one sort of makes you wonder.  I have to remind myself that there have been lots more who haven't returned my book and be thankful for those.

On a side note, I've had a bit of a break from writing lately.  We were on vacation for a couple of weeks and last week was just really busy.  Today I finally got to sit down and write again.  It was so nice to get back to Georgia's story.  I have a feeling that my climax is coming soon!  I'm very excited about how this story is developing.  I'm hoping that I can have it available by September - my self-imposed deadline.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Absolutely Blown Away

I had already picked out my topic for this week's blog several weeks ago because today is my thirteenth wedding anniversary!  I was going to write about my husband and the support he has been to me through this process and maybe even talk a little bit about our history together, but God changed my plans.  I'll just save that topic for another date, but today I have to share something else because I am just absolutely blown away by what has happened!

I've mentioned before that being a self-published author means that I have no one doing marketing or publicity for me.  I am my own agent.  When I put my book on Amazon, I think the scariest thing for me was that I had to rely on God to take it wherever it would go.  If that meant that only my friends and family would ever read it, then that was going to have to be okay with me.  If it took off and sold like crazy, well, that would be okay, too.  My sphere of influence is really very small.  I had let my friends and family know about it and asked them to pass on the news to their friends and family.

This process makes my sales kind of peak and valley.  One month I hardly have any book sales and then the next there will be several.  The thing I've noticed is that when I have a good month, if I Google my book I'll find that someone has posted it on a list or blog or something to get attention.  Can I tell you how supremely grateful I am to every person who has ever done this?  If you are one of those people, thank you, thank you, thank you!

To give you an idea of how the peaks and valleys go, I want to share with you what has happened the last few months.  In February, 12 copies sold and that was actually a good month to date.  In March, it took off and I had 100 sales!  April started slow, but I ended with 22 books sold. 

Now here's where my mind was blown.  May started very slowly.  I had 9 copies sold heading into the last week of the month.  I was sitting and thinking about it and wondering what was going on.  Suddenly, it hit me that I needed to realize Who was in control.  I can worry and agonize over what I should do or if I should do anything.  I can rejoice when it sells well and be disappointed when it doesn't, or I can just understand that God is in control and let Him take it wherever He will.  I said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."  (from Job 1:21)  I told God that no matter what happened I understood that He was in control and I was going to bless His name regardless of the situation.

Yesterday morning I woke up and 16 copies had sold.  Last night I looked at it said 357 books were sold!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  A minute later I checked again and it said 360 books were sold!  I took it to my husband, Joel, to show him and it was up to 362!  I was in tears!  My husband hugged me close and told me how proud he was of me and how happy he was that my hard work was paying off.  (I told you that he's been so supportive of me!  I am so thankful for my husband!) 

I don't say any of this to sound like I've got it all figured out, because, believe me, I don't.  I feel sometimes like God is taking me on this journey in part to teach to me to let go!  In another couple months, I may have to go through this all over again.  But maybe eventually I'll learn.  I also don't say this because I think I stumbled on a "magic" prayer.  I cannot presume to know the mind of God.  I don't know if one had anything to do with the other, but it meant something to me and it was something that I needed.

As of right now, my book has sold 476 copies this month - most of that just within the last two days!  All I can do is sit back and marvel.  I am blown away and emotional and just extremely thankful.   One more thing.  "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."  (Ephesians 3:20-21) 

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

High School

I just went to my cousin's high school graduation yesterday.  That made me think that it's been fifteen years since I graduated from high school.  Now I feel old.

It was actually back in high school that I began to write.  A few of my friends and I would write stories.  Then we would switch and read them so we could offer constructive criticism.  Often they would bring up things that I had never noticed before which helped make the story better.  My stories back then were short, not very detailed and, to be honest, not very good.  Yet I stilled enjoyed writing.

I never had any intention of actually publishing anything back then.  I had wanted to be a teacher.  My writing was just a fun pastime.  I think those times got writing in my system and now when I have a story in my head I just have to write it down.

I'm pretty sure that none of my friends who read my stories thought I would ever one day write a full book and publish it.  As nice as they were to me, I'm sure they realized that my stories were not good.  They were so encouraging to me though.  I'm sure if they had known I was writing a book, they would have been cheering me on and helping me out any way they could.

Even though it's been so long since I've been in high school, I'm so thankful for the support I got from my friends back then.  They ignited a fire in me to write and gave me the assurance I needed to keep on.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Mother's Day

My mom is a reader.  Her idea of a great vacation is someplace quiet so that she can read as many books as possible.  She always has a book on her nightstand, on her desk, in her purse - and now with ebooks, on her phone and on her Kindle.  She was my example to be a reader.

As I got older, she began directing me to some of her own favorite books, authors and series.  It was my mom who suggested that I read "Anne of Green Gables" and "Gone with the Wind".  During the summer, my mom would take us to the library where I would come home with stacks of books because all I wanted to do on my summer vacation was read.  My mom and I have a similar taste in books - we're actual a lot alike in many ways - and now that I'm an adult we swap books all the time knowing that if one of us liked it, the other one will, too.  Usually when we loan books to each other, it's followed with the statement "Let me know when you're done, because I want to talk about it with you."

Before I published my book, I knew I wanted a few people to read it first.  I wanted people who were avid readers (particularly of romance) and who could be honest without being hurtful.  I wanted them to tell me what needed to change and what would make it better.  I also wanted them to catch any errors like a character's name changing or a contradiction of something that had happened before.  Then I wanted them to be my editors.  I gave them a difficult task and I knew it.  I chose three women:  my mom, my sister and my closest friend.  It was scary to let them read my book.  I was opening myself up to criticism, which I knew I needed, and it was important to choose people who would be encouraging as well as critical.

My mom was a huge encouragement and still able to point out things that needed changing or clarification.  I remember her telling me that while she was reading it she was watching some of her grandchildren, and she really wanted to just sit and read my book. However, she knew that it needed her full concentration to help me and wouldn't have that with the little ones running around.  She also told me that, in some ways, my book reminded her of Debbie Macomber, who is one of our favorite authors!  I know she's my mom and is biased, but it made me happy anyway.  She also pointed out some key flaws to my story and asked some questions that helped me develop the characters a little bit more.

My mom is one of my best friends, one of my biggest supporters and a huge help to me.  I know my book would have been lacking without her help and her encouragement gave me the courage I needed to actually go through with the publishing process and put my book out there for others to read.  Mom, I love you so much!  Thank you for everything you've done, for all your encouragement and all your help!  I couldn't have done it without you!

As always, please feel free to offer advice or submit a question.  If you'd like to receive my blog in your email, you can sign up below and if you'd like to check out my book, just click the link below.
Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Day Dreaming

When I went to the University of Arizona, I had a half an hour drive to get to school and then a half an hour walk once I got there since I didn't have a parking permit.  All that time alone gave me time to day dream.  I would wonder what would happen in certain situations and then day dream about it to see what would happen.

One day I wondered what would happen if a wedding planner had to plan her ex's wedding.  The scenario popped up often as I walked to school and eventually characters emerged.  They developed features and names.  This scenario stuck with me for several years.  It wasn't until three or four years after I graduated from the U of A that I even began to write Best Laid Plans and it would take me five years to complete it since I would write for a while and then forget about it for a time.  Yet  I would still think about the characters and the various situations that they might face.  When I felt I had something worked out, I would sit down and type.

I still day dream a lot.  I don't have that long drive and walk anymore, but just about anytime alone allows my thoughts to drift.  When I get to a place where I feel stuck and don't know where to take my characters, I often just leave them there for a while and use my alone time to think of different ways to go.  Then when I get something I like, I return to my writing.

I often use day dreaming to think about my next book as well.  While writing Best Laid Plans, I decided that the other wedding planners needed their stories told as well and Georgia's story started to develop.  Now that I'm writing book two, I often think about book three.  It helps me keep one step ahead so that as soon as the book is finished and published, I can immediately begin writing the next story.

As always I look forward to hearing any questions or advice you may have for me, and you can see my book by clicking on the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Plans-Consulting-Series-ebook/dp/B0098O5A7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367906685&sr=8-1&keywords=best+laid+plans+courtney+lyman