Monday, April 7, 2014

Punishment Fits the Crime

Welcome to the A to Z challenge!
FIRST - a great big THANK YOU to those signing up on the FORM (see side bar) for my blog tour of BROKEN BRANCH FALLS - FANTASTIC!!

Find your way through the challenge!

A to Z Writing advice:
Feedback...
  • the good - Blogging introduces us to writing friends and it is so awesome to commiserate, learn, and grow with them - their feedback is encouraging. Crit partners are also part of the good. They give valuable feedback of an alternate perspective.
  • the bad - When sending query letters, unfortunately, we usually get bad news or no news, which is also bad news (as opposed to the popular saying...) But pushing through and not giving up through all the no's will be worth it
  • and the ugly - We start with good reviews, but sooner or later, the ugly ones emerge. Not everyone will like our writing or the story. We can't please everyone. And we always have "the good" if we get down from "the ugly" or "the bad"

Visiting BROKEN BRANCH FALLS - Teenage fantasy creatures in high school break the rules, causing chaos. Gabe the goblin leads a quest to find the Book of Ages, hoping it can help save BROKEN BRANCH FALLS.

Fuerte – dragon prince and literally a huge help on Gabe's quest.







And for laughs:
An alphabetical list of reasons men are happier people... 

F is for Footwear
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle men's feet.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough for men.

27 comments:

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

Hahaha I'm a man and have way more than 3 pairs of shoes!

Teaching English with Mr. Duncan
A-Z of hotels

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Yes concentrating on the good reviews will definitely make one feel less of a sting from the bad.

Robin said...

Feedback is one of those things that can be wonderful and terrible. When you have worked on something for a long time and the feedback says that some aspect, or several aspects, just aren't working... that is hard to hear. Of course, it is better hearing it from a crit partner or beta reader than just filing one query rejection after another in your inbox.

I think that writers (and when I say this, I am really talking about me) need to accept feedback for what it is. It is the desire to help you make your story better. If you begin to look at your writing as a constant honing of craft, I think those feedback things go down easier. Even those bad reviews (which I have yet to experience). If the reviewer says anything to help you improve your next novel... take that away... if it is all just Blah Blah Blah, well just file that will all those query rejections.

Sophie Duncan said...

Feedback, the double-edged sword :) You're right about no news being bad news when it comes to query letters. I know some authors say don't read the reviews for your own work, but I do pop by sometimes and I've actually had some good constructive criticism from some of them. Others, well, they were the ones to ignore ;P
Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Not everyone will like what we write, but that's all right.
You've been snooping in my closet, haven't you?

Fida Islaih said...

Three is more than enough for men and a rare thing for girls like me. Lol! Thanks for sharing!

Carrie-Anne said...

I prefer comfortable, sensible footwear too. Just looking at high heels makes me cringe. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a modern, Western form of Chinese footbinding.

randi lee said...

Totally off to sign up to help you out! And hey, you can take me out of the competition part--I'll just do it because I wanna :-)

Angela Brown said...

Fantastic post. And off I go to check out this sign up :-)

Helen Baggott said...

Made me chuckle!

Anonymous said...

These posts are really cute like a mini-newsletter. I love the idea of Fuerte though. I love dragons and my own story is based on them. Your story sounds really fun! Whose your audience?

The reasons men are happier people though...so funny! Are they based on your husband?

Cheers. :)

cleemckenzie said...

I'm not a man, but I'm all for shoes that don't blister or mangle my feet. Actually, no shoes is the best.

As to feedback, you've said it just right. Love the good reviews. Not keen on the bad ones, but understand not everyone is going to like what I write.

SK Anthony said...

I'm glad I'm not a man. I needs lots of shoes and if being a woman is a good excuse to make this happen, so be it. lol

Fuerte! He looks and sounds cool :D

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Damn Tara you know how to make me feel like a dude. I got two new pairs of footwear this year and I'm still in the single digits (including one pair of flip flops). Clee has a point on no shoes. I do that a lot at home. A dragon prince huh? Interesting, interesting.

Mark Means said...

I have FOUR pairs of shoes, thank you very much :P

Unknown said...

I'm not a shoe person and even I have more than three pairs... Goblin High, love it! (http://www.hjblenkinsop.com)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Men do have less shoes except for my boys. They need ten kinds of sneakers.

Anonymous said...

The shoe comment made me laugh, because my hubby and my son are ALWAYS making fun of my shoes, how many I have, and how I drag a dufflebag full along each time I go on vacation. :)

Anonymous said...

Men and foot ware - I've never heard a man complain about his shoes. haha.

Brandon Ax said...

Yeah I was raised by women. I get a lot of things, shoes will never be one of them. I loved your good bad and ugly. I did meet my CP blogging.

Brandon Ax: Writer's Storm

Jenn said...

LOL, I'm not a man, and I almost have 3 pairs of shoes. ;)

Marie said...

Feedback can be hard, but it can also be SO HELPFUL.

Thanks for stopping by my blog--looks like you also have three boys!

Marie at www.marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com

Christine Rains said...

Great feedback. It's hard sometimes to focus on the good instead of the bad and ugly.

Anonymous said...

Haha, I loved the shoe comment!

Feedback is such a double edged sword you're right, but it's funny how the bad tends do be what we focus our attention on, rather than the positive!

Anonymous said...

Haha, I loved the shoe comment!

Feedback is such a double edged sword you're right, but it's funny how the bad tends do be what we focus our attention on, rather than the positive!

Suzi said...

My 9-yr-old son has one pair of shoes... tennis of course. Gotta say, I get my money's worth out of them though.

I hate buying dress shoes for him though cause the only time he wears them is Christmas or Easter. Definitely don't get my money's worth there.

Donna B. McNicol said...

Hmmmm...how many pairs of shoes do dragons have? ;)

Donna B. McNicol
A to Z Participant

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