Since I mucked out my work space today, I thought I'd share a few pics of it with you. I just moved into this apartment in October and I've had to make a few adjustments. In my old house, I had an entire room for my office. Now, I only have a dining area that I commandeered for writing. I thought it'd be hard to concentrate, since I wasn't behind a closed door like I'm used to. But once I have coffee in my belly and my headphones on blasting music (this week I'm all about the Yuri On Ice soundtrack), I'm in my own little writing world. When I first moved in, I had plans for making my "office" into one of those Pinterest worthy spaces. You know what I mean, matching white furniture - with the desktop strangely devoid of any work, French bulletin boards with prettily patterned backgrounds, and elegant artwork. I got as far as the white furniture. Then I laughed and put up my Captain America art, crammed my glitter notebooks onto the bookcases and got to writing. My work space might not be Pinterest pretty, but it's mine and I love it. I'm something of a notebook hoarder. I can't stop buying them! But I at least put them to good use. Each story idea gets a binder and matching notebook. I record my thoughts there and when it's time to write that book I'm already organized and ready to go! #NerdLife This is Chunky. You can't see it, but there's a little space heater behind her. It's supposed to be for me to stay warm and toasty while writing. But the dogs are always laying in front of it, so I never get any of the warmth for myself. Poor me. This is as neat as you'll ever see my desk. I always laugh when I see those lovely pictures of desktops that are completely bare with the exception of a keyboard and monitor. Where are all the ink pens, empty coffee mugs, candy wrappers, and piles of paper? #WritersLife Ah, bulletin boards. I love them, but can't hang one straight to save my life. Maybe my vision is crooked. Or I should stop being lazy and use a level...
And that's my work space! A warm (when there isn't a dog in front of the heater) and cozy little writing nook. =) P.S. Check out my previous blog post, my Top Ten Reads of 2016. I'm giving away a $25 Barnes & Noble gift certificate for one lucky reader. All you have to do is comment on that blog post with a book recommendation for me. Ends January 11th. Good luck! Thanks for reading! Christa www.ChristaTomlinson.com Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads View my titles on Amazon
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This is me when I see a good review for one of my books: This is me when I see a bad review for one of my books: Authors react in many different ways when they receive a bad review. A lot of times, those reactions lead to a bad reputation for that writer. Some even end up on the Authors Behaving Badly list. As I always say, I'm not an expert, but I want to help other emerging authors get their career off to a good start. With that in mind, here are three things NOT to do when you get a bad review: 1) Contact the reviewer to explain something about the book that you think they misunderstood. 2) Contact the reviewer to bitch at them because you don’t like what they wrote. 3) Contact the reviewer to ask them to take the review down. Basically, DON’T CONTACT THE REVIEWER. Don’t even look at them. And for book god’s sake, don’t track them down and attack them with a wine bottle. Yes, that happened. Do not argue with the reviewer in any way. No matter how nasty the things were that they wrote about you, your book, your dog and your grandma, you’ll be the one to come out looking like the unprofessional monster that no one wants to deal with. Once you put your book out there, people are entitled to their opinion about it. And nothing you can say to them is going to change that opinion. Also, don’t try to be slick and send your fans, friends or family after someone either. You know what I mean, the sly post where you say, Sally Reviewer was so mean to me but I’m not going to sink to her level. But here’s the link if you want to see it. And all her social media handles for good measure. And her email address. And her blood type. Then your fan/friend/family member says, I’ll give them a piece of my mind! So they attack Sally Reviewer, then a bunch more people attack Sally Reviewer. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there with dirt free hands, playing the tragic victimized author role, and only after it gets truly nasty do you maybe think about calling off your rabid horde. This is gross. Don’t do this. Be professional. So what can you do about negative reviews? 1) Cry 2) Go in your closet and scream with rage 3) Eat ice cream 4) Play Mortal Kombat and pretend it’s the reviewer’s ass you’re kicking 5) Call your mom (or other lovingly sympathetic family member or friend) and complain 6) Buy yourself something pretty for some retail therapy 7) Take that pissed off fire and write another book Now, I’m not saying I’ve used any of the above methods (I’ve totally used all of the above methods). But they are helpful. Get your hurt feelings out in private and then move on. You can also just avoid reading your negative reviews. In my opinion, this is the review scale for sites like Goodreads and Amazon and how I think you should read them:
5 Stars – Oh my gawd, this book was the best! Top ten for my whole life! Read these, but sparingly. Save ‘em for when you’re having a shit day writing and need a confidence boost. 4 Stars – This book was amazing! Definitely going on my reread pile Read these and bask. You did good work. 3 Stars – This was a good book, but it had some issues. Read these. They usually have legitimate critique that you can learn from to improve your craft. 2 Stars – This book was awful. But I did like the dog. You should probably skip these. They’ll just make you sad. 1 Star – This book was the dirt worst! Somebody take this so-called author’s keyboard away so she can never write again! And for good measure, cut off her hands!!!! *heavy breathing through the keyboard* Don’t read these. They more than likely didn’t offer any helpful feedback and they will piss you off. I know what you're thinking. Why is this important? And, I have the right to express my feelings just the way that reviewer did. But look at it this way. You, the writer, are a business. You might be a one woman/man show, but you are still a business. It is up to you to protect your reputation. Imagine if Target, Dunkin Donuts, or Nine West went off on rants every time they had a customer give their products a negative review. You'd probably be turned off and not want to shop there anymore, right? Same goes for readers. Your core group of fans might not mind your review rage. But readers who are out there on the fringes might feel differently. They'll take a look at that unprofessional rant about a reviewer and decide they don't want to support an author who attacks readers. After all, who's to say you won't attack them if they don't give you a glowing review? And just like that, that reader has decided not to support you with their book dollars. So ask yourself, is it worth it losing potential fans by internet screaming over a bad review? In my opinion, it's not. Reviews are tough. You need them, they can make you feel good, but they can also hurt something fierce. If you're going to be a writer, you'll need to learn to accept reviews graciously and find a closet to scream in when you can't. Thanks for reading! Christa www.ChristaTomlinson.com Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads View my titles on Amazon Ah, 2016. It was a year that existed. I had a lot of plans for 2016. Unfortunately, they didn’t all pan out. Probably because I didn’t actually sit down and plan out my plans. Or even write them down so I’d remember what they were. Funny how that works. But I did manage to accomplish a few things. I published The Detective’s Pleasure, Officer Ryan Bennett and Detective Sam Roberts’s story. I published Showing Him the Ropes, a romance set in the world of professional wrestling, and something I’d been wanting to write for two years. And I sold my house, so I could move into an easier to manage apartment. Yay! All good things! For 2017 I’m already one step ahead. I actually wrote down my professional goals. Progress! Publish Five Works Now is the time for me to be more focused in my writing. I realize that only publishing one or two books a year won’t get me over that hump from part-time/hobbyist writer to full-time career writer. Which means I’ll be buckling down and dedicating my time and effort to producing more stories that I, and hopefully others, will love. Attend at least one genre conference I went to Rainbow Con in 2015. And like a typical introvert I was tense and stressed. I liked the panels and learning, but having to talk to people I don’t know and be around so many people at the same time was exhausting. When I got home, I swore I’d never go to another. But I didn’t really mean it. I want to know my fellow m/m romance people and I love talking books. So I’m determined to try again. Attend at least three meetings for the West Houston RWA Again, I’m forcing myself out of my comfort zone. I want to learn more about the business of romance writing and connect with others in the industry. Getting out from behind my computer and into public spaces with other writers is the way to make that happen. I was a little concerned about joining West Houston RWA because of my genre. But when I spoke with Membership Chair, Karen Pugh, she was very welcoming and assured me they embrace diversity. They even had Damon Suede there as a guest speaker. I’m so bummed I missed it. Here’s hoping he’ll be back in 2017. Public Speaking I don’t miss the politics or endless and often ridiculous demands of being a teacher. But I do miss teaching. It’s in my blood. I love learning and sharing my knowledge with others. It’s the best feeling when I help someone understand something they didn’t get before. With that in mind, I’d like to give a guest lecture or sit in on a panel. Rainbow Con has some cool ones, so I’m considering signing up for a few. Post regularly on both my blog and Café Risque I’m so thankful Cardeno C. invited me to participate in Café Risque. It gave me the motivation I needed to start blogging on a regular basis. I’m enjoying it and I’ve started posting on my own blog on a regular basis as well. I definitely plan to continue posting on both throughout the year. If there’s anything you want to see me blog about, let me know! Get back into writing fanfiction I miss it! I had a lot of fun writing fanfiction. And it’ll be a chance for me to write without the pressure of publication. It will also help me explore some things I want to try before I take them to market. *cough* Historical Fantasy! *cough* So I’ll be seeing you soon, FFDN! Read 50 books. Okay, don’t laugh. I know fifty books isn’t a lot. Especially compared to how many I used to read before I started publishing. But lately, I haven’t had the time to read that much. Or I should say, I haven’t made time to read like I used to. This year, I’m determined to make more time to read and relax. That’s it! I think it’s a pretty manageable set of goals. Now I just have to stay patient and realize I can’t accomplish them all by January 15th. I’m looking forward to working hard to reach these goals in 2017. And you’d better believe I’m giving myself a cookie every time I accomplish one. I’d love to see your goals for the year. Feel free to share in the comments! Happy New Year and I wish you all the best for health, wealth, and happiness in 2017. Thanks for reading! Christa *Originally Posted on the Cafe Risque Blog www.ChristaTomlinson.com Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads View my titles on Amazon |
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