Not by Aliens, Zombies, or Vampires

October 31, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 8 Comments

No, I haven’t been abducted by Aliens, taken by Zombies, or, turned into a Vampire.

Okay, that last one could be half-true (without all the blood). One thing for sure is my Insomnia has taken on a whole new dimension this month. So, forgive me if I haven’t been interacting as much.

I’ve been busy with the ChapterBuzz 10,000 Word Challenge. The goal was to write 10,000 words of a new or work in progress. I have been trying to finishing my novel, Hello Hell and this has helped tremendously.

Starting from around 2000 words of my original work in progress, I’ve changed the plot, added new characters and have written a total of 39,194 words! The Challenge ends today, but you can keep cheering me on at ChapterBuzz/Sheila M. Good.

In the meantime, here’s one of my first short stories, perfect for Halloween: Wrong Turn. Enjoy and remember – be safe.

Happy Halloween!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Join the conversation. Talk to me or tell me your story. I’m all ears.

Multiple Writers Personality Disorder

October 24, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 8 Comments

Well, it’s confirmed (sort of), I have a MWPD (Multiple Writers Personality Disorder).

Have you ever wondered what author influences your writing or who you write like? Now, you can find out.

I Write Like – checks which famous writer you write like by analyzing your word choice and writing style and comparing them with those of the famous writers. Analyze your text, here.

I ran my short story collection as well as my current novel in progress through the “I Write Like,” software for analysis and discovered:

I write like
Agatha Christie

About Agatha Christie | Analyze your text

About Agatha Christie

“Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and more than 15 short story collections (especially those featuring Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly four billion copies, and her estate claims that her works rank third, after those of William Shakespeare and the Bible, as the most widely published books.” (Read more on Wikipedia)

My short stories came up, Stephen King!

I write like
Stephen King

About Stephen King | Analyze your text

About Stephen King

Photo by Pinguino. CC-BY 2.0

“Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books. King has published 50 novels, including seven under the pen-name of Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books. He has written nearly two hundred short stories, most of which have been collected in nine collections of short fiction.” (Read more on Wikipedia)

When it comes to my non-fiction articles :

I write like
Anne Rice

About Anne Rice | Analyze your text

About Anne Rice

“Anne Rice is a best-selling American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.” (Read more on Wikipedia)

So, who do you write like? Find out here and share it with me and all the Cow Pasture Fence Jumpers.You can also share on Twitter, Facebook, and your blog.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Join the conversation. Talk to me or tell me your story. I’m all ears. Or, connect with me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

5 Quick and Dirty Tips on Sentence Structure

October 16, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 3 Comments

As someone working hard this month to complete a draft of my novel, I appreciate posts like this one from Sacha Black and Writers Helping Writers, Getting Jiggy with the Nitty Gritty, or, Improving Your Sentences.

This is a keeper and one I will use to start the editing process when ( notice I said when) I finish my novel. In the meantime, if you’re looking for some quick and dirty tips on sentence structure, check out Sacha’s post and these 5 Tips.

Filtering
Juxtapositions
‘Sense’-ational Sentences
Crutch Words, Wordiness, and Clichés
First and Last Lines

It’s well worth a read. And, if you would like to follow the progress of my novel, you can read it and Buzz me at http://www.chapterbuzz.com/sheilamgood.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Join the conversation. Talk to me or tell me your story. I’m all ears.

Where Writers Get Stuck: Marketing

October 11, 2017November 4, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

And, you thought the work was done when you typed “The End.” Nope, it’s just beginning. Check out this post by Allison Maruska to help you get started in marketing your book.

Allison Maruska

Before I get started on today’s topic, I want to express a huge thank you to everyone who supported my fundraiser for Houston disaster relief or gave directly to an organization that will help people in need. We are seeing the best of America coming through every day, and if there’s a silver lining to everything that’s happened there, I think that’s it.

Now, it’s time for the super secret post you’ve all been waiting for. Remember this Twitter poll?

It launched this whole mini-series on where writers get stuck. Be sure to check out planning, drafting, editing and revising, and querying or publishing if those are your personal struggles. While the poll was live, this comment happened: