Category Archives: Writing

Meet Guest Author Gem Stone…

Gem Stone is a guest on The Story Reading Ape, and she tells us she’s an author who never dreamed of being a writer. I call that a first! She’s brutally honest about this and almost everything else in her life ~ including her husband. What a sense of humor! I loved this post. You might not have dreamed of being a writer, Gem, but a writer you are! And as a sideline, might I suggest stand-up comedy? 😊

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

You know that woman in the supermarket who sits behind the till smiling? She always remembers your name and knows what you buy every week?

That’s me.

me

I’m always happy and look like I really enjoy my job and on those three days a year where I don’t have to serve a single idiot all day, I actually do.

Now, I know you’re expecting me to say. “But I always dreamed of being an author.”

Well, that’s not correct. I didn’t dream of being an author. But I did have ideas, lots and lots of them, I just didn’t think about writing them down until last year.

I remember it clearly. I was lying in bed with my husband; he was talking about… something. I can’t remember what. He tends to drone on so I just zone out after a while. But at some point I said, “I have all…

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EDITING 101: 17 – Powerful Protagonists…

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 17 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape. She discusses powerful vs. ineffective protagonists and includes links to two articles that speak of this in detail. Many parts of this series helped me immensely in writing my latest novel. If you’re an author and have missed any parts or all of this series, do yourself a favor and check it out. I’m sure you’ll find it enlightening …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Powerful Protagonists

The protagonist is the chief actor, or main character, in your book. It might be a man or a woman, or even a fictional character with no gender (such as a tree). For today’s post, we’re going to refer to the protagonist as “him” for continuity’s sake.

Why is it important for your protagonist to be powerful? I don’t mean physically strong. I don’t even mean personally effective or likeable. Your protagonist may be on your readers’ hate list, but perhaps they have a grudging respect for him. I’m talking about powerful in terms of making an impact with your readers. A main character who doesn’t make an impact with your readers is going to lead you down the…

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Addiction and The Power of Letting Go – Guest Post…

A heartfelt “Thank You” to Chris The Story Reading Ape for guesting me on his blog. You’re the bees knees, Chris; the cat’s meow. Or perhaps I should say, the ape’s bananas. Not quite an analogy, but much more delicious 🙂 Chris has hosted many authors over the past 4 months, giving us exposure for our books leading up to the holidays. Aside from being an ape of the highest quality (King of the Jungle ~ the lion has nothing on him), he is an honorable man with a big heart. I know he’s probably blushing under his fur right now, but his praises can’t be sung high enough. Thank you, Chris, for all you do, all you give, and all you are 

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Image is courtesy of Lucie Stastkova

LuSt 4 ART

You’re extremely disgusted with an old habit. You’re ranting. You’re pacing. You’re regurgitating. You’re spent. You pick yourself up from the floor, dry your tears, and swear on your life that this is the last time. You throw away all accouterments, all paraphernalia, all reminders of the loathed and dreaded addiction. You make it through the day with firm resolve. Then you awaken the following morning with an insatiable craving. You recall your commitment and fight doggedly not to give in. You argue with yourself. You become frustrated. The stress grows into a pressing mass in your belly. Then suddenly… a comforting thought: One more day won’t hurt! You acquiesce. You give in. And the roller coaster ride begins…

A teacher once told me that the masters, the avatars, often carry an addiction in order to stay in form — to…

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My New #Novel Is Now Available on #Amazon

I am so pleased to announce that the Kindle version of my new novel, Vampyrie: Origin of the Vampire, is now available on Amazon. CreateSpace should have it out in paper shortly.

VAMPYRIE: Origin of the VampireI’m also very relieved! Talk about birthing a baby . . . I did most of the work myself, from formatting to cover text — not to mention writing the 388-page book.

Don’t let the title fool you. This is not your typical vampire book. I’m incapable of writing a book without a spiritual bent. Vampyrie also has a basis in science, specifically medicine.

I’ve always been intrigued by the myth of the vampire and often have wondered if the phenomenon actually could exist. My background in medicine led me to speculate about how this might have a basis in reality. If rooted in science, how might this myth come to life? The most likely answer would be as a physical disorder or disease.

One day during my morning walk, the word Valkyrie came to mind. Vampyrie: Origin of the VampireAs many of you know, a valkyrie is one of a host of female helping spirits of the god Odin in Norse mythology. Depicted as both loving and bloodthirsty, valkyries decide who lives and who dies in battle. They also assist Odin in transporting his favorites among the slain to Valhalla, the hall where he houses the dead whom he deems worthy of dwelling with him. In my novel, Valkyrie becomes Vampyrie and Valhalla becomes the Haven.

I do hope you’ll visit my Amazon page and peek inside. I have many people to thank for their interest and encouragement; you’ll find their names listed in the acknowledgements.
Tina FriscoI’ve also updated my author photo, which took quite a bit of doing, I might add. I never recognize myself in photographs. Who IS that person? I even startle myself at times when walking past a mirror, because I think a stranger is at my side. I’m told this is an attribute of Aries. We’ve incarnated into this sign in order to learn about “I.” People often think we come complete with the characteristics of the stars under which we’re born, when the reality is we’ve come into this earthwalk to learn those attributes.

Now it’s time to pop a cork, relax, and get to those 100+ emails that are still mounting up 🙂

Until the next time, my friends . . .  Namaste ❤ 

 

EDITING 101: 16 – Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones…

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us Part 16 of her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape. She discusses homonyms, homographs, and homophones, the latter of which can be a challenge for writers …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones

I had a lot of fun researching today’s post. (Yes, I’m an über-geek, but let’s just keep this to ourselves, shall we?) You may be wondering what these words are (and how in the world they pertain to writing), but you’ll be surprised once I define them. I’m sure you know exactly what they are; you just don’t know the official words for them. And we’re only interested in one when it comes to writing and editing.

Homonyms are words with the same spelling and the same pronunciation, but they have different meanings:

  • bear (animal) and bear (tolerate)

  • rose (flower) and rose (past tense of “rise”)

  • spruce up a room and a spruce tree

See? You knew…

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Zoe Saves the Day

Zoe the Fabulous Feline saves the day with her keen eyesight and persuasive tenacity. Unfortunately, her person Emily misreads the cues and lands herself in a bit of hot water. Head over to The Story Reading Ape for the full throttle 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Zoe Saves the Day


¡Hola, mi amigos y amigas—saludos! I just love saying “Hello – Greetings!” in Spanish to my boy friends and girl friends.
I want to tell you about an adventure where Yours Truly was a hero. I guess the correct word is heroine, but, same difference. Before I tell you all about it, let me introduce myself to those who may not know me. My name is Zoe. I live with Emily, and she is lucky to have me. Here’s what happened.

img_7361It was a hot New England night. It was not raining, but we were hearing the deep rumble of thunder and experiencing the occasional flash of dry lightning—that’s what they call the lightning that you get during a heat wave, you know, when the rain is still very far off in the distance. It was beautifully fierce. Unlike some, who shall go unnamed, the thunder…

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This Is How to Monetize Your Knowledge and Make Money Blogging

Janice Wald posted an outstanding article on her blog today, detailing the successful elements of blog monetization. Topics include content marketing, growing our readership, and writing a compelling CTA or call to action. Janice’s new book, An Insider’s Guide to Building a Successful Blog, is jam-packed with tips on how to engage readers, increase blog traffic, and much more. This post is a plethora of information that made me realize monetizing a blog is not difficult; it merely requires focus, intention, and tenacity …

Monetize your blog, tips from an expert #BlogMonetization #ContentMarketing

Do you want to know why most blogs fail, abandoned by their owners between three and nine months?

I’m sure you have many theories.

Lack of readers, lack of subscribers, lack of patience to wait for the readers and subscribers, and lack of time are likely causes.

However, according to successful blogger Minuca Elena, the reason most blogs fail has nothing to do with any of those things.

In a recent interview, Minuca explained that the reason most blogs fail is the blog owner has no idea how to make money blogging, also called blog monetization.

My recent content marketing post about how to monetize your blog was met with controversy.

For example, Gilly Madison responded that bloggers fall into two categories, those wishing to make money and those not wishing to monetize. I beg to differ. I believe there is a third category of bloggers– those who might want to monetize one day.

This post will offer two ways you can monetize should the desire to make money blogging ever come.

Fortunately, publisher Lois Hoffman is here to explain how you can make money writing on the Internet.

Lois’s forte is helping writers monetize, so she is an expert in this field.

Are You a Blogger Looking to Monetize Your Knowledge?

For many bloggers, writing is simply a creative pursuit. It’s a way to share what you know or what you’re experiencing and be part of a vibrant blogging community. But if you’re looking to your blog as a source of income, it’s important to think more strategically about your content marketing strategy. It’s not just about getting visitors to your site. Content marketing (or authority marketing) is about generating leads and then driving sales from your traffic.

What is Content Marketing?

The Content Marketing Institute describes content marketing like this:

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

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Smorgasbord Christmas Party – Guest author D. G. Kaye with Childhood Christmas Wishes and My First Biggest Tree

A poignant and moving Christmas story by Debby Gies … Most of us have many childhood dreams that never become reality, but Debby didn’t give up on one of hers. Her very first apartment became home to the realization of that dream. Visit Sally Cronin‘s blog and enjoy this beautiful Christmas story 💖💖

Smorgasbord Christmas Party -Guest Tina Frisco with Jewel and the Christmas Tree

Sally Cronin is featuring my Christmas story on her fabulous blog today. It is an honor to be included in her joyful and eclectic Christmas festivities. If you haven’t yet partaken of the merrymaking, hop over to her blog and indulge in the music, laughter, stories, and revelry. You’ll also find some delicious food! Thank you so much for hosting me, Sally 💖 💖

Smorgasbord Christmas Party Guest Phillip T. Stephens – Comfort and Hair Balls? You Better Think Twice.

Adopting a companion animal shouldn’t be done on a whim. Many times parents think a kitten or puppy would make a lovely gift for their children, especially on birthdays and holidays. Author Phillip T. Stephens is a guest on Smorgasbord – Variety is the Spice of Life, where he discusses the pros and cons of adopting a kitten. Hop over to Sally’s blog for the details …