YOU GOTTA HAVE FRIENDS

There are two kinds of artists in the world.

Those who choose to support their artist friends and those who don’t.

It’s uncomfortable for most of us to ask for support. We don’t want you to think it’s expected just because we’re friends. We don’t want to impose, but that doesn’t mean we won’t appreciate the support when it’s offered. 

There are many ways for artists to support one another. 

It doesn’t cost a thing (except time and caring) to provide needed encouragement, criticism or emotional cheerleading to an artist at any point in their journey. (Trust me when I say that even those you deem as having “made it” could use this kind of help on a regular basis. They’re still wracked by the same insecurities as newbies.)

If an artist is just starting out or trying to break in, you don’t have to spend a dime to look at or listen to their work. What they desperately need is an audience….even if it’s an audience of just one.

When the artist is a bit further along, word-of-mouth is another free way to provide support. “Have you read/seen/heard my friend’s latest masterpiece?  I really enjoyed it.”  

If you’d buy cookies, or wrapping paper, or the widget-of-the-week from a co-worker’s kids, and if you can afford it, consider monetarily supporting your artist friends when they put something out into the world.  Buy the book. Purchase a painting. Spring for a ticket to the show.  Back their Kickstarter. Become a Patreon. 

  

Are you obligated to support your artist friends? Of course not. But why wouldn’t you?!

And if you're an artist, learn how to allow your friends to support you. We WANT to contribute to your success.

POSTED BY JB LYNN
Author of the Hitwoman Series

Faces (or Personalities) of Evil

I don't usually "cast" actors as characters when I'm writing a book, but lately while working on a particularly vile villain, I've been thinking of some of actor Garret Dillahunt's more creepy roles.

Who?

This guy:

Still don't know who he is? Check out his IMDB page. Chances are good you've seen him in something.

The first time I really remember him playing a bad guy who gave me goosebumps was in the series LIFE. He played Roman -- a bad, bad man.

I would have sworn he was in dozens of episodes, but I see that he was only in three. He was THAT good.

The only other actor I've used for inspiration is Alan Rickman.

I didn't cast him as bad guy.

I didn't even cast him as a human being.

He is, and always will be, Godzilla, the talking anole lizard in my CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN books.

Obviously I DID go for the physical similarities with that casting job.

If you're a reader I'd love to know who YOU cast as some of your favorite characters from books. 

And if you're a writer: Do you cast actors and actresses?

By JB Lynn

Embracing Change

I don’t particularly enjoy characters that don’t change. 

I don’t understand the appeal of say, James Bond. There’s not much character growth with that guy and frankly, I find him kind of boring. (Obviously, considering the success of the movie franchise, this opinion of mine is in the minority.)

I like characters that develop along the way. Those are the ones I can’t stop thinking about. Characters who have an internal, emotional journey that is just as compelling as whatever external adventure they’re having.

I suspect that the reason I, and so many others, love change so much in fictional characters is that it can be such a challenge to achieve in real life.

Professionally, there’s nothing more rewarding for me than hearing from readers about how much they love how the characters in my CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN series have developed. It’s something I’m always working on and I just love that their character arcs resonate with fans.

Personally, I’m easily bored when I find myself being stagnant. I’m always working on ways to stretch myself.  I’ll give you two examples of how I’ve changed in the past year:

1) I’ve become a beach person.

I was so NOT a beach person that even when I moved to the city with the Best Beach in the U.S. I didn’t go there for the first ten months.

But after listening to a local friend rhapsodize about their love of the sand and sea, I decided that maybe my long-held prejudices should be reexamined.  I took myself to the beach a couple of times and fell in love. Now if I don’t get to dip my toes in the surf at least three times a week, I feel deprived.

2) Twice a week I have appointments outside my comfort zone.

I’m a quiet, shy, extremely reserved introvert who thrives on constant worry and has a compulsive need to plan ahead. To combat these natural tendencies (not that there’s anything wrong with any of them) I’ve been taking improvisational comedy classes.

Not surprisingly, I’m not a good performer. But surprisingly, I’ve made more progress than I would have thought I was capable of. I’m still quiet and shy and reserved, but the lessons I’ve learned on stage about worrying less and being in the moment more have served me well in other areas of my life.

What about you? What kinds of character change do you love? Have you made any changes in your life recently?

Written by JB Lynn www.jblynn.com

-- 

"If you love series such as Evanovich's Plum and Bond's Body Movers, you'll love Confessions of A Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman."

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Success is a routine?

I'm not sure where I heard it, but recently I heard someone say, "Success is a routine".

Do you agree with that?

I had to think about it for a while to decide whether I did. Finally I decided that my belief is this:

Routine can set you up for success.

For example:

A basketball player who routinely practices foul shots has a greater chance at making them (success).

A musician who practices a song over and over again has a better chance of performing it well in front of an audience (success).

An actress who rehearses is better prepared than one doing a cold reading.

A writer who writes regularly (even if it's in twice a month writing binges) has a better chance of finishing a project.

BUT:

The basketball player can still miss the shot.

The musician can hit a wrong note.

An actress can forget a line.

A writer can write a story that never sees the light of day.


I train for half-marathons. I've completed three. I'm tortoises-pass-me, slow. Yet the routine of training, which I plan out in a calendar MONTHS ahead of time,  pushing myself to go slightly farther each week, sets me up for success. It allows me to cross the finish line.

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the same with my writing. Slogging along, week after week, until I reach "The End" and then I start it up again...hoping that this time I'll be a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, a little bit better. I plan that out too, MONTHS or a YEAR ahead of time, which helps me to say on track day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month.


What do you think? Do you have a routine you follow to increase your chances of success? Do you have any tips you can share? 

My tip is: EMBRACE YOUR CALENDAR! (but not literally because that could give you a paper cut)

Just an FYI, next week I’m releasing THE HITWOMAN GETS LUCKY. The novella will be free for a limited time, so be sure to visit http://jblynn.com to find out all the details and download your copy.

Maintaining Focus

As we near the end of January, and resolutions are falling to the wayside faster than people can line up to sue Lance Armstrong, I've found myself struggling to maintain focus. I feel like I'm wandering around in a murky fog instead of charging up the proverbial mountain.

Part of the problem is the cold, dark days of January. (Yes, I know that the days are now actually getting longer again, but the frigid temps have meant I've gotten outside less than usual, hence, less light in my life.)

Another part of the problem is that life has been fraught with stumbling blocks. These are swallowing up the emotional energy I usually use to keep myself motivated.

Lastly, I'm overwhelmed by the goals I've set for myself. I hope to accomplish more this year than ever before.

I've been using a few methods to keep myself focused and I thought I'd pass along what's worked for me in the hopes they might help someone else.

1) I'm publicly blogging my progress on my personal blog.  It probably sounds like the most narcissistic activity imaginable, but I find that "putting it out there" is making me more accountable.

2) I've planned out my work schedule for the year.  In the past I've plotted it out for 3 months at a time. Seeing it all laid out over the course of the year is helping me to remember how important it is to finish things on time.

3) I'm making it a point to try new things. I've started posting timed free-writes at Ten Minutes to the Universe. I hiked with new people in a new place (fun!).  I ran with a running group (epic fail, but at least I tried).  I'm doing a TON of new stuff in terms of my writing career (like the Confessions Blog Tour I did to market Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman).

All the little jolts of excitement/fear that accompany saying "yes" to new things, is helping to combat my overall malaise.

So how are you doing with your resolutions? What tips do you have for staying focused?  Share! (Pretty please, because I need all the help I can get!)

Maintaining Focus

As we near the end of January, and resolutions are falling to the wayside faster than people can line up to sue Lance Armstrong, I've found myself struggling to maintain focus. I feel like I'm wandering around in a murky fog instead of charging up the proverbial mountain.

Part of the problem is the cold, dark days of January. (Yes, I know that the days are now actually getting longer again, but the frigid temps have meant I've gotten outside less than usual, hence, less light in my life.)

Another part of the problem is that life has been fraught with stumbling blocks. These are swallowing up the emotional energy I usually use to keep myself motivated.

Lastly, I'm overwhelmed by the goals I've set for myself. I hope to accomplish more this year than ever before.

I've been using a few methods to keep myself focused and I thought I'd pass along what's worked for me in the hopes they might help someone else.

1) I'm publicly blogging my progress on my personal blog.  It probably sounds like the most narcissistic activity imaginable, but I find that "putting it out there" is making me more accountable.

2) I've planned out my work schedule for the year.  In the past I've plotted it out for 3 months at a time. Seeing it all laid out over the course of the year is helping me to remember how important it is to finish things on time.

3) I'm making it a point to try new things. I've started posting timed free-writes at Ten Minutes to the Universe. I hiked with new people in a new place (fun!).  I ran with a running group (epic fail, but at least I tried).  I'm doing a TON of new stuff in terms of my writing career (like the Confessions Blog Tour I did to market Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman).

All the little jolts of excitement/fear that accompany saying "yes" to new things, is helping to combat my overall malaise.

So how are you doing with your resolutions? What tips do you have for staying focused?  Share! (Pretty please, because I need all the help I can get!)

Best Gifts for Writers

I originally wrote a post about how my overactive imagination got the best of me during the week we were without power after Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the East Coast, but I decided that was too dark for the holiday season.

Instead, I thought we could talk about holiday gifts: the best to give, the best to receive, and the best you ever got.

Gift suggestions:

Encourage a hobby – If we’re not careful, we writers can spend all our time glued to the keyboard at the expense of relationships, health and other interests. For example: I've done three half-marathons so I appreciate anything from sneakers to sunscreen to an offer to walk/run with me.

A gift certificate to a café – Most writers are fueled by caffeine and many would relish the chance to be able to go out and write (or just people-watch).

A book YOU have enjoyed and think they will too – If you read a great book and you think your friend will enjoy it, pass it along, but DON’T give them a book you’ve “heard” is good. Part of the fun of gifting books is being able to discuss them.

A gift certificate to an office supply store – Office supplies are like catnip to writers

A subscription to a magazine – It can be a literary magazine, a writing craft magazine, or a magazine about a totally unrelated subject that interests them…writing is not their entire life/identity and sometimes a break from their chosen career path is a welcome break.

A gift certificate to a bookstore – Writers love bookstores, whether they’re book-and-mortar or online.

A chance to take a class/attend a workshop – Again, it could be writing-centric or could be something else. (Just don’t try to send them to something they have no interest in.)

Something for a writer’s desk/office – a pen, a candle, a computer program (I love Write Or Die and many friends swear by Scrivener) a motivational calendar, music, noise-cancelling headphones, something that shares YOUR gift (my office is filled with pictures taken by friends who are talented photographers, amazing hand-crafted items from crafty pals, and I’m often playing music composed and performed by a talented artist friend) a new robe (for those who aren’t big on getting dressed, lol) plants (writers’ brains are oxygen-starved!) or a kitchen timer (seriously, a kitchen timer is a GREAT writing tool)

Read and post a review of their book  -- SOOO appreciated

Time to write – offer to babysit, run errands, provide a meal that can be frozen

Support – read their work (published or not)  and offer encouragement (we all lose hope/faith at some point)

The above are, in my opinion, the best gifts to receive. What would you add to the list?

What are some of the best gifts you’ve received?

What gifts are do you dream of/hope to receive?

My favorites have been: the amazing support of the writing community and my friends (and DH) purple pens, a roll of crime scene tape, Panera Bread gift cards and the gifts of classes.

Are YOU a Want-To-Be?

This week I'm an invited guest author at the Barnes & Noble forum discussing flawed characters, so I thought this would be a good "partner" post.


One of the side effects of being a published writer is that any number of people tell you, “I always wanted to be a writer, but fill in the blank.”

My usual response is, “What’s stopping you?”

Usually they blink, or stammer, or come up with a litany of excuses – everything from their job, to their kids, to their volunteer obligations.

I get it. Everyone’s busy. Everyone’s stressed.

Everyone’s afraid. Or lazy. Or they really don’t want it as much as they say they do.

Does that sound harsh?

It’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be honest.

Because I’m a Want-to-be too.

I want to weigh less (but I don’t want to measure food, count calories, or live in a state of deprivation).

I want to volunteer more (but I don’t want to deal with the politics that often surround the opportunities).

I want to paint my home (but I don’t want to deal with the hassle of my two dogs messing it up).

But through the magic of fiction, I’ve created a character, in my Confessions books, Maggie Lee, who is not a Want-to-be.

She wants to provide the best possible care for her hospitalized niece, so she does…by becoming a hitwoman (an undertaking not for the lazy or faint of heart).

Now, you tell me: What are you a Want-to-be about?  Or, in what areas are you a Former-Want-to-be? 

(I’m a Former-Want-to-be an “athlete”….my overweight self has completed two half marathons (13.1 miles) and I’m doing my third later this month!)

Take three wacky aunts, two talking animals, one nervous bride, and an upcoming hit, and you've got the follow-up to JB Lynn's wickedly funny

Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman

Knocking off a drug kingpin was the last thing on Maggie Lee's to-do list, but when a tragic accident leaves her beloved niece orphaned and in the hospital, Maggie will go to desperate lengths to land the money needed for her care. But the drug kingpin is the least of her worries. Maggie's aunts are driving her crazy, her best friend's turned into a bridezilla…and a knock on the head has given Maggie Dr. Dolittle abilities—she can talk to animals. Unfortunately, they  talk back. It's just another day in the life of this neurotic hitwoman…

Excerpt 

You just know it’s going to be a bad day when you’re stuck at a red light and Doomsday is breathing down your neck.

In this particular instance Doomsday happens to be a seventy-pound Doberman pinscher. Instead of having the voice of doom, she sounds an awful lot like an air-headed, bimbo-y blonde. “Way that! Way that!”

Did I mention that Doomsday has really lousy grammar?

“Not that way,” Severus Snape drawled from the front passenger seat. Okay, not really Snape, but God … zilla, a talking brown anole lizard with an attitude to match his namesake.

Have you followed all this so far? The superior talking lizard is in the front passenger seat, the breathy Doberman is in the back, and I, Maggie Lee, am in the driver’s seat, even though it doesn’t feel as though I’m in control of this wild ride we’re on.

I know this whole thing sounds crazy. I know animals can’t talk, but ever since I was in a terrible car accident a month ago, I can understand them. Of course I haven’t mentioned this little side effect to anyone, because I’m afraid they’ll lock up my crazy ass in the nuthouse (hell, with my luck, they’d probably make me room with my mom, who’s a long-term resident), and I’ve just got too much to do to let that happen.

Which brings me to why God and Doomsday were arguing about which direction we were headed. I needed to kill someone at a wedding.

It’s a toss-up which I hate more: killing people or weddings.

Unfortunately, I’m getting pretty good at both.

To learn more about Maggie, or author JB Lynn, please visit: www.jblynn.com

For links to purchase their books, please visit: http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/38895/JB_Lynn/index.aspx