Seriously Write: Norma Gail

Showing posts with label Norma Gail. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

When You Can’t Write Because Life Hurts by Norma Gail

When you can’t write because life hurts, what do you do? Quit? Take a break? Write the hurts? We each react a different way. If you’re like me, matters of the heart and spirit pour over into your writing. Experiences that hurt either stifle our writing or open it up like a flower bursting through hardened soil and opening under the brilliance of the sun.

I took a break for a year and a half. In the same way a crimped water hose staunches the flow, no words streamed from my heart or gushed from my keyboard. I could deal with what was already written, so I edited. However, the pain in my heart was so raw and ugly, filled with anger and grief that I didn’t even want in a journal.

Within two years’ time, I experienced three relationships torn apart, our son went through a divorce, my mom died, I became caretaker for an elderly aunt and uncle, my husband went through a job change, and finally forced retirement. I underwent four major surgeries. My mind, body, and heart were worn out. My tears flowed freely. My words did not.

As time passed, scripture touched my wounds with healing balm. God’s word confronted me about attitudes, words, and actions that required submission to him. It became clear that I must seek and offer forgiveness out of obedience. Hurtful emotions had to be left to him. My heart became a garden where weeds threatened to choke the fruit. However, forgiveness kills spiritual weeds.

To forgive heals even when the heart hasn’t caught up. Peace comes when I pray God’s will and not my own. Rest happens when I walk away from the throne and leave my burdens there.

As writers, our hearts speak through words. It doesn’t matter what the form, devotions, inspiration, fiction, or non-fiction. Our emotions break their silence through words. Yet silence is necessary to hear God’s thoughts above my own. Whatever our struggle, it impacts our writing with new meaning which can touch our reader’s hearts with power.

It’s all right to take a break. I jotted down feelings, sentences, quotes, and scriptures. None formed a written piece of any kind, although their impact is etched in my spirit. God met me through those broken sentences.

When we survive the trials life sends, we grow. However, we don’t grow in a vacuum. Others experience similar times. Psalm 37:23 says, “If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

I survived. I’m stronger as a person and a writer because God upholds me with his hand. When life hurts and stifles words, rest in the Father’s arms, soak up his word like healing balm. Allow him to grow you in new ways. He will not let go.

When you can’t write because life hurts, what do you do? via @Norma_Gail

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Norma Gail’s debut novel, Land of My Dreams, won the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. Within Golden Bands released May 19^th. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals have appeared in several publications. She lives in New Mexico with her husband of 44 years.

Newly married Bonny MacDonell finds the transition from American college professor to Scottish sheep farmer’s wife more difficult than she expected. Though her husband says he has accepted her infertility, she fears his reaction when her miracle pregnancy ends in a devastating miscarriage. However, Kieran never shows up at the hospital. When found, he is beaten and unconscious. The only memory of his attacker is the words, “Get off my land.” As a result, his parents reveal a family secret involving an altered deed and missing aunt. Reeling from the threat to her husband and the loss of her child, Bonny struggles with depression.

As Kieran's elusive attacker stalks the family, threatening their safety, the couple is forced to hire bodyguards. Bonny still longs to be a mother but Kieran fears his deep-seated opposition to adoption will drive them apart. Are faith and love strong enough to keep their fledgling marriage on solid ground? Will they choose to trust God when his ways are impossible to fathom?

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Of Books, Bookstores, and Ego by Norma Gail

Is your goal to see your book in a bookstore? Today, Norma Gail shares her experience with bookstores and tips to help you gain better visibility for your book. -- Sandy

Gail: I had a hard time selling Girl Scout cookies. I longed to see my name on a bookstore shelf. However, bookstores may be more of an ego boost than smart marketing. Here are some of the lessons I have learned.

Getting my book published is the victory. Getting my book published by a traditional publisher was a victory. I reached my first goal and accomplished what God called me to do.

My book on a bookstore shelf does not guarantee sales. Having a book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble does not mean it will sell. Books written by well-known authors sell first. Large corporate stores remove books not on their sanctioned list. Even a “Local Author’s Table” does not mean the store will keep it in stock.

Beware of the pitfalls of large, corporately owned bookstores. It was easy to get local bookstores, even large chains like B&N and Hastings to order my book when it was “returnable”. It stoked my ego but not my book sales.

Books returned are not books returned. Bookstores do not mail the book back to the distributor for sales elsewhere. Stores rip the beautiful cover off and send it to the publisher to prove that they returned the book. The rest of the book is recycled.

Returned books come out of your royalties. Returns come out of author’s royalties, translating into no royalty check. Discuss with your publisher if asking stores to stock your book is a worthwhile goal.

Placing books in a store on consignment gains visibility for your book without risk to the store and puts money in your pocket. Books sold on consignment do not count toward your sales numbers, but they put your book in front of consumers with no risk to the store. Many local booksellers will agree to a percentage arrangement, usually 70-30% where the store keeps 30% of the sale price. Some generous storeowners offer 80-20% splits. One store allowed me to do a book signing before Christmas and keep 100%. Consignment sales mean the money you earn goes into your pocket to offset other marketing expenses.

Choose locations for book signings with care. Friday night at Hastings appeals to customers renting cheap movies. A tearoom could literally eat up your profits by the amount of tea and scones consumed. Churches, book clubs, library author events, and craft shows may be a better place to get your book in the hands of readers.

Learn to evaluate the market for your book. Where and how to market your book is a complicated matter. Your publisher and marketing consultant are your best advisors.

As a Christian author, I meet my goal with each positive review and each comment that shows a life touched by what I wrote. The book is the Lord’s so let prayer, not ego drive the marketing.

Have you found bookstores to be a good source of sales? Are you published by a small publisher and must fight for shelf space?

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Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Norma-Gail/e/B00ILHXBAK/

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NormaGailwrites

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas Bookstore: http://store.lpcbooks.com/product/land-of-my-dreams/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-my-dreams-norma-gail/1119606864?ean=9781941103173

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Nurturing Your Creativity by Norma Gail

If you've toyed with writing fiction for even five minutes, you know how to play the "What if?" game to juice-up your creativity. Today, author Norma Gail shares some tips on how to boost that creativity beyond the first "What if?". -- Sandy

Norma: “Mom, what if?” My son peppered me with questions I couldn’t answer when he was small. Many of his ideas were impossible, but nurtured his creativity with Legos, Lincoln Logs, and a giant set of PVC pipe with connecting pieces with accessories called PipeWorks. Our house was littered with his creations, and his imaginary friend had a place at the table every night.

Fiction writers have a bit of the child in them. Ideas whirl through my head, compelling me to write them down. I wonder why someone decided to live out in the middle of nowhere. My practical, engineer husband says the wagon broke down, but my mind creates stories. Perhaps they had a wagon, but possibly it was a lone man on horseback, too weary to go on. Maybe the dead stump was a tree that shaded him on a hot day and he found the view to his liking. That dry creek bed may have held water. Altogether it made a home.

Creativity takes many forms, fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. In an age where vast sources of information are at our fingertips, each writer must find unique ways to communicate ideas a little different than everyone else. Most important is finding something you enjoy and can be passionate about.

Write often and on a variety of topics, allowing the words to flow with your inner editor turned off. Wait a day or two before editing. Look at how others put words together, and read out loud to hear how the words flow. Read other genres and get familiar with your thesaurus, a writer’s best friend for livening up your vocabulary.

Picture every detail of a scene using all of your senses. Use music or environment to put you in the mood for the scene. Remember how you felt in similar circumstances or talk to people who have experienced what you’re writing about. Watching movies or travel videos can help bring your scene to life.

Movies and television are full of ideas you can tweak to make your very own. Gather ideas from surroundings, the grocery store, airport, church, the outdoors, a shopping mall, almost anything can stimulate ideas or emotions your characters might feel. I found the idea for a scene from a fly fishing magazine my husband left lying open and a story he told me about one of his own fishing experiences. It turned out to be one of my favorite scenes.

Paying attention to people, your environment, and cultivating an awareness of your own emotions go a long way toward making your writing realistic and believable. Nurture your creativity by playing the “what-if” game. Fueling your imagination and vocabulary will make your writing creative and unique until it becomes irresistible to your readers.

© Norma Gail, June 23, 2015

Do you have a scene you struggled to imagine, or one that came to you in an odd way, that became a favorite? Any additional tips you can add for boosting your imagination?

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Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, set in Scotland and New Mexico released in April 2014. She has led weekly women’s Bible studies for 19 years. Her devotionals, poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, FaithWriters, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. She is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 38 years. They have two adult children.

www.normagail.org

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

https://plus.google.com/b/102717101441594679714/+Normagail/about/p/pub

http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459.Norma_Gail

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170/ or

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-my-dreams-norma-gail/1119606864 ?ean=9781941103173

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Make Them Think You Lived There: The Importance of Setting by Norma Gail

How can you make your setting real to your readers? Author Norma Gail provides seven tips from her own experience. -- Sandy

Norma: Can your readers smell the food and hear the sounds of the countryside? Setting is a critical feature of any novel, and should act as another character; drawing the reader in and making them feel the rain on their face. One of the greatest challenges in writing Land of My Dreams, my contemporary Christian romance, was to make the reader feel as if they were in Scotland, a country I only visited for two weeks.

I gathered a lot of information in order to see as much as possible on our trip. However, it wasn’t enough to make me an expert. Here are seven steps which helped me create a story world capable of convincing readers I had lived in Scotland:

First, if possible, travel to the place you’re writing about. When I went to Scotland I kept a trip diary, and we took over 700 photographs. Only a few are of the area where the book takes place because it never occurred to me that I would someday write a book about it.

Second, learn cultural details, music, food, speech, history. I filled my iPod with Scottish folk tunes and devoured tour books. And yes, I ate haggis.

Third, understand the weather. Rain is a part of Scottish life. Sunshine is as unique for them as rain is in my native New Mexico. Children played in the pouring rain wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts while I was bundled against the dreich weather, and hoping not to get drookit.

Fourth, learn something about how people talk. Basically, dreich is wet and rainy, and drookit is soaking wet. They use “Way In” instead of “Entrance,” and “Way Out” instead of “Exit.” When you order water the waiter will ask if you want “Still” or “Sparkling.” I was criticized for having male characters say it was a “lovely day,” but it is a common term for both men and women. There are websites of common Scottish/Gaelic names, slang, and phrases.

Fifth, I created a screen-saver of over 400 photos of the area where Land of My Dreams takes place, including scenery, historical places, road signs, shop windows, and animals. I can look at the photos and then write and revise until it feels right.

Sixth, create similes and metaphors that compare and contrast things familiar to your audience with something commonplace to the characters. For example, Kieran is drawn to Bonny “like a bee to heather.”

Last, find someone who has lived there. I found someone able to edit for Scottish content. Contemporary must be as accurate as possible because your readers can visit as it is today.

Efforts to make your story world appealing, realistic, and mood-setting are worth all the research that goes into creating it. When someone reads Land of My Dreams, I want them to smell the New Mexico chile roasting and hear the skirl of bagpipes.