Nancy Pennick's Blog

There's an old song that goes something like, summertime and the living is easy...but I find itquite the opposite! Graduations, weddings and baby showers seem to take over the season. Add gardening, outdoor chores, and grass cutting to the list and it makes you thankful for longer days!
Summer is my favorite season despite of the list above. I love walking outside without worrying what coat to where or if I need boots. It's a time to sit on the deck and just enjoy the sounds and smells of the season.
I hope everyone's enjoying what's left of summer because we know what's coming! Take time for yourself and do something you want to do.
Me? I created a shade garden this summer. I worked on my in-home office, making it more to my style. It's amazing what a bucket of white paint can do!
Maybe we need to get back to those lazy, hazy days of summer. It goes too fast, and sometimes we need to stop and smell the flowers.

Winter greeted us early two falls ago in what I like to call “Flinter” – a mash-up of Fall and Winter together. Snow began in October and never ceased until April. And to top it off? This was the second year it happened.
My son had just graduated from college and worked at Barnes and Noble while looking for a full-time job. Since he wanted to buy presents and save money, he told his dad and me to shop around the store and make a list for him. He could use his discount to buy presents.
When I found the puzzle section, the Thomas Kinkade Beauty and the Beast puzzle called to me. I always liked puzzles as a kid, and it might be a long winter again. It might be just the thing to distract me. I put it, and only it, on my list.
“That’s all you want?” my son huffed. “How about a book?”
“Well, I’m around books all the time so I wanted something different. It will be a great distraction when I need a break from writing,” I answered.
On Christmas Day, I got my puzzle and other gifts. I planned to start working on it in January and had the perfect place. The much-underused dining room.
As the snow continued to fall, I smiled as I knew I had a distraction. I opened the box and let the 750 pieces fall to the table. Where to start? I hadn’t done a puzzle in years. I panicked as I looked at those cardboard shapes staring up at me, laughing and challenging me to try to solve the puzzle.
I am an organized person, so the first thing I did was turn them all over to the correct side and study them. Nothing made sense. Nothing looked like the picture. Then it came to me. Start with the outline, the outer edge. So, I searched for all the flat-sided pieces and grouped them together. By the time my husband and son came home from work, I couldn’t wait to show them my progress.
“That doesn’t go there,” my son said.
“And the shape isn’t an even rectangle,” my husband replied.
At that moment, I knew I would never complete this on my own. It would be sitting on my dining room table twenty years from now. Then I noticed my son fixing the outer edge, and my husband hunting for pieces. We didn’t say it aloud, but it became a family effort to finish the puzzle.
I went to a craft store and bought a large foam board to work on. We sorted the pieces by color and recognizable shapes like trees, clothes or faces. The work continued for the month of January. One person would wander into the dining room and look for a few pieces, another would join them.
That’s when I realized choosing a gift of a puzzle was much more than that. It created another memory before my son leaves home for that very last time. The joking and the high fives when we completed a section will never be forgotten.
I recommend giving a large puzzle a try, with family or friends or neighbors or whoever you’re close to. You forget about texts and messages, the tweets of the world and pictures people are posting. It’s as if you’re immersed in another world, a throwback one, when people had to communicate with each other and work together.
Once we finished the puzzle, I had a great feeling of accomplishment. “No more puzzles,” I said. “One was fun, but that was enough.”
So, on this day, January 29, National Puzzle Day, remember these words. “Mom, I’m home! And guess what? It’s National Puzzle Day, and they were all 20 per cent off at the store.” His hand reaches inside a bag and pulls out not one, but a box containing four Thomas Kinkade Disney puzzles.
Happy Puzzle Day!

It's Leap Day! Time to celebrate! My character from 29 , Lucas Montgomery, turns another year older today.
Last Leap Year, an idea for the story came to me.
Lucas wasn't going to be the focal point of the story. I wanted Allie Sanders to be the one to discover the secrets of her mysterious loner. She would be the one that had to stand up to her military brother and protect Lucas.
In the end, she would have to make the most difficult choice of her young life.
It may have taken four years to complete and publish, but that's only one year in Leap time.
29 is a great book for Leap Year or any other year, for that matter.
Happy Birthday, Lucas.

If you read my blog, you’re aware I’m reading the Outlander series. Time traveler Claire meets Jamie the Scottish Highlander in the 1700s. I’ve also read other historical novels with a Scotsman as a lead character for comparison.

Here are the things I’ve learned about these men.

They always wear their plaid. It involves much draping around the body with a brooch as a finishing touch. Taking it off is much easier. Just loosen the pin and the entire outfit falls to the floor. Very convenient.

Speaking of convenience, the plaid can be used as a sleeping bag and even wrap up two people for warmth and comfort. Also, since the kilt is made a certain way, when nature calls just lift the skirt. (P.S. No underwear.)

The men love to say “verra” a lot. I think you can figure out it means very. The word pops up a lot as I read. I sometimes find myself slipping and using the word when I speak.

The Scots are either dark-haired, handsome and strong or red-haired, handsome and strong. What’s not to like?

They speak Gaelic. I’ve tried to phonetically sound it out as I read but finally stumble over the words until I, hopefully, get to the translation. The women in the book are usually English so they have no idea what their man is saying. They usually think it’s something quite romantic or complimentary. He could be telling her, “I’m going out to shoot a deer and I’ll be back in time for supper. After that you can help me skin and prepare the animal.”She nods, smiles and fawns all over him because it sounds so wonderful. He leaves thinking he has a pretty awesome wife.

The men end up using their dirk in some way. Now, it’s not what you’re thinking. A dirk is a knife they carry at all times. It may be used when fighting to defend oneself or kill food for dinner. It comes in verra handy.

So how could you not love a Scotsman? He is a perfect heroic figure for a romance novel or a historical book. And as you can see, I’ve learned a lot. Reading can take you so many places. I’ve enjoyed meeting-and loving-these Scotsmen.

I just finished the third book of the Outlander series, Voyager. I can't stop thinking about these books and am holding back on buying the next one. There's a lot to absorb in these novels. The first in the series was 560 pages, but Voyager was over 1,000.

The author tends to go into quite a bit of detail. In fact, I could use less details. Get on with the story! I've learned a lot of history, too. Mostly about the failed attempt of the Scottish Highlanders trying to regain the throne for Bonny Prince Charles in the 1740's.

The book is a time travel novel, too. Clair Randall accidentally steps through one of the stones at an ancient stone circle while visiting Scotland with her husband. It takes her back to 1743 where she meets husband #2, Jamie. There is too much story to sum up in a few sentences, so I won't try.

If you're not a reader and think the story line is interesting, Starz has turned the books into a series. My husband has watched and liked it. Although, be forewarned, I had to skip over some scenes in the book and knew I couldn't watch during the series. There are highly mature themes of a sexual nature in these books--Outlander especially.

The story of Jamie and Clair continues on for eight books. I thought I could stop after book one. But the need to read the next kept gnawing at the back of my mind. The characters stayed with me. Such a good lesson for writers. Shouldn't all good books do that?

So tell me, what are you reading today?

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway

Remember The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? Mickey Mouse played the part of the Apprentice in the Disney movie--Fantasia. Mickey, the young apprentice of the sorcerer Yen Sid, attempts some of his master's magic tricks after the man leaves for the night. he puts on the magic hat and commands the broom to do his work--carry water to the cauldron. Only something goes wrong. The broom doesn't stop. So Mickey grabs an ax and chops it into pieces. Problem solved, right? Nope. The pieces turn into more brooms that bring in more water. He doesn't know how to control them. Once the brooms start flooding the place, Mickey is over his head.

Sound familiar? We all say, “Oh, I could do that”, when someone else is doing it. “That looks easy” is another comeback. But is it? Mickey thought so, and look how that turned out.

Sitting down to write a book isn’t an easy task. I tried to talk myself out of it. I had an argument going on in my head as I walked to the computer. You can’t write a book. Who do you think you are? The other side of me pushed on. I have a good idea. I’ll start writing and see what happens.

The brooms kept bringing the ideas in and dumping them in my brain. Could I keep up? Sort them all out? Turn them into a book? There was no master handbook, no guide.

Well, what happened was my first published book, Waiting for Dusk. I still had a lot to learn, but I took the first step. I had no idea how many words were in a book when I first started writing, but I did know the genre—Young Adult. I thought I had a good handle of the English language, always getting good grades in the subject. But I had to look up and refresh my memory on many topics. Commas were the worst. So much to still learn!

When I finished the book, I felt proud. When I got my first edits, I cringed. How could I ever master the craft?

I don’t ever want to get overwhelmed like Mickey or in over my head. He couldn’t keep up with those brooms pouring water on the floor. Bucket after bucket kept coming. Thank goodness the sorcerer eventually showed up.

When writing a book, the sorcerer never shows up. I think that’s Hemingway’s point. There isn’t one designated master in the writing world. If there was, people would try to copy and we wouldn’t get diversity. Not everyone likes the same cup of tea.

Some people may rave over the recent bestseller, while others pan it. Writing is subjective. Everyone has their own opinions. So I say, keep writing. Strive to be the master, but never stop learning.

The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
—Stephen King

When I first started writing I searched for just the right adverb to describe an action. Adding “ly” to many words turned them into adverbs. Happy becomes Happily, Jealous—Jealously, Lazy—Lazily, you get my point. Many adverbs, but not all, end with “ly”. Words like almost, never, always qualify, too.

Imagine my surprise--after amassing the greatest list of adverbs known to man--to find you should not use them when writing a story. A writer needs to describe the action instead of using an adverb. Here’s an example.

“You picked him over me?” he asked angrily.

“You picked him over me?” he asked as his eyes widened and face grew red. He crossed his arms, spun on his heel and stormed away.

I’ve become obsessed looking for adverbs in novels. I forget to read the text. I nod my head up and down in approval when I read a description instead of seeing a single “ly” word. When I do see an adverb, I cringe. Then I practice in my head how it could be corrected. It’s not an easy task. One way is to envision the person doing the action and explain what you see.

I think Steven King is sending a message. Adverbs are the easy way out. When it comes to writing, nothing is easy. If you get writer’s block stop what you’re doing. Walk away from the computer, the typewriter or notepad. Go do something else. Whatever you do, don’t revert back to your old ways. Remember, the road to hell is paved with adverbs.

Free. We tend to see that word more and more these days in the book world. Self-published authors offer up their books for free in order to capture attention. I subscribe to Book Bub and they send me a daily list of free to low cost books. The books can be from top selling authors to self-published.

How does an author make a living on their books? I don’t think they can anymore with all the choices out there. Maybe the top 1% can, but not the rest of us. But the reason we write is not to make money. The story just has to get out there. The ideas are swirling in our heads. The characters are pounding on the door begging to get out.
I've had the privilege of releasing a free short story. I love my publisher. She had the confidence in my series to create a cover, format the story and get it out there for free.
I never thought I’d be so excited about giving something away for free. But here is the link for “Taking Chances”, a short story from the Waiting for Dusk series. You don’t have to read the series to enjoy the story. The POV is from my male main character, Andrew. The reader will follow his day, the day he met the love of his life, Kate. Enjoy!

Find it here!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

I admit I am sensitive. I get my feelings hurt very easily. So why put myself through the torture of rejection?
The fear of rejection was the hardest thing to overcome after I wrote my first book. When you write, you’re alone in your own little world, happily writing your story. The next step was the scary part—getting it out there. From what I read, you needed an agent to get published and be successful.

Agents are very good at rejection. They have all different ways of saying your book is not for them. They also suggest that someone else may like it even if it’s not right for them.
My first rejection letter came in the mail. I read it over and over, letting it sink in. It took a few days to get over but I realized if I was going to get published, I had to take the rejection.

I needed to develop my own personal plan to get over this fear. I had to become my own life coach. I knew I needed pep talks and I was the only one who could do it. I began a list in my head of what had to be done.

The first thing I had to do was not care so much. This wasn’t personal. It’s a business. Don’t take it to heart.
I became my own cheerleader. I assured myself it was okay and I’d live to see another day.

I had to accept the rejection. Most came by e-mail and I saved them all. When one came along, I added it to a folder marked “Queries”. Read them and move on.
There’s a great song out now from the Disney movie, Frozen. Its title, Let it Go, says it all. Don’t dwell on the rejection.

Imagine my surprise when I finally got an offer to publish my book! I had to read it over carefully because I was so used to skimming the contents for the rejection. If I had given into my fear, I wouldn’t be here now, telling you about my young adult series, Waiting for Dusk.

I recently read a story about a young girl who went to her mother and asked, “Why bother trying anymore?” The mother went to the kitchen and filled three pots with water. She placed an apple in one, an egg in another and finally tea into the last, bringing them to a boil. The girl didn’t understand why her mom did that. Her mother said it taught something about facing challenging times. The daughter shook her head, confused. The mother explained. The apple went into the water hard and came out soft and spongy. The egg was hard and firm. However, the tea transformed the water into something good, healing and beneficial.

The mother then asked the daughter what she would do when she was faced with the trials of life. Would she be similar to the apple and fall apart? Or grow hard like the egg? Or perhaps, like the tea, turn your trials into triumph, something of value.
The story can be applied to all obstacles in our life. Which would you choose? I’ve always been a tea lover myself.

I recently read something a friend posted. It said that everyone isn't your friend. Just because they hang around or say they have your back, doesn't mean it’s so. People pretend well. So know your inner circle.

I don’t know if she was having a bad day or making a statement. It is something many of us deal with in our lives and if you’re a sensitive person, it bothers you more. If you’re someone that can let it roll off your back, I envy you.

When I started teaching my mom bought me a mug to have in my classroom. It had a picture of cartoon turkeys with the saying, Don’t let the turkeys get you down. I had to smile every time I looked at it. I tried to use that as my motto ever since.

We start off life thinking everyone’s our friend and as the years go on, we learn differently. People will disappoint. Some will turn their backs. Someone you thought was a friend didn't consider you one. Those are called life lessons. And maybe that’s what helps me write.

My personal experiences find their way into my stories. Characters take on traits of people I've known—good and bad. Disappointment and betrayals make great story lines.

There’s also the other side of the coin. Your inner circle. It can be large or small. It doesn't matter. When things get you down, you know you can rely on them. They become the characters in the story who are your heroes or the ones that give great advice.

Life’s a journey, a bumpy one at that. When you come to a major pothole it might be time to get out that coffee cup. Fill it with your favorite beverage, lean back and take a good look at those turkeys. Take a sip and a deep breath. Then take another look. Sometimes you need to just let it go. There’s no way to fix it. It may take a short time…or maybe quite a while. Whatever it is the turkeys did….don’t let them get you down.