Month: September 2013

Conflicted Hearts, D.G. Kaye

UNSUNG LULLABYE – Ode to Conflicted Hearts

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Conflicted Hearts Cover SMALL revisedThe cradle rocks, I am serene in these new surroundings; in this new world.

Peaceful it sounds, nothing in thought; for I am new here; not yet aware of the complications of life.

At first I crawl, then I take my first steps.
Confusion now stirs within, unsettling thoughts; the noise becomes louder.

I watch the children laugh and play as they are coddled by their mothers.

While my tummy churns, I do my chores and keep my words silent so that I may avoid the angry words for what I didn’t do well enough.

I’ve become a chess pawn in this game of life; a messenger between husband and wife.

The onus is on me to make it better; a child without the tools.

The hurts have tallied, enough guilt to carry for a lifetime.

It’s time to leave now and find my peace; in new surroundings, in a new world.

 

DGKaye©2013

writing tips

Turning Off The Noise- Writing

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WRITING

Getting back to writing……..ahhh. This is where I belong; back in my element. No computer, no phones, leaving aside the publishing work for a day………I got to write. I hadn’t worked on my second book for almost two weeks and found it calling out to me for days as the urge to get my pen back on paper was trumping my urgency to prepare for my first book’s publication. I know that every writer has their own style of how to organize their time and work. I know, I know, we must write everyday! But as the time comes closer to meeting my deadlines for November publication of Conflicted Hearts, my days and nights are all consumed with it.

Today was my ‘writer’s play day’. It was a glorious feeling to push everything else aside and just WRITE. The words never failed me, they continued to spill. I wrote a new chapter, three blog posts and an ode to my upcoming book. Oh how gratifying to know that I can still write, the clarity was there. If anything, the break had re-enforced my writing with lightning speed. These are the moments as writer’s, we dream of, as we create with no blocks to hinder our craft.

Total accomplishments for the day: Five hours writing = 3 blog posts, 3000 words for my book, one ode – priceless. A stellar day! Tomorrow, back to publishing!

DGKaye©2013

writing tips

And So It Begins………………….#Editing

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WRITING

I’m starting to understand those feelings that I have so often read about from many others.  That Old “Editing Feeling”.  You know, the one you get when you have sent your ‘baby’ – your manuscript to the editor to start the process of what Stephen King likes to call “murder your darlings”.  When I opened up the sample chapter I had forwarded to my editor before submitting the whole MS, and saw all those ‘red marks’, chop this, cut that, it hurt.  I know I was prepared for such slashings, but none-the-less it still hurt.  There were some good moments through it though, particularly when one page could get scathed by with no markings, that felt victorious. So as I await my work to come back to me in the next week, I am preparing for the work I will have cut out for me.  I just wanted to share my feelings of the ‘first coming’ and let you all know that no matter what must be done, you are going to feel pain. Just a thought.

DGKaye©2013

Reblogging is flattery

Looking to add some new plugins to Your WordPress?

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reblogging

Looking to add some new plugins to Your WordPress?

 

A helpful post from Jo Harrison about adding plugins.  There are so many plugins and if you are anything like me, you might find them so overwhelming and unfamiliar with many of them.  Here are just a few that are noteworthy……

 

http://bit.ly/18VIvSb

Reblogging is flattery

Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

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reblogging

A question we often ask when we hear about or are ourselves, faced with a tragedy or despair.  The answers are usually diverse and yet we tend to feel unsatisfied in the answer.  In his post on ‘The Hardest Sermon’, Rabbi Moffic tries to shed light on some answers.  I love to read his words of wisdom and although he is a Rabbi, his writings pertain to the human race and no particular denomination.

“Last year I began with a poem by Robert Frost. It was one of his more famous ones, “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.” Tonight let us begin with one of his more obscure poems. It calls out our task for this evening. It is entitled “Revelation.”…” http://bit.ly/1bBqoI1

Conflicted Hearts, D.G. Kaye

A Social Media Dilemma

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Conflicted Hearts Cover SMALL revisedAs I prepare my book for its upcoming launch in November, I find my head in twenty different directions.  Many decisions seem to crop up at this time regarding branding for my book, Conflicted Hearts.  It seems as though every decision is linked to another issue.

For example, timing your editor’s return of the manuscript, allowing the appropriate time for revisions and blocking yourself in the appropriate timeframe for the next edit; all the while working on a new website, which gets held back because the book cover is not yet ready, and so the trail continues.

In the process I have been trying to brand my author name, D.G. Kaye to connect with all my social media so it can be accurately listed on my website.  Every time you think you’re making some headway, another decisions pops up which can cause delays.

The question of the week for me was “Do I have to change my twitter handle?”  I have discussed this with a few author friends and my website designer.  The problem is that I have been using my original twitter handle since the days when I was an avid poker player.  I have built a nice following and to change that name now would entail me to repeatedly have to tweet and hope my followers will re-follow if I move.  It was on my mind for quite some time.  The advice given was split down the middle but one particular person asked me, how much of my book pertained to the days I was more involved in that world.  It got me thinking.

There was a ten year span when I worked in the casino industry and a part of that is in my book.  So I decided that perhaps if anyone were to read my book and wonder why the twitter name wasn’t my author name, perhaps they could relate it.

So in an homage to my poker days, I have decided to keep it.  Have any of you been challenged with these sorts of dilemmas when deciding how to brand yourselves?

Just a thought.

DGKaye©2013

Today's thoughts

How much is the Heart capable of holding?

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Today's thought

Things we carry in the pocket of our heart:

Love         – For all those in our life; past and present.

Pain          – For everyone we know that are hurting.

Hurt          – From all those who have slighted us along the way.

Guilt          – Infliction by those closest to us.

Joy             – From everyone and everything given to us.

Passion     – For all the things we love.

Memories – A lifetime full from as far back as we can remember.

Isn’t it remarkable, the amount of life that one organ which sustains us, is capable of holding?

Just a thought.

DGKaye©2013

Today's thoughts

Just a Thought on Plagiarism

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Today's thought

Plagiarism – An author’s nightmare.  I thought I’d just write a short note about it since it seems to be a topic which comes up a lot in various conversations and publications I follow.

Many authors are always worried about the vulnerability of the public exposure of their work to the trolling pirates out in cyber world.  Of course this is a concern for many, although there are others who feel it is a form of flattery and that if someone pirates your material it furthers exposure unto you; a free advertising, so to speak.

Authors are thus, put in a ‘Catch 22’  where we want our work publicized and on the same token, we worry about the thievery of our creations.  I think that there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice on the matter.  If we wish to share our creations with the world, we have to look at it as just another one of the many risky features of doing business.  Although it does concern me, okay, a lot, I am not going to let it stop me from sharing my creations with the world.

We can only do our best to keep our eyes and ears open and a helpful tool for us is to put our own author names in Google Alerts and plug in our book titles and then at least we can rely on Google to do a little bit of babysitting for us to enable us to get a heads up on such situations.  I hope this gives us all a little peace of mind.

DGKaye©2013