A Different Kind of Debut

As an unpublished writer, I dream of the day when I can announce my literary debut. Until then I'll keep working on my WiP little by little until I'm finished.

But that doesn't mean I can't have a different kind of debut.

All of my kids are runners of varying degree. My girls are involved with track and/or cross country. My son ran in high school and continues to do so for the love and fitness. While on break from college last summer, I witnessed his dedication to training, often in 90 degree weather after working 7 hours. This past fall, he flew home on his semester break, ran a local marathon (coming in first for his age group) with a time of 2:56:52 qualifying him to run the 2015 Boston Marathon if he so chooses. /bragging mom

I was so impressed with my daughters' dedication and my son's accomplishment that I secretly decided that I would start running myself in 2014. There was no way I was going to start out in the fall with winter ahead of me, so I announced that "maybe I would start running" after the winter when it got a little warmer. I got a lot of snickers and "that's nice" pats on the head. Nobody really believed I would start. But I did. You know what my first realization was after I bought new sneakers, charged up my iPod, and started jogging around the track?

Running is hard!

And the thing was, it wasn't the breathing that was hard, it was how my calves felt like lead balloons as I ran. In the beginning, I started at the track and decided I would run/walk for 1 mile (4 times around times = 1 mile). The first day, I ran around once and nearly collapsed, walking the rest of the mile. Once I built up to running a continuous (no walking in between) mile I was ready to tackle road running. My route is three miles of which I jog and walk when I have to. I've found that running on the street has been harder on my calves and knees because of the inclines, the harder surface, and uneven sidewalks. Not to mention avoiding puddles and trash cans! And so my recent strategy has been to alternate between running at the track (which can get monotonous) and on the street.

After about 2 months, I am able to run 2 miles straight now. I love that I'm making progress and more importantly that I'm strengthening my heart. Nobody is making fun of me now.

I have no marathon aspirations. My short term goal was to be able to run a mile and I reached it. My next goal, run in a 5K race. Long term? If I stick with this and my legs can handle it, maybe a half marathon in the future. We'll see. As much as I love writing, the progress I've made has been slow. I really needed something else in my life that I could feel successful at short term. Something to get me away from my computer, from the busyness of everyday life, something just for me.

Any runners out there? What advice would you give a running newbie?

Interview with Donna K. Weaver

I'm thrilled to welcome a long time friend and author of A CHANGE OF PLANS to my blog today. Donna and I met in cyberspace long before either of us began our writing journeys. We both share a passion for Harry Potter and were on the staff of The Leaky Cauldron website together, though in different areas of the forum. Donna has worked so hard to achieve her dream of writing and publishing a novel and I'm extremely happy for her.

Before getting to know Donna in a short interview, here's a look at her debut book.

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship's make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive.

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

Interview with Donna

1. Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and pinch yourself thinking, "I'm a published author!" I still can't believe it. It's funny because the book went live on Amazon early, and my sister-in-law got and read the book. Yet I hadn't received my own copies of it . How ironic that someone else held my baby before me?

2. What was your inspiration for A Change of Plans?
A dream. It had one with a guy and a girl on an island with the huge tree and a tree house. In the dream, they were strangers, though.

3. What is your favorite part of the writing process?
I don't outline in the traditional way. My outline's a 50,000 word first draft. I love sitting down to write and seeing where the story takes me. Even when I've thought I knew where the story was going to go, I'm frequently surprised.

4. What are you currently working on and can you tell us a little about it?
I'm editing a companion novel to A Change of Plans. It stars a secondary character--Jori--and begins about 80 pages into ACoP, where the characters go different paths. It's been an interesting experience, both writing a parallel story that goes beyond where ACoP ends but also writing from a male point of view. I'm also working on a short story about Lyn's best friend, Elle.

5. Other than writing, what's your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
When I'm alone, read. When I'm doing something with my husband, we like to go to movies or play video games.

6. Tell us a little about your writing process. Plotter or Pantser? PoV preference?
Since I talked about my Panstering earlier, I'll address point of view. I was actually 12,000 words into ACoP as third person, but I could tell it wasn't working. I'd never really considered writing in first person because it seemed so ... personal? Even though it's not. But once I started writing in first person, it was the right fit for this story. The other 4 1/2 books I've written are all third person.

7. Are there any "must haves" you need while writing? (favorite snack, music, comfy chair cushion...) Quiet. I don't mean silence. I love having music that fits the characters or scenes. I just can't have people talking to me when I'm writing. I used to share my office with my husband, but he's a regular Chatty Cathy, and I couldn't take it. Now I have my own office. Which comes in handy since I got Dragon software for the last NaNo (that's when I wrote Jori's book). No way could I talk a story if I had an audience.

8. You knew I had to ask this...Who is your favorite character from the Harry Potter series and why? Harry. I love that kid. I loved learning his history as the story unfolded. Jo was so wonderful the way she eased us into Harry's back story and showed us things even he hadn't known about. I remember when I was reading Prisoner of Azkaban, and I realized the screaming he heard around Dementors was his mother's death cries. Or how happy I was that Harry's Patronus took the form of James's Animagus because of the connection it gave Harry to his father. Or the scene in the hospital at the end of Goblet of Fire (that didn't end up in the film) where Mrs. Weasley held Harry as he cried--almost like a mother. *sniff* Dang. Now I'm going to have to go back and listen to the books again--for like the bazillionth time.

Thank you, Donna for stopping by. Congratulations! I can't wait to read your book!

For more info about Donna K.Weaver, you can visit her at her awesome blog, Weaving A Tale or Two.

A CHANGE OF PLANS is now available at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Rhemalda Publishing
Goodreads page
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Cover Reveal: A Change of Plans

Today, I have the honor of revealing the book cover of a dear friend's debut novel. Without further ado, may I introduce A Change of Plans, an adventure romance by author, Donna  K. Weaver, published by Rhemalda Publishing.

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive. 

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

Author Bio:

Donna K. Weaver is a Navy brat who joined the Army and has lived in Asia and Europe. Because she sailed the Pacific three times as a child, she loves cruising and wishes she could accrue enough vacation time to do more of it with her husband.

At fifty, Donna decided to study karate and earned her black belt in Shorei Kempo.

After recording city council minutes for twenty years, Donna decided to write something a little longer and with a lot more emotion--and kissing.

Donna and her husband reside in Utah, they have six children and eight grandchildren who live all over the world.

________________________

Your cover is gorgeous, Donna! I can't wait to read it!

A Change of Plans is due to be released on June 1, 2013.
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