Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Exciting book news!

Happy Tuesday, friends. ☺

Today I'm honored to be the first stop on author Martin Willoughby's blog tour. Martin and I have been friends for quite some time now, and I'm thrilled that he invited me to help with the recent release of his book, TEMPERS FUGIT.

Isn't this a great cover?
 Click here to go to the Amazon page.

Martin has joined me at my blog today to share his useful (and hilarious) writing advice, How Not To Tear Your Hair Out When Writing. Take it away, Martin...

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First of all, thank you to Dana for hosting me today and for being the first gullible victim...errr...first reliable friend to host me on my tour of the world's blogs to celebrate the launch of my comedy novel, TEMPERS FUGIT.

As you can see from my photo, I'm not good at avoiding tearing my hair out, or at least I wasn't. Over the past few years, I've developed several methods to lower stress and anxiety and, thereby, remove the moments when I place my hands on my head, grip, then pull out what little hair I have remaining.

1. Shave it off. If you have no hair, you have nothing to pull. Yes, I admit it's a bit drastic, but it does work. On the downside, it doesn't help long term and wouldn't suit everyone, especially the ladies, which is why I came up with...

2. Wear a swimming cap. Far less drastic but not as effective, though I did find myself ripping it off, throwing it on the floor, and jumping up and down on it like a crazed kangaroo. Also, when tearing it off my head, I pulled a few hairs out as well. So I moved on to option...

3. Walk away from the computer. I went and did something else for a while, anything to take my mind off the frustration. Read, wash up, bathe, wrestle an alligator, start World War 3, etc. Alternatively I would write down an idea that had been going round my head for a while and sketch it out using pictures. I got into severe trouble once when I kidnapped two people and forced them to act out several scenes from an upcoming book. Turns out that making people act out your stories in front of you is illegal, so I went back to writing. Still, I learnt a lot about police procedure, the law, and how not to act in court. This led me on to...

4. Reminding myself that there will always be bad days/weeks. The good thing about these days is they pass if you don't fight them. I found that if I tried to force inspiration and ability into my body, it gave energy to the negativity and helped it to last a long time. By accepting it as a bad day and typing what little I could, however bad, it lost the will to live and left me alone within a few hours or, at worst, a couple of days. Finally, there's number...

5. Get (almost) everything done ahead of time. If you can get something done, do it. Okay, there'll be days when you can't get something done, such as the last week before a book launch and your Internet connection goes down, you get yourself involved in a play that requires you to be out till midnight for five nights, etc., but this passes and teaches you a valuable lesson.

When I ignore these pieces of advice, things go wrong; when I follow them, the last three at least, things go reasonably well. After all, nothing ever goes completely, totally right, does it?

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Martin Willoughby is an author of some repute and a legend in his own lunchtime. When not writing, he fixes computers, raises teenage children, and acts in an amateur theatre group, where he's always cast as the baddy. He's won many awards in his lifetime, including an Oscar for best actor which he received from his mother as a Christmas present many years ago. TEMPERS FUGIT is his first book; his second, APOLLO THE THIRTEENTH, will be released later this year to even more fanfare and approval. You can stalk him on Twitter (@Willabywriter) or via his blog, From Sand to Glass.

50 comments:

  1. If ever there were a title in search of a story, that's the one. Sounds promising! You're a good friend, Dana, to help Martin launch his book.

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  2. You're such and amazing friend, Dana:) and good luck to Martin for launching his book:)

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    1. That's nice of you to say. I think it's important to support our fellow writers. :)

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    2. Isn't she just and thank you for the wishes.

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  3. Nice to meet you Martin! Any friend of Dana's is a friend of mine :)

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  4. Awesome!
    I think I would have to wear a swimming cap. I'm far too vain when it comes to my hair, I know. But it's one of my best features!! :D

    Sometimes I just have to step away from the computer too. Too much connection makes me go a little insane.

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    1. Stepping away is good, just make sure there are no pets standing behind when you do.

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    2. p.s. And your hair looks wonderful. I'm SOOOOO jealous

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    3. I agree: You do have beautiful hair!

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  5. I'll have to try your swimming cap trick next time I'm ready to pull my hair out!

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    1. I think it's a great idea. :)

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    2. It doesn't always work (see photo above), but it's worth a try.

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  6. Great cover and great advice. The book sounds awesome. Congratulations and nice to meet you, Martin!

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    1. Be sure to check out his blog. He posts some great stuff.

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    2. The book IS awesome...and so am I, but I'm too modest to admit it.

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  7. I loved all the great advice. I look forward to reading the book. It sounds like it will be brilliant!!

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  8. Oh, I love the witty title!

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    1. It's great, isn't it? :)

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    2. It comes from a witty man...at least I think heard everyone correctly when they told me that.

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  9. What a fun post and great advice!

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  10. You have some wonderful followers Dana. It's a real pleasure to be here and kick off the tour.

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    1. I have the best followers ever! I'm so glad I had the chance to host you today.

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  11. Hi Dana, Hello Martin!

    Congratulations Martin! Thanks for sharing advice.

    Nas

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  12. I really like that cover! Thanks for the advice... #5 is my favorite... now if I only will take it!!

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    1. Thank you Cheryl. It took a few days to create with the advice of some online friends, but it's all my own work.

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    2. That's a hard one for me too, Cheryl. Happy Tuesday!

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  13. I practice #3 often, and it always, always works!!

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  14. Hilarious post!!! I definitely walk away from my projects now and then - probably too often, and my kids actually volunteered to act out a scene for me once . . . and then they added some of their own thoughts to the storyline . . .

    Great post!

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    1. Your kids acted scenes out? Way to go. I wish my kids would, but then they are teenagers.

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    2. Tyrean: I guess everyone's a critic. ;)

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  15. Will look for the book...I like his humor in the blip he wrote.

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  16. ha ha ha - Loved the first 2 advice.
    have to get hold of the book!

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  17. This is exciting! I love the idea of getting things done ahead of time. That's what I like to do.

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    1. I do, too. I just wish I could learn to be better about it.

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