Sweet Sadie Therapy, An Author's Inspiration

Sweet Sadie Therapy

By Kay Springsteen

Sadie is a 3-foot tall, 28-pound bundle of pure delightful energy. She’s pretty typical for a little girl just over 2 years old. But she has one thing that sets her apart from most of her peers. She shouldn’t be here. In the autumn of 2008, my son and daughter-in-law were in a horrible car accident, when Jared lost control of their car and went over a mountain embankment. They became airborne and came to a stop only when their car struck a boulder the size of a small truck.

The passenger side of the car took the brunt of the impact and before they got out, the car caught on fire. Faced with the fear of fire, Jared had no choice but to pull his wife from the wreckage himself. By the time help arrived, the fire was out. Nicole was taken to the hospital via helicopter and Jared followed by ambulance.

My daughter-in-law told the hospital staff that pregnancy was always a possibility but a pregnancy test was negative. Therefore, Nicole was taken for x-rays and an MRI. With many broken bones and some internal injuries, Nicole required multiple surgeries to repair the bones in her right arm and wrist. She was also placed into a splint for a broken ankle. Aside from experiencing the impact itself, Nicole was exposed to anti-inflammatory meds, pain meds, anesthesia for the surgeries, and radiology procedures.

Six weeks later, we found out Nicole was pregnant—had been pregnant through the entire ordeal of the crash and her recovery. Doctors warned us that the odds of the pregnancy resulting in a full term healthy baby were slim. And yet, the pregnancy continued. My daughter-in-law took care of herself and saw the doctor faithfully, and still we were warned that there could be problems with the baby after she—we found out we would have a girl in December—was born.

But on May 6, 2009, Sadie Katherine Ann Tate entered the world at a petite 5 pounds 8 ounces, and went home soon after. She is now a livewire who enjoys spending time with the people she loves, loves to read with Mamaa’ (that would be me) and loves to play and run like any other 2-year-old. I think all children are sweet toppings to the sundaes of our lives, but having a baby in my life who beat a lot of odds to get here makes her the chocolate sprinkles on top of the whipped cream. Whenever I feel a little blue, I have only to spend an afternoon with my granddaughter. A little Sadie Therapy goes a long, long way.

Releasing today Heartsent, features Sadie on the cover, along with my daughter, Sadie’s Aunt Mary. I suppose when she’s a teenager and realizes we used her as the cover model for a baby boy, she might have something to say…then again, she does like fixing the car with Daddy.

With her strict no-dating-within-the-department rule, Firefighter Lina Standish has a nickname in the Salem Hills Fire Department: Lina “Standoffish”. But Firefighter Kevin Daly has had his eye on Standoffish ever since a locker room incident nearly a year earlier, and now he plans to break all her rules. With the help of his niece and a hot-air balloon, he gets Lina’s attention and she agrees to “hang out” with Kevin as friends off duty, to take it slow and see where things go between them. Then Lina's life is turned upside down by a surprise miracle who doesn't even have a name. Kevin’s ready to step up, but is Lina?

DISCOUNTS DISCOUNTS DISCOUNTS

While we have no new releases this week it is with joy we bring you discounts. Four of our novels are discounted at http://www.astraeapress.com. They are Into the Ether, Heartsight, Spartan Heart One and The Legend of the Ocenia Dragon.  Details of each wonderful novel is below and after you've been thoroughly enticed click the title and it will take you right to the buying page.

Kay Springsteen....Training our Vocabulary

Stay, That! Roll Over, Smiled!

Training Our Vocabulary

by Kay Springsteen

I used to train terriers for agility performance. I love the discipline a dog demonstrates when running the agility course. One day, I decided to run one of my moms and her six untrained puppies with her. Thus began the fun. The mom knew what to do. Each puppy, however, wanted to explore in a different direction. The lesson for this first time working together was simple. Learn to walk as a group in the direction their leader (AKA me) wanted them to go. An hour later, most of the puppies were ready for a nap but we HAD managed to walk as a group a couple of times around the perimeter of my 2.25 acres.

Words are like puppies; untrained babies with minds of their own, who more often than not move independently through our manuscripts, and yet somehow at the end of the piece, we've managed to guide them into a readable, enjoyable story. But what about that training along the way? Consider our puppies. We have the top of the class, active, expressive, visions of discipline. These puppies go where we want them to go and perform in perfect precision. They look good doing it and they make the rest of the group look good. A true delight to the reading eye. We'll call these Stomp, Snatch, Gape, Grip, and Perch. Then we have the puppies who often don't quite live up to our expectations but sometimes they fit in the right place. We'll name these Walk, Take, Look, Hold, and Sit. Then we have those bad puppies. There are a few in every group. Let's call them Real, That, Turn, Was, and Very. And there is almost always one who feels he is the star of the show. This might be a terrific pup, guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. We'll refer to this one as Star, but he usually has a different name, like Veer or Pivot However, because this little Star is so great, we tend to let him take center stage and he shows up a lot, taking over the show and preventing some of the other good puppies from showing how magnificent they can be.

As authors, the words we choose and the way we put them together is our voice. The best words, when overused, can become the ugliest words. And when commonly overused words are tossed into the puppy training arena, a great story can become no more than a good one, and a good story can sour into mediocre. It's not enough to know synonyms exist for various words we tend to use too much. We have to learn to think with an expanded vocabulary so it becomes second nature to use it in our writing. We also need to learn to shelve our high-use words every once in a while, even our Stars. I often get caught up writing the story to the point where I just write and stop worrying what words I'm using to get the tale down. If the thoughts are coming too quickly to consider various choices of words, I let it happen then go back later and look for word echoes and the undisciplined use of such words as "that," or "very," as well as words ending in -ly or -ing, and so forth. I have also learned to keep a list of my most overused words and as I notice others, I add them to that list. When I'm finished with my manuscript, the first thing I do in the editing process is search for my most overused words.

If you think of your manuscript as the yard where the puppies are learning, and of you, the author, as the puppy trainer, consider the basic commands for dog training. Sit, stay, roll over, lay down, fetch.

Sit:  Okay to leave in the story.

Stay:  Better if kept out.

Roll over:  Insert a synonym.

Lay down:  Put the word in timeout (a little use is okay).

Fetch: Think of a completely new (or new to you) way to make this statement.

Eliminating overuse of words is a three-step project. My process goes a bit like this:

I.  Make myself aware

            A.  Look for word echoes (especially new ones) during editing process, add words to overused list.

            B.  Watch for other authors' most used words as I conduct market research (read).

2.  Expand vocabulary

            A.  Look for intriguing/new words in books/articles I read.

            B.  Try to think and speak with new/replacement words.

3.  Stop playing favorites.

            A.  Try to think with expanded vocabulary as I type.

            B.  Both on daily edits and on the full manuscript edit, do a word search for my known favorites.

It should be noted that not EVERY instance of your most used words should be eliminated. The trick is to cut down on usage, not eliminate it. If you take the overused words out altogether, you will only find yourself limited into a new favorite word or expression.

Thanks for stopping by Kay and sharing all these amazing ideas for getting our vocab refined and trained. For more info on Kay and her books just check out the links below. 

Blog:  http://kayspringsteen.wordpress.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kay-Springsteen-Author-of-Romance/143469035711422

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Purchases of Heartsight made through the Astraea Press website between March 1 and June 1 will generate a $1 donation to the USO for the Wounded Warrior Program.

Heartsight will be available through the following:

Astrea Press                                     http://www.astraeapress.com

Barnes & Noble                                http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Smashwords                                     http://www.smashwords.com/

Amazon                                             http://www.amazon.com

All Romance eBooks                      http://www.allromancebooks.com/

Terrific Tuesdays...Welcome Kay Springsteen and her Heartsight

Heartsight by Kay Springsteen

On a secluded beach in North Carolina, three lonely people find hope in each other.

Trish Evers is an artist and single mother, who has inherited her grandmother's Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina coastal town. Though she must sell the house, she decides to bring her daughter to the beach for one last summer vacation in her childhood town.

Bella is a six-year-old girl who has Down syndrome. Rejected by her father, Trish, is the only parent she's ever known. Bella likes to explore the beach and has a tendency to wander off. One day, Bella goes exploring on her own, and Trish finds her in the company of an intriguing stranger.

Dan Conway is a U.S. Marine, who had been born into a family of Marines. Now blind as a result of combat injuries and unable to "suit up," he feels he no longer has a purpose in life. He's come home to the beach, where he spends his days in solitude. Dan must learn to believe in himself and to love life again, which he begins to do through his interactions with Bella and Trish. When a hurricane strikes, and Bella wanders off again, her only hope for rescue is Dan.

Working within the confines of his blindness, he must overcome his fear of failure and recall his training in order to search for the little girl and bring her to safety.

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Author bio:

Kay Springsteen grew up in Michigan but transplanted to the south about 10 years ago and now resides in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia with her five small dogs. Two of her four children live nearby, a married son who has a daughter of his own, and one of her twins. The other twin lives just outside of USMC Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Her oldest daughter still resides in Michigan. When she's not writing, she is transcribing and editing medical reports. Besides being an avid reader, hobbies include photography, gardening, hiking and camping, and of course spending time with her terrific G-baby. She is a firm believer in happily ever after endings and believes there is one out there for everyone; it just may not be exactly what you expect or think you want.

A random fact about your story.  The bedtime story Dan tells Bella is one I made up years ago to tell my own children one fretful night.

A random fact about you as an author. I am a camera geek and when I go shooting, I carry no less than five cameras and lenses.
Favorite line in the story (can be funny, romantic, etc).  "God, if you're there, this would be the time for a miracle."

How did you get the idea for your book? A combination of animated movie from the 1990s, a blind supporting character in a current favorite TV show, and the inspiring stories of wounded warriors who desire to stay in military service made me realize I wanted a blind war hero. Everything else fell into place and I drew on many of my own life's experiences in the writing. .

What are you currently working on? A story between two artists who meet on Mackinac Island in Michigan. Of course, there are histories and complications.

Is this your first published book? Heartsight is my first published novel.
  
Vanilla or Chocolate - A little of each. I always order a twist when I go to DQ.

 As a child what did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher and I even got as far as student teaching but then realized I was not cut out for it...then I had five kids lol.

 What was the scariest moment of your life? When my kids and nephew were in an inflatable raft heading out to the middle of Lake Huron in 65-degree water (trust me, that's chilly) and no one was there but me who could save them. I got into water up to my chest and had a hard time breathing because I have asthma. The raft was still over 100 feet away and still traveling with the offshore wind, and I said out loud, "Oh, God, I need help." I MEANT it casually, as people all to frequently use the phrase, "Oh, God." But then I was at the raft without realizing how I got there. I no longer felt the cold of the lake water, and was able to tow them in. The cold only hit after they were all safe.  

How do you develop your plots and characters? There is no one way. I find an inspiration - can be from music, a news story, something I see on the street, a dream...and I let the idea form and stew for a while before I do anything with it. Then as the various pieces begin to fall into place, I start research.

Do you listen to music while writing? I make soundtracks for my stories, including a main theme, and themes for various scenes and characters.

Plotter or Pantser? Why? Plotter but not in the way you would imagine. I always have a beginning and an end. In the planning process, I figure out some of the stops along the way but then sometimes when writing what seemed like a gem of an idea turns to glass and the plot twists and bends in a different direction. I do a rough outline before I start and I know where my characters are going, pretty much how they will get there. I do extensive characterization and really get to know each character before I start writing.

Do you have a writing routine? I write anywhere, anytime, often in my head while doing other things.

 What inspires you? Everything has the potential to inspire me.

 Tell us something about yourself that your readers might not expect. I have 2000 songs on my MP3 player ranging from classical to new age, to classic rock to new rock, to pop, to stuff from the 1940s, to country, and even a little Rap. Sometimes, when I have a question about what to do next, I ask the MP3 gods by setting the player to random and hitting "next." You will have to guess whether I listen to the answer and follow the advice of an electronic device set on random or not.

 Favorite Muppet? Gonzo.

 Favorite movie and why? Too many to name. I am a movie junkie.

 What are your goals for this year? To finish two more full length novels, one I'm in the middle of and one that's just an idea on the drawing board, and to rework a third.

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Blog:  http://kayspringsteen.wordpress.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kay-Springsteen-Author-of-Romance/143469035711422

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Purchases made through the Astraea Press website between March 1 and June 1 will generate a $1 donation to the USO for the Wounded Warrior Program.

Will be available through the following:

Astrea Press                                     http://www.astraeapress.com

Barnes & Noble                                http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Smashwords                                     http://www.smashwords.com/

Amazon                                             http://www.amazon.com

All Romance eBooks                      http://www.allromancebooks.com/