Carmen DeSousa

First of all, let me preface this post by saying I'm not complaining, and by no means do I expect anyone to feel sorry for me. Prior to publishing my first book, I'd written four novels and had two on the way. The reason, all I did was write. I'd just walked away from a fourteen-year career, both of my kids were still in school, and hubby worked a full-time, drive-to-work-five-days-a-week job. Money was tight without my income, so even if I wanted to do something, there wasn't much I could do. Fast forward six years, both of my sons are out of the house, the oldest just graduated from UCF, the youngest moved in with his cousins and plans to start UCF next fall, and hubby has a new position in his job that transported us to Pittsburgh, PA. I'm officially an empty-nester. I don't have to drive my sons to school, pick them up, drive them back to school for football practice or drama practice. I don't have to make big meals and clean up after ...

No matter what you do in life, a third of the people will love you, a third will hate you, and the rest will be indifferent. Get over it and Write On! Yes, I'm talking to myself. If you're listening, GREAT! It's good advice! Is it easy advice? Heck No! For some reason, even though that percentage is rather low on my books--the percentage of people who hate my books runs about 4.6%--it still hurts.  Note: I only averaged the 'firsts' in my books, the books I actively promote. Because if I go to the second, third, and fourth books in my series, those numbers drop drastically. Obviously, if readers don't like my first book, they don't go on to the rest of my books in a series, so those books receive little to zero one-star reviews. So...if the number of one-star reviews we receive is less than five percent--Thank God ALL of the 33 1/3% of the haters don't write reviews--why do we get so depressed when we receive a one-star review...

In the past three years, I've done what I never thought was possible. I've published fourteen books, and I've been so close to Nicholas Sparks on the bestseller list that I could shake his hand ... even  while the book I sat next to was in the theatres. I make enough money to eat and put a roof over my head. I absolutely LOVE playing on social media, chatting with my friends, meeting new ones. I now have a great team of editors and beta readers. My previous life I was in sales and marketing, so I know how to launch a book and make it a bestseller the day it releases... So, why would I want an agent? That question wasn't really rhetorical. It's a real question, because I do want an agent! Prior to publishing my first book, I spent every spare minute of my time writing or socializing on social media. See, I knew that even though I wasn't a published author, I needed to build my brand. I had my first cover designed before I even submitt...

I don't believe in Writer's Block! Why? Because it's no different than walking away from a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes your brain just needs to reboot. As a teenager, my grandmother and I would spend hours working on the puzzles. Sometimes we'd sit too long, the tiny pieces blurring before our eyes. Then, we'd finally realize we needed to walk away. Get something to eat. Watch one of her soap operas. Funny thing is... The moment we sat back down, our eyes would immediately land on the elusive piece that would lead to more pieces. Writing is similar, as in, sometimes we need to step back. Do something else. My suggestions: Work on the book description. Write a character interview. Work on another book. Or my favorite, READ! I read two to three books a week, even when I'm writing. Not only does it provide an escape from everyday life, it gives my brain a chance to reboot. In no time, my characters will scream out to me to pay attention to t...

Occasionally, I run across a post that reads something like... 'How to write more realistic characters...' I know everyone won't think that my characters are real, but that's okay ... they're real to me and 97% of my readers, because they are real. Why??? Because I refuse to read posts on how to write realistic characters. Instead, I watch people ... EVERYWHERE.  I pay attention to EVERYTHING they do while they eat, shop, talk, fight... That's how you write realistic characters! Get out of the house, out from behind the computer, and People Watch!  Just sayin'! Now, get back to reading, writing, or people watching. Me, I'm trying to write as much as I can this week before I go back for surgery next week. While I was gone last week, I took plenty of pictures and notes while people watching. Now ... I get to write!  Until next time, happy reading and writing, friends! Carmen Thank you for stopping by my place and reading my mu...

Ahh ... the age-old question...  What do women want?  A short introspection in time for Valentine's Day. For product manufacturers and partners. :) The question ... whether you're a man, author, fashion designer, or automotive manufacturer shouldn't be what women want, but what a woman wants. From there, you need to market accordingly. Thankfully, we--I'm a woman, so I can speak with authority--all have different tastes ... in everything! Women like different types of men, whether average height or tall, burly or lean, blond or dark haired, brown-eyed or blue-eyed, athletic or not, city boy or  country boy... Shall I go on? Women like veggies or meat, wine or beer, cheesecake or carrot cake...  Not all women like chick flicks, some like thrillers...  Not all women like yoga pants, some prefer jeans. Not all women like BMWs, some of us like trucks. Soooo ... if you're trying to sell a product, you need to make sure that the consu...

Text-to-speech apps don't work for pantsers If you aren't one of the unlucky peeps who've heard me complain about my shoulder surgery, I'll save you the moaning and groaning, and just talk about how it's affecting my work. I thought for sure I could plan out my upcoming books. Just this once I hoped my characters would give me an entire synopsis for a story.  But no ... two to three chapters is about as far as I can get, and even that info is vague. :( So ... what's a writer to do? Well, if you're me ... you sit around thinking up a bunch of other stories you want to write, but don't have time to. In fact, one idea that came to me had me so excited to read that I went looking to see if it'd ever been done. Nope! Couldn't find it! So, I now have sixty-eight ideas in my 'My Writing' app. And I'm doing the one thing I'm good at: taking notes! I might not have the ability to be creative using text-to-speech, but DA...