am writing – Jennifer Lane Books

#IWSG Creative Pursuits Beyond Writing

November 7, 2018 jenlanebooks

Happy November, writers! Join our support group to encourage fellow writers and vent about the writing process at Alex Cavanaugh’s blog.

Thank you to this month’s awesome co-hosts. Congratulations in particular to Ellen Jacobson for her upcoming release, Bodies in the Boatyard. Anytime I start laughing simply from reading the dedication (“For cats everywhere who hate collars”), I know I’m in for an enjoyable read. I loved book one in the series: Murder at the Marina.

Co-Hosts: Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman

IWSG Day Question: How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

Starting this writing adventure has helped me realize how important creativity is in my life. Aquarians born between January 20 and February 18, like me, are known to be creative. However, I never embraced my creative side until I started writing novels.

In addition to writing, I enjoy creative pursuits like Paint Nite and Pinterest recipes. Here are a few of my favorite creations:

Thanksgiving Cheese Tray

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#IWSG July #GOALS

July 4, 2018 jenlanebooks

Whoops I hope I’m not too late (only one day?) to post for the Insecure Writers Support Group, July version. Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for starting the group–join us here!

I’m in Hilton Head with my seven-month old niece, whose cuteness supersedes any blog schedule in my mind.

Hop on over to this month’s awesome co-hosts!

Co-Hosts
Nicki Elson

Juneta Key

Tamara Narayan

Patricia Lynne

Now onto this month’s question:

What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time?

Writing started as a need to express myself, and I got lost in the characters and stories I created. Over time, more goals emerged, including the desire to inspire hope for healing and demystifying psychotherapy as one path for that healing. Another big goal has been connecting with authors and readers.

As a psychologist, I often encourage clients to focus on the process instead of the outcome. But since I’m a competitive person, I get drawn into outcome goals: sales and reviews. I wish I didn’t care as much about those, because outcome goals sometimes interfere with my enjoyment of the process. (Though a great review can sure inspire the process!)

I’m still on a writing hiatus so for now my goal is to enjoy friends and family on the weekends.

What are your #goals?

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#IWSG Writing Funk and Title Trouble

June 8, 2018 jenlanebooks

I love summer! I was so absorbed in summer goodness that I forgot to post for June’s Insecure Writers Support Group yesterday, whoops.

Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh for his clever creation. Join us here.

I haven’t written for six months and I’m wondering if my writing mojo will return. But I do still enjoy supporting fellow authors like Ellen Jacobson from The Cynical Sailor! Her cozy mystery, Murder at the Marina, is a cute hoot, and I’ll post my review on 6/22/18.

IWSG June Question: What’s harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

I gotta go with titles. I agonized over the title of my last novel though in the end it probably didn’t matter much. For the most part I have a blast drumming up character names. I don’t have children so the characters are my babies I get to name and hold and pet.

Make sure to visit these stellar co-hosts!

Beverly Stowe McClure, Tyrean Martinson, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

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#IWSG Inspringration

May 2, 2018 jenlanebooks

Welcome to May’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group hosted by Alex Cavanaugh. It’s a great place to vent fears and encourage each other.

Make sure to visit May’s Co-Hosts:

JQ Rose, C. Lee McKenzie, Raimey Gallant, & E.M.A Timar!

May’s Question: It’s spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?

Thank goodness spring has sprung. These cold, cloudy days have been major downers. The longer daylight in spring often motivates many aspects of my life, including writing.

I’m also inspired by different types of artists. Is anyone watching American Idol? I’m amazed by how much I enjoy the new season. Besides writing, creative pursuits like singing, cooking (in Chopped), and fashion design (in Project Runway) enthrall me.

Here’s a post that might interest you: Seven Ways to Build Your Writing Confidence.

Happy writing!

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New Release: EMOTIONAL WOUND THESAURUS #writerspersevere

October 25, 2017 jenlanebooks

Hi everyone! Today I have a special post as part of the Writers Persevere event that authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are running for the next few days to celebrate their newest book, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma. This book explores the difficult experiences embedded in our characters’ backstory which will shape their motivation and behavior afterward. Check out my 5-star review HERE.

To help them celebrate this release, many of us are posting stories about some of the obstacles we’ve overcome as writers. As we all know, this isn’t an easy path. Writing is hard and as writers we tend to struggle with doubt. Sometimes too, we don’t always get the support we need to follow our passion, or we have added challenges that make writing more difficult. Because people are sharing their stories this week about how they worked through these challenges to keep writing, I wanted to post about it, too.

~*~

I never intended to become a writer, but life is what happens when we’re making our plans.

I was lucky to land my psychologist dream job in 2000. Too bad it turned into a nightmare by 2007. My bosses didn’t value my work and made threats to my livelihood. At that time, I became hooked on the TV show, Prison Break. Its dark themes and conspiracy theories matched my workplace misery. Through connecting with rabid Prison Break fans across the world, I learned about fan fiction. What? Hacks writing stories about TV stories?

You guessed it–I became one of those hacks and started writing my own fan fiction. At first my writing stunk but my TV show buddies encouraged me to keep going. When reality sucked, I turned to fiction. I left my bitter job and started a new job at a friendly, supportive clinic that taught me a useful specialty. Inspired by fan fiction, I wrote thousands of words and then found a publisher to launch those words into the universe.

I’m now working on my eighth novel. In a strange twist of events, I returned to the old job in 2013 and version 2.0 is going swimmingly.

My emotional wound is a great example of how pain can lead to beauty and strength. Write on, friends!

~*~

Do you have a story to share, or some advice for others? You can join Becca and Angela at Writers Helping Writers from October 25-27^th, where we are celebrating writers and their stories of perseverance. Stop in, and tell them about a challenge or struggle your faced, or if you like, write a post on your own blog and share it using the hashtag #writerspersevere. Let’s fill social media with yourstrength and let other writers know that it’s okay to question and have doubts but we shouldn’t let that stop us.