Interview with author Renee Antonia, with guest blog on working while writing

When she wakes up in the morning, the first thing that goes through Alejandra's head is whether or not she will be forced into another anxiety inducing situation. The struggles of being a young adult living with an anxiety ridden brain becomes too much for Alejandra to deal with. So, with the help of her friends, she forces herself out of the bubble her anxiety has placed her in. She learns to conquer the fears she once thought would destroy her and learns to rely on herself more than she ever has.

I'm honored to join the Women on Writing Tour of I'm Not Okay, a young adult fiction novel by Renee Antonia.

I know what you're thinking: "But Mark, you're not a woman!" Hey, equal rights--besides, it's about her book tour, not me. But thanks for noticing.

Being a writer myself, I asked Renee to say a few words about one of my biggest challenges: Trying to write while also working the "day" job full time. But after reading her book, I also had a few questions for her:

Am I right that I’m Not Okay is partially autobiographical? How much of yourself do you put into your writing?

1.  I'm Not Okay isn't necessarily autobiographical, but I did pull a lot of inspiration from my own life for this book.  The main character, Alejandra, isn't me, but some aspects of her personality are based off of my traits.  

What kind of research did you do for the novel?

2. Since I suffer from anxiety and depression, I didn't really have to research much about the symptoms that come along with it.  However, I did read as many personal testimonies from other people who suffer from  anxiety as I could find, just so that I can get a firm grasp on what other people go through.  I felt like it was important to include how other people deal with their anxiety to make the book a little more universal. 

How was your experience self-publishing?

3.I personally loved self-publishing.  I wish I would have been a little more patient and taken advantage of all of the different resources that are available for self-publishing authors, but I loved the experience.  I believe that it gave me the opportunity to create a brand for myself, and it was an experience that I will never forget.  Plus, BookBaby, the self-publishing site I went with, was extremely helpful.

Did you try the traditional publishing route first and, if so, how was that experience?

4. I decide to bypass the traditional publishing route for I'm Not Okay.  Since the story was so personal, I wanted it to stay as true to what I wrote as possible.  

Did you have help with editing, beta-readers, or otherwise have people look at your work before publication?

5.I did have a few of my friends and family read through the book a couple times, however I wish I had invested in an editor.  Unfortunately at the time I was still on a budget, and the thought of hiring an editor was tempting, but not feasible.

How do you budget your time? Writers with day jobs always want to know this!

6. I wish I can say that I have budgeting my time down to a science, but I don't.  I just learned to write whenever I could.  I would write during my lunch beaks and would wake up early to knock out a couple pages before work.  If I had free time, then it went to writing.  Unfortunately, there is no secret to make writing while working easy, you just have to sit down and write.  

Do you plan to stick to one area in future writing, or switch genres?

7.As of right now I plan on sticking to young adult for a few books, but I do have plans for a book that steps out of the young adult genre and into the mystery genre. 

Are you a discovery writer (often called pantser) or an outliner/planner?

8. I am definitely a discovery writer.  While I write, the characters tend to come up with a path for themselves, so  I have learned to listen and follow them.  I believe this makes the story flow way smoother than if I outline and plan every chapter.  

What do you prefer: Novel or short story writing?

9. I would have to say novels.  I absolutely love writing short stories, but there is nothing better than watching a character grow from a single adjective to a full grown person with an entire life story.  

Do you have any future projects coming up?

10. I am currently working on a duology that follows a teenage boy who lives in the underground city of Seattle.  I am hoping to go through the traditional route of publishing for these books, but my mind can easily be swayed to self publish again. 

Thanks, Renee! I'm Not Okay is available as an eBook with all the usual suspects, such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble,  and Apple iTunes. Search for it by its ISBN-13 number, too: 9781483598062. As for the Author:

 

Renee Antonia grew up in the Los Angeles area with four siblings and two wonderful parents. Having such a strong support system enabled her to decide who and what she wanted to be. However, this question haunted her for years, because she couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly she saw herself doing for the rest of her life. She began to read a lot, hoping to find inspiration between the pages of a book. It was at this time that  she realized one thing. She loved sharing, reading, and writing. Renee decided that she wanted to be a writer, and since that day, she has taken any steps necessary to achieve that goal.

You can find Renee Antonia at:

Website: www.writingsbyrenee.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/renee_antonia_

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/writingsbyrenee

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16771475.Renee_Antonia 

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But wait ... there's more!  As I said up above (you don't have to go back, just take my word for it), I asked Renee to say a few words about one of the modern writer's biggest challenges: writing while paying the bills:

     When I first decided that I wanted to try my hand at being a writer, my parents decided to sit me down and give me a pretty harsh reality check.  They told me that at this point in my career, I wouldn’t be able to sustain any kind of comfortable living with the money I was getting from writing, and that I should keep the jobs that I had until I could.  After hearing them out, I agreed.  My writing career was (and still is) in its infancy, and as a 20 year old who had just moved out of my parents house, I couldn’t even think about leaving my jobs. 

    So, I decided to write while I worked a full time schedule.  It didn’t sound very hard at first, but I’m pretty sure that was my naivety.  I work two part time jobs that bring me in about 50-60 hours a week, and my schedule varies weekly.  So, planning my writing out is difficult.  I never know how tired I will be once I finish an 11 hour day, or if I’d still want to write after writing all day at work.  Unfortunately, because of this, in the very beginning, my writing suffered.

    I didn’t know what it meant to keep up a writing career when I first started.  I didn’t realize that I would literally be writing all the time.  Between my book, blog, and Patreon I was writing, or at least thinking of writing at least everyday.  All of this would have been fine, but because my jobs were sustaining my life, I couldn’t just drop them to write a short story or finish a chapter in my book.  So, I let my writing go for a couple months.  I was only writing when I had free days or I was bored and I missed deadlines that I gave myself. 

    It wasn’t until a reader who keeps up with my short stories on my website messaged me and asked if I was okay because I hadn’t posted in a month.  The embarrassment I felt was crippling, and I realized then that I had to figure out how to be a writer while I worked. 

    So, I did.  It was hard, but I had to find a way to come out with content while keeping my obligations at work. I started waking up an hour before I usually would.  By doing this, I was able to write a page or two before I even started work.  Along with waking up early, I started staying up later.  Now, it may not be the best thing to do, but staying up an extra hour would help me wrap up the writing I started that day.  By getting up an hour early and stay up and hour later, I knew that I would at least get two hours of writing done a day.

    Now, if I wanted to do more than that, but I had a full day at work, I would take my laptop to work and use my breaks as writing time.  If I had a 30 minute lunch, I would take out my laptop and write a little.  These breaks never gave me a lot of time to write, but it was something.  I also would force myself to go to a library or a starbucks or coffee shop after work, instead of going straight home.  I knew if I went home then I would end up laying down and convincing myself that I needed to rest. 

 However, if I went somewhere that didn’t have my bed at a convenient ten feet from me, I would be willing to write, because there was nothing else I could really do there.

    This was and is what I still do to keep my writing career and two jobs manageable.  As I’ve mentioned, it isn’t easy.  Sometimes, I am really exhausted and writing just doesn’t seem appealing. 

 But, when I finish a short story or another chapter in my book, I know that I all of this hard work and long days will be worth it in the future.

    Working while writing is hard, and there is absolutely no way I can sugarcoat that.  However, if you really want it, the outcome will be worth all of the sacrifices.

Movie review: Avengers: Infinity War

It's all very simple, really: Thanos, one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel universe (think Darkseid, you DC fans), has come up with a cool new way to cut down on universal overpopulation: Kill overpopulation. Literally.

Like any good villain, Thanos (remarkably played as a kinda/sorta normal guy by Josh Brolin) doesn't think he's a villain at all. In fact, over the course of Avengers: Infinity War we learn his reasoning, and he's actually pretty sincere, for a murderous egomaniac.

Lined up against him, and equally sincere: Every single character EVER to appear in a Marvel superhero movie.

Okay, maybe not every one. I'd have loved to see Martin Freeman's CIA agent character from Black Panther, if only long enough for him to encounter Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange in passing. (They have history, you see.) There are a few notable absences, three I could think of off the top of my head, two I could think of off the bottom, and one who gets a first ever movie mention. Otherwise ... well, otherwise just about everyone is there--according to one count, 76 good and bad guys transplanted from the comics and previous movies.

Let's see: one, two, three ... oh, never mind.

Holy cow, Batman. (Batman doesn't appear, but believe it or not, there is one DC related mention.)

So, does this movie have a plot, or do they just walk by one after another and wave to the camera? In other words, how in the world can they pull this off?

The answer to that, as it turns out, is that they can pull it off very well. Very well, indeed.

Thanos is on the hunt to collect the six Infinity Stones, artifacts from the beginning of the universe. When put together into the Infinity Gauntlet, they would give him unimaginable power, to do such things as, say, wipe out out overpopulation, not to mention population. Viewers of previous Marvel movies already know where some of the stones are, and as the movie opens we find Thanos collecting one. But during that opening battle one of the opposing heroes gets sent to Earth, where he warns Earth's mightiest heroes that they might have to, you know, Avenge those Thanos has already killed.

Cool bling, dude.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and writers Chrstopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (there are sixteen credited writers, including character creators) come into their own here, and the first thing they do is shake things up by dividing the various teams involved. Some of the Avengers stay on Earth, others go into space; the ones in space find themselves teamed with various members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. For many of our heroes, it all culminates in an epic conflict in the African nation of Wakanda, where we encounter our favorites from Black Panther.

It could so easily have been an overwhelming mess. Instead, it's incredible. So many characters get their own arc, yet the movie isn't confusing or overwhelming, even in some giant battle sequences. There's the humor we've come to expect from Marvel, but also a sense of the incredible stakes. There are call-outs to previous movies, and new team-ups that will make fans joyful. My two favorite new pairs were ... fun. (Spoilers!) It's a long movie, but it has to be--and it's worth every minute.

Go look up the video. You kinda have to be there.

My score:
Entertainment value: 5 out of 4 M&M's, the good brown ones. That's right: Avengers: Infinity War is better than perfect. In fact, I only had one issue, which stemmed from the fact that I didn't know something about Marvel's future plans, and that's all I can say about it.

Oscar potential: 4 out of 4 M&M's. Oh, that doesn't mean they'll actually see a nomination. But to put that many characters together, pulling in details from so many other movies, and have it not only make sense but be great--incredible.

Red Flag Warning: fire ban for Noble County, Indiana

Normally we approach the end of grass fire season by the first of May, but for today Noble County and most of northern Indiana, along with northwest Ohio and southern Michigan, have been put under a fire weather warning by the National Weather Service.

It's a rare Red Flag Warning for this area, and the culprit is a combination of dry weather and strong winds. Humidity is expected to be around 20--30% this afternoon, and winds are forecast for 20-30 mph as the temperatures approaches 80. (We haven't hit 80 since last October.) The result is obviously very dry conditions, at a time when there's still a lot of dead, dry foliage from over the winter. Fires can start easily and spread fast.

It's so bad the Noble County Emergency Management Agency has declared a burn ban until further notice. Hopefully it won't last long, as rain is predicted Thursday, but until then stay away from doing any outdoor burning--no matter how much you may think you have it under control. Fires are likely to spread rapidly.

Between Saturday afternoon and Monday thirteen fires were reported to the Noble County Sheriff Department--and that was before Red Flag conditions developed.


On a personal note, I just finished heavily promoting our novel The No-Campfire Girls--about a fire ban, due to a drought. The irony doesn't escape me.