Another Year Gone By

 

  Well, another year has gone by and even though 2020 wasn't the best for everyone I find that it gave me & my family some much needed breaks. Now that 2021 has come and a new President will enter the White House, I pray things will only get better. 

  Of course, the virus is not going to go away anytime soon. Family and friends affected by Trump and the whole 2020 dilemma, will never get together and apologize for being horrible human beings toward one another, during his presidency, however I feel that my family and I will fend well despite of what some people think. Now, with that said, I want to bring up that these past 4 years showed us who are friends really are and it brought out the worst in people, especially in those who were already divided politically or on personal issues.

I normally don't vent about family issues on this blog, but I am ticked off.

A sibling called me on News Years Eve, saying that he wasn't going to ring in the New Year, that he wasn't going to stay up. Well, I personally don't care but unfortunately instead of him just saying, "Happy New Years to you and your family" and leaving it at that, he started in on me about who I voted for and lecturing me on how BAD things will get for me and my family because of the new president. I couldn't even put two words in, because of all the ranting he was doing! 

Unbelievable. I tried to be civil by just saying, " Well I hope you and your Family have a happy New Year," and cutting the unpleasant conversation. 

In the end he just said, " Yeah," and left it at that. It's unfortunate that people have become so divided over politics, with NO way of any reconciliation on both parties.

Final word on this:

When the bridge that connects us has deceased, there is no way we will ever talk again or see each other. I will move on.

My New Years Resolution is:

To continue writing and finish up the Chandra's Quest book series. I think I will focus all my creativity on accomplishing it. I will also do my best to avoid crazy, obnoxious, mean-spirited people but Life is what it is, you can't always avoid craziness and people who are unhappy and feel they should make others unhappy.

May everyone's New Year  Eve be special and filled with Love. Stay Safe out there.

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First, Second or Third Person Narrative

 

Let’s talk about First person, second person and third person narrative.

First person narrative is a point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing—the use of first-person pronouns. Many stories and novels are written I the first-person point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are writing the character’s story by their perspective. You are writing their story through their eyes.

 

 Example: “I left my keys on the kitchen counter but now I can’t find them.”

Second Person Narrative:

  Second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed.

The biggest indicator of the second person use is pronouns like: you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves.

Example: “If you eat these fruits you will find that your health is much better to combat illnesses.”

A self-help book is written in a second person narrative. There are a lot of self-help books out there and when you buy one, you’ll see the narration and how it’s written. These books are a dime in dozen and the writer is addressing the reader when they write.

 

Third Person Narrative:

The third-person point of view/narrative belongs to the person (or people) being talked about. The third-person pronouns include he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.

 Example: “Candy used her paycheck to buy herself a new dress.”

 Most popular books are written as a third person narrative but let’s talk more about first person narrative for a bit.

It is easy to write a book using first-person narrative/point of view. Take a look at Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey, all of those books were written as first-person narrative.

Easy? Yes, the author publishes his/her book quicker, and are capable of producing several books within 6 months. Most of my books are written as a third person narrative, only The Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart and Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart are written as first-person narrative. My book Chandra’s Quest Book 1, the 2002 version, was written as a first-person narrative but when I decided to re-write the book, I chose third person narrative instead.

 Author’s that write as a first-person narrative, usually use what they know about the subject they are writing. Sometimes they will use personal experiences in their life and will use fractions of those experiences in their books.

  One of my sons told me that someone they know wants to write a book using first-person narration and use actual names of people he/she knows. Well, you cannot copyright your own name, or titles, or ideas, names are not copyrighted. The person who wants to write a fiction book can make subtle changes to the characters, like hair color, eyes, the character’s place of employment, relationship with other people or where they live. Making subtle changes can help avoid confusion and grievance.

Again, I want to state that names are not copyrighted. You cannot sue an author for using your name in his/her book. It would be considered frivolous and will not hold up in court, not even small claims. Food for thought.

The link below will give more info.

My books:

Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart

Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart

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What Changed When I Revised Three of my Books?

It has been a little over 17 years since I wrote and published Chandra’s Quest. Originally the title was, Chandra’s Quest Book 1, I published it with Instanpublishers.com, a subsidiary publishing company. Two years later I published Chandra’s Quest Book 2. 

I re-wrote and changed a few things in both books, including how Chandra looks like. In the first book, Chandra (the main character) had long naturally curly hair and brown eyes. 

Picture is not a part of the book.

In the original version she was Latina, Carlos remains the same, Keeja, remains the same, Xenos remains the same and Soran had some changes done but not by much.

In the revised version, Chandra has shoulder length light brown hair, not curly but set with a light wave to it and brown hazel colored eyes and she is multiracial, Hispanic/Caucasian.

In both Chandra’s Quest book 1 & 2, I added and removed some text. I changed some chapters and added more chapters. The endings are different from the original books.

Since both books were labelled Alternative Sci-Fi/adult romance, I did a lot of re-writing to edit out the content no longer suitable. I changed the book series to accommodate 14 and over. Only a few of the original books remain in the system.

Book 3 has not been completed and frankly, it won’t be published till the end of the year—maybe. Please keep an eye out for it by visiting my website, Facebook page and Twitter page.

       picture not in book

In the Company of Elves, has some changes as well. It was meant for adults. I wrote it to be adult fiction but changed it during the re-write. Melissa’s appearance changed a bit, she doesn’t have blonde curly hair, it’s straight and long. 

The elves remain the same, Faye's appearance was changed. For those who read the original version, will like the changes I made.

 

In the Company of Elves is categorized as 14 and over.

The only books I did not or will not revise are:

Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart

The Other Side of Things Part 1 & 2

The Stranger Things: Paranormal, Supernatural, and Unusual Phenomenon

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I Made Some Changes to the Back Covers

I recently made bookcover changes to these books:

(this book is no longer a paperback)

All of these books, do not have my picture on the back. In the future, you will find the, About the Author page & Author's Notes, in the last pages of each book.

NOTE: if you have a book that I published before I changed the back cover, please consider it a collector's item.

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New Decade, New Projects

New Decade, New Projects? Well, actually I decided to drop one of the  books I'm working on. It's called, Finding Loretta. I feel that I should concentrate more on completing Chandra's Quest book 3: Immorality, the final installment of the trilogy. 

 I will delve more into book 3, completing the draft & editing it. I might publish it by the end of next year--hopefully. As for my other books, well I finished the draft for Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart. Not so hard to do since it is a novelette. I plan on making it a prequel to a book I have been mulling over in my head. Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart is loosely based on a real diary. That's all I will say about it.

Out in the Open, is still on the agenda but no rush on finishing it anytime soon. The book is a prequel to the Phoenix Files. This new decade will be one of wonder, determination, and hope. 

Last Words:
Write what you feel and know. Everyone has a unique gift to writing a good book. For every book you write, there is an audience you'll attract. What might not appeal to some, might appeal to others. Find a category you are comfortable with and just do it.

Write the draft then go over it a few times, then edit it. Most of all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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Using a Pseudonym

I read a comment that Indie/self-published authors should not use pen names (pseudonym) because they're not real authors. Of course social media is the place to post comments like that right? Despite of the fact that the person's comment was uncalled for, I decided to bring this to light. There are people out there that think Independent/self-published authors should not use pen names because pen names are for the professional writers. Well I beg to differ. A pseudonym is used by some authors who want to conceal their identity. My pseudonym is Cecile Garcia, not much difference from my real name, Cecilia. Cecile is the name of one of my favorite characters in a soap opera I used to watch back in the 1980's. It was called Another World. 

The character's name was Cecile DePoulignac played by Nancy Frangione. I'm sure if you're as old as I am, you'll remember her. I liked her name and since it was similar to my actual name, I chose to use it. Some authors however really go way out on pen names. 

Example:
E.L. James (real name is Erika Leonard Mitchell)
JK Rowling ( real name is Joanne Rowling)
Mark Twain ( real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

I'm sure there are many more out there. There's nothing wrong with using a pseudonym, by all means do so if you wish.I am happy that I chose mine.

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Sharing Links to My Book Web Pages

I am sharing links to all my books webpages. please feel free to visit. 
In the coming weeks, I will share more excerpts on my blog and share them on my Instagram.

Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart

Chandra's Quest

In the Company of Elves

These books are now available for purchase. Visit my website to view up and coming books.

NOTE: The webpages for these books are now located with google sites.

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