Download Sophie Knox Free: 9/17-9/18

Free for download today and tomorrow, Sophie Knox. A great story about a 95-year-old woman and her race against time. An unborn child's fate depends on one last act of redemption.

Click here! 

The Motivator Sequel

After giving it some thought, I have decided that there will be a sequel to "The Motivator", slated to be written later this year. If you haven't already had a chance to read "The Motivator", you can get a copy today. It's available at: Amazon

While you're there, why don't you check in on Sophie Knox!

Two Great Stories for Labor Day

Stop on by and visit my Amazon Author Page for two great stories to read for Labor Day.  There is no better way to spend a non-work day than to read a book!

Two Blockbuster Stories Not To Be Missed

The Motivator -

  Two lives connected by an intimate personal relationship are torn apart by a sinister government plot. At what length will secret operatives go to keep their mission under wraps?

Sophie Knox -

 The strength and fortitude of a passionate woman is more than enough to save our world. Sophie Knox has been given a gift to share, a gift that could very well cost her life and that of an unborn child.

Authors and Taxes

As author’s, we've all chosen a career where passion and creativity determine our ability to succeed. Writing, however, is a business like any other. Whether you're a freelancer with your first sale, or an experienced author with a multi-book contract it’s important that you understand basic income tax rules. As an example, I have had many conversations with authors about the ability to write-off expenses incurred while working in the home office. Listed below is a brief overview and things to consider.

The Home Office

The IRS loves to audit home office expenses, but for writers who live and write at home, deducting home office expenses is permissible if you strictly follow IRS guidelines. Your use of the business part of your home must be exclusive and regular, and the business part of your home must be one of the following: i) your principal place of business, or ii) a place where you meet or deal with clients or customers in the normal course of your business, or iii) a separate structure. To qualify under the exclusive use test, you must use a specific area of your home only for your writing. You do not meet the requirements of the exclusive use test if you use the area in question both for business and personal purposes.

The amount of the deduction is based on the ratio of business usage to non-business usage of your entire home or apartment.

I will be launching a new website in the coming days dedicated to Author services (book show promotion, eBook promotion, business formation, accounting, and tax services, etc.). Please feel free to leave a comment in the meantime.

Indie Author Awareness

 One of the challenges I believe all independent / self-published authors face is awareness. There are literally hundreds of authors publishing fantastic novels and short-stories on a daily basis, posting updates, blogs, and free copies to entice a following. With so much activity occurring each and every second of the day, how does an author expand his/her reach? How does one make contact with the core customer an author seeks – the reader? This author has decided that attracting a fan base must include online and offline marketing efforts. To that end, through my private consulting company, I have decided to start promoting indie author book shows to connect author and reader.

Currently, I am nearing venue contract for a first New York based event that will provide authors an opportunity to reach actual readers. There will be several promotional opportunities available, from solo vendor booths to attended booths, show sponsorships, giveaways, and everything in between. The book show will be effectively promoted in advance to attract readers from across the NY Tri-State region (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey).

Stay tuned more information to come! 

Passion

 In its simplest terms, passion can be defined as a very strong feeling about a person, place, or thing - it’s an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something.

The beauty of passion, from my perspective, is that it has the ability to shape our lives, change our views, or define our values. Passion can manifest itself in either/both positive or negative response. Passion is neutral in terms of good versus evil, disempowering versus enlightening. As proof, is the madman any less passionate than the romantic? The result or outcome of each characteristic will differ certainly, but do they both not embrace passion in a way that paints their life’s masterpiece? Is the person labeled “crazy” not passionate, regardless of whether we can see, feel, touch, or make sense of purpose, intent, or appropriateness? Do we as contemporary humans miss significant opportunities to feel or express passion due to concerns over social acceptance?

Passion is humanity’s lifeblood. For the painter, passion dances with each brush stroke, reenacting life on canvass. For the author, passion courses through the nervous system distilling thought and emotion into the written word. For the lover, passion reaches the depths of the human soul, embracing connection, relegating self to a much lower priority.

For me personally, being passionate means that my experiences in life, good or bad based on my rules, are authentic, palpable, intense, sensual, aromatic, surreal, and distinctive. I absolutely own the profoundness of my passion, its context, its outcome.

What does passion mean to you? I’d love to hear your comments!!

Meet Sophie Knox

Dear Readers,

I would like to introduce you to my latest book!

Available at Amazon

“Sophie Knox” is a ninety-five year-old woman in the late stages of pregnancy and a race against time, the fate of her unborn child depends on one last act of redemption. She's a woman that has been blessed and cursed at the same time, driven to help others in need while at the same time living a life with challenges that would shake any person's faith.

Characters

 One of the many challenges I faced while writing my first novel, “The Motivator”, was deciding whether or not to provide precise snapshots of my character’s; their features, characteristics, mannerisms, etc. Being relatively new to writing I wondered how much of the reader’s imagination I’d rely on. Through research I soon discovered that a single right answer didn’t exist (although several experienced authors seemed quite opinionated) – some readers love to develop a vision for themselves, others expect richly defined details. Somewhere in the middle seemed appropriate, partly due to my nativity, lack of experience, or both.

There are tremendous resources available to help the aspiring author develop ‘character’; books, workshops, blogs, discussion boards, Google searches, and the like. While I haven’t attended any workshops thus far, I have spent considerable time searching the internet for clues and insights; seeking elusive descriptions for attributes such as hairstyle, face shape, skin tone, etc. When it came time to consider mannerisms and/or characteristics I relied upon past experiences and encounters, creating a short list of traits and values I perceived as good/bad, empowering/limiting, strong/weak, etc.

I have a tendency to be extremely visual, relating to a person, object, or thing once a mental image has been conceived. My reliance on the visual is at the core of my ability to write – If I’m successful at scrolling through a story plot and the main characters mentally and emotionally, the written word flows.

I have been asked by a few people what or who I visualized when developing Shelby’s physical features for my novel “The Motivator”. Not wanting to spoil the reader’s perception I initially refrained from answering. In an attempt to be fully transparent, here it is:

Shelby Archer = Carrie Underwood - a few inches taller, thoughtfully modified.

I always appreciate feedback, please send me your comments!

Plot Devices

In simple terms a plot device is an object or character in a story whose only purpose is to advance the plot of the story, often used to motivate characters to do something or to solve a problem. On the flip side, an author may advance the story by leading the reader forward with his/her narrative prowess.

Personally, I haven't decided which approach suits my writing as I have used both approaches. I imagine somewhat of a dependency or need based on genre. For example, in the fantasy fiction genre I imagine that plot devices are essential in certain instances, providing the story’s protagonist with a super-power or special object to defend plot.

While writing my first novel, “The Motivator”, I consciously chose to use narrative technique, building story-plot plausibility through little hints sprinkled throughout the story, most certainly during early and middle chapters. I didn’t arrive at my decision with a willful distrust of plot devices; I simply chose to develop requisite skill, maturing character acuity.

As I write this blog my research for my next novel nears completion. I've decided to experiment with plot devices, perhaps both protagonist and antagonist will receive fair share. The beautiful thing about writing is that more than one right answer exists, proof of choice borne by the reader.

In recent months I've had the pleasure to meet a number of passionate writers, as always I’d love to hear your feedback.

Stories

I've been told; quite frankly I've read it quite a few times as well, that authors today lack the ability to generate new stories. Granted, with the sheer number of movies, novels, and short-story’s hitting the market it may seem like everything worth saying has been said. The big question I have struggled with lately is whether similar means same. Are the events in a story more important than its characters’, their perception of events, their interaction with events, and their characteristics?

What about the impact of story outcome, if everything else is held equal and I change the outcome, is it the same story – does it really matter to the reader, or does similarity dissuade them from reading on? What if I maintained each characters’ nuances and perceptions but reversed roles, whereby the protagonist is now the antagonist, is the story the same or similar? Can I make this transition without delving into the absurd?

In a literal sense, if one element or characterization of a story changes, the whole story changes, leaving me to deal directly with similarity. As I think about it, perhaps it is the very nature of similarity versus same that jades the contemporary critic.

I’m not naive to the reality that what an author experiences in book and film impacts or influences his/her writing, I just can’t imagine any work of art dominating style and creativity completely – we are individual at the end of the day, we may perceive as others perceive, but it’s not the same, it’s similar. Again I am left to deal directly with similarity.

Just one of the many reasons why I love to write stories!

The VC

I've just started research on my next fiction novel, “The VC”, or venture capitalist for all non-finance majors. It’s a fast-paced thriller starring 34 year-old Luke Miller, a man that excels at everything, from being selected Senior Class President at Columbia University to his latest quest, Private Equity Fund Partner at Brickman Tate, a well-connected New York City venture capital firm with an intriguing ownership structure.

Follow Luke as he reaches his ultimate goal and descends into a high stakes game of life and death. Success, wealth, and power doesn't come without paying a huge price. He must be careful what he asks for in this world, he might just get it.

While I develop the storyline further, be on the lookout for my first short-story, details to follow shortly.

Author

 I've spent a fair amount of time searching deep within my soul for meaning, purpose, grateful for the gifts I have been blessed with. Introspection is important, it always has been, familiarity and inner strength sprinkled with fear and vulnerability – a catalyst for all that I am or ever will be. As I venture through the craft of writing, every ounce of my being commits to its calling, an intangible grip driving me forward, faster – intoxicating – my waking thoughts and dreamscape captivated.

My journey will continue regardless of acceptance or disapproval. I write, the rest will take care of itself.

Not so surprising, my desire to write is tightly woven into my belief that energy, inspiration, and emotion should be invested in those things in your control – I write, the rest will take care of itself.

Some may see this as foolhardy, a dream of dreams, unadulterated naivety – perhaps, dreams only become reality when we do the unthinkable, the foolish, and the impossible.

I write!

The Motivator - Now Available in Paperback

Hello everyone, after what has seemed like an eternity, at least on certain days, my book "The Motivator" is available in paperback in the Createspace marketplace. Stop by and pick up a copy, I'm sure you'll enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Click on the image or follow the link. Your support is greatly appreciated.

https://www.createspace.com/4349423

Editing Your Self-Published Book

True for many authors the editing process for a new book consumes as much or more time than the actual writing. Crafting my first fiction novel, “The Motivator”, I underestimated the commitment editing would demand of my time. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, but it was extensive nonetheless.

Each time I returned to a previously edited chapter something new would catch my eye, a missing comma, minor misspellings the word processer was never intended to catch, an inflection point critical to my protaganist that I had failed to develop. The types of correction aren’t important in the end, the craft of writing imposed an internal truth, the desire for my readers to wander blissfully through the story without annoying pauses – pauses to interpret my meaning.

Several wonderful people in the multitide of Facebook author groups provided excellent advice, especially for a first-timer. Always, and I stress always, order a print copy of your new title and perform yet another edit. As I reviewed “The Motivator” in print, their expert advice rang true. I found a few additional changes that I incorporated, as well as exposing the book to a good-old-fashioned grammatical beating. We both survived, for the better I’m sure.

I am driven to write, editing keeps that gift honest.

Storyboarding

Writing for me is a lot like developing a screenplay for a movie. At the end of the day, whether a story is told, written, or produced on the big screen, they share a commonality, each involve the most important moments in time for the story’s protagonist and supporting characters.

After identifying my story’s protagonist, setting, location, period, supporting characters, etc., I start to build scenes for the first couple of chapters. I don’t go crazy with outlining the entire novel or short-story, I simply start with a rough sketch of the first act and let my creativity juices evolve beyond the early stages. As is often the case for many writers, as the story develops, the story changes to accommodate circumstance, the probable versus plausible, and protagonist state.

I've used storyboarding in the past as a way to visualize and link scenes to arrive at critical points of inflection and climax, much the way a marketing professional would use them to pitch an idea to a potential customer. You don’t have to know how to draw or paint to develop a storyboard; in my case I use written cues within a frame or frames to depict what my protagonist should feel, think, do, and react to in a specific scene or series of scenes.

Once I have the scenes for a chapter approximated, I beat them up to make sure I have achieved consistency and flow. More importantly, I need to answer two important questions; how has my protagonist changed during the course of the chapter and is it what I intended?

It’s no small wonder that great stories are adapted into screenplays.

Visualizing Locations Remotely

 During the creation of my first suspense/thriller fiction novel, “The Motivator”, I found it challenging at times to work through a few scenes visually due to geographic limitations. I solved for the limitation partially by using Google Earth® images, panning birds-eye and street level views, developing snapshots to drive creative thinking. While the images are static and may not reflect the time of year you might be looking for, use your imagination to dress your vantage point with clouds, rain, snow, or whatever climatic element you are searching for. This is truly one of the many positive uses for the internet - this author appreciates the opportunity.

Heartfelt Thanks

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fantastic friends and family for the wonderful support and feedback during the creation of my first fiction novel, The Motivator. I can't begin to explain the impact you've all had on this journey. As I start the process once again, in my never-ending pursuit to become a better writer, I look forward to your comments, suggestions and critiques. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, truer words have never been uttered.

When you get a chance, hop over to my new Author website, just launched this morning to support the release of what I hope will be dozens of published works someday; follow the blog link or www.terrenceroth.com

Have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration – be ever grateful for what you bring to this crazy, beautiful world!