My Name is Chris and I'm A....

Yup, I confess.

I'm a bookaholic.

I realize this as I'm trying to clear out bookcases and make room for my other obsession - miniatures, also known as "too much stuff."

Every garage sale, every yard sale, every church sale, every thrift store, every mention I read online of a book, I check it out.

Sometimes, no, make that a lot of times, I buy. Hence, I now have eight plastic bags (and counting) to take to the thrift store to recycle. I do want to check first if the local homeless shelter would like some. I would so much rather take them where someone would appreciate them.

As I sort, I realize there are a lot of books that maybe looked good before, but I know won't get read. Books are like clothes, tastes change. What once looked good, no longer does. :>)

So the sporadic sort, which often feels more like moving stuff from one room to another. But at least this time some of it is moving out. Progress. On another thought as I sort - yes, maybe eBooks do have advantages after all. (My books and eBooks are on my website.)

And hey, while you roll your eyes, I dare you: make your own confession. What do you have too much of? I'm not the only semi-hoarder, er, collector, around. (Weight, wrinkles or gray hairs don't count.) Fess up.

Don't Take Your Writing Too Seriously... In Miniature Style II

Don't get me wrong; I do take writing seriously. But one thing about writing: while there are those projects you have to do, writing should also involve the things you love to do.

Yes, I do the serious stuff via writing for newspapers and occasional magazine articles, but along the way I've learned that I can also get paid for my hobby. Talk about a dream!

As a longtime miniatures crafter and dollhouse collector, I enjoy not only sharing my interest in my hobby, but also writing about it. I combined both interests in my latest nonfiction book, IN MINIATURE STYLE II.

The book includes profiles of other collectors, photos of their and my work, plus an assortment of how-to projects. It is available in ebook/pdf, and other formats for the iPad, Nook, Kindle and in print. See photos at link above, or you can preview it at Smashwords.

Writing on Topic
As many fiction writers know, it's usually the nonfiction work that pays the bills, unless you're Stephen King or Danielle Steele, or have been fortunate to hit it big in ebooks and on the Kindle. And while many special interest magazines pay on the lower end of the scale, it's still a good way to get some published clips, make some extra money, and have fun doing it. What's better than writing about your own special interest and getting paid for it?

While not everyone wants to write a how-to book, the fun of doing that is being able to experiment and try out the projects. So right now I am working on a unique project by one of the book's contributors, the fun being my own experimenting to make it in a completely different size. I think it's turning out well!

The funny part is that when someone asks what I'm doing and I say working on a miniature project, I can let them know that I am not goofing off. It is research so I can have my own samples on hand to show off the book contents. Honest.

Buy: Amazon



* Anyone else have any special interests or hobbies they like to write about? Please share!

Please Welcome Chris Verstraete, Mystery Writer, on Her Blog Book Tour

Writing Real vs. Fictional Friends

Thanks everyone for hosting me and kicking off my blog tour for Searching For A Starry Night on Kindle/, and the upcoming new print version.

I noticed that most of my characters have friends, which I consider a good thing. After all, who wants to read about someone always talking to themselves, unless you intended to picture them slightly unglued, of course.

Friendship is at the heart of the story in my children's book Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery just released on Kindle.

Friends can play an important role in solving a mystery, even if it's just for the company. Holmes had Watson; Stephanie Plum has Grandma Mazur; even Miss Marple needed someone to talk to, usually the long-suffering police chief who listened (grudgingly) to her ideas.

In Searching for a Starry Night, 13-year-old Sam and her BFF Lita have a pretty good relationship—most of the time.

They usually agree, but friendship, especially one of many years, can, and does, have its own source of conflict, as when Lita gets mad at Sam for taking her fear of ghosts lightly by teasing her. Lita feels even more threatened after she's the first to uncover an unusual document connected to a spooky event in the family's past.

After they argue and Lita withdraws, Sam is now the one feeling threatened and fears that her decades-old friendship could end. She also may have to continue her hunt alone for the missing miniature replica of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting, something she'd rather share with her friend.

As in real life, fictional friends have testy moments. Friends can argue. They can disagree while having a central goal. Writing such moments into a story is what makes characters real and helps the reader feel a touch of empathy or even a little anger at the character's actions or attitude.

It's like reacting to what's going on in a movie. When the reader (or viewer) starts yelling at the character or feels something towards them, be it joy, anger, disgust, impatience, judgment, etc. – you know you've succeeded in making them real. You've made a connection.

That's the fun part. Giving your characters friends not only adds some conflict and a little tension to the story, it can add some light moments and it makes the story that much more real.

Thanks for letting me meet your blog visitors!


**CONTEST:  
Anyone commenting on any of the blog stops on the tour can win:
*One person who comments on any of the blog tour stops will win a free Kindle copy of Searching for a Starry Night. (You can download Kindle for PC free here.)

* One person will also win a miniaturized dollhouse collector's edition of the first chapter from the first print edition, made by miniaturist LeeAnn Borgia. See my
blog for links and photo.

** To celebrate the revised Searching for a Starry Night, one person will win a copy of the new print version when it is available.

Links:
* Website
* Blog
* eBooks page
* Searching For A Starry Night on Kindle

Next Few Tour Stops:

Mon, 7/26: Morgan Mandel's Double M blog - Dogs and Such

Tues, 7/27: Killer Hobbies with Camille Minichino - Crafts and Writing, what comes first?

For the Full Blog Tour Lineup See http://cverstraete.com/news.html

Don't forget to comment for a chance to win! An email address will help to track you down.