 Red Room Writer Profile
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JoAnn Smith Ainsworth's Blog
June 29, 2010
- But I did. And it was terrific. My brother’s birthday was an occasion for a family reunion. Since I was flying across the country and hadn’t done much book promo on that coast, I decided to stay a month and cold call on bookstores and libraries to bring my two medieval romantic suspense novels to their attention. I started in the northeast side of Pennsylvania, traveled to Wilmington, ...
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May 5, 2010
- Asked, "What’s happening with you?", I answer, "You’d probably never guess. I’m studying voice (Vocal Power by Roger Love (CDs))."I’ve been on panels and have given talks where no microphone is provided. Sometimes, my voice comes out soft and hard to hear. Right now I raise my shoulders when I breathe. I’m learning to project my voice through proper breathing. I’m ...
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March 7, 2010
- When asked. "What’s happening with you?", I have to answer: "You’ll probably never guess. I’m studying voice!" (Vocal Power by Roger Love (CDs)).Now that I'm an author i must market my novels and meet readers. It's vital to get my name and my books known. Because of this, my voice has become critical to my success. Sitting in front of a computer doesn't challenge my ...
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January 26, 2010
- The start of a new decade gives one pause, doesn’t it? When I look back over the years, the decade seems to be the defining container for major changes in my life: finding an identity away from the family, seeking social contacts, seeking adventure, starting my own family, launching a second career. Because of these major shifts in life focus, each decade has its own landscape and ...
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December 28, 2009
- I've been asked if I would have chosen writing as a career earlier in my life if I'd known myself better or had different guidance. I'm a late bloomer when it comes to writing. Until nearing retirement, I didn't think to use my B.A. and M.A.T. in English and my MBA studies to become a published author. I thought about it when I needed a way to make money where age didn't matter. With ...
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October 31, 2009
- That you readers are all so unique is one of my biggest challenges as a writer. What one of you loves, the other of you hates. I can’t write one sentence on top of another. I only get one choice of what to put down on a blank sheet of paper. There’s no way I can take a story into a direction that both of you will love. So what to do? Here’s how I resolve this continuing challenge. ...
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October 30, 2009
- I've been asked, "How do you write so realistically?" A reviewer for Affaire de Coeur said, “vivid descriptions of time and place.” Growing up with horse-and-buggy ancestors provided me with experiences of everyday life before labor-saving devices. I lived with an out house, a great aunt who had a root cellar, hand-pumping water, an ice box, wash boards, home-made lye soap, canning ...
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September 23, 2009
- Have you ever gotten to a point in your writing career where your critique partners believe you're ready to rise to the next level of writing craft, but you're not so sure? That's where I am now. Since my last critique meeting, I've been struggling with whether to scrap the considerable work I've already done on my western romance novel, POLITE ENEMIES, or continue reworking it for sale. My ...
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September 3, 2009
- I've been asked how I came up with the blinded heroine for Out of the Dark. · The heroine for the novel comes from personal experience. In the 1980's, I worked with a blind woman who ran the department for disabled students at a local community college. I admired how much she could accomplish in a day. She needed a reader for her mail, but she answered phones, attended ...
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July 30, 2009
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Have you ever found your life going an unexpected direction? That's
exactly what happens to my heroine, Matilda.
In MATILDA’S SONG, the Anglo-Saxon heroine is faced with a
dilemma. She either marries a brutal man—who is collecting on a political
I.O.U. from the local earl—or she "gets out of town," leaving
behind all she loves -- family, ...
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June 29, 2009
- The Ainsworth family coat of arms describes fearless courage. -----------------------------My choice of a novel highlighting medieval Britain derived from the roots of the Ainsworth family in 900 A.D. The name is Anglo-Saxon, meaning the property of Ains.I needed a time period when women had a certain amount of freedom to choose their husbands. After research, I learned that 900 A.D. would not ...
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June 1, 2009
- I usually don’t think about creativity. I’m a disgustingly practical person—my writing is like a 9-5 job. I get up in the morning, exercise a half hour and start in. I don’t expect—and most often don’t get—writer’s block. When I get stuck, I take a day off and a new path opens up for me. But these past three days I was on a camping retreat—away from cell phones and the ...
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April 28, 2009
- You must have been struck—the way I was—with the courage it took for Susan Boyle to stand alone on a stage and face a large TV audience on the Britain’s Got Talent show. She stood there calmly despite the ridicule directed at her before she sang. I was struck by how much her experience—her vulnerability—parallels that of authors. When our books are released to the reading public, we ...
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September 29, 2008
- MATILDA'S SONG (1-60504-195-5) is e-released and will be in print in bookstores in fall 2009. Enjoy the medieval world of Matilda and Geoff as they sort through family and social barriers to their love.At the time, pretending marriage to her middle-aged widower cousin seemed like the best way to escape a politically motivated betrothal to a brutal knight. Now, her journey toward a new life has ...
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September 29, 2008
- I am delighted to invite you to enter the world of Lynnet and Basil as they struggle against social condemnation and villainy. OUT OF THE DARK (ISBN 1-59998-941-7) e-released and will be in print in bookstores in March 2009. The heroine is sight impaired. I love that her eyes are closed on the cover, blocking out what little sight she has. The artist, Anne Cain, did a marvelous job of ...
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