If looking back on 2020 isn’t the most appealing exercise to you right now, that’s completely understandable. It’s been a never-ending handkerchief magic trick of pain and loss so far. Looking back is just as stressful, too; even as you strive to adapt to the “new normal,” the year continues to throw you a curveball or two.

For now, let’s look to Austrian neurologist and psychologist Viktor Frankl. After living through Auschwitz, Frankl went on to pen Man’s Search for Meaning, his bestselling memoir where he details his use of humor to stay sane and to survive. In Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything,another book of his, he warns against both pessimism and optimism since both are two sides of the same coin—both are ways to expect things from life.

When looking back and looking forward can equally paralyze you, it’s time to ask a different question. To paraphrase Frankl, the question can no longer be “What can I expect from 2020?” but “What can 2020 expect of me?”

Ask Google about how the publishing industry has dealt with the pandemic, and you’ll find so many embodiments of the latter question. It’s story after story of authors submitting their manuscripts, holding launch parties and book tours on Zoom, and looking out for readers by giving away their books.

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Authors who published with us have been keeping busy.

What can you accomplish in three months? Well, NaNoWriMo’s coming up, so you could start planning a novel now, speed-write it by November, and polish it within December. If you want to spice things up, you could try writing one novel for each month instead—three fresh novels by December!

Of course, not every writer lives for the thrill of the word count. You could dedicate yourself to researching and outlining. Three months is barely enough time to explore the internet’s plethora of content. Before you know it, it’ll be the new year.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a manuscript ready right now, you can always reach out to one of our publishing consultants and have a chat about your publishing options.

Remember, it’s a matter of asking what you’re capable of. Frankl said it beautifully: “The question life asks us… does not only change from hour to hour but also changes from person to person…”

As with Frankl’s outlook, the beauty of self-publishing is the freedom to accomplish things at your own pace. Start with what you have right now, and everything will follow.

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For something that’s considered an art, writing sure has a ton of “advice” you’re supposed to follow if you dream of success; stray from oft-repeated wisdom and you’re branded as a rule breaker.

But really, writing is an art. What works for one writer can work for thousands of others, yet this doesn’t guarantee that it’ll work for you. It’s even possible that this is a part of the pressure so many writers feel. You try to sit down and write every day, but your brain refuses to cooperate most of the time. You try freewriting, but you end up with inedible word soup. You try using pen and paper, but this leads you down a procrastinatory path of finding the best notebook and the best pen tip size—and your hand cramps up a lot.

Upon closer inspection, much of writing is simply busywork, a checklist of standards you’re supposed to meet before you can hope to come up with something good. Looking around you, you’ll also find that many writers succeeded because they broke the rules. They took the experiential wisdom of others, smashed it, reassembled it, gave it two or three coats of paint, and called it style. Perhaps you’ve experienced this too. Have you ever tried ignoring writing advice to the betterment of your writing? Did you set out to do it or was it out of necessity? How did you feel as you went along this path, and how did you deal with those feelings? Would you do it again or do you plan to follow what’s advised next time? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Then again, ending a book is more than just writing “the end.” It can even become a chore too, what with all the parts you have to figure out. Let us help you with that.

Some time ago, we covered the basic difference between an epilogue and an afterword, but here we’ll list and define all the things that readers can expect to find at the end of a professionally written book.

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So you will probably be surprised that Dr. Wundah’s first book published through AuthorHouse is a romance novel entitled Virgin Island.

We welcome Dr. Wundah in this, the first of a two-part AuthorHouse Author’s Digest series, as he explains how his choices of literary genres were influenced by his real life experiences.   

Author’s/Writer’s Choice of Genre: Impact of Life Experiences
By Dr Michael N. Wundah   

In the literary/creative world, the choice of genres is in my personal opinion, predicated on the writer’s or authors real life experiences.

Growing Up in Sierra Leone
These experiences could range from faith/religion to politics and societal imposed or self-induced happenings. I was in Sierra Leone, West Africa, a developing country with a chequered history. I was also brought up in Sierra Leone but have spent close to three decades now in the west – in Great Britain. I gained my preliminary education throughout my formative, teenage years in Sierra Leone.

Reflecting on the historicity of Sierra Leone, its audit analysis, like in most developing or Third World countries is bloated with the insidious viruses of corruption, greed, tribalism, nepotism and avalanche – the typical characteristics of patrimonial states.

These vices were ripe in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, especially during what most political analysts have dubbed the most devastating civil war in in modern African History.

I grew up with people around me who were immersed or what became a benign cultural practice made to believe that these vices were prudent and that one manhood or integrity is judged by how smart you were at being corrupt.

How These Experiences Influenced My Writing
If writing was ever going to fall within my grasp, which I have always worked hard to achieve, undoubtedly by virtue of my upbringing, the genre was going to play a major role in my adventure.

My genre is political satire with a twist – which exposes the filth and injustice in society built around the patrimonial culture in my country.

Although, I was out of the country, having migrated to the UK via The Gambia, another Western African sister state; the impact of the civil war affected me and my family, like anyone else in Sierra Leone during the conflict. To this day, when I reflect on the impacts the civil war brought to bear on my family and I, I can say we suffered in equal measures as those who were close to the actions in Sierra Leone.

My First Books
I started actively writing for publication in 2004, and since then I have not looked back. In addition to three texts in the English Language, I have written two books, which are political satires, carved around the vices mentioned inter alia. The political satires are Sunset in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Corridors of Power, and recently – Landscaping Sierra Leone’s Third Way Politics in The Mould of Attitudinal and Behavioural Change. I launched the latter in Freetown, Sierra Leone last Easter break.

Satire can be a Dangerous Exercise
Satire, especially around the theme of politics is not in my view a popular undertaking or genre especially if one concentrates on a Third World state as your case study. Reflecting on the debilitating consequences, the statistics spell danger, extreme danger. At the launch of Sunset in Sierra Leone, one of the guest speakers, a senior Sierra Leonean academic summed up his analysis nicely,

“Political satire of the nature you have imbued in, Michael Wundah, is not for the faint hearted.”

He was right, bravely I went to Sierra Leone prior to the 2007 elections and gave an interview on the only national TV channel. By the time I returned home I met more than a dozen emails threatening me for exposing filth that obtained in the periods I covered in the book and the ‘‘Big Fishes’’ I analysed in the context of my satire. A handful of brave political satirists that have bravely launched into this genre have paid with their own lives and those of their loved ones.

Read on for part two of this fascinating story in Dr. Wundah’s next AuthorHouse Author’s digest guest article.

Dr. Michael N. Wundah’s AuthorHouse Bibliography:

• Virgin Island

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In part one, we discussed first person (using the pronouns “I” or “we” in narrating the story). In the second installment, we discussed the often-confused second person, which uses “you” for both its singular and plural forms (both posts are available in our Author Advice section). Today we’ll wrap things up with third person, probably the most common point of view in fiction writing.

Third person describes the actions of all characters using the pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” “they,” or the character’s proper name. In third person, the narrator can be thought of as removing herself from the story entirely—a “fly on the wall” who describes the events.

Consider the following:

Lewis arrived home later just after ten. The living room was dark, the TV off. He hesitated outside the kitchen, took a deep breath, and entered. Marge was sitting at the table, staring at him. Dinner, long cold, was on the table in front of her. And so was an envelope.

“Where were you, Lewis?” she asked. “I called your office, they said you’d left hours ago.”

And that’s the third person point of view. The entire story is told using proper names (Lewis, Marge), or third person pronouns (he, she, it, etc.) “You” and “I” are used towards the end of the example, but only as part of dialogue. The narrator is like a ghost, describing the characters’ actions, but not participating in them.

This brings us to a very important point when using the third person. The writer must decide if the point of view will be limited or omniscient.

With a third person limited point of view, the narrator describes the story through the eyes or actions of one main character. Think of it as a reality TV crew that follows a central character. For example:

Louisa knocked on Trevor’s door. She could hear activity inside the room: a drawer slammed shut, a window thrown opened. She knocked again. When Trevor finally opened it, the smell of cigarettes was unmistakable.

Now, even though we can guess what’s happening inside Trevor’s room, we’re still limited by that door–by what Louisa can see, hear, or smell. This is a third person limited point of view.

Compare that with this:

Louisa knocked on Trevor’s door. Inside, Trevor almost spit the cigarette out of his mouth in surprise. Panicking, he wrapped it in a piece of aluminum foil. He dropped the foil into the drawer, slammed it shut, and opened the window. He fanned around the room with the pillow, trying to get the incriminating smoke out.

Did you catch what happened? We passed right through the door, going from Louisa to Trevor. This is the third person omniscient point of view,

when the narrator can “see all.”

Typically, fiction writing utilizes the third person limited point of view. Why? Because then we can share in the suspense and discoveries of the main character. Be careful though; it’s a common mistake for writers to use the limited point of view, but then accidentally throw in an omniscient point of view without realizing it.

And with that, we conclude our series on point of view. We (first person plural) hope that you’ve enjoyed it. You (second person) should continue checking back here for updates, and the AuthorHouse Bookstore for the latest self-published releases.

Thanks for visiting Author’s Digest! Follow AuthorHouse on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about how you can become a published author, click here for our FREE Publishing Guide.

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You can read the first three parts–in which Edwin discusses his background, his self-publishing experience, his advice for other writers, and the possible film adaptation of  True Haunting–in our Author Blogs section.

Edwin, what is your next writing project?

I have three novels in the works and will finish them in good time. At age 73, I’m no longer in any great hurry!

Are there any events or promotions planned for your True Haunting?

None scheduled. This is one of the reasons I never enlisted an agent or PR person–because I’m lazy! I don’t do book signings, nor accept offers for public appearances. I am, however, committed to the film company to do any appearances they schedule to promote the movie.

Speaking of the movie, what’s the latest on the True Haunting  film adaptation?

Sworn to a confidentially agreement, I can only share little, but I’m getting an education. It’s at the screenwriting stage and filming locations are being searched for. Since it takes place in 1970, it’s considered a “period” film and I’m learning what it takes to gather all the elements to recapture 1970!

Is there anything you’d like to add before we wrap things up?

I can’t say enough about self-publishing. Some new writers are attracted by the traditional publishers, but that can be a huge mistake. Traditional publishers can alter your work, they maintain some book rights, they set the prices, and their modest advances are actually loans. You get no royalties until you’ve earned back your advance, and they may even reserve the right to ask for it back if your book does not sell as expected.

As the number of brick-and-mortar bookstores decreases, their strength in distribution has diminished. Unless you are an A-list celebrity author, self-publishing is the only way to go!

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Thank you for your time, Edwin, and best of luck with your future projects. Please keep us up-to-date on the  True Haunting film adaptation as details become available!

Readers, all of Edwin’s books (including  True Haunting) are available at Amazon and the AuthorHouse Bookstore. For more information about Edwin F. Becker and his books, check out his website at www.edwinbecker.com.

Thanks for visiting Author’s Digest! Follow AuthorHouse on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about how you can become a published author, click here for our FREE Publishing Guide.

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Life is the basic inspiration–that and the way my life has drawn into the energies of faith. My writing served my ministry in a variety of ways. The poetry, perhaps, has been the most independent of that basic focus in that it reflects upon what catches my eye and/ or ear in the world I encounter; some of that, of course, has been ministry oriented.

Coming to self-publishing allows me to govern what I am doing, and to own it even through the published product. As I deal with the variety of personalities over the telephone and through email, I find the interaction lively and positive. The AuthorHouse arrangement has been helpful and permissive to me; that makes it easy.

I continue to mine the archives. I am beginning to revisit a three-year Bible study from the mid-1980s on the Gospel of Luke. And I am progressing through the Inn-by-the-Bye stories with the aim of finishing the extant 1100 odd examples, adding to the last book the prequel efforts before they actually began to gain public sight. I continue to write and collect meditations, reflective prayers, hymn texts and poetry. There is a satisfaction found in final products.

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Thank you for taking the time to talk with Author’s Digest, William, and best of luck with your upcoming projects! Readers, you can pick up William Flewelling’s books at Amazon and the AuthorHouse Bookstore.

Thanks for visiting Author’s Digest! Follow AuthorHouse on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about how you can become a published author, click here for our FREE Publishing Guide.

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This time we’ll look at what, for many writers, is THE stumbling block: coming up with ideas. After all, “Where do you get your ideas?” is probably the question most commonly asked of successful writers. Well, today we’ll tell you where a lot of those writers get their ideas—and you can too!

We begin with…

Don’t just focus on hyperdrives and transporters. Yes, you read that right. Science fiction writers tend to focus on advances in technology; well, don’t be afraid to look at other disciplines too! What will philosophy look like in the future? Archaeology? Sociology? Music?

Think about the negative side of a scientific breakthrough. The positive results of scientific progress are easy to imagine. After all, they’re the main reason we’re trying to advance science to begin with. But what about the downside? Okay, so medical advancements allow people to live for centuries; how does that affect overpopulation, resource depletion, the job market, etc. Imagining the negative can give you an entirely new angle to write about.

Don’t shy away from the big subjects. The movie Prometheus was about no less than the creation of life on Earth. If you have an idea, don’t be scared of tackling large, “macro” topics like this. The good news is, it’s unlikely that real-world scientific advances will disprove your theory any time soon.

Find a popular sci-fi writer to disagree with. Hopefully, as someone who wants to write science fiction, you’re also an avid sci-fi reader! Think about some of those stories. Were you intrigued by another writer’s setting or concept, but disagree with the direction he or she took? Now’s your chance to “correct” the mistake! We’re not suggesting plagiarism; rather, we’re saying that you can use other stories to provide the seeds for your own unique take on things.

What if disproved theories had turned out to be true? What if the Earth really was flat? Research beliefs and theories, some of which might be thousands of years old, and then imagine what would happen if they were true? Granted, this kind of thinking can quickly turn your science fiction story into one of fantasy, but who cares if it’s a story you want to tell?

We’ll be back with more tips about writing in the ever-surprising, ever-expanding science fiction genre. Until then, browse the AuthorHouse Bookstore for the latest sci-fi offerings from our self-publishing author community.

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Today, AuthorHouse Author’s Digest will take a moment to discuss the numeric keypad present on most modern keyboards. That’s the set of 17 keys on the far right side, marked as numerals, directional arrows, and commands like “Home,” “PgUp,” etc.

First things first. To access the numeric functions on the keypad, you must first push the “Num Lock” button on the top left of the numeric keypad. Unlike the main part of the keyboard, simply pushing “Shift” won’t work. Once you’ve pushed “Num Lock” (typically confirmed by one of the keyboard lights), pushing the buttons will result in the indicated numbers, instead of the directional arrows or other commands.

But aren’t there already numbers on the keyboard, near the top? Why a separate numeric keypad? The reason is that people who enter numbers frequently can do so much faster on a numeric keypad (which is organized like an old-fashioned adding machine.)

And what about the question that started this article? That elusive cents sign? Well, for Windows users, that’s an additional function of the numeric keypad. When the “Num Lock” button has been pushed, holding down the “Alt” key while entering a numeric code will produce a wide variety of signs and symbols.

For example, if you want to make the cents sign:

1. Push down “Num Lock”

2. Hold down the “Alt” button

3. While the “Alt” button is depressed, enter the number 0162 on the numeric keypad.

Ta-daa! The cents sign (¢)!

And the division sign? Make sure “Num Lock” has been pushed, hold down “Alt,” and enter 0247.

There is a wide variety of symbols that can be made via this method, from currency and math symbols, to foreign accent marks, and a whole lot more. For a complete list, search for “Windows Alt Key Codes” online—there’s no shortage of comprehensive resources available.

Thanks for visiting Author’s Digest! Follow AuthorHouse on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about how you can become a published author, click here for our FREE Publishing Guide.

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AuthorHouse Author’s Digest welcomes Willie Pleasants as a two-time published AuthorHouse author. Her first book, Ain’t That the Truth, opened the door to giving her the confidence that she could write, and her second book, Make Truth a Habit, just confirmed that she had found her passion.

Poet, Writer, Teacher, Inspiration: Willie Pleasants

Willie Pleasants writing has propelled her on a journey of reading and teaching poetry to children. She is a team leader for a Jumpstart program that helps three-to-five year old children prepare to enter kindergarten to succeed with language and literacy skills.

She discovered her love for poetry at an early age.

Her favorite poet is Langston Hughes. His words resonated within her. She understood how he felt during those troubled times in his life.  As a woman of color, she had to endure discrimination, retaliation, lies, and limited promotions in the workplace.

Her short stories will take you on a journey of true to life experiences.

Her poems paint vivid images that leaves her listeners mesmerized; always asking for more.

She travels locally and nationally to do book signings.

She has ongoing appearances on cable and radio shows.

She was so intrigued by the idea of being interviewed that she became the producer and host of her own cable show called Willie’s Web, on Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN). She sees it as a great opportunity to promote her books and as well as promoting other authors and artists to share their journey.

She combined her talent with three other women and created a professional published author group called, Authors Without Borders. They also have a cable show on which Ms. Pleasants is one of the producers, directors and host.

She works with the group to offer workshops, speaking engagements and panel discussions to help other writers navigate the maze of writing and publishing.

She created and facilitates a class called Storytelling at Tea, which is offered as a course for the Osher Life Learning Institute at University of Mass /Boston.

She has done extra work in major films like Fever Pitch, The Proposal, and Here Comes the Boom.

She has met and interacted with major actors including Jimmy Fallon, Spike Lee, Billy Dee Williams, Ernie Hudson, and Daphne Maxwell-Reid.

Willie Pleasants’ AuthorHouse Bibliography

• Ain’t That The Truth
• Make Truth A Habit

Articles by AuthorHouse Author Willie Pleasants

• Boston Seniority Magazine has published several of her short stories.
• Gift of the Great Spirit has published one of her famous poems.

Follow Authorhouse Author Willie Pleasants:

• Her Cable Shows, Willie’s Web
• On Her Official Website

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