There is no Prince Charming!

So, a few months ago, I published my first book through ebook called There is no Prince Charming! 
As you can imagine, when it first showed up online, I did a happy dance for at least an hour. And then I repeated that dance when I had reached ten downloads. 
When I started writing this story, it was just for fun. Little did I know, it would become so much more!
One thing I can say for sure, writing takes time and effort. I went through countless drafts and I still feel like it's not perfect (but I'm sure that's my OCD speaking). 
If you haven't tried writing something from first person, I suggest it. It brings a whole new life to the story and you can add so much of your own spunk and personality to it.

Summary: 
Jennifer Carmichael, a lowly secretary and cynical romance novel addict, is ripped form her dull life when she wakes up to find that she is no longer in New York City, but held captive in a fictional world found withing the pages of the strange book she discovered on the subway; a medieval world where women do as they are told and all the men look sexy enough to eat.
Jen's sharp attitude and fierce independence immediately attracts the attention of the Prince. He is everything any woman could ever want, a real Prince Charming. However, things are not always what they seem. 
Desperately trying to find her way home, but flung head first into the middle of a brewing way between the King and the Rebellion, Jen must choose what to fight for: the Prince, the People, or her heart.

If you're looking for a good read, look no further than this book. It is sure to entertain you. I can tell you this because it was such a blast to write!

NOOK LINK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/there-is-no-prince-charming-c-m-ortega/1116309559?ean=2940149594597

KINDLE LINK: http://www.amazon.com/There-Prince-Charming-Crystyl-Ortega-ebook/dp/B00IZGDBFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395101569&sr=8-1&keywords=there+is+no+prince+charming

Free Write

Sometimes the thought of writing overwhelms people and they give up before even trying. I'll admit, there are times when it gets overwhelming and writing isn't for everyone; however, like any new skill or job, you learn as you do.

Just today I was thinking about an activity that I used to do in my creative writing class and thought to share it with you. 

The exercise is called Free Writing.

It helped me learn to listen to the voice in my head (or voices haha).

The basic idea is, set yourself an allotted amount of time, for example: ten minutes. Grab a pen and paper and start writing. Write for the entire ten minutes. 

Start writing about the first thing that pops into your mind, doesn't matter what it is, just write it and keep writing. Your mind will go off on rabbit trails, write those too. 

The idea of free write is to write your thoughts and then later you can go back and read them and see how far off the original subject you've gotten. I've done this a few times and every time I laugh because it's so random.

Sure, Free Writing may not help you get a book published or anything, but it's a fun exercise to get you into a flow. Sometimes, we hear our inner voice so often that we ignore it. Well your mind is bursting with creativity that is just waiting to be unleashed!

This exercise is mostly for fun, and you can just throw the paper away when your done, or you can keep it. It's up to you. 

This is also a good activity if you've been struggling with writers block. Perhaps taking a step away from your project for a moment and writing about something else is enough to kick start your creative juices.

Anyway, there you go. If you do this exercise, let me know what you thought about it. 

Happy Writing!

What is writing all about anyway?

When I was a kid, writing meant an hour in English class learning the most boring subject known to man-kind, grammar. In my mind, I could think of a million better things to do with my time than study how little dashes or dots can change the flow of a sentence.

Little did I know, all those dashes and dots would become important to me. 

During my junior year in high school, my English teacher gave us an assignment to write a short story. Deciding to write mine about a girl who gets abducted by creatures and taken underground, my short story became a longer story and longer still.

I turned in the first few chapters to my teacher and kept writing the rest for my personal entertainment.

This would be the spark that would change history as we know it...ok, maybe that was a little dramatic, but it did change the way I looked at writing.

Not to say that I'm a professional now, no way! I'm still learning. However, I do wish that I would have listened in class when we were learning about grammar, because I had to learn all those rules all over again (which was a pain).

That short story became a full fledged book and I'm proud to announce that it was published this month!

Since high school, I've written 5 books and have two of them published. 

If you would have told me when I was a kid that I would be looking into writing as a career, I would have rolled my eyes at you, claiming I barely knew how to spell.

That may have been true at the time, but now that I write, I look at the world in a whole new light.

Inspiration lies behind every corner. 

There is no better feeling than creating your own world where you can manipulate your characters to live out different situations such as: fall in love, fight in a war, become afraid, enjoy themselves, lose themselves and find themselves.

If you've never tried your hand at writing, I will give you the same homework that started me down this path, write a short story. I doesn't have to be long. Try writing three pages, just three and see where that leads you.

If you accept this challenge, I would love to hear about it. Comment below and tell me your ideas!