Winner of the April 2021 Giveaway!

The winner of the April 2021 Giveaway has been selected. Congrats to InscribedDreams, from Twitter!

Visit the giveaways page for entry rules and dates:

  

Order your own copy of the book here:

Live Video Reading of The Violet Curse

What happens when you cross a light-hearted, ditzy artist with a deeply psychological fear of the dark and an unhealthy obsession with writing? An intense, creepy story that will at times be funny, become morbid, and then shift completely into a thrilling paranormal fantasy.

The Violet Curse is the debut novel of the Leviathans series. About strenuous family ties in an ever-shifting, volatile dystopia, this book is not for faint of heart. Watch the following videos to see what the book is about. Enjoy the chapters and the prologue!

FREE SIGNED BOOK / SIGNED ART GIVEAWAYS mentioned in the videos! Information for how to enter will be on the Giveaways page (click here), and the first winners will be announced mid-April of 2021.

Available now on Amazon (Print Format) - (Ebook Format).

LIVE VIDEO READINGS OF THE VIOLET CURSE

Introduction

Prologue: A Dark Dream

Chapter One: Bright Night

Chapter Two: Killer

Chapter Three: Tracks

JOIN US?

- LEVIATHANS BOOKS COMMUNITY -

- WRITERS & ARTISTS COMMUNITY -

Want to join the Leviathans community to keep track of new releases, tours, and other giveaways related to the series? (Leviathans Facebook page)

Want to join the Writers' and Artists' community for behind-the-scenes, tips, advice, and other things related to Indie publishing? (7Bloodfire Writer Facebook Page)

Or click the Communities button below to see what else is available! (Blogs, News, YouTube, etc.)

Click the Books button for other books that are currently available. (Free Writing Tips book, and other releases.)

 

Brushing Up and Being a Grammar Nerd

I like being a Grammar Brat.  The more I learn, the less — I realize — I actually know. But that's what progress looks like. Our language is a defiant, mind-boggling fiend, I tell you!

Meh.

We Grammar Brats love the processes of explaining and fixing and teaching . . . even if we ourselves are in the same boat (hahaha, yes, we're hypocrites, a lot of us). The thing is, English Grammar and mechanics are very fluid depending on the style, author preference, country, and even trade being written in. Fiction? No prob. Break as many rules as would give Grammar Professors heart attacks. (They'll be fine, I promise.) The thing to aim for in fiction is the general, updated consensus. Language changes, and those changes become accepted. Knowing the "rules" helps for a pleasing reading experience, and it makes your style strong and consistent, but the rules can be bent. 

As like many Grammar Brats, I couldn't help myself. I went on a help-spree on Skillshare, and I poked some holes in some editor/grammar tips when I noticed incorrect usage and the omission of information on 1) dialogue and quotations, 2) on modification of quotes using brackets, and 3) on a few other very important things which can help writers move from the novice stage to a more expert one.

(If you want some more writing tips that aren't so Grammar heavy, head here, to my free Wattpad book.  Otherwise, skim down for the extra Grammar tips I'd thought might be extra helpful and enlightening.)

Writing Tips

Welcome to My Crazy:

Sorry for being a stickler on grammar, but I want to help ensure your future viewers will have the best learning experience.  There were several mistakes and things not mentioned which I want to point out.  Other than that, you’ve given excellent advice and are quite accurate with most of your stuff.

Okay…

I saw nothing on interrobangs, yet I've seen many writers use them incorrectly.  The question mark always comes before the exclamation point, not the reverse, and only one of each punctuation should be applied, not multiple.

On Video 59:

The quote within the dialogue tag was incorrect on your third example, around the 1:23 time stamp.  The double-apostrophe belongs on the outside, framing set of dialogue tags, and the single-apostrophe signifies within it that the second set is something (said by another person) which is being reiterated by the current speaker. 

The same rule is applied to curved brackets, square brackets, and parentheses (in that order) in both math and English.  Further, commas always go inside of the dialogue tag or quote tag, even if the quote is part of a series of quotes.  It is the same for the period you placed outside of the quotation marks at the very end of that slide.  I believe the British rules allow for some variation in certain places, but in American English, this is the rule.  Clarifying this would help your future viewers greatly.

You mentioned nothing about indented quotes within text, where the quote exceeds a certain number of lines or sentences and must be separated entirely from the paragraph.  In that case, the paragraph ends with a colon, just before the beginning of the long quote.  That long quote is then moved down the document / essay / work.  Then, that whole quote-paragraph is indented, with the proper use of opening and closing quotations.  The first line of that indented paragraph is not given further indentation, either.  Next, ellipses within quotes indicate excess words not valid to the point of your argument, and using brackets around certain modified words within the quote signifies these changes were not part of the original quote itself, and it thus assures readers of accuracy and that there is neither copyright infringement nor plagiarism.

Another important note for quotations is when there are multiple paragraphs of extended dialogue, where quotation marks are treated another way not often intuited by novice writers.  There is no quotation mark at the end of the paragraph if the speaker’s dialogue continues into the next paragraph.  The next paragraph simply picks up a new opening set of quotation marks, and that dialogue runs until the speaker finishes, in which case the ending quotation mark is finally applied. 

On Video 61: In the case of dashes: there are more forms than the one you mentioned.  You used a hyphen where you should have used one of two other types of dashes: the N dash or the M dash.  (Neither are as short as the hyphen.) The N dash is the shorter of the two and the M dash is the longer.  Both N and M dashes serve to replace the same punctuation(s): a single comma gets a single N or M dash; a set of commas will be replaced by a set of N or M dashes; and a set of parenthesis will be replaced by a set of N or M dashes.  Depending upon the rules or common practices of the publisher, the N dash often has a space before and after, and the M dash does not.  A hyphen is not used by every publisher as the standard dash, as it can be too easily confused with something intended as a hyphen.  Visually, it is also an unpleasing differentiation where other alternatives can be used.

Another note on the dashes: both N and M dashes are interchangeable and depend upon the program being used and the publisher’s chosen guidelines—but they must be used consistently throughout a document.  One or the other, not both.  A twice-typed hyphen is automatically converted into an M dash in some programs but not in others, where it must be copied and pasted instead.  And if the copy and paste does not result in the intended N or M dash, simply typing two hyphens, one after the other--and with or without a space before and after the mark--will often suffice.  Again, ensure consistency when deciding whether to apply the space before and after.

Final note on video 61: no comma at time stamp 1:10 on your first example.

So, there you have it.  Some incredibly complex (yet easy to remember once put into practice) rules for beautiful punctuation!  It was very fun to correct another editor, haha!  I hope this was helpful!

Send me a message on my Contact Me form if you'd like to see some more grammar rules, or if I've missed something important!  The form is at the bottom of my home page at https://www.7bloodfire.com/.



And good grief, this would have been a perfect time to have worn my "Because...#Reasons" shirt!  I'd have felt quite smug, wearing that! If you purchase one, it goes toward helping me write more books, create more art, and give more advice. And you'd be my hero!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084TT5M83?customId=B07536XX75&th=1

Book - Writing TIps

https://www.wattpad.com/story/6000021-writing-tips

June 2019 Planner Vlog

June - My Business Planner

I wanted to share how I utilize my Business Projects Happy Planner, since it’s really starting to feel streamlined and simplified.  Gone are the days of overcomplicated schedules and notes that strain the eyes.

Marking things off has gotten a whole lot more motivating.  Because of the gray marker mark-it-off-as-done method, I can still see almost every project color very vividly while avoiding confusion over whether I meant to underline something, or if I meant to cross it off, or what color code the item was before...etc.  The pages look neater when they're finished.

I’ve added a few pages to my Happy Planner that don’t typically come with them, and I mention a few tips for planner newbies.  As a writer, I even make my own custom lined sticky notes for multiple uses—from documenting character arcs for every chapter, to writing chapter names, to making To Do lists, etc.  I’m excited how the process will change over time!

I haven’t even covered my other Happy Planner.  (You do get a glimpse of the crazy, though!)

If you're interested in joining my community where Indie authors and artists support, teach, and inspire each other, head on over to my 7Bloodfire Art and Story Facebook page and join us!

YouTube: Community for Artists, Writers, and Entrepreneurs

My YouTube Channel for Writers and Artists

Whether you intend to become (or are) an Indie author or you want to sell your works through another company, it is important to think of your brand and of yourself as a business entity.  Consistent calls to action for your audience, with clear goals and separation between your various ideas and projects, will help you to reach success and stay there.  This means you should write down your vision, plot out your path and what you need to learn and do, and then start completing each step, one at a time.  (Organization is the first key, communication is the second.)

For me, setting up for business was more difficult than it needed to be.  I was scattered, didn't even know what I needed to learn in the first place, or how to go about streamlining the processes and developing a system that works for overthinkers and overachievers like myself.  However, I want to ensure others do not have the struggle I did, or the stress caused by the unknown or the overwhelm.  So I have created a YouTube channel devoted to art and writing, and I have set up a few pages on Facebook where we writers and artists can support each other and where I will post help and inspiration videos, news, events, book and product releases, and more.  You can find the links to a lot of those in the sidebar next to this post.  The Facebook pages are listed on the Communities page.

Progress has been slow-going, but I am definitely seeing it.  So far this year, I have completed the designs for my publishing company's logo, updated my media banners across most of the social media outlets I am on, and set up or completed other important items for Brand Design.  I've created a board for many of the business steps I need to complete, and one by one I am checking them off.  And most importantly, I have been writing and creating art with the intent to sell and entertain.  My greatest love, after all, is reaching into others' hearts and minds, and inspiring them to feel.

Anyway, I wish you luck on your own projects!  May the rest of the year be productive, inspiring, and filled with blessings!

Facebook:

A page for fans of the Leviathans series!

Facebook.com/Leviathans

A page for Writers and Artists, Advice, and Support!

Facebook.com/7bloodfire.writer