Don't Be Labeled a "Same-O/Same-O" Writer

By Julie Auna

As an author, I never want to be labeled a same-o, same-o writer. I don't want to be that someone who pens the same old story in different clothing. Stories should be fresh, not picked over stories. Maybe not being an avid reader anymore, because of the time element, I'm not being influenced by someone else's work. However, I have read a ton of good books and wished I had some of the author's talent.

I don't fool myself into thinking I'm a great author or even a really really good writer. When I write I usually have a certain audience in mind and I try to put myself in that audience and I want to identify with their wants, with their likes and dislikes. This takes time and energy. I marvel at the talent other writers possess and wonder if they struggle to fulfill their readers needs and wants as much as I do.

I like giving my leading characters a distinct character that the readers will never forget. i want a rader to identify with them and either loce them or loat them or develop a sympathy for them, a oneness, or even fall in love with the character. I work hard to maintain a character's personlity from the story's beginning to the end, unless he or she is mental.

The first page has to reach out and grab the reader's interest. Some call it a hook but either way you write it, make sure it grabs your interest first if you aren't satisfied the reader won't be either. Rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite. It's a broken record and I hate it as much as you do.

The blurb, it's a winner take all or a loser, there's no in-between.

In my first published book in my Sisters-Six series, a soft mystery, I allowed my Sisters-Six and One to Grow On to build into a perplexing dilemma with six foxy, retired sisters, with a diverse interest to ride a whirlwind of calamity and adventure. I added a pinch of hysteria, tempered with laughter and tears.

My second book is completely different. The Rat's Tail Series is a compelling drama surrounding Elizabeth Doursea, tweleve years old and born with a birth defect, which lives with her paternal grandfather, Raymond Doursea. The small farm is at the base of Grippers Mountain in Oklahoma. Lizzy's father, Leroy Doursea is serving time in McNanna Penitentiary. Lizzy's resolve is tested to the brink upon hearing her father is being released early for good behavior.

The early release opens a Pandora's Box of hidden elicit sins of the family she loves.