Nicci Carrera

October 7, 2015October 7, 2015 Nicci Photography, Writing Life

Writing life, the next level

My critique partner shared this story with me: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/matt-duffy-giants-dad-photo-gallery/ This is a baseball story and a very inspiring one. Also, for photography fans, it’s a gorgeously photographed chronicle. From birth to the major leagues, Dad (Tom Duffy) photographed his son (San Francisco Giants, Matt Duffy) playing baseball. He said:

To see a big league stadium with 40,000 fans there supporting him was both surreal and incredible. You see, while he was growing up through the game of baseball, Matt and I never once discussed making it to the big leagues. We continually kept our eyes on a much smaller prize: getting to the next level.

Emphasis mine. I love the thought of not focusing on the big time but just on what’s next for you. It made me ask myself what is the next level for me? That is an exciting thing to focus on compared to trying to imagine a big dream that just feels overwhelming. I have a little announcement to make. I just now received the contract from The Wild Rose Press for Third Strike’s the Charm. Talk about the next level; this book really is that for me.

I went out to take pictures early the other day and had a lot of fun but was disappointed when I looked at the results. They weren’t interesting. My husband helped me analyze why, look at other photos that are interesting, and create a plan for going back and shooting the same place again. I’m happier with the results.

In addition to writing, I’m focusing on learning and getting to the next level of amateur photography, and that’s what’s exciting. With photography I really don’t have goals, other than to take interesting and exciting photos for my blog. With writing I do have dreams, of course I do, and when I make sure that dream is writing increasingly good books, the journey is a joy.

Do you focus on outcomes or the journey and which inspires you the most?

October 5, 2015October 3, 2015 Nicci Photography

The Great Pumpkin Cometh

Do you remember, in the Peanuts comics, Linus and The Great Pumpkin? Linus would get very excited leading up to Halloween every year because of arrival of The Great Pumpkin. Well, in our garden, the Great Pumpkin cometh for sure.

October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 Nicci Photography, Writing Life

A new day, filled with light, and a little writing stress

I hope you are having a good weekend. I really am. The light was so pretty this morning, I had a lot of fun taking pictures. Then I had some news from my editor, a bit nerve-wracking news. Details below. But first the fun stuff.

The garden is still going…as well as glowing.

These pigeons were dining on who knows what on our patio before I came out. They startled and flew away. What a nice thing to be able to do. Just fly away. They reassembled first on the power lines then over on the neighbor’s antenna.

It is October 3, but we still have a squash flower.

This big guy was watching the world from his roost atop a tall oak tree.

This plant was enjoying the sunlight.

As was this redwood tree.

The persimmons are starting to ripen.

This was the first shot I took when I came outside.

I followed up with my editor, and turns out she was just on the phone with the senior (acquiring) editor, who had a problem with a plot element. A big plot element. She wanted to know if it was realistic and wanted to know if I’d done any research. I did research it, which I shared with them, and I said I could also add things to convince a reader who might have the same question. Donald Maass says to take the most unlikely thing in your book and prove it to the reader in as many ways as possible. He gives some ways to do that. I’ll be looking through his book and my notes from his workshops if the Wild Rose Press wants the book and wants me to do that.

So, the status on the book is a little gut wrenching. I will have to follow up with my editor to make sure she received my response because she didn’t reply. (I couldn’t figure out how to do the auto reply my friend Laurie told me. I have Yahoo mail, so it might not be a feature. I know Outlook does it.) I figured I’d do that this afternoon, soon then, just to make sure she received the email, per what we agreed to after the last email problem.

No wonder I spent the whole day playing with photos. I am a little worried. Photo processing is relaxing and fun.

Now I’m off to do some critique work for a friend and then listen to more of an audio book I’m really enjoying. One of life’s great pleasures is being read to. I love the advent of audio books.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Monday I will posting about The Great Pumpkin.

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 Nicci Essay

Day of respect

I was trying to postpone today’s scheduled post, but accidentally set it to go. Working on blog posts on the phone is tricky. The app does the opposite of what I want half the time. Well, I’m on my computer now and have deleted that post and all the social media releases of the topic.

Today is not a day to think of dreams, for those were stolen yesterday from ten people and their families and friends. October 1, 2015 will be the day life changed and dreams were stolen for all of those people, so today, I am offering my thought and heart to them and to my fellow Americans who live under constant threat of shooting rampages and who live with the heartbreaking memories of the many, many incidences of gun violence. I’ve been near enough to it myself, in multiple ways. It is something I will be exploring in a future book.

I have processed this photo from the reflection pools at the 9/11 memorial. The will, thought, cooperation, planning, leadership, diligence, and persistence that went into making this memorial are proof that we can overcome gun violence in this country too, by applying those same qualities to this new task.

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 Nicci Photography, Travel

Writing life, vacation’s over, now what?

Back to work I go. On the flight home I worked out a schedule looking at the hours in a day, and what I can allocate to writing. Also to blogging, photography, social media.

I allocated four hours a week to photography. Well I spent four hours just processing the photos from Vermont. And an hour or so writing this post, now I am rewriting it. I changed my mind about what I wanted to say. So that’s 6 or 7 hours on photos and blogging in one day.

But I like it. Maybe I’ll cut out what I “should” do, and just do what I love to do. I love blogging and taking photos. And writing and editing and fiddling with my website and reading and talking about books.

I was going to cut down on being online, planning on cutting way down on social media and networking, but it’s early morning (still on east coast time) and I just spent an hour reading the New York Times and links to other articles. And I like sending emails to friends, chatting on messenger with friends, and meeting for coffee, lunch, or writing marathons.

I guess I’ll plan to keep doing things the same way because I’m going to anyway, and if I embrace my choices instead of doing that while I’m supposed to be “disciplined” about my time, I’ll just feel bad, but not really be doing anything different. I think I just had an early morning epiphany. LOL

I guess I’ll just keep making lists of the important stuff, embrace the chaos, and see how I go. Do you adhere to schedule or just wing it?

Here is the chronicle of my last day of vacation, spent with friends in Vermont.

Picking apples is really fun. My friends and husband did most of the picking while I did most of the clicking.

Picking apples at an orchard in Vermont — Picking apples

I picked a couple apples…and ate them. I did contribute a couple to the bags, but the rest of the time I was having a blast taking photos.

My friend said my taking photos was okay, though, because if all four of us picked apples, the fun would be over too quickly. As it was, it only took 20 minutes to fill two bags. These Macintosh apples were incredible tasting. We also had fresh-pressed apple cider and hot fresh cider donuts.

Then we went for a hike in a park called Red Rocks near Lake Champlain to try to work up another appetite for our picnic lunch.

The orchard also raised and sold flowers, and they made a beautiful display in front. What an inviting display.

Oh…wait, guess how we ended our vacation in Vermont? Watching the eclipse. We all had our chairs out under a cloudless sky. Because we were in Vermont, we could watch the whole thing. Here’s one shot.

Moon eclipse 20

September 28, 2015September 27, 2015 Nicci Photography, Travel

Enjoying the last days of vacation in Vermont

We are lucky to have friends who live in a country town near Burlington Vermont. We would love coming to visit them no matter where they live, but what a treat to visit here. The country life is especially enjoyable after 10 days in New York City. Whew, what a relief to escape the noise! Although New York City has its own special beauty, it is too loud for me.

Driving along the rim of the Champlain Valley, it is very difficult to keep going instead of stopping 40 times to take photos. There was finally a good place to pull over near the town of Vergennes, a lovely country town. Here I was finally able to take a photo of one of the silos that dot the land.

Silo in near Vergennes Vermont — Silo near Vergennes Vermont

An inn Silo in near Vergennes Vermont — An inn near Vergennes Vermont

We arrived at our friends’ house after about a 6 hour journey in time to catch the sunset from their deck. With a glass of beer and my tripod, I took some photos.

Nightfall in Vermont — A country view in Vermont

The next day we hiked at Mad River Glen, where our friend skis. The photos from the hike are in the gallery below. Some of the fall colors are starting to come in, though they are somewhat hampered by a dry summer. It seems to be dry everywhere these days.

Afterward, we took a detour to look at this hop farm. Micro-breweries are booming in Vermont. In fact, there are now brewery tours in addition to the leaf-viewing tours. Hence growing hops is a new farming trend.

As I write this, it is Sunday. I am scheduling this post of lots of photos from Friday night and Saturday, and it will show on Monday. On Wednesday I will share the photos from Sunday’s adventures, which we are about to start…think apple picking, fresh cider and cider donuts, walking by Lake Champlain, and finally, sampling some of those micro-brews.

Fall colors at Mad River Glen ski area

A creek at Mad River Glen ski area

The single chair at Mad River Glen

Hiking at Mad River Glen ski area

Single chair at Mad River Glen

A hike at Mad River Glen

Mountain tops in Vermont

Fall colors at Mad River Glen ski area

Hiking at Mad River Glen ski area

Fall colors at Mad River Glen ski area

The Nature Center at Mad River Glen ski area

Hiking at Mad River Glen ski area

Fall colors at Mad River Glen ski area

A dead tree at Mad River Glen ski area

A stream

Wildflowers

Fall colors at Mad River Glen ski area

A typical Vermont scene

This says it all…

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 Nicci Photography, Writing

Waiting for a contract for my new novel…and New York life

It has been very convenient not to have a contract in September because I’ve been vacationing like mad.

I have some scenery shots from the New York portion of my September vacation, plus some photos of New Yorkers living their lives. You can see that despite the stresses of the city and the crowding, that people here live normally, exercising, walking their dogs, playing with their children, and going grocery shopping. I didn’t take photos of all of these activities, but I’ve seen them. The parks are what make the city livable for people. Because I grew up in the mountains, I didn’t appreciate the value of parks until I came to New York City.

Even while on vacation, I’ve been checking email 10 times a day, hoping for one from my publisher saying they’d like to offer me a contract for Third Strike’s the Charm. So far, nothing.

I did get up early to take photos at Riverside Park. The rewards for crawling out of bed so early were there, and I have to ask myself why I’m not doing the same for writing. I have to think about that. I bet I could get some good creative thoughts first thing in the morning (and then go back to bed for a nap later.)

Heading to work — Morning by Riverside Park

Old railway ties with New Jersey in the backgroun

In the middle of the day, I could do your standard kind of work, the editing, research, promo, and networking, just like I took an amble through Central Park and snapped a few good travel shots.

Around lunch I could enjoy some time with friends like this man with his best friend.

Walking with your bestie in Central Park

In the afternoon it’s important to have some refreshments,

Having some refreshments — Having something to drink

Finally, evenings after dinner can be left for:

For the rest of today, I’m going to imagine receiving the email that says something like, Dear Nicci Carrera, The Wild Rose Press would like to offer you a contract for THIRD STRIKE’S THE CHARM.

What dream of yours are you imagining into reality?

September 23, 2015September 22, 2015 Nicci Book Reviews, Photography, Travel

Robyn Carr Virgin River book review and photos of New York City

Yesterday was hard work in some ways, with a lot of walking and emotions ranging from fun to sobering to sad. New York provided extraordinary weather for being a photographer and tourist: cool with a pretty sky.

Even after all the touring, which started at sunrise at the Flatiron Building and ended after 10:00 p.m. on top of the Empire State Building, I finished reading Virgin River by Robyn Carr. The last 50 or so pages were so riveting that despite being tired, I had to press on and read to the end. The Virgin River series is small-town contemporary romance, which is the direction I might be heading with my romance writing. I say “might” because I have some romantic suspense stories planned as well. I’ll probably write both sub-genres. Anyway, I’m so glad that my Goodreads group started reading this series. I’d picked up a couple books from later in the series but they didn’t captivate me. Now that I’ve ready the first one, I know to just push through the first few chapters, and I will be rewarded. I loved the contemporary and realistic elements and was moved and riveted several times throughout the book. I ended up giving it 5 stars, highly recommended.

The reading group is a great thing because many of the long-term members had read the book and their encouragement to keep going made the difference for me. Now I have a great new (to me) author and series to enjoy and another good example to follow.

Here are my favorite photos from sight seeing on Monday.

Old Ferry Building, New York City — Old Ferry Building

Statue of Liberty, New York City — Statue of Liberty

View from Staten Island Ferry, New York City — View from Staten Island Ferry

The old Ferry Building, Detail, New York City — The old Ferry Building, Detail

Here are some other photos of my day in New York City in a gallery for you. The World Trade Center and the memorials are absolutely gorgeous. I was very impressed by and proud of the people who came up with the design and implemented it. I’m glad I went, although it’s a very hard thing to stand there and remember, to absorb. It feels good to have paid my respects. Taking photos at the September 11 memorial is very easy because the site is beautiful from every angle. I won’t say much more because I’m starting to tear up. I really have no words, but am happy to share a few images in the gallery. The other photos are a smattering of images I enjoyed and hope you do too.

Street Art, China Town, Off Canal Street, New York City

Street Art, Off Canal Street, New York City

Statue of Liberty, New York City

New York City skyline

View from Staten Island Ferry, New York City

One World Trade Center, New York CitySONY DSC

Reflecting Pools, World Trade Center Memorial, New York City

New York City at night

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City

New York City at night

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 Nicci Photography, Travel, Writing Life

What’s a small-town contemporary romance writer doing on Monday morning?

Well at this exact moment I just finished processing this photo I took of the Flatiron Building in New York City. It’s only 10:49 a.m. and I’m ready for a nap.

We set our alarms for 5:30 and headed out at 6 a.m. emerging from the Subway just at daybreak. The Flatiron Building was so pretty at this hour.

I may not just be a small-town contemporary romance writer because the next book in the trilogy about the Cruz sisters has a bit of suspense and doesn’t take place in a small town. But I do love that sub-genre. I am reading Virgin River by Robyn Carr as part of a reading challenge for a romance genre Goodreads group called For the Challenge Impaired. We get to read at our own pace, which really suits me.

This is the first time I’ve been active in a Goodreads challenge group, and I’m really enjoying getting to share the experience of a book with other readers. Spoilers are hidden but we can discuss things in general. Once I’m through the first book, I want to delve into the spoilers and see what people think. After a bit of a slow start, I’m loving Virgin River, a small-town contemporary romance set in Northern California. I am inspired.

Being a tourist and on vacation in New York is lovely. For one thing I could take photos of people hurrying to their jobs. These two women were similarly attired and I thought tan and black was a nice color combo for work.

I’m starting to think about visual branding. I hadn’t heard that term before but recently I did. I immediately locked onto it. Anything having to do with branding and marketing captures my attention. Visual branding is a great term to know because it turns up informative articles in Google. I’m starting to get clear about what I want to do. How to do it is another matter! Stay tuned.

September 18, 2015October 1, 2015 Nicci Photography, Writing Life

Artistic choices

With writing, I receive a lot of help from my critique partners. Not only do they tell me what’s not working about a book, but they suggest how I might fix it. They also tell me what is working, so that I am careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Then I receive more help from my editor because I am lucky enough to have one! Good editing is key.

There are so many elements of writing craft: understanding and showing the characters’ goal, motivation (why they have the goal and why they think and act the way they do), and conflict (what stands between them and achieving their goal, both internal and external obstacles). Then there’s character arc (how they change and develop), and story structure, which has its own set of elements. Setting, dialog tags versus character movement, point of view, deep point of view, and so on. I think any writer who has been a member of Romance Writers of America for a while could jump on any of these when critiquing a writer’s work. With all those elements, many things can go wrong, but assuming you have those things right, well then it comes down to artistic choices among multiple right choices. Even at the sentence level, there are multiple ways of saying the same thing. One writer is going to choose to arrange a sentence one way and another will choose another way.

For me, getting to the artistic-choice stage is incredibly rewarding and exhilarating. Getting to choose is worth all the work and frustration involved in learning to write and in producing books.

I went out with a group of four photographers yesterday in New York City, all of them professional. I have been learning all kinds of technical tricks with my camera and some artistic suggestions, but ultimately the choices I make are my own. When I get home and look at my photos, which ones do I like? How do I want to develop them? I wouldn’t say I’m anywhere near mastering the craft, so some things are “wrong,” but each of us who posts photos is making choices, and even for amateurs, that is fun and interesting.

Some of the images below are not perfect, I know that, but I still like them. That’s what I find interesting–why did I choose these images?

The first one reminds me of the famous painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. My photo is not very much like that painting, but for some reason, the scene reminded me of it. Our brains are so individual–we are reminded of or pleased by different things. I like the people sitting inside plus I like the colors, textures, lines, curves and that the scene looks three dimensional. This is my favorite photo in today’s group.

The Oyster Bar at Grand Central — Grand Central Station

An old-fashioned info booth with modern displays, Grand Central Station

The next one is another favorite of mine. I like seeing people reading, looking at their smartphones, and talking, a slice-of-life moment in New York City.

Who doesn’t like a carousel? These are always so beautiful. The bunny was pointed out by two of the other photographers. It’s fun to see what artists notice. When I went up to take the photo, I was captured by the words on the horse’s saddle, Granny’s Folly, so I included that in the foreground.

I had to cut off the day early because I have a cold, but I made it out to our deck for a sunset photo.

Nightfall at the apartment, photo from the deck

Well those are my artistic choices for the day. Do you enjoy getting to make choices in whatever your specialty is? Whether it’s choosing a recipe, an outfit, how you will approach a work project, or choosing how you will tell a story, it all reflects your uniqueness.