G.W. Sanders - Harder than I thought

I feel like telling a story should be easy. You have this idea and then you put it down on paper. Yay!! Then you have a friend read it and they say, "that doesn't make sense." And you think, sure it does. Well, to you it does, but maybe not to your reader. That is what I am coming across with this new book. I know what story I want to tell, but it has to make sense in some way, shape, or form. I learned a lot when I had my writing friends read Fat Farm. I believe their comments helped shape the book and made it a better story instead of the angry ramblings of an obese woman. So now I'm using what I have learned in the new G.W. Sanders book.

I would say I'm a "write by the seat of my pants" type of writer. I don't really build worlds, I just write the story. I think with this one I may have to do a little world building just so it makes sense to other people other than just me.

I have done some characterization and realized I'm going to have to be careful or my side-kick/best friend Zoe can take over the story. This makes me realize I need to work on the character of G.W. a little more. I need to go more into who she is, why she is like that and how her past circumstances effect her.

Then there is Justin. He's the character giving me more fits than the others. He's a good kid, but the circumstances surrounding him are what is giving me pause. It's his character that doesn't make sense and it is his character that is the reason to build the world. So instead of just sitting down and telling the story, I have a little more work to do. I guess I had better get to it.

Fat Farm - Self Fulfilling Prophecy

I wrote Fat Farm because I was angry. Angry at the way the obese are treated. Angry at society. Still am. I think I was laughed at in the grocery store on Monday. It was not one of my better days. I don't like being angry. I try not to be angry. All it does is make me eat. Yes, I'm one of those people. I didn't choose alcohol or drugs for my escape. I chose food. And that's what people don't understand. There are usually some deep hurt, or abuse that can lead to overeating. The same things that make people drink and do drugs are the same triggers for some obese people. I'm not going to share my story right now because this is not what this blog is about. To be truthful, I'm still figuring it all out. After hearing the story of the sodas in New York, and reading about it; I felt compelled to write my thoughts

When I was in high school, my history teacher had an exercise where members of class were the founding fathers and we were trying to determine how the country was to be run. When it came to voting for the president or representatives, the class thought it should only be the wealthy, educated people making those decisions. I was very shy, but I spoke up and said, "That's not right. They may be uneducated but that doesn't mean they are stupid."  We are not a stupid people. I think we are tired. I know I'm tired, but I'm not so tired that I'm ready to have the government take care of me.

I read in the New York Times online about the state Supreme Court overturning Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large sodas. He wants to keep restaurants and other places from selling drinks larger than 16 oz. It did not include all drinks just soda.  There were a number of legal reasons that I'm not going to go into, because, well, I'm not a lawyer, but it is a scary thought that someone in power can tell me how much to drink. I would like to think his heart and thoughts are in the right place. The comments on the article varied to yes, punish those making our insurance rates higher to understanding what is slowly happening in our society. I will tell you these thoughts scare me. Think about the consequences.

First soda, then candy. Let's not forget cake or heaven forbid, Starbucks. Wait, we're not allowed to watch this on TV or listen to that kind of music, or worship how we want. We're not allowed to own that car we've been saving our money to buy. You know, we have to send these people away to get "re-educated." They are a drain on our society. They don't think like we do.Your child is fat, take him away -  oh wait. That happened.  

Do I want someone coming in and telling me what to do and what to think? No! But if we aren't careful we are going to allow the powers-that-be to legislate our rights away and the the events in Fat Farm could come to pass.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/nyregion/judge-invalidates-bloombergs-soda-ban.html?pagewanted=all


http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Farm-Lisa-Haman/dp/1482343304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365092829&sr=8-1&keywords=fat+farm+lisa+haman

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/lisa-haman

Fat Farm Revisted

I decided to put Fat Farm back out there in print form. Why? Well, as popular as e-books are, there are people who like to hold the book in their hand. I'm kind of the same way. I'm trying to get used to those e-books, but there's nothing like curling up with a book and feeling the paper as you turn the pages. Although, I may have to go more digital since my eyes and I are having an argument on whether or not they want to see the tiny print or not. It will look better carrying around my Nook than a large print book. :-)

I decided to go with Amazon.com's Create Space, because everyone I know uses Amazon. I use Amazon. It was fairly simple to use and once I got the book proofed, I was ready to go. So now it is available on Amazon. I saw it today and was so excited. Will I sell any more books? I hope so.

I know marketing is the thing I need to work on next and I'm doing this whole thing backwards, but this is research on how the whole things work. We'll see how the next book goes.

Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Farm-Lisa-Haman/dp/1482343304/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360964945&sr=1-2&keywords=fat+farm

G. W. Sanders Private Eye

This is the beginning of a series. I originally wrote a story for my Dad. He was a firefighter who got into private detective work on his off days. He really enjoyed being a private eye, so I wrote a story for him. It was called Peyote For Your Thoughts. It was a cute story, although I don't think I will ever publish it. Dad liked it a lot. I've wanted to do something on a teen level and thought about changing G. W. into a teenager who has adventures. Although I think G. W. will be a girl. I'm still working out the kinks, but be on the lookout for G. W. to show herself.

Amy Dodd

After looking comments my writer friends have posted about The Insignificant Amy Dodd, I am going to put this one on the back burner for a while. I'm still going to write the story, because I think it's a good story to tell, but I've got to work out some kinks. In the meantime, I think I will work on something else while my brain works on this one. I have one in mind and will post when I get the title and tell  you the story behind the story.

The Insignificant Amy Dodd

This is a work in progress. It is another one of my stories that I've had on my mind for years, but never did anything about.  I have several versions that I've started, but never have been happy with, so I'm starting over.  I'm not sure I'm happy with this either. :-)

The story behind this story deals with taking control of your life and dealing with your issues. Yeah, it sounds like a downer but it's not really. It is going to be a young adult novel and it is in response to another book I read that made me angry. Yep, I seem to have anger issues. :-)

To go on with the story, my friend was in school getting her Masters degree as a Media Specialist. Since she wanted to work in high schools, she would read a lot of books for that age group. She read one and insisted I read it. I don't remember the name or the author and I wouldn't mention it here anyway. That wouldn't be fair. Anyway, in the story, the main character started to gain weight. She didn't know why, and she didn't seem to accept it very well. Who would?  The book was about her struggle to deal with this issue. It seems like a good thing.

The problem I had with the story is the girl has a disease that made her gain weight. When the disease was in remission, the weight would go away. My friend, who is also overweight, looked up the disease to see if it was something she had and found it didn't exist. That's what made me a bit angry. The main character didn't have to deal with it because she knew it was temporary and would easily come off.

I can say from experience it isn't easy. I still struggle, and will for the rest of my life. I want young people to know they are okay no matter what. I want them to know life may not be easy, but living it is worth it.

Why I Wrote Fat Farm

Why I wrote Fat Farm.  You write what you know. Let me start off by saying that I am an obese individual and have been for most of my life. I have been told I didn't gain weight until puberty, but there is photographic evidence to the contrary.  With that being said, I wrote Fat Farm because I was and still am to a certain degree angry. It started in my adult life with how the obese people are treated. It is still okay to make fun of and denigrate fat people. It is okay to discriminate against fat people, although it's hard to prove. Fat people are thought of as lazy, dirty and stupid. Look how we are portrayed in movies. It is rare to find a fat guy that gets the girl or can be the hero.  I remember seeing an interview with an actress who said she gained weight for a role because the character was damaged. I know a lot of damaged skinny people.  So the story started off as an angry rant and has been in the works for about 20 years or so. 

Lately, I've been trying to lose weight. I do want to be healthy for my family and felt I needed to finish this and release the anger, so for the past year I've been working on it. What really made me finish it was a news story about a child who was taken away from his parents because he was overweight. I don't know all the circumstances behind the story, but it really scared me. Government has gotten so big and we've given away so many of our rights that we don't even realize what is happening. If the government can take away a child from his family to stem the obesity epidemic, how far will it go?

I know that my story is over top, but think about it. ­

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/219000