St. Patrick’s Day

I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you will be enjoying it with your family and friends. In honor of the day and everyone Irish, and everyone who’d like to be Irish, here are a few of my favorite Irish Blessings:

“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

“May God grant you always…
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you.
Faithful friends near you.
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.”

“May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.”


No Comments

chillwindmedia, March 17th 2012 | Posted in Blogs

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Everyone! I hope 2012 is starting out well for all of you. I seem to be off and running and am already behind schedule on a few things. Some of you have been asking me when my next novel, Manifesting Mr. Right will go on sale. I’m aiming for the beginning of summer. I’d like to say it will be out sooner, but unfortunately, I’m in the busy time of year for my voiceover work, which means my writing time often gets hijacked.
It does become a little challenging, bouncing between two time-consuming careers, especially since I’m the type of writer who does not work from an outline. I write stream of consciousness, which is great when I’m outside on my laptop, pecking away at the keyboard for several hours at a time. Not so great when I get interrupted and have to stop writing for a couple of weeks. It would be much easier to pick up where I left off if I worked from an outline. But I just can’t.
I remember when my screenwriting professor in college told the class that every writer worked from an outline. No exceptions. Naturally, our assignment was to write an outline for our screenplay over the following 3 weeks. After our outlines were approved, we’d spend the rest of the semester writing the screenplay. Sounds simple, right?
I tried to write an outline, honestly I did, but it didn’t feel organic to me, and it came out predictable and contrived. After a week of struggling and with my deadline looming, I remember sitting down with my hands positioned over the keys and I just began typing. I knew what my story was about and I knew the ending, but that was it. I kept my mind open and I soon heard my characters speaking to me. I wrote the screenplay in twelve
days, then quickly put an outline together from that, which ended up being so much better than my first attempt. Not only did I get an “A,” but doing it backwards taught me how to
write a synopsis.
I guess it just goes to show that there is no one way to do things. Everyone is different, so why wouldn’t we all have different ways of working? It’s all about process and what works for you. To me, my way of writing is exciting—not knowing where my characters are taking me. Kind of like life.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson wisely stated, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” Enjoy the ride.

No Comments

chillwindmedia, January 15th 2012 | Posted in Blogs

BREAKING THE RULES AND INDUSTRY STANDARDS IN THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

I know I broke the rules. But really, who follows them anymore? And who doesn’t get tired of hearing the phrase, “industry standard?” Okay, so maybe it is industry standard to have a pen name if you’re going to write in more than one genre. Best-selling romance writer, Nora Roberts writes under J. D. Robb for her futuristic suspense novels. But in a world where branding has become a big deal and one’s name needs to be attached to a lengthy resume in order to be picked up by search engines, can you blame me for not wanting to write under a pseudonym?

The publishing industry says that a writer must stick with one genre, otherwise it will confuse the reader. But how can that be when a book cover on a romance novel is completely different than one on a thriller? My Big Fake Irish Life, my romantic comedy, doesn’t look a thing like my dystopian novel, Logging Off. Besides, readers tend to read the synopsis of a book before buying it.

Lucky for me, times seem to be slowly changing. Thriller writer, James Patterson didn’t choose a non de plume for his romance Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, nor did John Grisham when he strayed away from his legal suspense genre to pen A Painted House.

I really do hope these two amazing writers have started a new trend, and perhaps a better one. What better way to sample a genre that normally doesn’t interest you than by having one of your favorite authors get you hooked on it?

Trying something new can be surprisingly delightful and maybe even a little addictive.

-Caitlin

No Comments

chillwindmedia, December 31st 2011 | Posted in Blogs

This whole internet thing. It’s never going to catch on.

Do you recall those early days of the Internet and learning how to use it? I remember I had been on-line a mere three hours when my brother-in-law gave me a URL over the phone.

“It’s http…colon…backslash…backslash…www…dot—”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “How much more?”

“I haven’t even given you the address yet.”

Ten minutes later, and after it took me three attempts to enter NINETY-SIX characters correctly, I thought to myself, This whole Internet thing. It’s never going to catch on.

Needless to say, I missed the mark on that one. And now we have Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, RSS, Kindles, Nooks, iPads, iPhones, blogs… Being tech-challenged, I sometimes feel like my head is going to explode.

Is it any wonder that I ended up having a very detailed dream about the dangers of technology and where it’s leading us as a society? This dream of mine pretty much gave me the entire plot of Logging Off, and if you read it, you will see just how much of it is well on the way to becoming reality.

Not in the book is something I really wish existed: teleportation. Who out there isn’t sick of the airport lines and the constant security screenings? It would be so nice to transport quickly and easily anywhere in the world, to be beamed up or down like they do in Star Trek.

Did you see the latest Star Trek movie? I’m the voice of the Kelvin Computer in the beginning. My voice is elsewhere in the movie, but not so prominent. I own a loop group and we create the walla for movies and television shows. Depending on the needs of the show, I hire other actors to work with me to fill in all the background voices for every scene.

I just finished working on Garry Marshall’s movie, New Year’s Eve. I’m finishing This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, and I’m currently working on Rock of Ages, Red Lights, Prometheus, Underworld 4, Jack the Giant Killer, and Battleship.

Talk about working in a tech-laden industry. I guess I shouldn’t complain so much about all the advancements. If we didn’t have them, I wouldn’t be talking to you.  

-Caitlin

No Comments

chillwindmedia, November 1st 2011 | Posted in Blogs