Tattoo Tuesday – I don’t like my tattoo.

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle14 Comments
Marvin by Tom Armstrong

I know how Marvin feels.  I didn’t like one of my tattoo’s, either.  I had a great idea and a unique image reference, but my tattoo artist couldn’t quite capture my vision.

The tattoo didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

So, I had a few options.  I could have pouted and cried, threatened and accused, or criticized and complained.

And, I did a little bit of all that.  But in the end, I realized it was my tattoo. No one else’s. So, I could either cut my wrist off or I could learn to love it.  The former wasn’t a viable option.  Especially for a writer, I kind of need my hand.

I talked to the original artist and between of the two of us, we came up with a way to covered part of the bad tattoo with another image and still keep the same story and created a better tattoo.

It still isn’t perfect. But, I learned to love my tattoo.

If you get a tattoo and you don’t like it, there are options besides self mutilation (yeah, I get the irony of that statement considering some people think tattoos are a form of body mutilation):

  • If you don’t like your tattoo or it didn’t turn out the way you envisioned, say something to your tattoo artist.  If he is good, he will change it or adjust it to make sure you are happy leaving his shop.  His reputation is on the line.
  • Go to another artist and see if they have any ideas on how to change it or improve it.  Fresh eyes may be the key to creating something good our of something bad.
  • Cover it up by incorporating it into a larger piece (not an option for my wrist tattoo, I have no more skin surface).
  • Live with it. Your tattoo may not be perfect, but it is uniquely yours.  And, it doesn’t change the story behind why you got the tattoo in the first place.

Do you have a tattoo you’re not 100% happy with?  What did you do about?

Related post:  My wrist tattoo redux. 

My Weekly Update – Daisies and Dinner

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle7 Comments

Daisy Award

One of my lovely critique partners, Kathleen,  has bestowed on me an award. Thank you, thank you. I happily accept the Daisy Award.  The rules:

  • Link to the person that nominated you. – done
  • List seven unusual things about yourself. – done
  • Nominate some worthy bloggers. – done
  1. I watch Of Mice and Men the other day and got a blog post out of it. Stay tuned.
  2. I watch The Hunger Games two nights ago and am not sure if I liked it or not. What did you think?
  3. I watch The Rite this week and I don’t care for devil movies much, but this one was interesting. Although in Anthony Hopkin’s character, let me know if  you saw Hannibal Lecter instead of Father Lucas at times.  
  4. One of the four English channels I have access to is the National Geographic Channel and have been utterly fascinated with shows like Locked up Abroad, Doomsday Preppers and Wicked Tuna. Is there something wrong with me? 
  5. I had tacos for dinner tonight.  We made them ourselves and they were so good.
  6. I finally wrote 1,000 words of original fiction today, the first time in about a week. It felt good. 
  7. I got to mark off an item on my restaurant Bucket List. Last night I went to Mr. & Mrs. Bund. Totally exceeded my expectations.  My favorite was the Corn Vanilla Veloute w/cornflakes.  Weird, but so so good. 
Dinner

More photos from my dinner last night at Mr. & Mrs. Bund.

The last two photos are of a desert called Lemon & Lemon Tart.  It’s a candied lemon skin filled with lemon sorbet and lemon curd and vanilla chantilly.  Now I am not sure what all that is, but it was yummy.
Blog Love
My blog love this weeks goes to WordFalls Services and her editing tips.  They have been super helpful to me during this month of editing. Check her out. 
 
New Followers and my nominees for the Daisy Award.
Steve Vernon from Yours in Storytelling
The Eye of Faith
Shah Wharton
 
Next Weeks Schedule
Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday
Wednesday – Sydney Quotes the Movies
Friday – Blog post
Sunday – My Weekly Update
 

What did you watch last week? What did you eat last week?  What did you edit last week?  

Character Profiles as a Marketing Tool

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle6 Comments

I was watching one of my 4 English channels.  Yes, my much anticipated move to Shanghai reduced my tv watching options.  Recently, they have been heavily advertising a new show called Last Resort.  It stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman(the hot guy from Felicity).

One marketing tool they use in Asia is marketing the show as airing the same week as the US telecast.  I don’t really get that one, I mean really, who cares.  It’s not like I am calling up my friends in the US to see if they caught the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 400.  It’s kind of an expensive call, we stick to important topics.

But, a more effective marketing tool they are using is 15 second character profiles.

Still hot.
The first profile they show is of Scott Speedman’s character, Sam Kendal.  
In 15 seconds you learn:
Sam is the XO on the USS Colorado.  
He is the morally conscious character.  
He spells charm without a c. (not sure what that means)
Committed and Determined
He’s as loyal to his country as he is to his wife.
*Imagine these lines delivered by the movie trailer guy voice.  

In an action packed promo, they tell who he is, his motivation and his role in the series.  They use images and quotes from him that make you instantly like him, relate to him and want to root for him.

In a clearly action packed type series; regular promos show submarines, bombs, and drama, drama, drama,  ABC understands in order to have a successful series long term, the audience has to get to know and care about what happens to the characters.

This is a great tool to use in book promotion as well.  A book and a television series are similar in they takes some commitment from the reader and view in order to be successful.  If you don’t like a movie, well, you only committed a couple of hours.  No big deal. But, most series want you to stick around for at least 20 episodes. In books, you want people to read until the last page.

So, how do you keep people turning the page until the end.  They have to either like, hate or at the least, relate to the character. So, why not tell them about your characters early on in the promotion of your book.

My MC Character Profile: 
Sierra is smart, funny and reliable to a fault.
But, when it comes to her own happiness, she has a history of putting others needs above her own.
When she meets John, she realize she could easily fall into her old patterns, but she is determined to not let that be her legacy. 
*In the movie trailer guys voice.  

Use your characters in your marketing to get a head start on letting your audience know why they need to read your book.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an awesome  quote like the one used below in every Last Resort Promo.
“I am not going to annihilate  3.4 million Pakistanis without hearing directly
Greatness of Andre Braugher
from someone whose authority that I recognize.” Marcus Chaplin played by Andre Braugher.
 

Share three statements about your MC that will make readers want to read your book. 

Tattoo Tuesday – Writer Inspired Tattoos

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle19 Comments

When something significant happens in my life, I like to commemorate with a tattoo.  And, my first thought is to get a tattoo that signifies the occasion in art form.  So, when I finished the first draft of my first novel, I searched for the perfect image and I couldn’t find the exact image.  I decided to get an addition to an older tattoo.

But, I really liked the other writer inspired tattoos.  Let me know which one you like.

How do you record your work? Quill and Ink or typewriter.

I love the idea of the punctuation tattoo.  I would probably do a exclamation point to remind me to stop using them.  I like exclamation points!

This is a good one if you have an issue remembering how to spell or pronounce your favorite word.

There is always the  quote that changed your life and made you want to write. Or, tattoo your own brilliant prose.  I would wait until published before you do you own words incase they get cut in edits.

This is the one is my favorite. It is simple and to the point.

I think I will ultimately create an image that incorporates all of these great ideas. What writer inspired tattoo do you like the best? 

Genre Favorites Blogfest

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle52 Comments

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh comes up with the greatest Blogfests.  I am excited to participate in yet another one.  Genre Favorites Blogfest.

List your favorite genre:
Movie
Music
Books
And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!

Click the badge to the right to visit other Blogfest participants.

A quick disclaimer to this blog post. I have been staring at this blank screen for hours trying to narrow down my favorite genres in each section.  It is so hard for someone who seems to like any and everything.  I like my diverse taste in entertainment.  I just want to make sure you realize and understand how difficult this was for me.  Feel my pain.  OK, we are ready to continue.

Movies: My favorite genre in movies is Science Fiction

Examples – Star Wars, Matrix, The Terminator,

Music:  My favorite genre in music is Hip Hop and R&B and any groups that touch on that genre in any way, shape or form.

Example – Jay Z, Beyonce, TI, Linkin Park

Books:  My favorite genre in books is Suspense/Mystery.  I include a lot of different types of books into the category.  You might not agree, but I don’t care. haha.

Examples – Stephen King, James Patterson, John Grisham, Dan Brown

Guilty Pleasure:  My favorite guilty pleasure in music is boy bands.  Old and new.

Examples – NSync, New Edition, 112, One Direction (newest obsessions)

I swear I am not a 12 year old girl, but I love this song, especially with the 50’s Grease soundtrack sample.

These are my favorite genres.  What are yours?