@GaryTroia on Writing Quicker Than Your Doubts Can Form #AmWriting #IndieAuthors #SelfPub

1, The first tip is essential and obvious. If you want to be a decent writer: Read a lot and write a lot. If you want to be an athlete: Eat well and train hard.

2, Read excellent writers and classics. See how they go about the craft.

3, Read poor writers for no other reason than to feel better about yourself.

4, If you want to excel at anything, discipline is the key. Set achievable goals that can be reached every day.

5, There is no such thing as writers’ block. If you think you have it, write about your day. I have never heard of bricklayer’s block, or surgeon’s block, or…you get the point, don’t you?

6, Don’t force yourself to learn new words, you learn new words naturally by reading.

7, Don’t try to write like you think a writer should write, just write like only you know how to write.

8, Write quicker than your doubts can form.

9, Write a first draft with freedom and without a critical eye. Add a critical eye on all subsequent drafts.

10, The last tip is as important as the first. If you want to be a decent writer: Read a lot and write a lot.

For the first time ever, this collection of short stories by Gary Troia brings together, in chronological order stories and memoirs from Spanish Yarns and Beyond, English Yarns and Beyond and A Bricklayer’s Tales into one complete volume.

“Excellent! A collection of short stories about depression, alcoholism and drug use. Very compelling reading. I read this short story collection all in one go.” (Maria, Goodreads.)

A Bricklayer’s Tales is the ultimate “I hate this job” story, written as a collection of short stories and memoirs, each one revealing a snapshot in the life of Ray. Troia captures the tedium of working in a low paid, menial job and living hand to mouth. This book of short stories is sad and questions the reader to ask questions about their own life. This book achieves clarity without trying.

Ray has three expensive hobbies: drinking, drugs, and running away. Without the income that Bricklaying provides, he would not be able to maintain his chosen lifestyle, so he compromises his principles and continues with his trade.

A collection of short stories and memoirs that include:

The Cuckoo’s Egg. Boyhood antics lead to tragedy.

My Grandfather’s Shed. The making of an English key

No Comb on the Cock. Gypsies, champion fighting cocks, and career choices.

What I Did In My Summer Holidays In 1000 Words. Could having an idea ever be considered a criminal act?

My Best Mate’s Head. Did a weekend of boozing save Ray from certain death?

The Shetland Isles. A trip to sunny Benidorm, a chance meeting with some Glaswegians, and a cold, miserable job in Lerwick.

Pointing a House in Islington. Too much alcohol and cocaine don’t mix well on building sites!

Angel Dust. The peculiar story of a man whose new life in America leads to conversations with Ancient Greek philosophers

Peyote. Hippies, LSD and an idyllic refuge

Return Ticket. Handcuffed and ready for deportation. A sad departure from the States

When I Joined a Cult. Sober dating as Ray discovers religion.

Bilbao. How very, very English!

Teaching Other People. The grass is always greener-the escape from bricklaying.

A Week in the Life of Ray Dennis. With the prospect of no money for food or alcohol this Christmas, Ray has to find work quickly.

Catania. A meeting with a Sicilian fox, some Neapolitans, and a man with a camel haired coat.

Advert In The Art Shop Window. Will a new building job in Spain be the start of a new life?

Gaudi. A flight to Barcelona for a kebab, and a look at the Sagrada Familia.

The Day My Soul Left Me. “To be or not to be? That is the question”

How Not to Travel to The Alhambra. Hung-over, the wrong fuel, the car breaks down. Will they ever make it to Granada?

The Road To Ronda. A terrifying drive to Ronda, was it worth it?

Poking A Carob Tree. A new home and new neighbours, just in time for Christmas.

Spain Reborn.No more commuting to London. Lets celebrate!

Home From Home. A parallel world where the Spanish have taken over Weymouth.

Three Common Carp.An epic battle with a whale and marlin it is not.

Mrs. McClintock. An absurd farce in which a Glaswegian couple retire to Spain

Steak, Egg and Intensive Care. A harmless dinner leads to hospitalisation.

The Unchangeable Chameleon. Can a leopard change it’s spots?

A Bricklayer’s Tale. The story of a disillusioned, alcoholic bricklayer

A collection short stories and memoirs of British dark humour.

 Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Fiction, Short Stories

Rating - PG-16

More details about the author

Connect with Gary Troia on Facebook & Twitter

Autumn’s Child #Excerpt by Nicole Murray @LNMCreative #Fiction #GoodReads #MustRead

A few days later, we went to this place they called a funeral home and she told me that I could see them one last time if I was ready. Hesitantly I walked into this molded room. The air was thick with the weight of death, thick with eyes hovering over me like vultures. The words “I’m sorry” or “they were so young” or “passed away” were thrown about very cautiously as if saying “passed away” was easier than “dead,” or with a million “I’m sorry” would make God resurrect them. After a few words from people I never knew were said, everyone just walked around, staring at me like an object to be pitied.

We sat down in the pew closest to the boxes or baskets or caskets or whatever’s socially correct and they both grabbed my arm, Ms. MacNair on my right and Sara on my left. People walked past and tilted their head to me in passing. After everyone was seated Ms. MacNair whispered, “Would you like to say goodbye?” Sara said yes for me and we both stood up. We walked the short distance to the boxes and before I saw anything I saw a long strand of pearls. I focused in on them, the small line that connect the round shells together and, like rosary beads, I counted all 52 individual pearls. Reaching the end of her favorite thread of pearls, I looked up to see this lady. The lady was fat and fake, not my mom at all. Blown up with so much formaldehyde or embalming fluid or whatever they put in you. But I remember thinking, “This isn’t my mom. This was just a stupid joke, a fake mannequin or something.” My dad’s casket wasn’t even open so he must not have been in there. They said it was “a closed casket.” Obviously it was closed, but I asked Ms. MacNair why it was closed, she said, “Because we can’t see his body.” I don’t think she understood my question. I knew that I couldn’t see his body. I wasn’t blind. I just wanted to see the replica of a person they thought would trick me so that I would believe it was my father. But she never told me the real reason why I couldn’t see him. I turned to Sara and huffed as she looked at the ghostlike statue lying in the box.

The preacher came and preached. The choir that I wasn’t in anymore sang. They sang my song, the song that I missed the auditioning for because my stupid parents had to “pass away.” “I’m going up e yonder, to be with my lord ord ord.”  They sang it, I heard them, but I wasn’t listening. I stared at Pastor Neil as he preached about what a great place it was in heaven and talked about my parents as if they were icons, but I didn’t listen. I looked through him into my thoughts, which became visions and these visions turned to sleeping with my eyes open again. The whole time I waited for them both to just come through the doors of that smelly room and say, “April Fools!!” But it wasn’t April, it was June and they never walked through those doors.

“I am hurting. Fractured in places stitches can’t heal.” Autumn’s Child tells the desperate story of Layla, as a young and naive twelve year-old girl. Over ten critical years, her life quickly changes like the colors of the trees in autumn. The accidental death of her parents forces her to abandon her religious, middle-class lifestyle. She moves to the inner city of Chicago with her grandmother and aunt, her only living relatives. Layla tries to approach her new life with optimism, but the perfections of her past life haunt her tormented journey. After coming to grips with the reality over the years that her only aunt despises her, Layla soon discovers that she may secretly hold the keys to helping her aunt’s diminishing health in her hands. Layla’s faith and sanity are continuously tested as she matures throughout each season of her life. She stumbles through her newfound reality while learning how to play the distinct set of cards she’s been dealt. Layla’s neighbor and best friend, Shay, helps guide her from adolescence into adulthood. Autumn’s Child chronicles a life on the opposite side of the coin; where friendships grow out of tragedy, and the pressure of a marginalized life weighs heavily on pure souls. Layla must make many compromising decisions, all while perpetually asking the reader, What would you do? View Autumn’s Child Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM1HsapHNDc

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Fiction

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Nicole Murray on Facebook & Twitter