by Keri Rozansky | Jul 23, 2025 | Blog
Writer’s block. It’s the worst thing ever. It can stop your creative juices from flowing for days, weeks, months, and even years. Sometimes writers who have not yet made it their full time career get stuck in the grind of a regular 9-5 job in order to make ends meet – only to have to shove writing aside.
Sometimes, getting in the mood to write has to do is just a matter of making some small changes. Every writer has different ‘requirements’ for the perfect writing environment. Many people love the hustle and bustle of writing in a public place like a coffee shop, where they can also people-watch and get some inspiration if they feel stuck. Still others have a beautiful writing-themed office decorated with their favorite colors, art, and more, they add music – either in the background or directly related to story or characters being written.
Then there’s me. I need bland quiet. My perfect writing space is quiet, unadorned, and a place where I can go and shut the door – shutting the world and its chaos out to focus on myself and my characters. I wouldn’t mind a plain white box of a room or other neutral color that won’t distract me out of the corner of my eye.
One day, I’ll have it. But for now, I have to settle for either a shared office with my husband – who is always taking phone calls or video meetings, or pounding away on his mechanical keyboard, or the living room. I often opt for the living room since during the day there’s not much of a traffic pattern down here and I can close the blinds and control the lighting to quiet my senses.
Then, I start to write or edit. My debut is almost done, and I’ll announce a release date soon, but I’m also working on a new WIP. Creating this perfect writing environment has given me a great start, with the creativity still flowing.
Do you have a task or job you need a ‘perfect’ environment for? What is the job? What makes the ‘perfect’ environment for that job? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 16, 2025 | Blog
Twelve-year-old Ignatius Ellison was home sick from school when the commotion started. He heard his mother scream, a gunshot, and another scream from his mom followed by yelling and cursing. He grabbed the phone off his nightstand and hid in the closet, burying himself in clothes and hoping not to be found. “Call 9-1-1, call 9-1-1,” he told himself.
His mother screamed again and Ignatius heard his father’s voice join the chaos. More gunshots.
Ignatius took small, shallow breaths and tried not to move. He dialed with shaky hands.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
”Intruders” and his address as quiet as possible. He added, “in closet.”
“You stay with me, okay?” the operator said. “You tell me when you hear the police.”
Someone stepped onto the creaky wood of his bedroom floor. His dog barked and growled; Its toe nails scratched the floor as it lunged. Ignatius heard the wail of sirens and the commotion changed as the intruders began to make a retreat.
He took a chance and opened the closet door.He approached his window that faced the backyard it just in time to see a man in a yellow shirt and dark jeans jump the fence. Ignatius stared at the man, hoping to remember enough. He panicked again at the sound of footsteps and hurried back to the closet to hide as he had before, but he heard a police officer’s radio and took a deep breath. The officer said something Ignatius didn’t quite understand, and he heard the response “he’s in a closet” over the radio.
The handle wiggled and the officer opened the door, shined his flashlight in, and stepped into the closet. “Hello? Who’s in here?”
Young Ignatius climbed out from under the pile he’d made.
“I’m Officer Young. I won’t hurt you.” The officer extended his hand to help Ignatius out and into the chair at his desk. “I’m here to help. Can you tell me your name?”
Young Ignatius shook his head. Tears stung his eyes and ran down his cheeks.
“I’m here to help. Please tell me your name.”
“Ig-Ignatius.”
“Ignatius. That’s a solid name. I’m here to help you, and my coworkers are downstairs helping your parents.”
Young Ignatius reached out and hugged Officer Young. He felt the officer’s hands on his shoulders and tightened his grip.
“I’m here to help you,” the officer repeated.
Another officer entered the room.
“Ignatius, this is Office Reed. He’s here to help, too. We need to take you and go away for a while so our coworkers can help your parents.”
The officers led him out of his room, down the stairs, and past where other police officers and emergency workers “helped” his dead parents in the living room. They led the boy to a police cruiser and secured him in the back seat.
“We’re going to the police station for now. Your aunt and uncle are meeting us there.”
Young Ignatius buried his face in Officer Young’s side and cried the rest of the way to the station.
Want to know even more about Detective Ellison! Watch the website for the release date of Midnight Splash! Until then, let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 9, 2025 | Blog
An important note before we start: whenever you’re using real people, especially celebrities, political figures, etc., you must make sure whatever you write does not slander or reflect poorly on those people. It is a legal headache no one wants.
One of the most difficult things (for me) when writing a new story is finding names for my characters. There are some unwritten rules, like ‘make sure no two names start with the same first letter’ or ‘avoid rhyming names’ and a few others that are often broken by pretty much every author ever.
How do I name characters? Sometimes names just come to me, sometimes I use the first names of friends or family, and sometimes I scour the baby naming sites online for the perfect name. Sometimes I create a formula to apply to a certain group, like the lawyers in Midnight Splash. All of the men have some combination of U.S. presidents’ last names as both first and last names. I wanted them to sound like rich, stuffy, snobby men and women. While some of them are, some of them have more caring and understanding personalities which go against the grain of that snobby name.
I started this story so long ago I can’t remember the reasons why I chose all the names. Looking back, the two teenage boys’ names just came to me – like the characters telling me what their names were (yes, it happens). Other names, including two of the female lawyers are after friends or family.
Another thing to worry about is real people. When naming characters, I searched online for anyone whose name is remotely close to the character name. I don’t want backlash from John Smith because my character with the same name has some sort of legal troubles and the real life man does not. In a way, it’s limiting, but at the same time it ensures my characters are as unique as possible.
When using a friend or family member’s name – especially for villain characters – I make sure they’re okay with it. I haven’t gotten a ‘no’ yet. But for those whose names have been used, remember the character isn’t a reflection of your personality or what I think of you.
In my current WIP (not Midnight Splash), there are only a handful of characters, but the setting of a small Italian town caused me to narrow my choices to traditional Italian names. It’s been fun to research. None of them have last names, so that part is easy. There may be dozens of people with those first names, but without a last name there’s no danger of someone complaining.
Have you written a story and used known names before? If your characters were named after friends or family, did you ask their permission first? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 4, 2025 | Blog
Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you have a fun-filled, relaxing day!
by Keri Rozansky | Jul 2, 2025 | Blog
When I first started planning blog posts for this month, I felt like I still had several days of edits ahead of me. But I’ve buckled down to get the little stuff done. Up next, I’ll be considering some plot points and continuity errors, but the end is in sight!
What comes next depends on how big those plot changes are. But things are getting close! Once the final changes are made I’ll have a debut date for you all!
