Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and sixty-seventh, is of contemporary fiction writer Laurie Boris. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/author-spotlights.
Laurie Boris has been writing fiction for almost thirty years, inspired by the work of Joyce Carol Oates, TC Boyle, John Irving, Vladimir Nabokov, Gail Parent, Nora Ephron, and many other brilliant, prolific, and funny writers.
With a degree in advertising and psychology from Syracuse University’s SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, she started writing articles for her local newspaper and promotional copy for freelance clients. Between projects, she tried a few short stories, some which were published in small literary magazines and later, on the Web. Two won honorable mention in a Writer’s Digest annual competition. One took first place in a contest sponsored by a women’s website, judged by author Katherine Center.
In her early thirties, Boris began writing a novel, mainly on a dare from her husband. Enlisting the support of her critique group and the International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG), of which she’s been a member for almost two decades, she completed the novel and wrote eight more. Over the years she’s attended countless workshops on writing and been mentored by some generous and spectacular authors.
Writing novels while working at a succession of demanding full-time jobs in graphic design, advertising, and marketing was a challenge, in energy and time management, but it taught Boris an important lesson in priorities. She missed a lot of movies and can’t tell you what happened on the last episode of Lost, but she pounded out a lot of words.
While she has attempted several genres, Boris feels most comfortable with contemporary fiction, literary fiction, and humorous women’s fiction. She is the author of three novels, The Joke’s on Me, Drawing Breath, Don’t Tell Anyone, and the upcoming Sliding Past Vertical (due out in August 2013). The Joke’s on Me was a finalist in General Fiction in the 2012 Beach Book Festival.
The critically acclaimed Drawing Breath, chosen as a “Grub Street Great” by Grub Street Reads (now Compulsion Reads), was inspired by the improvised life of a friend who survived into his thirties with cystic fibrosis, at a time when doctors didn’t expect CF patients to live beyond their teens. Drawing Breath also placed as a finalist in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
In between and during all these novels, Boris has been a columnist for PNN.com, posting daily blogs on health and well being, a judge for a local school district’s yearly literary contest, and an occasional contributor of impassioned pleas for a variety of political, social, and environmental causes that impact New York’s Hudson Valley, where she now lives. She is also a five-time participant in National Novel Writing Month’s (NaNoWriMo) November challenge.
Currently, she is a contributing author and associate editor for Indies Unlimited. Also, she offers writing services (http://laurieboris.com), including ghostwriting, copyediting, and proofreading. She’s written over a hundred web articles, copyedited technical manuscripts, and “ghost edited” a well-reviewed children’s chess book, but she especially loves to help her fellow indies get their novels ready for publication.
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And now from the author herself:
When I write the first draft of a novel, I normally don’t think much about marketing. I tell the story that falls into my head, the one that has the most energy and won’t leave me alone until I finish writing. And then I think about how to sell it.
Even while I was writing Don’t Tell Anyone, I knew I’d face some serious challenges once I published it. But I still felt compelled to complete the novel and release it, hoping it would find an audience, secretly terrified that even if it came out well-written, thought-provoking, insightful or whatever good adjective you want to plunk on it, people would hear the word “cancer” and run.
I wrote it and published it because of my mother-in-law, Madeleine. She died from breast cancer, the progress of which might have been slowed or even arrested if she’d done something about it earlier. In fact, if she’d done anything about it earlier. Panicked out of her mind because (as our theory went) the cancer treatment she was familiar with—her mother’s, a horrific experience—was so traumatic, she kept her own lumps a secret for years. I found out later that she’d sought therapy in order to gather the courage to tell her family. Which became a moot point when a health emergency outed her to my husband, his sister, and me.
That it was a shock to all of us would be a gross understatement. I’d liken it more to having our guts wrenched out. We pushed our feelings of shock, grief, pain, resentment, and anger to the side, however, as we helped get her through the now-aggressive treatment her oncologist recommended: a radical double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation. The usual things happened, some they show on TV, some they don’t. She lost her hair. She lost her sense of taste and smell. She made a few dark jokes. She fell into a deep depression. The long-awaited remission brought her little joy; much as we tried to bolster her spirits, nearly all she could think about was when it would come back. Five years later, it did, and killed her.
Now we were left to face our emotions alone. My husband’s and his sister’s are private things and I’ll leave them to talk about them publicly or not. But my mother-in-law and I had a special relationship. Sure, we had our bumpy parts. My husband and I lived in her house for a few years out of economic necessity; I was not as tidy as she would have liked me to be, and we became much better friends after my husband and I moved out. But she called me her “favorite daughter-in-law” (yeah, big joke, only daughter-in-law, yet she said it with such joy) and she was one of my biggest fans. She nagged me to finish my novels because she said she needed something good to read.
I, however, needed to reconcile my own feelings. Especially the big question: why? Why stick your head in the sand? Why do that to your children? She had no quarrel with doctors. She had decent health insurance. She lived a scant few miles from a compound of medical services. Why not get that lump checked out, particularly because of her genetic predisposition?
The questions dogged me, long after her diagnosis, long after her death. So I wrote about it. That’s my way of exploration. I gave the situation to Estelle Trager, the matriarch of the novel. Then I let it play out with her fictional family, who already had a boatload of problems of their own. I wanted to know why she’d made the choice (and not making a choice is still a choice) to ignore her condition. I wanted to explore the effect that choice had on family dynamics between and among her children, which lead to some difficult, sometimes painful, sometimes sweet, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny moments.
So let me leave you with one funny story from my mother-in-law’s treatment, which I would have put in the book if the situation arose, but it didn’t.
After my mother-in-law’s double mastectomy, she was kept in the hospital a few days. But given the bottom-dollar-focus of HMOs, we were warned that once released, her aftercare would include our tending to a series of drains that filled with fluid and needed to measured, monitored against signs of infection, and emptied regularly. When we arrived at the hospital to pick her up, she was already dressed and sitting up in a chair. Four plastic drains, about the size of hand grenades, were pinned to the outside of her blouse. She gave us a devilish grin and said, “How do you like my new jugs?”
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You can find more about Laurie and her writing via…
Social Media Links
Sales Links
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, Laurie Boris, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and sixty-third, is of children’s and self-help author Stefan Bolz. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/author-spotlights.
Stefan wanted to write since he was the tender age of seventeen, but his wild youth and turbulent teens pulled him away from writing even though the wish to write never completely left him.
Almost three decades later, his secret passion has finally caught up with him when he accidentally wrote a novel.
“Accidentally?” you might ask, and rightfully so. Yes. Accidentally.
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And now from the author himself:
It all started out in a sandbox. This may or may not be a good place to start a novel but in my case it really worked out. You should try it sometime. I have been going to my therapist Julie for a few years now. She has been very helpful through some rough patches here and there. Part of her work includes a sandbox in the corner of her practice. Here’s how this works: Behind the sandbox there is a wall filled with shelves on which you can find pretty much anything, from small figurines to action figures to items like little palm trees, dragons, motor cycles, cowboys, dogs, helicopters, stones, rocks, pieces of wood, train cars, etc. I’d usually pick out some of the items at random, the task being not to think too much about which ones to take and then place them into the sand box. So, I took some of the objects from the shelf and placed them in the sand box. Here and there I pushed the sand to one side, again without thinking much about it. Once I was done, we looked at it together and as we always do, Julie asked me what I saw. It usually makes sense while I look at the landscape as to which of the figurines I am, what’s going on in the box and therefore in my life at that moment, etc.
Not this time. I had no clue what I was looking at. There was a rooster, red and orange colored; there was a wolf, a horse, a Pegasus, a frog, a dragon and, stuck into the sand on the left side of the box, three feathers. That was all. I told Julie that I had no idea what it meant, what it was or what to make of it. All I said was that it sure looks like it would make a nice little fable: The rooster sets out on a journey. On his way, he picks up friends like the wolf and the horse. Then they encounter a Pegasus and a dragon. There is a frog in there somewhere. And in the end they find the three feathers. Nothing to write home about. Or so I thought.
I left Julie, not disappointed but feeling kind of neutral with the sense that nothing had really happened in there. Sometimes a session stays with me for days. Again, not this one. I forgot all about it for a while. Then one morning I thought I’d better write it down before I forget. That was more out of habit as I usually write down what happens during the sessions. So I began with, “Once upon a time there was a rooster who lived on a farm on the Eastern shore…” I stopped at the end of chapter one, I think. I couldn’t believe the force with which the story made itself known to me. I truly felt like a scribe more than an author. Close to none of it came from my conscious mind. It was as if I discovered for myself, and for the first time, what had happened.
Like an archaeologist finding an ancient city under the dessert sand. The Three Feathers was there. Complete and pretty much ready to come through. My duty was only in faithfully writing it all down. There was only a minuscule and insignificant amount of thinking about plot, characters and the story itself on my part. Besides The Three Feathers, there is one other book out already – a spiritual companion to The Three Feathers, called The Dawning of the True Self. Three more books are in the works: A prequel named The Second Searcher, a sequel, The Fourth Sage and the continuation of that one, The Forgotten Future. I have had a couple of author days and one coming up at a local school with 308 kids. Never underestimate the power of playing in the sand.
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You can find more about Stefan and his writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, Stefan Bolz, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Tonight’s guest blog post is brought to you by non-fiction author Kim Dalferes.
Book Birth: What To Do Before The Release Date
On November 24th 2011, I proudly gave birth to a 216-page bundle of joy.
As a newly published writer, like many new moms, I get some interesting questions asked of me. Most often asked: what advice would you give to other new or aspiring writers? Answer: there’s quite a bit to do before the due / publication date.
I’m not big on offering unsolicited advice – being overly opinionated has gotten me into more than a few rocky situations. However, today I’ll break my no advice mantra to offer a few insights into my rookie writer world.
- When you believe you have a great book ready to go, find a publisher that will be your ideal book birthing coach. Find a publishing team that you can lean on and who will provide thoughtful and honest feedback and advice. After narrowing down my search to three firms, I went with a wonderful company: Friesen Press. They were a perfect fit for me. Take your time and find your perfect fit.
- Engage in social media six months before your due date. In the same way that you have nine months to prepare for the birth of a child, use the time before your book is published to learn and understand the social media world. There is a rich array of resources available to you on the Internet: Facebook, Twitter, and blogging are my big three at the moment.
- Facebook. I’m working now to move beyond my book fan page and have joined several Facebook groups that support and engage new writers. I wish I had done this earlier. Examples of great places to start include The Kindle Hub, Go Indie, and Celebrating Authors. If you’re currently writing a book, consider joining a few of these groups so you can begin to interact with other writers and learn about marketing tools such as blog tours and giveaways. You will gain valuable insight regarding how to reach your fan base – and you will meet some very interesting people too.
- Twitter. I joined Twitter after my book was published and I truly wish I had started much sooner. One of the smartest things I ever did was sit down over coffee with one of my twenty-something gal pals and have her give me a crash course in “Twitterworld” navigation. She was spot-on when she noted that there is about a six month learning curve when it comes to Twitter. You have to learn the Twitter language to become truly comfortable: direct messages (DM); re-tweets (RT); modified tweets (MT); hash tags (#); and twitter events such as “Follow Fridays” are all part of the Twitter culture. Learning to be succinct in 140 characters or less is an art form that takes practice.
Once you do get up to speed, Twitter becomes one of your greatest new author allies. A few hash tags I use often include #amwriting, #writing, #blogging, #blog, #amblogging, #writers, and #memoir. There are some great tweeters out there that provide terrific advice for writers – two that I follow are Duolit and Elizabethscraig.
**Important tip: if all you do is tweet about your book, people will probably stop following you. Your tweets need to be a mix of book promoting and other tidbits and updates.
- Blogging. I must admit that this one worried me a bit. How on Earth would I find the time to develop blog posts and who the heck would read my blog anyway? Before you start a blog, follow a few author bloggers: Rachel Abbott, Bob Mayer, and Morgen Bailey are three of my favorites. To find a blogger that might interest you, use Google Blog Search. Also, you might want to join Book Blogs, which currently boasts 418 different groups you can join.
My “aha” moment came when I figured out that you don’t blog about your book. I bet you’re thinking “huh?” The best bloggers write about issues, ideas, or news items that relate to their book. For example, let’s say you are writing a book about honey bees. You could develop a blog that focuses on: nature; insects; endangered species; honey recipes; household uses for honey; pollen and allergies; etc. On most days my own blog focuses on topics that are of interest to baby boomer age women. I’ve written about things as diverse as my dog Taz, southern gal sensibilities, and my son’s college philanthropic work. I post my blog on my website, but there are other platforms you can also use including http://www.blogspot.net and http://www.blogger.com.
- Have your author’s website ready to go live the day your book is born. I strongly recommend creating an author’s website. I am sure that many of you, like me, have little or no budget for marketing your book. Trust me, any funds expended on creating an author’s website will be money well spent. I made the rookie mistake of not launching my website until nearly two months after my book was published. I missed out on some valuable holiday marketing opportunities. Assess several author websites and develop a feel for what you like. I hired my web designer after reviewing her work for several other clients.
- Develop a marketing plan before your little bundle of joy arrives. This doesn’t have to be fancy, but you are going to need a vision for how you want to market your book. Sandra Beckwith is a book marketing genius; she offers quite a bit of free advice at http://buildbookbuzz.com. You should sign up for her monthly newsletter (also free). I’ve learned from Sandra that marketing isn’t just about selling books. A good marketing plan includes book review requests, local press contacts for press releases and story ideas, local bookstores to target, and interview requests. Make sure to review Blog Talk Radio for interview opportunities such as The Writers Lounge. It’s also a good idea to make friends with your local librarian and donate copies of your book to the library.
I still have much to learn about writing and publishing – six months in I remain very much a newbie. I would love to hear suggestions from other newly published writers. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
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Yay! I spotted my name in there. Thank you, Kim. 
Kimberly “Kimba” J. Dalferes is a native Floridian, but has spent the past sixteen years pretending to be a Virginian. She is a bit worried that much of her current writing focuses on public transportation and she has no rational explanation as to why this is true. Her accomplishments have included successfully threading a sewing bobbin, landing a 35-pound Alaskan King salmon, and scoring a Chinese vase at an estate sale for $1. She recently discovered that she might be related to Princess Margaret Tudor, the sister of King Henry the VIII (on her mother’s side). A proud Florida State University graduate, she often sings the Seminole fight song out loud for no reason other than she still remembers all the words. She currently lives, works, and writes in Fairfax, Virginia with her husband Greg, dog Taz, and occasionally her son Jimmy, when he is home from college.
Kimba’s website is http://www.kimdalferes.com.
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This post originally appeared on author Kimba Dalferes’ blog – The Middle-Aged Cheap Seats (http://kimdalferes.com/category/kim-dalferes-blog) – in May 2012. Permissions were granted for this reprint, but all original rights remain with her. Please visit her website http://kimdalferes.com for further information about her book and blog.
***
If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. Guidelines on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/guest-blogs. There are other options listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and sixtieth, is of non-fiction author Carol A Butler. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/author-spotlights.
Carol A Butler leads an interesting life. Her day job is as a psychoanalyst and mediator in private practice in Manhattan, providing therapy for adults and couples and mediating divorces as well as family and business disputes. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Clinical Supervisor at NYU in the Department of Applied Psychology, and a docent at the American Museum of Natural History.
After she completed her training as a mediator, she teamed up with a fellow trainee to try to generate some business. They offered a one-day course at NYU’s School of Continuing Education, but not enough people signed up for the course and it was cancelled– but a literary agent saw the course blurb and persuaded them to write a book.
The Divorce Mediation Answer Book was published by Kodansha America in 1999.
On a sunny summer Sunday afternoon in 2004, she was volunteering at an event in Central Park, and she found herself in a tent full of butterflies…and she was hooked. She volunteered that evening to work in the American Museum of Natural History’s butterfly vivarium, and she can be found there on Friday afternoons.
Her interest grew as she learned more in order to answer the questions posed by visitors, and she began photographing butterflies in the vivarium and in the field. She asked a colleague to join her in writing a book about butterflies and moths, and she found a new agent by searching online (the first one had quit the business).
Do Butterflies Bite? was published by Rutgers University Press in 2008, followed by Do Bats Drink Blood?, Why Do Bees Buzz?, Do Hummingbirds Hum?, and How Fast Can a Falcon Dive? For each book she located an expert on that animal to serve as her co-author so she would have guidance and credibility for the text.
She also co-authored a book on salt marshes, Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History, and her most recent book, Knowing Horses, was published in 2012 by Storey Press. Except for the salt marsh book, her books are written in question and answer format, first giving a direct answer to a wide range of questions and then following most answers with a sophisticated discussion of the topic and the latest relevant research.
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And now from the author herself…
I am always curious about new challenges, and I find that things develop when I am active and enthusiastic. My life, as is true for many people, is a story of one thing leading to another and another, some interesting and some not. I grew up in the Bronx, and I was coerced to attend the Bronx High School of Science. I discovered that I enjoyed it, and I later married my high school sweetheart and had two children. I majored in music as an undergraduate because I liked it and had no other clear direction. After college, inspired by a terrific philosophy professor, I began a Master’s degree in philosophy but realized quickly that it was a wrong turn. After another detour of six-months at an actuarial firm, I started working at the New York State Employment Service as an interviewer. I said yes to every special project, ended up working with men coming out of jail, which led to a job at a residential treatment center that sent me back to school for my MA. I was supervised there by a psychoanalyst, and I continued on for my Ph.D. while completing psychoanalytic training.
Working at AMNH, I made contacts that were invaluable in writing the natural science books, and it also led to being asked to co-host an internet radio program– The Naturalist on the Heritage Radio Network– that has been great fun. Archived programs can be found here: http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/25-The-Naturalist. A few years ago, I responded to an inquiry and was hired to teach at the Harlem Family Institute, a psychoanalytic training facility. Along the way, I have edited and written for psychology and mediation publications, in print and online, and I have served (present and past) in various capacities on several boards.
Now I’m developing a proposal for my next book and looking forward to the next interesting opportunity.
You can learn more about Carol and her books at:
She is also on Facebook under her own name and as The Naturalist, and is working on connecting with Twitter.
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Tonight’s guest blog post is brought to you by novelist, how-to / short story author, journalist, speaker (and much more) Jane Wenham-Jones.
Do you really want to be a writer?
If so, watch your backside, says Jane Wenham-Jones, author of Wannabe a Writer?
“It seems,” publisher Alan Samson told me a few years ago, “as though in every street in Britain, someone is writing a book…” (“And I do wish they’d stop,” he added, but I didn’t quote that bit.)
He was, and is, right. Becoming an author has never been sexier. Thousands of new, self-published books appear on Kindle, over a quarter of a million hopefuls sign up for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, each November, critiquing and Hope-to-be-spotted websites abound. And there are more manuals on the subject than you can shake a stick at. (I wrote two of them).
Why?
Because being an author sounds terrific!
Imagine. Nothing to do but sit around all day twirling your typing fingers, going to glamorous literary parties and counting your cash. After all, bestsellers fly off the shelves in their millions, become block-busting movies and bring fairy tale endings for single mothers who write in cafes one minute and top the Rich List the next. Or, most recently, sweet-looking TV executives who smash every sales record since the beginning of time by making it almost de rigour to be reading about spanking on the tube.
As a writer, you can get away with spending hours staring out of the window with a strange expression on your face, and call it “working” and then, since it’s well-known that most authors are bonkers, collect the children in your pyjamas. (Smiling mysteriously as other parents in the playground whisper “she’s a novelist, you know,” instead of thinking you’re being taken care of in the community.)
And there is no doubt that one’s name appearing in print is very exciting and a massive ego boost – the first time I had a short story published, I bought 14 copies of the magazine and invited all the neighbours round – and seeing your own books on the shop shelves (should you be so lucky!), an utter joy.
So why do so many start to write and so few, despite the sea of self-published books out there, make it? Leaving aside the small matter of whether one has the talent – it’s an odd thing that nobody expects to become a professional singer because they have a croon in the bath, but anyone who’s ever penned a note to the milkman thinks they could knock out a best-seller – it comes down to staying power.
Writing may sound easy but it’s hard labour and even boring tasks can become attractive in comparison. In her early days as a novelist, Carole Matthews told me, she used to tie her leg to the desk to stop her wandering off to do the ironing.
Producing a 100,000 word manuscript takes many hours, weeks and months of staring at a computer screen or hunching over a notepad, waving the family away with a vague hand, or shrieking at them when they’ve only come to tell you you’ve burnt the oven chips – again. You may talk to yourself, have strange dreams and need to sacrifice your social life.
Although the latter may be a blessing because from now on, your bum will always look big in this. (Writer’s Bottom is a little-mentioned hazard of being a scribe, previously passed over by many a fine how-to book until I lifted the lid on mine.) Still, never mind, writers come in all shapes and sizes and while it never hurts to be thin, gorgeous and sexy, the good news is that when it comes to books sales, the short, fat and ugly have reached the top too.
Could you? Only if you really, really want to.
For quite frankly it’s hard enough to keep going when you’re totally driven. It’s going to be a non-starter if you’d just as soon paint the spare room.
You’re going to lose heart, lack confidence and think everything you write looks like drivel. But remember this: It’s meant to. Every successful writer I’ve ever met, thinks their first drafts are rubbish. That’s what editing is for.
It was one of the most important things I learned when I was collecting wit and wisdom from other authors for Wannabe a Writer? And here’s another one: it really doesn’t matter where you write, or how you write – as long as you do. Frederick Forsyth spends a year researching and thinking about his books and then writes them in 45 days. Freya North doesn’t plan a thing; Katie Fforde makes strange-looking charts. The important thing is that you keep at it and write every day – even if it’s only a sentence.
Even if you have an overwhelming urge to make a Mars Bar Gateau or tidy the airing cupboard instead.
Yes, you’ll get tired and dispirited and fed-up with friends chortling “Ha Ha Ha have you been published yet?” (When you have, they’ll change it to: “Ho ho, have you sold as many as EL James yet?”) (It used to be JK Rowling). You might have a fat butt and a disgruntled family and spend a lot of time muttering and wondering why you do it. (Your partner may demand to know this too.) Especially when you DON”T make a fortune.
You could drink too much, eat too much, forget the shopping and get hooted for at idling at green traffic lights while you day-dream plots. You’ll almost certainly stay up late, have to get up early and never see your friends. But when you do finally see your name in print, it will all – despite poverty and exhaustion – be worth it.
Which is why so many of us HAVE kept going – all the successful authors I’ve ever met also have their rejection tales – and why, if you really want to be published, you should too…
*
Thank you, Jane. I’m a terrible procrastinator… up to now.
Jane Wenham-Jones is a novelist and freelance journalist and the author of Wannabe a Writer? and Wannabe a Writer We’ve Heard Of? (Accent Press Ltd).
You can find out more about Jane and her writing via:
***
If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. Guidelines on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/guest-blogs. There are other options listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Tonight’s second book review, of The True Diary of a Mum To Be by Charlie Plunkett is brought to you by novelist Julia Hughes.
The True Diary of a Mum To Be by Charlie Plunkett
Synopsis: The True Diary of a Mum-to- be a pregnancy companion. Charlie has only done two things in her life that she considers truly grown up. The first was to get married and the second was to start a family. It wasn’t long before she realised how little she knew about pregnancy and birth…
Review
Personally, I’ve always preferred Samuel Pepys minutiae of 17th Century London, to Robinson Crusoe’s fictionalised account of an island. It’s the little details that build up the larger picture of life, and one of the biggest life events is having a baby. Having devoured Charlie’s previous diary “of a Bride to Be”, I eagerly downloaded the next snippet of true life according to Charlie – it didn’t disappoint.
Beginning at the beginning, Charlie bravely explains the heartbreak and bewilderment of suffering a miscarriage, not once, but twice. This tragic and traumatic experience is one that not too many are keen to talk about, and although obviously feeling saddened and even frightened that her dreams of motherhood may not come true, Charlie’s frank account of this nightmarish time serves to reinforce the authenticity and indispensability of this book.
With renewed determination, the author conducts her own research, keen to discover all she can about increasing her chances of becoming pregnant, and carrying her baby successfully to full term.
In my opinion, this diary is touching and inspirational; at the time of writing, Charlie and her loving husband Dave could only have hoped for a happy outcome. That hope continues to grow and blossom, enabling readers to share a newly wed couple’s excitement and growing awe as they embark on the most important and life fulfilling role ever.
Charlie has a natural gift for inviting people into her world, in addition to providing a ‘must have’ friendly guide on what to expect on a week-to-week basis during pregnancy, we also experience life through Charlie’s eyes. Whilst reading this book at times I shouted out loud and the usual comment from my own family was ‘What’s Charlie done now?’
The answer was loads – related with a wry humour that kept me giggling and eager to find out what would happen next: by turns funny, reflective and informative, this book is a keeper, and one to recommend to anyone who shares Charlie’s dream of becoming a mum, or those who remember only too clearly the magic of introducing a new life into this world. Having said that, this diary is thoroughly entertaining, and I’ve no doubt those of the male persuasion will also enjoy this fascinating account of the true adventures of a mum to be.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
*
Another 5/5. You’re picking some great books. Thank you, Julia.
**
Julia Hughes is a London based author of the Celtic Cousins’ Adventures: A Raucous Time, A Ripple in Time, and An Explosive Time. Her latest YA / Fantasy is The Griffin Cryer. Julia’s website is http://www.juliahughes.co.uk.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/reviews/book-reviews for the guidelines.
Other options listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, Charlie Plunkett, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Julia Hughes, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Below is a list of June-deadline writing competitions listed initially under format and then under deadline dates (see Competitions for other dates). Below that are weekly, monthly, quarterly and competition websites. Enjoy!
And don’t forget I also have an extensive Submission info. section (including how you can appear on this blog) and an Events page (do email me if you know of more)…
JUNE
- Children’s: The Commonword Diversity Writing for Children Prize 2013 has a 30th June deadline. See www.ihaveadream.org.uk and / or email w4c@cultureword.org.uk or phone +44 161 832 3777.
- Flash Fiction: Weekly challenge on http://theironwriter.com.
- Flash Fiction: The Flash 500 Fiction Competition, established 2009, is a quarterly open-themed competition for fiction up to 500 words has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories. Prizes: £300 plus publication in Words with JAM, £100 and £50.
- Flash Fiction: Northampton Literature Group usually runs a yearly poetry competition with a mid-May deadline but it has 2013 off and is running a flash fiction competition instead! The deadline is Sunday 30th June (midnight, UK time) and their Head Judge is… me!
- Flash Fiction: Indies Unlimited hosts a weekly 250-word max. prompt competition – see Indies Unlimited. Also see ‘Short stories’ below.
- Flash Fiction: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Flash Fiction: Writer Austin Briggs runs a monthly 55-word competition (different theme each month). It’s free to enter and you can win $55 (of his own money!).
- Flash Fiction: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
Mixed: Submission to the non-fiction and fiction Shirley You Jest Book Awards opens 20th May (closes 22nd July). I’m one of the sponsors!- Mixed: Segora International Writing Competitions 2013. Vignette Competition, max 300 words, judge Bernard Lord. Short Story Competition, from 1,500 to 3,000 words, judge Tom Bryan. Poetry Competition, max 40 lines, judge John Hudson. Deadline for all competitions 8th June. Prizes: Short Story and Poetry £150, £50 and £30; Vignette £30 and £10 for commended or equivalent prize money in euro.
- Mixed: The Creative Future Literary Awards showcasing the work of marginalised and disabled writers, theme The Spark in Flash Fiction (maximum 300 words) or Poetry (maximum 200 words), closing date 16th June. Entry fee: £5 per piece, £15 if critique required.
- Mixed: Marple (shorts & poetry), Christian magazine Pockets has a different theme per month, Cinnamon Press Writing Awards (for novellas, poetry and short stories).
- Mixed: The Cowley Literary Award is a global short story competition, fiction and non-fiction, $5,000AUD prizes, max 4000 words, closing date 30th June. See http://www.australianartsales.com.au/cowley-award.
- Mixed (novels & short story collections): iWriteReadRate and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (http://www.voteformyebook.com) are offering a monthly social competition to members of the community – see ‘Monthly’ towards the end of this page.
- Mixed: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Mixed: http://globalfeelgoodcompany.com/competition (opens May, closes 30th September – see ‘September’ for full details).
- Non-fiction: Elephants. You gotta LOVE ‘em! And can you WRITE about them? Let’s find out. We’re looking for FICTION (including but not limited to fantasy and humor) and for NARRATIVE NONFICTION, between 500 and 5,000 words.Prize for 1st place is $150 and 2nd place is $50. Plus, the top tales may be included in an anthology {ELEPHANTHOLOGY} with your name. See http://www.phylsbooks.com/#!contest/c1kbb. Submissions accepted from 1 April 2013 – midnight of 1 July 2013. Cost $10.
- Non-fiction: another non-fiction competition is http://greberwritingaward.com/submissions.htm
- Novels: The Flash 500 Novel Opening Chapter & Synopsis Competition, established 2013, is an annual competition, opening for entries on 1st May and closing on 31st October. The judges for this competition will be the senior editors at Crooked Cat Publishing. Entry fee: £10. Prizes: £500 first prize, plus a runner’s up prize of £200.
- Novels: Submission to the non-fiction and fiction Shirley You Jest Book Awards opens 20th May (closes 22nd July). I’m one of the sponsors!
- Novels: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Novels: Novel Rocket runs an annual Launch Pad Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile. Entries will be accepted in all genres beginning mid-January. The deadline for submission is different for genre categories according to the following schedule. In each case, entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on the 10th day of the month (April to September) listed on http://www.novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html. They also post a new writing-related article seven days a week, from author interviews to marketing discussions to articles about the craft of writing.
- Novels: other June deadline competitions include Impress Prize, and Lightship International First Chapter.
- Plays: Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting has a 1st prize of £16,000. Open to anyone resident in the UK and Ireland. The play must an original, unperformed and unproduced piece of work, an hour long or more in playing time. Closing date 3rd June. See http://www.writeaplay.co.uk/about.
- Plays: Adrienne Benham Award 2013: £2,000 prize now accepting applications: Theatre Centre offers the Adrienne Benham Award, a £2,000 seed commission, to support the work of a promising playwright interested in exploring the Theatre for Young Audiences sector, but who has little experience in the field. The award is intended to steer gifted writers towards young audiences by giving them a seed commission and attachment to Theatre Centre as they develop an original idea for young audiences. Prize: £2,000 seed commission and attachment. Deadline: 7 June 2013 at 12 noon. Further information (including the full criteria and application form) available from the Theatre Centre website.
- Plays: Write Lines: New Writing for Young Audiences Conference: Do you write plays for young audiences, or do you want to? Celebrating 60 years of working with writers to produce outstanding theatre for young audiences, Theatre Centre hosts a day-long conference for writers and theatre professionals on Thursday 20 June. The keynote speech will be delivered by playwright Bryony Lavery. Other guest speakers include playwrights Amanda Dalton, Rob Evans, Philip Osment and Evan Placey; and industry professionals Anthony Banks (NT), Jonathan Lloyd (Polka Theatre) and Purni Morell (Unicorn Theatre). Reserve your place today!
- Plays: Ace Drama have a Beatles-themed ‘Ticket to Write’ contest ending 25th June.
- Plays: www.angletheatre.co.uk/discovered.html.
- Plays: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Poetry: Wirral Festival of Firsts Open Poetry Competition 2013 has a closing date of 1st June 2013 (today!). First Prize: £200, Second Prize: £75, 3 runner-up prizes of £25. For poems on any subject, of no more than 40 lines. Submissions can be made online or by post. Postal submissions should include a separate sheet with the entrant’s name, address and the titles of the poem(s) and a cheque or postal order for £3 per poem or £10 for 4 poems payable to: “Festival of Firsts”. Postal submissions to: FOF Poetry Competition, 71 Alderley Road, Hoylake, Wirral CH47 2AU. See website www.festivaloffirsts.com for all the competition rules and online entries.
- Poetry: Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition 2013. International, max 60 lines, judging panel will consist of Nancy Gaffield, winner of the Aldeburgh Prize 2011; the ‘2012 Poet of the Year’ Graham Burchell; and Luigi Marchini, Chairman of the Canterbury based SaveAs Writers’ Group. Closing date 14th June. The festival itself runs 19th October to 2nd November.
- Poetry: Mslexia (for women poets – sorry, guys): 2013 Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions. “This year the Poetry Competition for single poems will be judged by the fantastic Costa-award winning poet Kathleen Jamie, and the first prize is £2,000 – a substantial prize that also includes two optional extras: a week at the idyllic poets’ retreat of Cove Park, and a mentoring session with the editor of Poetry Review. Other winners will receive a share of the remaining £1,100 prize pot, and all winning poems will be published in the September 2013 issue of Mslexia. Following the success of the inaugural 2012 competition, and the publication of the winning pamphlet by Polly Atkin, Shadow Dispatches, we have also launched our 2013 Pamphlet Competition. For collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems. the first prize is the publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books, plus £250, 25 complimentary copies of the pamphlet and royalties from all subsequent sales. If you’ve never had a full-length collection published and want to take your work to the next level, this could be the competition for you… The deadline for both competitions is 17th June 2013, so there’s still plenty of time to decide which poem to enter – or to write one! – and to come up with a winning title for that short collection. Full details of how to enter both competitions are on our website at www.mslexia.co.uk/poetrycompetition and www.mslexia.co.uk/pamphletcompetition respectively. Keep an eye out there too for specially commissioned poetry writing workshops which will be available over the coming weeks.
- Poetry: Scroll’s 4th of July Front Cover Contest: Be Published on the front cover of Scroll Original Artist Magazine, Scroll Publ cover on Facebook, and on the front page of scrolloriginalartistmagazine.com from July 1st thru August 30, 2013 along with your colored photo and 80 word bio. Independence Day is the theme for the July / Aug 2013 issue. To Enter send 2 poems – 21 lines, photo, biography and full contact info to scrollpubl@outlook.com. Deadline; June 21, 2013.
- Poetry: The Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition is a monthly contest for poems of up to 40 lines. Closing: Monthly. Entries arriving too late for one month go forward to the next. Prizes: 1st – £100. Runners-up – A Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Entry Fee: £5 each, £3 each thereafter. Includes a critique (sae required if entering by post). Comp Page: http://www.writers-forum.com/poetrycomp.html.
- Poetry: Second Light Poetry Competition for Long and Short Poems by Women is judged by Moniza Alvi, £300 first prizes, closing date 25 June. See http://www.secondlightlive.co.uk/news.shtml#Comp13.
- Poetry: The Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition, established in 2010, welcomes any form of humour verse will be accepted, from a limerick to a poem of 32 lines. This is also a quarterly competition with closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, £2.50 for each poem thereafter. Prizes: £150 plus publication in Words with JAM, £100 and £50.
- Poetry: Poetry Space Competition 2013. Max 40 lines, judge Martyn Crucefix. 1st prize £250 + anthology, closing date 30 June. See http://www.poetryspace.co.uk/2013/01/poetry-space-competition-2013.
- Poetry: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Poetry: The Keats-Shelley Prize 2013 for Essays and Poems on Romantic Themes – open to all. Prize Chair: acclaimed novelist Salley Vickers. £3,000 prize money. Winning poems and essays will be published in The Keats-Shelley Review. Theme for poems in 2013 is Noise. Essays are invited on any aspect of the work and lives of the Romantics and their circle. Poems judged by John Hartley-Williams and Matthew Sweeney, essays by leading Romantic scholars Prof. Simon Bainbridge and Prof. Sharon Ruston. Closing date 30 June.
- Poetry: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
- Poetry: Other poetry competitions include: Creative Competitor, Earth Words, Edwin Morgan, Keats-Shelley Prize 2012, Margaret Reid, Ted Walters, United Press, Writing Magazine.
- Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
- Scriptwriting: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Scriptwriting: Ted Walters.
- Scriptwriting: The 10th Annual Screenwriting Challenge is a competition open to screenwriters around the world. There are 3 rounds of competition. In the 1st Round (June 14-22), writers are placed randomly in heats and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment (see examples of past assignments here). Writers have 8 days to write an original short screenplay no longer than 12 pages. The judges choose a top 5 in each heat to advance to the 2nd Round (July 25-28) where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have just 3 days to write an 8 page (maximum) short screenplay. Judges choose a top 25 from the 2nd Round to advance to the 3rd and final round of the competition where writers are challenged to write a 5 page (maximum) screenplay in just 24 hours (August 23-24). It’s easy to register. First, download and read the Official Rules and Participation Agreement. Once you have read, understood, and agree to the terms, you are ready to register by clicking here. The entry fee is USD $39* until the Early Entry Deadline of May 16, 2013 and USD $49* until the Final Entry Deadlline of June 13, 2013.
- Short stories: The Fourteenth V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize is now open. “The Royal Society of Literature is delighted to inform you that the fourteenth V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize for best unpublished short story of the year is now open to submissions. The winning author will be awarded a prize of £1,000, and the short story will be published in Prospect online and in our annual magazine, the RSL Review. In addition to this, there will be an opportunity to appear at an RSL event with established short story writers in autumn 2013 (the 2012 winner read at an event with short-story writer, novelist, and poet Jackie Kay. This year’s judges are award-winning short story writers Adam Foulds, Jackie Kay and Helen Simpson. The entry form is available on our website. The closing date for entries is 13th June 2013, and all submissions should be posted with the £5 administrative fee to: V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, Royal Society of Literature, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA For further information, please email Molly Rosenberg (molly@rslit.org) and / or see website http://rslit.org/v-s-pritchett. Stories must be 2,000 to 5,000 words long, printed on one side of an A4 in double-spaces and sent to the London address above.
- Short stories: Elephants. You gotta LOVE ‘em! And can you WRITE about them? Let’s find out. We’re looking for FICTION (including but not limited to fantasy and humor) and for NARRATIVE NONFICTION, between 500 and 5,000 words.Prize for 1st place is $150 and 2nd place is $50. Plus, the top tales may be included in an anthology {ELEPHANTHOLOGY} with your name. See http://www.phylsbooks.com/#!contest/c1kbb. Submissions accepted from 1 April 2013 – midnight of 1 July 2013. Cost $10.
- Short stories: Hayley Sherman runs a monthly short story competition for submissions on any subject up to 2,000 words. The winners are published on the website, promoted online and receive a £10 First Writer voucher. All entrants are also considered for publication in The New Short Story Annual at the end of the year. Deadline 25th of the month. Heather Marie Schuldt runs a similar contest, although 500-750 words max., but with the same deadline.
- Short stories: Scotland’s International Crime Festival Bloody Scotland (which runs mid-September) has a short story competition deadline late June.
- Short stories: Fantasy Faction have a fantasy short story competition which ends June 30th. Thanks to Sophie E Tallis for that one!
- Short stories: Lightship Publishing runs eight competitions; flash fiction, first chapter, one-page, memoir, poetry, poetry book, first act, short stories, all with a 30th June deadline. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk and/or email admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk for more information.
- Short stories: Writers’ Village runs a quarterly short story competition which attracts entrants worldwide. Click here for the rules… and every entrant receives invaluable critique! Their summer deadline is 30th June.
- Short stories: Words Magazine Short Story Competition is free to enter, international, and has a closing date of 30th June. See http://www.wordsmag.com/compcal13.htm.
- Short stories: Five Stop Story runs a quarterly short story competition (end March / June / September / December). Membership to the site is £25 but you get to enter up to five stories in each competition. Further details at http://www.fivestopstory.com/write.
- Short stories: GKBC (Giving Kudos to Brilliant Content) is running a free crime-writing competition with a deadline of 30th June 2013. See http://gkbcinc.com/the-gkbcinc-short-story-competition for more details.
- Short stories: The Booktown Writers’ Annual Short Story Competition 2013 welcomes 1000-3000 words, cash prizes + anthology. Closing date 30th June. See http://www.booktownwriters.co.uk/competition.html.
- Short stories: British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition. 5000 words max, 1st prize £100 + year’s BFS membership + publication. Judge Allen Ashley, closing date 30th June.
- Short stories: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
- Short stories: Other June deadline competitions include Aeon Award (quarterly), Countryside Tales, Creative Competitor, Cwrtnewydd Scribblers, Earlyworks, Erewash, Five Stop Story, Glimmer Train (different category each month), Lightship Publishing, sandralit, Ted Walters, Words Magazine, Writing Magazine (WM: open to all theme: writing for children – dog tales / subscriber-only theme: passport, glove, tuba), Writers Bureau, Writers Reign and Calderdale.
- Soundtracks: Mini Operas soundtrack competition opens early June closes late July.
WEEKLY
- Flash Fiction: Indies Unlimited hosts a weekly 250-word max. prompt competition – see Indies Unlimited. Co-run by interviewee Kat ‘K.S.’ Brooks. Also see ‘Short stories’ below.
- Flash Fiction: Each week on http://theironwriter.com, four writers agree to compose a five hundred word story involving the same four elements. Please remember to give your story a title. The stories can be in any genre except erotica. The writers will not know what the four elements are prior to committing to the challenge. There is a four day time limit to complete the story. I email the elements early Thursday morning, my time. The story is due at midnight, Sunday, your time. Each author retains full and complete copyright of their story submitted to The Iron Writer for this competition. However, it is understood each story will remain on this website indefinitely. The Iron Writer will not publish any submission outside this website without express permission from the author. So, if you are up to the challenge, please email me at HERE and we can schedule when you are willing to participate. Please include your main blog or website. I will link your story to your site. You may participate as often as you want.
- Mixed: Needle in the Hay runs weekly and monthly competitions (“awards”). See http://needleinthehay.net/submission-guidelines for their guidelines. Thanks to Jason Fink for pointing me in that direction.
- Poetry: Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire, UK at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.
- Poetry: Well Versed is the weekly poetry column of daily UK newspaper the Morning Star, published every Thursday, in print and online. Poetry editor Jody Porter. Under the stewardship of the late and esteemed John Rety, Well Versed developed into a widely-read forum for new and established writers. Send submissions, with biographical information, to: wveditor@gmail.com. Poems need not be overtly political, but space is limited so they must be short to medium in length.
- Short stories: Flash Fiction Online occasionally closes to submissions (I guess because they’re overwhelmed), but they are currently open.
- NB. Don’t forget to check out the ongoing competition websites listed at the end of this page.
MONTHLY
- Flash Fiction: Writer Austin Briggs runs a monthly 55-word competition (different theme each month). It’s free to enter and you can win $55 (of his own money!).
- Flash Fiction: Empirical Magazine runs a monthly flash fiction (<1000-word) competition.
- Mixed: iWriteReadRate and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (http://www.voteformyebook.com) are offering a monthly social competition to members of the community; it’s a great opportunity to receive professional feedback as well as contribute to developing your profile and platform. The prize is a fantastic Cornerstones masterclass mini-critique on the winning writer’s first pages of their story, up to 2000 words. This is designed to give the writer a professional critique on how to improve the opening as well as hints to consider throughout their writing. Simply upload an ebook (novels or collections of short stories) to iWriteReadRate. Every month we’ll select five to take part in the competition. All the writer needs to do is promote it with their networks and aim to get as many votes for their ebook as possible. At the end of each month the ebook with the most votes wins the prize.
- Mixed: Needle in the Hay runs weekly and monthly competitions (“awards”). See http://needleinthehay.net/submission-guidelines for their guidelines. Thanks to Jason Fink for pointing me in that direction.
- Mixed: Pockets and Creative Print Publishing (both have different themes each month), Opening Editions (free).
- Novels: http://www.novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html has monthly competitions (April-Sept) with a different genre each month.
- Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
- Scriptwriting: Scripped has a variety of script contests including a monthly one.
- Short stories: Hayley Sherman has a monthly short story competition.
- Short stories: Brighton COW (currently on hiatus), Coast to Coast, Glimmer Train (different category each month), Writing / Writers’ News magazines and Opening Editions.
- Short stories: Bound Off now take submissions via Submishmash.
- Short stories: Darker Times Fiction is a monthly short story competition for stories of 3,000 words and less in the horror genre or on the subject of ‘darker times’. It’s open to UK and international writers and ends on the last day of each month and costs £5 / $8 a time.
- Short stories: Hayley Sherman runs a monthly short story competition for submissions on any subject up to 2,000 words. The winners are published on the website, promoted online and receive a £10 First Writer voucher. All entrants are also considered for publication in The New Short Story Annual at the end of the year. Deadline 25th of the month.
- Short stories: Heather Marie Schuldt runs a short story contest, 500-750 words max., on her blog, with the same deadline (25th of the month).
- Short stories: http://www.fivestopstory.com/write: 2012 competitions cost £4 per entry (2 for £7, 3 for £8, optional feedback £5) and have monthly prizes of £50. There is also a £150 prize for the overall winner of their 2012 league table and you can become a member for £25 which entitles you to 3 free entries per month (2012).
- Short stories: LinkedIn’s Aspiring Writers Group runs a monthly short story competition. You do have to be a member of LinkedIn (free) and the writing group itself (a closed group but you can ask to join) to enter the competition.
- NB. Don’t forget to check out the ongoing competition websites listed at the end of this page.
QUARTERLY
ONGOING
- Children’s: Dal Burns‘ children’s writing competition ‘Write Across America‘.
- Children’s: Little Star Writing is a site where you can “get published, enter competitions, win prizes, play games, improve literacy skills, receive certificates and HAVE FUN!”.
- Flash fiction: One Forty Fiction and Wow Women on Writing.
- Mixed: What The Dickens magazine lists “competitions and give-aways which are all free to enter”.
- Mixed: sterlingmag and sundayat6mag.wordpress.com
- Mixed: You can apply for a three-month residency on the Mslexia blog (women only).
- Non-fiction: http://www.tales2inspire.com/HOME.html (free )
- Novels: Novel Rocket runs an annual Launch Pad Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile. Entries will be accepted in all genres beginning mid-January. The deadline for submission is different for genre categories according to the following schedule. In each case, entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on the 10th day of the month (April to September) listed on http://www.novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html. They also post a new writing-related article seven days a week, from author interviews to marketing discussions to articles about the craft of writing.
- Poetry: Poetic Republic is an ongoing online poetry competition in which the entrants are also the judges.
- Scriptwriting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/links5.shtml.
- Short stories: Creative Writers’ Circle competitions are open to all and are free.
- Short stories: Flash Fiction Online is a 500-1000 word site that is free to subscribe / read, free to submit to. Payment is via donations with 60% going to the author and 40% going to the site so there’s no way of knowing how much (if anything) you’d earn but another opportunity perhaps.
- Short stories: Author and columnist Lorraine Mace runs the Flash 500 flash fiction and humorous verse competitions.
- Short stories: Short Funny Story wants humorous short stories or true-life events and pay $15 for every story published online with $25 extra for any story chosen for inclusion in their anthologies.
- Short stories: Penny Dreadfuls 21 commissions short stories.
- Short stories: Words Magazine short story competition guidelines.
COMPETITION WEBSITES
- Flash Fiction: Creative Times has a list of their top 10 paying flash fiction competition sites. There are also some listed on http://www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/competitions.html.
- Mixed: Be a Better Writer has a list of (mostly American) current and future competitions.
- Mixed: Book Marketing Maven has a list of a few.
- Mixed: Duotrope is a great resource for competition and submission opportunities.
- Mixed: FanStory lists a variety of ongoing competitions and is a site where you can “share your writing and learn from the feedback that you will receive on everything you write. That includes poetry, stories, book chapters and scripts. When you post your writing you will get feedback that will determine your place in the rankings. FanStory.com is a popular writing site for writers of all skill levels”.
- Mixed: Fiction Addiction lists a few competition sites.
- Mixed: http://www.firstwriter.com/competitions has a great list of competitions but you have to subscribe (not free) to the site to access the full details.
- Mixed: Ideas Tap has a great list of allsorts.
- Mixed: Jacqui Burnett’s Writer’s Bureau has a list of a variety of forthcoming and ongoing competitions.
- Mixed: Carole Burdock’s bi-monthly magazine Kudos.
- Mixed: Loquax.com lists thousands of competitions including writing comps.
- Mixed: The National Association of Writers Groups (based in the UK) lists their competitions on http://www.nawg.co.uk/competitions/open-competitions.
- Mixed: West Country Writers has a bijoux collection of competitions.
- Mixed: Words Magazine has a variety of competition information.
- Mixed: The Poets & Writers website include contests, grants and awards.
- Mixed: www.prizemagic.co.uk has a variety of competitions.
- Mixed: Sally Quilford‘s competition calendar.
- Mixed: Trafford Publishing lists them a month per page.
- Mixed: free literary monthly magazine Words with Jam have regular competitions.
- Mixed: Write Link also lists forthcoming competitions.
- Mixed: Writers Reign lists short story, poetry, non-fiction, performing arts, rolling competitions, children’s writing competitions and book writing awards.
- Mixed: http://writingcontests.wordpress.com lists various competitions.
- Novels: http://apostrophebooks.com/fictionfasttrack.
- Poetry: Poetry Kit, http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions, Writers Reign.
- Poetry: You might also like to take a look at Poet Laureate Alice Shapiro’s website. Alice kindly provided some poetry tips for this blog in August 2011. Poet Scott E Green dropped by and left a comment on my me page to say that his blog has multi-genre competition and submission info. I checked it out and it looks really useful.
- Poetry: The Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition is a monthly contest for poems of up to 40 lines. Closing: Monthly. Entries arriving too late for one month go forward to the next. Prizes: 1st: £100. Runners-up: A Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Entry Fee: £5 each, £3 each thereafter. Includes a critique (sae required if entering by post). Comp Page: http://www.writers-forum.com/poetrycomp.html.
- Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
- Scriptwriting: www.hollywoodscriptexpress.com/screenplay_contests.html, www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/Default.html, www.writesofluid.co.uk/screenwriting-competitions.html, and www.thespiannet.com/writing_contests.shtml.
- Short stories: BookTrust has a wonderful list of over 50 short story competitions.
- Short stories: other sites include Poetry Kit (“shorts & other comps”) and Words Magazine.
- Short stories: Writers Reign‘s short stories competitions page lists by deadline date.
- Short story collections: http://apostrophebooks.com/fictionfasttrack.
If you discover any broken links, closed competitions or know of ones that I haven’t listed here, please do email me with details.
***
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Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-ninth, is of Rosey Thomas Palmer.
Rosey Thomas Palmer is proud to be a dual citizen of Jamaica and the UK with writing connections in both countries. After an education in London, she started adult life as a teacher on contract to the Jamaican government in Spanish Town and at Vauxhall School in Kingston. Family pressures took her back to England where she taught for ten years in various schools in South London, Peterborough and Nottingham where her awareness of the undervaluation of the Jamaican language and culture was pointed up by a senior post focused on the attainment and labelling of the children of England’s immigrant work force.
The happy and productive years she had spent in Jamaican schools drew her back to her adoptive country, accompanied by her then husband and two children. Settling in Westmoreland, close to Mr Palmer’s roots, Rosey found that Westmoreland compared badly with Kingston for youth activities and literary opportunities. In response she founded and ran DELA Children’s Workshop and assisted like minds by collaborating to create Sav Ink, the Savanna-la-mar Arts Movement, Westmoreland Inter-Schools Reading Association and the Westmoreland Chapter of the Sustainable Communities’ Foundation for Tourism. In the course of these involvements she met her friend and mentor, Eva Jones, and began to weave the novel that became “Hues of Blackness: a Jamaican Saga”.
The saga of personal life and the impetus of her will to publish took Rosey Thomas Palmer back to the UK and held her there for ten years whilst her children matured and her marriage crumbled. Rosey’s daughters chose England as their place of permanent residence and her mother aged slowly. To fund her stay, Rosey gravitated to a career in Health and Social Care through which she met many of the original Jamaican migrants to Nottingham and heard their stories as well as learning about the toll life in a cold climate had taken on their bodies how their sense of self had survived. This spurred more writing and led to mentoring and motivating activities for and with fellow writers.
Rosey Thomas Palmer now focuses on international links including visits to America and, hopefully, future visits to Africa, whilst resuming residence in Jamaica and deepening her contribution to literacy and literature there.
*
And now from the author herself:
I am inspired by beauty and variety. I am intrigued by ironies and discrepancies. I celebrate a multitude of experiences in various locations, both first and second hand. I write because it has been my strongest form of communication from childhood up. I publish because the voices of the people around me must be heard.
As many do, I spun narratives as a child, but I failed to take prompts from my mother and teachers seriously enough to build a career in writing. Instead I fancied visual arts or drama but settled for teaching. Throughout the troubled period of adolescence I wrote diary entries and poetry. As a young teacher of English I experimented with a fantasy novel. All of these scriblings are now lost. However, I taught literature creatively and moved from this to playwriting with a dynamic group of students at Vauxhall Secondary School. I was privileged to have the support of my principal and other staff and training from the JCDC. I was still considered a visiting teacher, though, and, without a sense of belonging, I went back to the UK. Although play writing and production was put aside there, academic understanding was added to my Patois skills during subsequent studies for two degrees under the Institute of Education in London. During ten years of teaching in a variety of English schools and at increasing levels of responsibility, I used literary forms to assert the value of the home languages of families that had migrated from Jamaica.
After the termination of my first marriage I longed to return to Jamaica. When I returned it was to the country parish of Westmoreland where there were vaste resources of culture, history and language. waiting to be conserved. Drama still played a strong role in my teaching ad community life and i worked on school plays, community performances and Drama in Education. Poetry writing became public and shared with the poets’ co-operative known as Sav Ink from which mentoring opportunities opened up for me. Academic writing was requested by the Adult Dyslexia Organisation and my contacts with community tourism enabled field work for the novel about Westmoreland’s women that was later published as Hues of Blackness: a Jamaican Saga.
My daughters had grown up enough to leave their country home and return to the UK but not enough to manage comfortably without their parents. Our response to their need was a joint effort at first but distance and prejudicial legislation wore the marriage ties so thin that divorce was the regrettable outcome.
At liberty to explore the full parameters of being myself, I took on the cost of a joint venture publication which drove me to another diversification of my writing career. Whilst waiting for an affordable means to publish the sequels to Hues of Blackness, I began ghost writing for other self-published writers. I shared the stories of a refugee from the Yemen whose life spanned Russia and England as well as her husband’s homeland. Two volumes of her biography have been completed; Before It’s Too Late! and Fight For Life by Sandra Joyce Sallman. I also arranged and edited two books for an inspirational writer, Mark Phillps, They are published under the joint title of The Book of Life and the first edition to become available is sub-titled Born to Live. I have also recovered stories from early migrants to England in preparation for a celebratory anthology of Jamaicans’. experience in the UK.
I work rapidly, benefitting from deadlines and time scales. I seek good conditions for my writing by using my two homelands optimally for research and production. As I have to maintain employment in order to fund my craft, I find especial enjoyment in my career in care which enables me to meet the elderly, experienced and enlightened members of society and I remain fascinated by teaching the intricacies of the English language to mature and interested learners. I look forward to developing language and literature courses in Jamaican Creole now that the significant step of the production of the Jamaican Bible has taken place.
**
You can find more about Rosey and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, Rosey Palmer, Rosey Thomas, Rosey Thomas Palmer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-sixth, is of non-fiction and crime writer Kathy Brandt with mention of her artist and photographer son, Max. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/author-spotlights.
Kathy Brandt writes The Hannah Sampson Underwater Investigation Series (Swimming with the Dead, Dark Water Dive, Dangerous Depths, and Under Pressure), which were recently released as ebooks. She is also the co-author of Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness, written with her son, Max Maddox. It was a finalist for the Iowa Review Award in Non-Fiction. Kathy was on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Colorado Springs (NAMI) for six years and served as President. She is currently the NAMI-CS liaison to the Mental Health Court in Colorado Springs. She received the 2012 National Member of the Year Award for her outstanding service to NAMI. Kathy has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric and taught writing at the University of Colorado for ten years.
Max Maddox is the co-author of Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness, which was a finalist for the Iowa Review Award in Non-Fiction. He has a BA in philosophy from Grinnell College and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, where he was nominated for the Joan Mitchell Award and received the Fellowship Trust Award. He has exhibited his work in galleries including The Slought Foundation, The Print Center of Philadelphia, and the Ellen Powell Tiberino Memorial Museum. He was the preparator, photographer, and curator at the Sun King Gallery and Pyramid Museum in Philadelphia and also assistant to artist and curator Richard Torchia, Director of Arcadia University Gallery. He now lives in Colorado where he teaches and continues to pursue his career in art.
*
And now from Kathy herself:
In 1999, my son, Max, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was twenty and a junior at Grinnell College. I was shocked at the diagnosis, clueless about what it meant, and I was scared. What would the future hold for Max? We spent years trying to find good treatment in a mental health care system that too often fails those who struggle with mental illness. I was angry that we couldn’t find the help Max needed. Finally I found support through NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and became an advocate for those with mental illness and their families. As a writer, my advocacy inevitably involved writing about the issues. And I wanted to tell Max’s story so that people would understand the difficulties of having this illness, made worse by stigma, and that recovery is possible. But I wouldn’t do it without Max. Though reliving the years of illness would be painful, Max agreed to write the book with me. The result is a memoir about our joint and separate struggles with the illness entitled, Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness.
Writing the book brought us together in ways I never imagined and it helped us make sense of the years of chaos. We have told an honest though often painful story that ends with the understanding that mental illness is for life but that redemption and recovery are possible. In doing that, we hope that others with mental illness and their families will find comfort in knowing that they aren’t as alone as they might think. We also hope that we have succeeded in breaking down the barriers of stigma and made human and understandable an illness that so many fear or demonize.
This was a difficult book for us to write. We dredged up memories that we would have sooner left buried. We wrote things that we’d rather have left unsaid. We took a lot of risks, especially Max, as he told his story for everyone to hear.
Then there was the actual task of writing the book. We knew our story began the day Max had his first episode, and he called to tell me to turn on the news because the world had changed. Hoping that it was the world that had shifted, not my son, I’d switched on the TV. By noon that day he was in the hospital in Des Moines.
Nothing was quite as clear as that beginning though. We wrote and rewrote, restructured, revised. So much amazing material ended up on the cutting room floor. We realized we shouldn’t be including scenes just because they happened, but that those scenes, though dramatic, simply developed the same points. It’s hard to axe what you love or what you want to share with people, all the hurt, angst, humor, but if the scene didn’t add to the forward movement of the story, we let the it go. And we realized that we needed to consider the story arc more carefully. Having written several mysteries, I should have been tuned into the story arc from the beginning, but I’d lost sight of that need with the memoir. We asked ourselves what the final crisis was, the defining moment. And finally we finished.
**
You can find more about Kathy and her writing via…
www.kathybrandtauthor.com and www.maxmaddox.net
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-fourth, is of historical novelist and crime author John Foxjohn. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/author-spotlights.
John Foxjohn grew up in rural Nacogdoches County, deep in the heart of East Texas and the pine forests. In fact, John often says, he was raised so far out in the country they had to pump sunshine to them. As he grew up, he developed an intense love for reading—a love that would never leave.
Books opened a new world and adventures for John that he imagined being a part of. He wanted to see that world, be a soldier, a cop and a detective, a coach, and yes, he even wanted to write books. When he was twelve, John decided then that he would write a book about Crazy Horse, the great Lakota war chief.
Of course these are the dreams of most boys and after they grow up they realize that they can’t do them all. However, John says, “Hey, I never grew up.” Maybe that’s the reason he actually has seen the world, been a soldier, a cop, and a homicide detective. He followed that by becoming a highly successful coach and teacher. Then when he retired, he began to write books. One of the first of many books he has published is a historical fiction about Crazy Horse.
*
And now from the author himself:
My name’s John Foxjohn, and in April of 2008, I was a successful fiction writer living in Lufkin, Texas. I’d toyed with the idea of writing a true crime, but there weren’t any cases sensational enough to write a book about, and living in a small town didn’t give me hope that a one would drop in my lap.
Kimberly Clark Saenz changed all that. The moment I heard that a DaVita nurse was being investigated for killing patients—a lot of patients—by injecting them with bleach, I knew that if these allegations were true, I not only had the case to write about, but I was the only one in a position to write it.
Because of my background as a detective, I knew that serial killing females were rare, and Lufkin or East Texas, had never had a serial killer, male or female.
As it happened, I knew people in the police department, and knew that the police would eventually charge her. However, my experience told me that this would not be an easy one. An internet friend who writes true crimes told me to try to get as much from the suspect, her family, and friends as possible because after the police brought charges they’d clam up. While the media wondered and waited, I was interviewing people. This turned out to be important because a lot of the people I interviewed before she was charged would no longer talk afterward.
It also gave me a chance to track and follow the family and friends of Saenz on Facebook and Myspace. Again, this would prove vital for obtaining information about them that they wouldn’t provide. The 237 interviews for the book Killer Nurse don’t include the information obtained by social media.
As it turned out, I was correct that it wouldn’t be easy to convict her. One of the huge problems the district attorney and detectives had was two witnesses saw Saenz inject patients with bleach. They also had scientific evidence that backed up what the witnesses said. The problem: the ones injected with the bleach that time, lived. The most she could be charged with in Texas was aggravated assault—a serious charge, but investigators thought she’d murdered several people.
The lead detective collected a lot of evidence—more than most would, and some might have even thought too much. But there is seldom too much ever collected. Because he went the extra mile in the investigation, prosecutors ended up with evidence to convict her of five murders and three aggravated assaults.
In Killer Nurse, I detail the extraordinary efforts the detective and the prosecutor went through to bring Kimberly Clark Saenz to justice and convict her in one of the most unique murder cases in history. This was the first time, at least in the United States, that someone used bleach as a murder weapon—a weapon at first blush that appeared to be a perfect one.
**
You can find more about John and his writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, John Foxjohn, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, PJ Nunn, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-second, is of multi-genre writer Jacob Singer.
Jacob Singer was born in Potchefstroom, South Africa. He schooled at the Central School, and Potchefstroom High School for Boys. After a three-month stint in the South African Navy as a ballottee, he went to London to study Pharmacy at Chelsea Polytechnic. It was there, after reading an article in the Readers Digest about the Tomlinson Report, that he realized the horror of the apartheid system in South Africa.
He became friendly with John Farmer, whose stepfather, Reg Sinclair was Chairman of Wilkinson Sword and Steel. They lived in Slough, and it was on a walk through the fields behind the house, after he and John walked to the top of a white tower, that they met a young girl who was hiding “from my security guards,” she said. A friendship was formed remembered to this day.
Returning to South Africa, five years later, he met and married Evelyn Jackson. Today they have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
Living in Potchefstroom, a small town 72 miles from Johannesburg, Jacob became involved in the fight against the apartheid system of the National Party, that ruled the country after WWII. Believing that direct confrontation could never work, Jacob became a member of the National Party, at many meetings arguing and voting against the harsh laws being inflicted on the Indian and Coloured community in Potchefstroom. The National Party eventually asked for his resignation.
In his Pharmacy, he thumbed his nose at apartheid, by having Indian and Coloured staff working on the floor with the White staff, dressed in the same uniforms. Yes, he did make many enemies in the town, because of this, but he also made many friends. One of those friends was the Member of Parliament for Potchefstroom, Louis le Grange, a member of the National Party.
When years later, Louis was made Minister of Police, Jacob asked him, “Louis, after the horror of Sharpeville, and the death of Steve Biko, how can you accept this position?”
“Less people are killed, now that I am the Minister,” he answered.
A few years later, Jacob received a message from Louis, asking him to form a committee in Potchefstroom, to start educating the Africans that lived in Ikageng, the African township just outside the town.
“I would like you to start teaching them how to govern,” he wrote in a letter to Jacob. “Look for the leaders of the township, and meet with them at least once a month. They must learn committee procedures so that when they do take over the country, they will know how to manage and rule it effectively.”
Jacob formed a committee, with three friends. Seven Africans who were prominent leaders in Ikageng, joined them.
A year later, when in a riot, young students starting throwing stones at their school in Ikageng, he asked that all the leaders of these students meet in his pharmacy at 6 am the next morning. Five young children were there at 6 am. When they offered him their names, he told them, “No, I don’t want to know who you are. Let me call you A, B, C, D, and E.” He told them that education was very important to them, especially if they one day wished to rule the country; that rather than stone the school, they should stone Municipal Buildings or any building that housed a Government supporter.
After an hour, they left, promising that they would stop stoning the school.
Later that morning, Brigadier Stemmet of the South African Security Police visited the Pharmacy. He asked Jacob for the names of the 5 students that had visited him that morning. “With pleasure,” Jacob answered, “their names are A, B, C, D, and E.” Brigadier Stemmet walked out of the Pharmacy,
“We will no longer offer you or your family any protection!” he shouted angrily as he left the Pharmacy. That night, Gamboo, the families Bouvier dog was poisoned.
It was then that he encouraged his children to emigrate from South Africa. They chose Canada, and he and Evelyn joined them six years later once they had settled down, and no longer needed financial support.
It was then, leaving Potchefstroom and living in Johannesburg before emigrating to South Africa, that he wrote his first book Brakenstroom. Brakenstroom is a book of short stories about people he knew and stories he had heard from friends and family.
His second book, The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES was written while living in Vancouver, Canada. “It is a story I have lived with all my life,” he said when asked about the book. The Characters are people I knew, and still know.
*
And now from the author himself:
WHY I STARTED WRITING.
Growing up in South Africa as a child, was a wonderful experience. My mother loved and took care of me, but it was my Nanny that cleaned my room, made my bed, put away the clothes that I had left lying on the floor, and made my meals every day. She became my surrogate mother, walking me to school at 7 am every morning; playing with me when I came home from school, and making sure that I did my homework every day. It was only at supper time and weekends that I would spend time with my parents.
During the School holidays, when I was 15 years old, I would go to the Municipal swimming pool during the school holidays, intent on improving my swimming. Also, all my friends had gone to Habonim Camp at Leaches Bay in the Cape. It was then that I met Marla (not her true name). We would both spend the day at the pool, lying in the sun, burning a dark brown. When, at the end of the day, we would go to the local cinema, I could prove that I was a White, by showing my skin was white below my swimming costume line. Marla unfortunately could not. I had to have my father phone the manager and tell him that Marla was a White, and therefore could be let in.
It was years later that I met Marla’s mother, and listened to the story she told me. I have lived with it all my life, and decided that it was a story that had to be told.
It took me close to 5 years to write The VASE with the MANY COLOURED MARBLES. It is a story about Emily Kleintjies, how she jumped the racial barrier of apartheid, becoming a White, changing her name to Emma Kline. It was a difficult story to write bring back many painful memories.
Emily was classified by the South African race laws of that time as being a Coloured. In the 19th Century, the Coloured people of South Africa had similar rights to the Whites in the Cape Colony, though income and property qualifications affected them disproportionately. In the rest of South Africa, they had far fewer rights, and although the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 gave them the right to vote, they were restricted to electing White representatives only.
“You must understand, Emily,” her father mumbled, “as part of the Coloured Community in South Africa, today we are classified as second class citizens by the government.”
“What does that mean?” Emily asked, not quite understanding what he was saying.
“You have grown up in District Six, amongst both Blacks and Whites, and you have been treated as equals by them. South Africa as a whole does not treat us as equals. The Whites come first, we the Coloureds with the Indians second, and the Blacks are at the bottom with the Coolies and Chinese somewhere in-between. When you go into Cape Town proper, you have seen benches marked, ‘For Whites Only.’ We as Coloureds are not allowed to sit on those benches.”
“But I have often sat on them, and no-one has bothered me,” Emily interrupted.
“I know,” her father answered, “that is because you were born with a lighter skin than any of us, and with hair that is light brown, long and straight. No White would think you were a Coloured. I know of many in our community who are angry at these laws, where the Whites squeeze us from the top, while the Blacks squeeze us from the bottom. We have to take cheap work, because the Whites do not believe that we are as clever as they are. They treat us like slaves, while many of our women are treated like whores at night, and our children age and die long before they should.”
After I had written it, I found an editor who made me rewrite the entire story. “You will write it as though you are writing a movie,” she advised. It took another year to rewrite.
I had written the book as two books. The first book was about Emma, the mother and the second book about Marla, the daughter. I was advised to combine both books into one book.
I had two friends read through the book, and check my facts. Once they had done this, I self published, after 15 publishers rejected the book. They all told me that in today’s world of eBook publishing, they were only publishing known authors.
**
You can find more about Jacob and his writing via… his website: www.jacobashersinger.com
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jack Singer, Jacob Singer, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
I went to a small-but-mighty literature festival last Saturday down in Finchley, North London and wanted to share with you what went on. Here’s my report…
The Second Greenacre Writers Literary Festival
The stage!
My trusty Mrs Sat Nav brought me to the door of the Finchley (North London) Trinity Church Centre. Finding non-residential parking was more difficult but a two-minute drive and I got the last space down the hill, which meant a nice refreshing walk. I was over an hour early so had a cup of fruit tea and a banana (having resisted a nice array of cup cakes).
With the speakers tucked away in one of the side rooms, I didn’t get to speak to them, although I did get a quick chat with crime novelist (and interviewee) Leigh Russell as she came in – we’ve met in real life a couple of times – but I was happy sitting in the foyer as I got to see the comings and goings, plus for the first few minutes we were serenaded by a chap playing the piano!
The venue itself felt very church-like with its arched doors and small step up to the speaking platform. There was plenty of room with about fifty chairs, most of which were filled, and it felt very much like being in on the beginning, albeit it their second year, of a literature festival with great potential.
The man previously playing the piano, Mike as it turned out, gave a two-minute warning and a few people originally in the foyer joined us, followed by the guest authors and we were soon underway.
*
Lindsay (and Mark)
The event kicked off with a short welcome from Mike, another organiser Lindsay Bamfield, then her colleague, Rosie Canning, explained that the theme for the festival was ‘Truth and Fiction’. She then introduced C J (Chelsea) Flood.
CJ gave a synopsis of her book, Infinite Sky, then read out an extract featuring the main character Iris and her father. CJ explained that she started the book before she started her MFA at The University of East Anglia, and added that there was a lot of her father in the character’s father. Her real parents had split up as they do in the book but the mother is very little like her real mother. She then read another extract including the mother. There is a love interest, played by a young male traveller, which CJ said was a composite of some of the men she’s known thus far. A final extract was still from the daughter, Iris’, point of view but CJ did say that while she’d originally written the character Sam based on her brother he became less and less like him. One of the extracts (from Chapter 11) started ‘When we’d eaten more pancakes than was OK…’ which I loved. The writing was very descriptive and you could imagine yourself being there which is what good writing should do.
*
Leigh
Leigh Russell was then introduced, citing accolades from Jeffrey Deaver and Peter James. She started by telling the audience how she came to be a writer. She was walking through a park on a grey day and saw a man who made her feel uneasy then talking about seeing a hand sticking out of a bush. She then admitted the hand wasn’t there in real life but it gave her the idea for the story. Several men have since claim to have been that man(!). Leigh then wondered who the girl (belonging to said hand) was? Her boss would have missed her. Maybe she had a boyfriend who beats her up and is a suspect. Leigh’s first five books have two-word, two syllable titles but then they struggled with the sixth which is still a two-word title but with two then one syllable.
Leigh doesn’t set in a particular time so as not to date the books. Geraldine, the main character, moves to London in the fourth book and leave behind her colleague Ian Peterson… but Leigh’s readers like him so he appears in one chapter of the other books. Her publishers then wanted Leigh to write a spin off series so it made sense, she said, to write about Ian, so she’s now writing two books a year (as does Adrian Magson). Leigh explained that all her books are a mix of drama, character, tension, then read an extract from Road Closed which ended on a hook (the character is trapped in her bedroom with a dead mobile phone and a man with a knife outside). I have it (and her first book, Cut Short) but not read either (sorry Leigh!) yet but I can get to find out what happens next.
*
There were then four readings from Greenacre Writers members staring with Lindsay Bamfield who chose an extract from her fifty-something-Bridget-Jones-type novel which was set at a speed dating and very funny (and having written a forty-something-Bridget-Jones-type novel, I was paying particular attention).
Lindsay then introduced her co-writer Linda Dell and listed a variety of publications; short stories, seven books including self-help and novels. Linda read from an abridged chapter one of a children’s science-fiction story.
Rosie was next reading an extract of her story about a girl who could fly. She, in turn, then introduced Mark Kitchenham.
Mark admitted he’s a beginner and submitted the first draft of his novel to Cornerstones Literary Consultants who said it had potential despite Mark having written it as one long piece of prose because he thought line breaks a waste of paper, which made us all laugh. Mark read out an abridged short story set in First World War Poland with the main character as a young girl hiding with her parents. Although I’d not experienced anything like it, it was very realistic and well-written.
We then had a break for half an hour during which we could buy refreshments and signed books!
*
Lindsay then introduced Gina Blaxill who is a “local girl” and writes crime novels for teenagers. She compared her writing with her brother’s thesis which has loads of footnotes and nonfiction information. She said that although she can do crazy things in her writing, she has to be truthful up to a point, especially emotionally. In early drafts she had a girl go missing but she would have been seen on CCTV at a train station. She wanted another character hiding out in Liverpool Street Station but Gina’s parents then told her that the station wouldn’t be open 24 hours a day so she phoned the station asking questions about their cleaning. Another location is Heathrow but Gina is scared of flying (I’m not a fan) so had never been. She went along to take photographs, expecting to be suspected of being a terrorist, but no one paid any attention.
Gina added that she wants her writing to be accessible by young adults and that everything should feel real, the characters emotionally true. She said that YA hard to write for because of their life knowledge. Her audience is very smart and doesn’t want to be caught out. She wanted to know about technology so she reread her childhood crime books which had instances where they would now have used mobile phones.
Gina then read an extract from her second book, Forget Me Never, and afterwards added that someone had told her that once home, family or friends are threatened, it is the end of the character’s world and great motivation to defend them.
She then summarised her first novel, Pretty Twisted, and read an extract from it. The main character was comparing herself to her older sister and made a really interesting comment that they shared they the same eyes, nose and mouth yet they were very different (her older sister prettier so she pretended to be her when she was chatting to a guy online).
*
Sarah
Rosie then introduced Sarah Harrison (pictured). As Leigh had, Sarah thanked the Greenacre Writers Group and said how much she had enjoyed the talks by Gina and CJ as she assists a Young Writers group. Sarah recommends not writing what you know because we need identification, what we know all about keys us into the characters, and is why romantic novels are so popular. There are different kinds of love, ambition and place, and along the way there will be drama, jealousy etc.
Sarah went on to talk about how often people say they don’t think a film was like the book because the story will be seen differently for each reader.
Introducing her First book ‘Flowers of the Field’, Sarah said that she was going to write it a third of the length as the publisher wanted that but she “went mad”. She then thumped the book down on the table and said it was such good value because of the thump it makes.
Sarah said authors need to research but then only pass on small amounts to the reader although she admitted that she put too much into her early books (which I got the impression a number of the audience had read and really enjoyed).
Sarah said she has to work just as hard now despite having the same publishers since 1980. She usually starts writing early and will often find she’s written a page without really knowing it. She then read an extract from Flowers of the Field.
*
Liz
Lindsay then introduced the first of three more Greenacre Writers, Liz Goes.
Liz explained to the audience that she had wanted to write an autobiography but then ended up fictionalising it and it had grown to three books rather than one.
She then read an amusing extract from her third book, Not Quite An English Teacher.
Mumpuni
Rosie then introduced Indonesian writer / group member Mumpuni Murniati who read out her short story ‘The Drawing’ which was so well written you wouldn’t know that English was her second language.
Wendy
Lindsay then introduced Wendy Shillam who publishes her novella in segments on her blog once fortnight, and compares growing plants to writing: she said needs a deadline because plants have to be sowed at a specific time so she has to be as strict with her writing or they (it) wouldn’t be ‘planted’. I know that feeling (NaNoWriMo and Story a Day May).
Wendy read out an extract from her novel, the only story she said she’d written from a male point of view (my first – still in a file – was from a male pov too). Two of her characters are from Southern U.S. and Russia and Wendy made the writing all the more lively by using those accents (or tried to, she admitted).
*
Rosie
Lindsay introduced Alex Wheatle as judge of the short story competition which closes end September and the winners announced in November.
Rosie then introduced the panel (Sarah, Leigh, Josie, Alex and the moderator Allen Ashley).
Allen starting by asking Leigh about truth in fiction. She says she does a lot of research; about the police (she knows which station sells banana bread for example), market holders (banana boxes most sturdiest) – whatever the book requires because crime writing has to be more believable than many other genres.
Josie said there is a difference between truth and fact and that she had fictionalised her life.
Alex then said that JRR Tolkein had fought in the First World War and that there is a comparison in The Lord of the Rings and that most writers can put a lot of themselves into their writing, especially their first two or three books.
Alex, Josie, Leigh
Sarah mentioned that she’d written a book for Mills and Boon but she hadn’t stuck to their guidelines and so they didn’t publish it.
Allen asked how far from the truth is too far? Sarah talked about fantasy and said that although she doesn’t write it they have to have internal logic. She does write ghost stories and couldn’t be scary for the sake of it.
Alex said readers need to have characters they can believe in and / or relate to and quoted the recent account of the man, Ariel Castro, in America who had three women in his basement for over ten years.
Allen asked what must we do to stay true to ourselves? Sarah said writers should stick with their voice, not write what we think should be written, and be consistent. Leigh added that writers should write to the best of their ability and she rewrites endlessly. Writers should take their readers on a journey, saying that stories by writers like Kazuo Ishiguro are so well-written that she enjoys the writing and is not so fussed about the plot. Sarah disagreed and said she’s read stories that are not so well-written but is hooked on the story. I’m more in Sarah’s camp (sorry again, Leigh!).
Alex said he’s reread The Great Gatsby and wondered if the book would have been published these days because the characters were all so horrible. Personally, I love horrible characters but yes, if they’re all horrible then probably not because we have to root for at least one of them.
Allen then opened the topic of autobiography – how important is exact truth? Leigh said she had not delved in that area of writing but wouldn’t write something that offended people who are still alive.
Alex, Rosie, Josie, Leigh
Josie added that Gulliver’s Travel was sold as truth.
Sarah told the audience that she had recently read Rupert Everett’s and Jeanette Winterson’s autobiographies and although she preferred Rupert’s they showed two insights into two interesting lives.
Alex said he learned more about life from reading fiction (I’m definitely more of a fan of fiction).
Leigh concluded that in crime fiction there has to be some sort of moral order that will be realised by the end. It’s a way of playing through our fears because it’s not real.
Allen then invited questions and a lady asked Sarah to explain more about what she meant by a moral centre.
Sarah explained that if someone suddenly becomes immoral, you must have previously seeded it or it won’t make sense that they change so dramatically.
Allen quoted Kurt Vonnegut, saying that you have to give the reader a character you can root for and I agree completely.
Following on from what Wendy had said about writing a male character, the panel was then asked about writing outside your gender.
Allen said that he only writes as a woman in short stories, anything longer would be from a male pov.
Leigh talked about writing new series from Ian’s pov saying that she will do lots of research including getting her husband to help.
Josie said it’s easier to write as a man rather than as a lawyer – she does have a point.
Leigh came back with that you could shadow a lawyer, as she does with the police, and that she doesn’t want to use stereotypes when describing what men do.
Wendy concluded the topic by explaining that her character has worries that anyone would have so didn’t have to go into too much detail.
Mark then asked the panel whether they’d ever received critique they didn’t agree with.
Leigh reassured us writers that you don’t have to agree with what you’re told, especially if you have written something for a specific purpose.
Two down, many to go…
The festival then ended with thanks to the authors and fellow members of the Greenacre Writers.
Conclusion
Apart from the parking issues, and the armed chairs being a little too snug for my writer’s bottom (thank you Jane Wenham-Jones for creating that term!), the venue was great although I can see it outgrowing as it gains in popularity. Let’s hope so!
***
If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. Guidelines on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/guest-blogs. There are other options listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
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You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and forty-first, is of non-fiction writer Dominick Domasky.
Dominick Domasky is a loving father, devoted husband, and a cold calling, door knocking insurance salesman by day. He started writing his first motivational book in 2005, which is now waiting for a final release date, and is due out this spring. The book is titled “Don’t Double Bread the Fish” and is a collection of humorous and touching stories about failure, persistence, and finding success.
Although Mr.Domasky started writing “Don’t Double Bread the Fish” in 2005, his tale begins long before that. He grew up pulling weeds, picking up cigarette butts, and doing all the odd jobs for the family landscape company. There he learned the value of hard work and that success wasn’t easily achieved or earned over night. Dominick carried those early lessons throughout his life from algebra to sales, and bench warming to business ownership. The only problem was he failed, over and over.
That being said, “Don’t Double Bread the Fish” is a story about letting No Failure Define You and never giving up. When Dominick began writing this book he was in financial ruins. The business he and his wife had invested everything in failed and left them with nearly a half million dollars in debt. While Dominick was trying to begin a new career and new chapter of his life he still bared the open wounds of the past. Each time it seemed like a fresh start was near, Dominick was reminded of that early lesson, success wasn’t easily achieved. For every step forward there were three steps backwards, from being hunted by the law to countless lawsuits. When Dominick and his wife Liz were able to finally bask in the glow of her new pregnancy after years and years of trying the IRS and creditors were calling demanding more. For every joy, another setback!
*
And now from the author himself:
I always asked myself, “How could a guy with my resume of stench like mine write a book about success?” I wrote for years and years, but I couldn’t answer that question. Then it hit me like a brick. I had always been searching for success, but Who Defines Success? What I learned is YOU DO! After years of setbacks, getting butter wiped in my hair, being punched in the face, getting cut from the team, weeding in the snow, filing bankruptcy, I learned No Failure Will Ever Define You (which is also chapter 39).
My dad bought me a book by Og Mandino when I was thirteen and paid me one hundred dollars to read it. My dad believed in its message so much he was willing to pay my sister and me a hundred beans at the chance the message might soak in. At the time I read the book just to pocket the hundred bucks, but guess what; A little seed was planted in me which dominated that book, my life and now Don’t Double Bread the Fish; that message is I must persist until I succeed.
I started writing my goals in a tiny notebook when management at my first sales job encouraged it. From that first day forward I continued to write my goals. Then soon after I begin to write about the people I had met and the lessons I had learned along the way all in that tiny notebook. For years I’d pull off the road to write a quick thought or sometimes even risk bodily harm to scribble an idea I deemed interesting while navigating the Pennsylvania highways. Then one late night I decided my notebooks weren’t good enough. I began transferring my thoughts letter by letter and line by line into my home computer. Being that I’m the worst typist in the world and not a writer by trade, the process to write the story I wanted to tell the world took years. Laughter, skepticism, and disbelief were just a normal part of the journey when I began to tell my family and friends I was writing a book. They laughed and I wrote. They doubted and I believed in me. The more they doubted the closer I got, the closer I got the more I believed in me.
Eventually after nearly seven years of working on my baby, “Don’t Double Bread the Fish” I was ready to share it with the world. I believed in myself and I found a publisher Motivational Press that does too. They’re a motivational publisher that’s supports their authors and I’m a guy who has shoveled a lot of ditches and believes he has something to say. I have a positive message I need to share and Motivational Press knows how to get it out to the world.
Keep your eyes peeled because “Don’t Double Bread the Fish” will be hitting book stores, clubs and the internet soon.” But before signing off, more important than looking for my book, if that’s meant to be it will happen; Remember this No Failure Will Ever Define You!”
**
Dominick Domasky can be found daily on Twitter @domd1000 tweeting messages of hope, persistence, and inspiration.
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, Dominick Domasky, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of switching genre, is brought to you by horror, crime, thriller writer, Flash Fiction Fridayer, interviewee and spotlightee Andy Kirby.
The Non-fiction Rollercoaster: On moving from Fiction to non-Fiction
Hi y’all
Andrew Kirby here. For those regular visitors to the site, I was Morgen’s Author Spotlight no. 54, and you might also remember I Guest Blogged here in early 2012. It’s great to be back.
Last time I was here, I guest-blogged on my fiction writing. I’m the author of six published novels of the crime/ noir / horror flavour, and I talked about the “inner workings” of my fiction writing, and how I came to be published. Today, I’m here to talk about something entirely different. Back in 2012, I couldn’t have imagined that my next book wouldn’t be haunted by ghosts and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night, and I could hardly have contemplated the fact that the book would be factual and not concerned with the terrors of my imagination.
So let me tell you about how I made the shift from fiction to non-fiction (not forever, I stress) and what some of the sometimes unintended consequences and considerations of this seismic change have been for me as a writer.
It all started innocently enough. I submitted a crime / noir novel to a publisher I’d heard good things about on the writing grapevine. That publisher was Endeavour Press, a company that “aims to create the world’s most stimulating electronic books by publishing novellas & essays by new & established authors.”
I was kind of hopeful my novel, When Elephants Walk Through The Gorbals would be to their taste. But when I heard back from them, their email was full of the usual platitudes you’ll see in any common or garden rejection letter. It talked about the story being “too long”. It claimed the book needed a major rewrite. And so, disappointed, I filed the mail away for later.
Like an idiot, I didn’t read what the mail then went on to say.
So it was a week or so later. I was clearing out my inbox, and I happened upon the same email. Opened it. Read it in full. And it was only then I realised it hadn’t been a common or garden rejection letter at all. In fact, within this mail, the seeds were sown for the project I have just released as a non-fiction ebook (with a paperback to follow). You see, Endeavour Press read my biography and covering letter – with particular reference to my reviewing and sports-writing – and they suggested an alternative project which would be a better fit with them. They wanted me to write a book on football.
As I am a Manchester United season-ticket holder – and have been for over a quarter of a century – they proposed a commission which required me to write about the greatest United players during this period – which just so happened to coincide with the reign of the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
I’d never even considered writing about my favourite football team before, despite all the knowledge, the memories, the contacts, I’d accrued. I don’t know why. I suppose there is a lesson here for all writers: be open to possibility, no matter how left-field they initially seem.
I loved the process of writing the book. It was a far more ‘community-based’ way of writing. It was far removed from my usual lonely tapping away at a keyboard. During March, April, and May, I conducted interviews, polls of fellow fans across the world, and compiled my team of Manchester United greats. Then, on a crest of a wave, and with some brilliant quotes to hand, I wrote the book. And, when Manchester United secured their record twentieth league championship, I thought the book would be released at an ideal time. The book was to be called ‘Fergie’s Finest: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Greatest Manchester United x11’.
But then came another object lesson in the pitfalls of non-fiction, especially when you choose to write about a ‘newsy’ subject. Because unlike archeologically ‘uncovering’ the imaginative stories from inside your head, in the case of non-fiction, and in this case sport, the narrative continues. It pays no heed to what you’ve already written, and the nice conclusions you’ve drawn.
Overnight, everything changed. From out of the blue, Sir Alex Ferguson, the man in question, retired. And suddenly, my manuscript had to be revised. It needed to be changed quickly, too, in order to strike while the iron was hot; while Sir Alex Ferguson was still the name on the nation’s lips.
Hastily, I revised the text, and submitted to Endeavour. And Endeavour played their part wonderfully. With the speed and finesse of a great footballer, they edited, formatted, and made suggestions for changes to my text. They produced a cover design. Between us, we plotted a marketing campaign which would get word of the book ‘out there’. And we managed to get the book out there, with the title ‘Fergie’s Finest’ remaining, while the news was still hot. I’m a writer who likes to take my own sweet time but now I was to learn the true meaning of the word ‘deadline’.
It was hard work. A stiff lesson for me. But we managed it, and I can’t thank Endeavour Press enough. It was the most fun I ever had in writing a book, and though it was a white-knuckle ride, we got there in the end.
I’ll definitely be riding the non-fiction rollercoaster again, sometime. Once I’ve got my breath back.
*
Synopsis: ‘Fergie’s Finest: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Greatest Manchester United x11’
Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager of Manchester United on Wednesday 8th May 2013.
We will never see his like again.
He is the most successful manager in the history of English football. During over 26 years at the club, United won – including Charity / Community Shields – an eye-watering 38 trophies, including 13 league championships. And over this period, fans have been lucky enough to have witnessed some of the greatest moments, the greatest players, and the greatest teams in Manchester United’s long, proud history.
In between Fergie’s taking over from Ron Atkinson in 1986 and his retirement in 2013, he handed over 185 players their United debuts. Fans have witnessed global superstars, and players who’ve risen up through the United ranks. They’ve seen big-hearted players who’ll give everything for the team, and skilled wizards who are individually streets ahead of the rest.
But which players deserve to be ranked as the greatest ever in the Ferguson era?
Who makes the final cut, and who misses out?
How do Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Michael Carrick, Jaap Stam, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville, and Andy Cole fare when it comes to the selection of the ultimate ‘Team Fergie’?
Containing interviews with the ex-United hero Norman Whiteside, Ken Loach (director of Looking for Eric), poet John Hegley, United fanzine editor Scott the Red, and The Sun’s Manchester United correspondent Neil Custis, this book considers the leading contenders for each position in Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest ever x11.
Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fergies-Finest-Fergusons-First-ebook/dp/B00CPPNTJ2
*
Thank you, AJ. It’s great to have you back.
Andrew J Kirby’s sports writing has featured in BBC Sport magazine, on the Radio Five Live website, and in Home Defence UK magazine, where he writes about ‘non-league football hooligans’. He spent a season writing for the Professional Footballers’ Association on their website Give Me Football. He has held a Manchester United season ticket for the entirety of the Sir Alex Ferguson reign at Old Trafford, and regularly follows the Reds across Europe and beyond.
He also writes award-winning crime / noir fiction as AJ Kirby, and has five published novels under his belt (Sharkways, 2012; Paint this Town Red, which was shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize 2012; Perfect World, 2011; Bully, which charted as an Amazon genre number 1 in 2009; The Magpie Trap, 2008), as well as two collections of short stories (The Art of Ventriloquism, a collection of crime shorts, which was released August 2012, and Mix Tape 2010), three novellas (The Haunting of Annie Nicol, 2012; The Black Book, 2011; Call of the Sea, 2010), and over fifty published short stories, which can be found widely in print anthologies, magazines and journals and across the web in zines, writing sites and more. His short fiction has won numerous awards at UK literary festivals.
He also reviews fiction for The New York Journal of Books.
To find out more, check out Andrew’s author website here: www.andykirbythewriter.20m.com, or his blog, here: http://paintthistownred.wordpress.com.
***
If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. There are other options listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, AJ Kirby, Amazon, Andrew Kirby, Andy Kirby, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ‘short stories’ episode number 25 went live today and contained three flash fiction pieces that have appeared on my blog as Flash Fiction Fridays. Do email me should you like to submit your own.
This episode contained:
See the links above to read the stories… or hear my dulcet tones on the podcast.
The podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe).
*
BIOS
JD Mader has been fortunate enough to encounter many giving and inspiring people in his life.
He hopes to repay the debt.
And to make enough money with his writing to buy a house.
His first novel Joe Café, second, The Biker, and collaboration ‘Bad Book’ (with Hise and Brooks) are available from Amazon.
JD’s website is http://www.jdmader.com where you can read his stories and much more, and if you’d like to you can email him there too.
**
Dorit Kedar travels around the world, looking for inspirational places to write her books. She was a special education art teacher in the morning and a Religious Studies student in the afternoon – completing her MA degree and researching societies and their beliefs in the 1st millennium in the ancient east, for her thesis. She then wrote her book “Lilith, the Jewish demoness – 1000 years of borderline personality disorder.”
This was followed by articles and lectures about ancient life, recruiting angels, demons and spirits and about amulets and incantation bowls. Dorit carried on studying Journalism and Museum studies. All this while raising two wonderful daughters and one dog…
Her website is http://www.lilith.co.uk and her books can be found on http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0072KO88Q and http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0072KO88Q.
**
Salvatore Buttaci is an obsessive-compulsive writer whose work has appeared widely. He was the 2007 recipient of the $500 Cyber-wit Poetry Award. His poems, stories, articles, and letters have appeared widely in publications that include New York Times,
U. S. A. Today, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, Cats Magazine, The National Enquirer, Christian Science Monitor, Poetic Bloomings, and A Word with You Press. He was an English instructor at a local community college and middle-school teacher in New Jersey before he retired in 2007 to commit himself to full-time writing.
Flashing My Shorts and 200 Shorts, published by All Things That Matter Press, are available in book and Kindle editions at http://www.kindlegraph.com/authors/sambpoet
His two chapbooks: Boy on a Swing… http://tinyurl.com/6qmkdy4
And What I Learned from the Spaniard… http://tinyurl.com/7apsk6s
His new book, If Roosters Don’t Crow, It Is Still Morning: Haiku and Other Poems (Cyber-Wit Publications) is available at http://tinyurl.com/7ssnzg4
A great seller since 1998, his book A Family of Sicilians is available at
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ButtaciPublishing2008
He lives with his wife Sharon in West Virginia, USA.
***
Thank you for downloading / listening to this short story episode – I hope you enjoyed it. The next episode will be another short stories episode in a fortnight’s time.
All the details of these episodes are listed on this blog’s Podcast Short Stories page and my email address to submit your stories is morgen@morgenbailey.com.
The podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, Dorit Kedar, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, JD Mader, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, Salvatore Buttaci, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and thirty-fourth, is of multi-genre writer A M Jenner.
A M Jenner is a grandmother, mother, daughter, granddaughter and sister with a very large extended family. She began reading and writing at a very young age.
Early publication credits include church newsletters, the ANWA newsletter Of Good Report, high school literary magazine Rabbit Tales, and Mesa Public Library magazine E.T.
A M lives in an interdependent relationship with her computer in Gilbert, Arizona. Her family also lives int eh same home, although they rarely see her. She owns a car named Babycakes, several quirky computers (one of which has recently discovered a taste for manuscripts), and around 5,000 books, only half of which have been catalogued. A self-professed hermit who loves interacting with friends online, she was last seen entering the library.
*
And now from the author herself:
Maybe it’s ADHD, but I like to write whatever stories come into my head and not worry about what genre they belong to. Of course, this makes it difficult when someone asks me what I write. I usually ask them what they like to read; with a shelf full of suspense, fantasy, romance, science fiction, and even some delicious non-fiction, I can usually find at least one of my books to satisfy nearly any reader.
My multi-genre approach to writing is part of the reason I’m self-published. It’s rather difficult to find an agent or a publisher who’s capable of handling so many categories, and I felt that if I split my time between several agents I would run out of time to write high-quality stories. In the end, I feel like it’s the story that counts, and not what shelf they stick it on at the bookstore.
If you like stories with characters who feel real enough to hang out with, then it really doesn’t matter if you’re trying to defeat the invaders of Kwennjurat or driving down the freeway in Phoenix trying to lose the car that’s following you, you’ll enjoy the ride.
Come immerse yourself in my stories, No matter what you read, I’m sure there’s something here you’d like.
**
A M’s books (listed below) are available in print and various ebook formats; handy links to purchase points for each format are collected at both her website, www.am-jenner.com, and her blog, http://amjenner.blogspot.com.
- Fantasy: The Kwennjurat Chronicles (Tanella’s Flight, The Siege of Kwennjurat); Fabric of the World
- Science Fiction: Assignment to Earth
- Suspense: Deadly Gamble, Inherit My Heart, A Heart Full of Diamonds
- Romance: The Moms’ Place, A Gigolo for Christmas
- Short Story Collection: Bits and Bites
- Non-Fiction: Clues to Food (a cook book)
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, AM Jenner, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the seventy-third poem in this series. This week’s piece is by memoirist Jill Schaefer.
Game, Set and Match
Now as for tennis, I so love the game.
And without a net wouldn’t be the same.
No way to skim balls across the top
With a fast forehand or backhand shot.
A tennis court with no dividing net
Is no place at all for a six game set
Where to win you must lead by two
And best of three sets sees you through.
The crosscourt slice, lob high and smash
Add to your game some skill and dash
Of grip, strokes, ace serves and aim
But without a net, there’s just no game
So, dear Robert Frost, I agree with you
Your words to me ring so very true.
Yet tennis without a net is far worse
Than poetry written in free verse.
*
I asked Jill for the inspiration behind this poem and she said…
Robert Frost said “Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down!” which inspired me to compose this poem.
Thank you, Jill.
**
Jill has lived on the California West Coast for the past thirty-five years, fifteen years of which were in Santa Barbara and Goleta and twenty in Lompoc. She, her late husband and three sons emigrated from England and Germany in 1974.
‘Up The Wooden Hill’ is a historical memoir about the author growing up in London’s Blitz and her husband in Nazi Germany before, during and after World War II, featuring two tales seen through different spectacles. Stories of love and war, tears and laughter, families, friends and foes.
From school days fraught with sibling rivalry and controversies with parents, lives are rebuilt, the Deutsche mark revalued and a father de-nazified. Both the young people mentioned in the book learn apprenticeships, experience calf love and the beginning of a postwar world.
Video: http://www.eopinion.us/videos/71/up-the-wooden-hill
“Coming of Age in California -English Style-” is a lighthearted account of the author’s true story of herself, a naive English teen, fresh from home and convent school, venturing forth with a girlfriend to the California of the 1950s. The duo travel from Southampton, England on the Queen Mary to New York City, cross-country by Greyhound bus via Route 66 to a welcome in Pasadena. The two girls first visit California’s small town of Bakersfield, then on to Hollywood with an involvement in a call-girl ring.
The journey continues to Long Beach and a job with the Miss Universe Pageant, and finally to San Francisco, city of sophistication and singles bars. Along the way they encounter climate, communication, customs, and cultural challenges…and a disintegrating friendship.
video: http://www.eopinion.us/videos/44/coming-of-age-in-california-english-style
In Quest of the Old West -A Driving Diary-:
A Driving Journal of Jaunts and Journeys by Jill
As a Cold War dilemma unfolds, an Anglo-German couple, Jill and Horst, drive off on a lighthearted jaunt through the western states of America, their adopted country.
Jill keeps a daily journal of their fortnight’s trip through the Western States to the Dakotas and back to their home in California’s coastal city of Santa Barbara. News alerts of the US / Russia drama up-date the couple on their driving journey of discovery, as they dig and delve into the past, dally with locals, delight at historical sites, and day-dream into the future.
Jill’s website is http://home.earthlink.net/~schaefer234
***
If you’d like to submit your poem (40 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Jill Schaefer, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-third, is of non-fiction author and interviewee Peter Jones.
Peter Jones started professional life as a particularly rubbish Graphic Designer, followed by a stint as a mediocre Petrol Pump Attendant. Then one day a freak accident with a credit card zip zap machine (remember those?) restructured his DNA at the molecular level and gave him entrepreneurial powers. The next twenty years were spent helping humorless men with more money than they deserve separate the man on the street from his hard earned wedge.
Nowadays, Peter spends his time – most of it anyway – writing. He is the author of two and a half fabulously popular self-help books on the subjects of happiness, dieting and dating. If you’re over-weight, lonely, or unhappy – he’s your guy.
US cover
His first book ‘How To Do Everything and Be Happy’ was re-published by Harper Collins UK in January (2013), whilst their colleagues across the pond have given it a brand new cover for the American launch in June. His second book ‘How To Eat Loads and Stay Slim’ – co-written with the lovely-as-she-is-slender Della Galton – will be available as an audio book in May (2013), and all other formats shortly after that.
Peter lives just a few miles outside London with his cat. He doesn’t own a large departmental store, and probably isn’t the same guy you’ve seen on the TV show Dragons’ Den.
*
And now from the author himself:
Well this is all very exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a spotlight before. It’s a little like being on stage isn’t it? Or being interrogated. One or the other. Which strangely enough is pretty much how I feel about writing too. Somedays I’m an actor, playing a part, delivering lines as best I can, to an audience I can’t quite see, and who might very likely turn out to be row after row of empty seats. Other days I’m strapped to this chair (metaphorically speaking of course, but still against my will), and even when I’ve torn out part of my soul, shredded it into words, and arranged those on the page in what I’m hoping is an entertaining order – it isn’t enough! My agent wants something more. My publisher would like some changes. The magazine wonders if I could expand that line into a paragraph or three.
Still. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
One of my earliest ambitions was the desire to create books. I would kneel on my Grandparent’s living room floor, take as many sheets of paper as I was allowed, and use my Grandmother’s stapler to create a ‘book’. I’d then proceed to fill the pages with illustrations and narrative, until I ran out of space, which is when the story would – sometimes quite abruptly – end.
Those publications were distributed on a strict ‘read and return’ basis. I don’t remember the stories I wrote. I have no idea what happened to the manuscripts. But I do remember it used to make me happy. I remember that.
But you know how it is. You grow up. Put aside childish things. Get real. And all the dreams you had – becoming James Bond, becoming an actor, working in a job that you enjoy – they all get compromised. Down to nothing.
On my thirty-second birthday, I finally realised that there was a distinct possibility that the last of my ‘dreams’ might also never come to pass. At the time I hadn’t even realised that it was a dream – I just hadn’t had a proper girlfriend for a while. A long while. A really long while. But I’d always assumed that things ‘would work themselves out’. Eventually.
Apparently I was the only one who thought so. Colleagues had long since stopped describing me as an eligible bachelor, and some had even questioned my sexuality, which wasn’t exactly helping the situation.
So in order to avoid a life of bachelorhood, I started to plan. I made lists. I came up with a strategy. I took all the problem solving skills I was developing to make rich men richer, and applied them to my own life, and the gargantuan task of finding a girlfriend.
And a year or so later my strategy worked.
Kate was a wonderful person. A real visionary. When we met I had vague notions of settling into a rather typical domestic life-style; putting up with a job that I didn’t care for five days a week, in return for the company of a loving woman in the evenings and at weekends. Kate had very different ideas.
Life wasn’t about ‘settling’ for things. To her there was a world of possibilities out there. We could go anywhere, do anything, have everything, all we had to do was put our minds to it. During the three years we were together Kate became more than my wife, she was also my teacher.
I didn’t realise it at the time of course. I had no idea that the ideas she kept sharing with me would become such a central part of who I am. That didn’t happen until I lost her. To a brain haemorrhage. At Stansted airport.
I’ve learnt since that sudden deaths like hers (a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage) are surprisingly common. Kate had a weak part in her brain, probably since birth. It could have happened at any moment. It was almost inevitable. I learnt too that after the shock of losing someone comes the guilt. Every cross word, every nasty thought, every lie – they all come back to haunt you. And amongst the demons that were queuing up to torment me was the realisation that I still wasn’t happy, and maybe I never had been. There had been happy moments, of course. Quite a lot of moments. Most of them in the previous three years, and most of them down to Kate, but they were moments none the less. And I wanted to be happy all the time. Not just occasionally. Not just for a moment.
And so I decided to tackle the problem in the only way I knew how: by coming up with a plan. Making lists. Developing a strategy.
I kept it to myself at first. Well, you would wouldn’t you. But one day a colleague got me talking and I told her about ‘Boxing Day’. And my ‘Now List’. The items on my ‘Wish List’. My yearly goals – and how I make sure I actually achieve them. I told her how I’ve taken back control of my life, decided how I want it to be, pointed it in that direction, and given it a kick up the backside. I told her how I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. Smiling more than I ever did. How there’s love in my life again. How I think Kate would be proud of me. And that I can finally say, I’m happy.
“Those ideas are too good to be kept to yourself,” she said eventually. “You ought to write those things down.”
And so I did.
Thirty something years later after kneeling on my Grandparent’s living room floor I am finally doing something that I always wanted to do. I’m realising a childhood ambition. I’m making books again. And I remember now, how happy this makes me.
**
You can find more about Peter and his writing via…
Peter Jones
UK cover
How To Do Everything And Be Happy
How To Eat Loads And Stay Slim
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, Peter Jones, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-help, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Straight from the horse’s mouth… or rather from much better looking (although I love horses) Jane’s blog…
Taa-Raaa – we have the first set of results of the Fight the Flab Competition, judged by Janie Milman, co-owner of the fab Chez-Castillon, Morgen-with-an-e-Bailey - blog-designer extraordinaire and me. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Morgen has been the organised one and done all the admin, so over to her….
Hi Morgen here
Yes, that’s right – the entries were so impressive that we couldn’t agree on just ten.
Five of the twelve received a vote from all three judges, the other seven were picked by two of us.
Below are the shortlisted twelve and we shall be putting our heads together to pick out a winner… we may be some time! Only kidding, we will be posting the Top 5 here on Saturday 11th May then the winner on Saturday 18th May… listen out for the fanfare.
For a reminder of the prize…
The entrants had to: Write a diet or fitness tip in no more than 250 words. Entries were be judged on originality and entertainment value.
The author of the best tip will win: a week’s writing course with Jane Wenham-Jones, September 28th-4th October 2013 at Chez Castillon (see http://chez-castillon.com for full description) including meals and accommodation (flights not included) – worth £875.
***
and now for the Top 12… (in alphabetical order by surname)
|
Name
|
Tip Name
|
| Karen Booth |
The Regulating Waistband Plan |
| Philippa Bowe |
Clean out your colon |
| Tracy Fells |
The E-Plan |
| Jessica Kennedy |
Stop Doing the Dishes |
| Cathy Lennon |
Acquire a Labrador |
| Jane Lovering |
Bum’s Away |
| Clare Mackintosh |
The upside-down diet tip: a poem |
| Jan Newton |
Make Rejection Work for You |
| Janet O’Kane |
Why join a gym when you can work out at the supermarket? |
| olivespastavino |
Sleep The Fat Away |
| Rebecca Stanley |
In a Spin |
| Tony Tibbenham |
Roll 6 for Chocolate |
So good luck to those 12 and watch this space for the top 5 next weekend and the winner the weekend after!
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-first is of David W Berner.
David W. Berner is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author, and teacher. His first book, Accidental Lessons was awarded the 2011 Royal Dragonfly Grand Prize for Literature. His broadcast reporting and audio documentaries have been aired on the CBS Radio Network, NPR’s Weekend Edition and a number of public radio stations across America. David has been the recipient of awards from the Associated Press, RTNDA (Radio and Television News Directors Association) and the Broadcast Education Association.
David was awarded the position of Writer-in-Residence at the Jack Kerouac Project in Orlando, Florida for the summer of 2011. His writing, both reporting and personal essays, have appeared in publications and online journals such as Under the Gum Tree, Chicagoland Journal, PERIGEE, Tiny Lights Journal, Shaking Like a Mountain, Travelgolf.com, Worldgolf.com, Golf Chicago Magazine, The Sun Newspapers, and Write City Magazine. David is also a performer. He’s a regular on the Chicago storytelling circuit, reading his personal essays at events such as 2nd Story, Story Club, Essay Fiesta, and This Much is True. As an associate professor at Columbia College Chicago, he teaches radio narrative, audio documentary, and writing. He has presented writing workshops at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and for numerous literary organizations throughout the Chicago area.
David holds a Masters in Education/Teaching from the Aurora University and a MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He also tries to find still time to play guitar and watch as much TV coverage as possible of his beloved Steelers.
He lives in Forest Park, Illinois just outside Chicago.
*
And now from the author himself:
Where I Write
There’s forever been that romantic belief that writers do their work in wonderful, even glorious spaces. Dylan Thomas had his shed, the boathouse in Wales, a spare spot of fertile ground where wonderful ideas germinate. Some see the writer toiling away in the oak lined room of a country estate; the surrounding shelves lined the classics. But here’s the reality: many if not most writers work in far less picturesque or grand places. An author friend of mine writes nearly everything on a simple, lined legal pad while lying on her twin bed in her tiny studio apartment on Chicago gritty West Side. The place where I write is somewhere between the meager and the grand. Truth is, I write in a lot of places: coffee shops, trains, slumped in my living room couch. But one spot is a favorite. It’s a corner of my small dining room near the window where I can hear city noises. I like the soundtrack of traffic, car tires on rain, the bells of the old church across the street, the voices of those walking by. I like being surrounded by books I’m reading and the beloved old ones. Their presence inspires. Coffee is necessary. And behind me there are two photographs that have always been special to me. One is of Hemingway’s writing space at his home in Key West and the other is by photographer Zeny Cieslikowski entitled “San Francisco”. It’s an image of the street outside City Lights Bookstore, one of my favorite literary destinations. Below them is a portable Royal typewriter, circa 1940. I don’t always write in this space, but when I do it may be the best place in the world. It not only drives my work, but it helps to present the importance of “place” in my stories.
I first experienced how important a writing space could be when I was given the opportunity to be the writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida. It’s the modest home he lived with his mother after all the attention of On the Road, and where he wrote The Dharma Bums. The three-month experience of writing in such a revered place, allowed for a renewed attention to “place” in a story. Setting can be as much a character in a work as the voices heard in those spaces. When I started writing Any Road Will Take You There: A Journey of Fathers and Sons, my memoir of a 5000-mile road trip and the struggles and triumphs of fatherhood, I rediscovered the importance of space, setting, and place. Where the story happens, why it happens in that location, in that house, on that road is crucial to the story. Each of the stops along the long journey in Any Road Will Take You There evokes a memory, a moment that fuels the trip and the story.
Just like the places where I write, the places in my stories have meaning, something true and honest and revealing.
**
You can find more about David and his writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, David Berner, David W. Berner, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Taken from my Competitions Calendar, below are some competitions run with May deadlines (in order of genre then deadline dates). If you know of ones that I haven’t listed here, find any of these have closed or discover any broken links, please do email me with details. I will be adding more as I get them. Also see the ‘Submission info.‘ page (and genre sub-pages) for submission opportunities.
NB. I may well not have tried these competitions myself so please take a good look at the websites before parting with money and submitting your hard work! ALSO please note that not all the competitions run each year so please check their validity before entering (and their guidelines do change from year to year).
- Details of the H.E. Bates Short Story Competition that one of my writing groups runs (late October deadline) is here.
- Details of the NLG Flash Fiction Competition that I’m Head Judging (end June deadline) is here.
***
MAY
- Children’s: bookweek.ca/information-artists
- Flash Fiction: Indies Unlimited hosts a weekly 250-word max. prompt competition – also see Indies Unlimited and ‘Short stories’ below.
- Flash Fiction: Each week on http://theironwriter.com, four writers agree to compose a five hundred word story involving the same four elements. Please remember to give your story a title. The stories can be in any genre except erotica. The writers will not know what the four elements are prior to committing to the challenge. There is a four day time limit to complete the story. I email the elements early Thursday morning, my time. The story is due at midnight, Sunday, your time. Each author retains full and complete copyright of their story submitted to The Iron Writer for this competition. However, it is understood each story will remain on this website indefinitely. The Iron Writer will not publish any submission outside this website without express permission from the author. So, if you are up to the challenge, please email me at HERE and we can schedule when you are willing to participate. Please include your main blog or website. I will link your story to your site. You may participate as often as you want.
- Flash Fiction: Writer Austin Briggs runs a monthly 55-word competition (different theme each month). It’s free to enter and you can win $55 (of his own money!).
- Flash Fiction: http://theironwriter.com
- Flash Fiction: 16th May is National Flash Fiction day and you can find some competitions (various dates) on http://www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/competitions.html.
- Flash Fiction: The Bridport Prize. Poems 42 lines max, short stories 5,000 words max, flash 250 words max. £15,000+ prize fund, closing date 31 May. See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk.
- Flash Fiction: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
- http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk/competition/the_lightship_short_memoir_contest.
- Mixed: Free prose and poetry competition with a 10th May deadline: see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/listenupnorth-com-national-uk-prose-poetry-competition-18-10th-may-deadline.
- Mixed: Winchester Writers’ Conference has opened their 17(!) mixed writing competitions (deadline Friday 24th May). Details in their competitions brochure 2013. £7 per entry if attending, £9 if not.
- Mixed: The International 2013 Yeovil Literary Prize has a closing date of 31st May 2013 and there are three categories:
THE NOVEL – Please send the synopsis with opening chapters (up to 15,000 words in total) :
Prizes: 1st = £1,000; 2nd = £250; 3rd = £100. Fee £11.
THE SHORT STORY – Up to a maximum of 2,000 words.
Prizes: 1st = £500; 2nd = £200; 3rd = £100. Fee £6.
POETRY – A poem with a maximum of 40 lines.
Prizes: 1st = £500; 2nd = £200; 3rd = £100. Fee £6, two for £9, three for £11.
The Yeovil Literary Prize can be entered online or by post. The judges are all professional writers and publishers. For details see the website (http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk) or write to: Yeovil Literary Prize, The Octagon Theatre, Hendford, Yeovil, BA20 1UX.
- Mixed: Christian magazine Pockets has a different theme per month.
- Mixed (novels & short story collections): iWriteReadRate and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (http://www.voteformyebook.com) are offering a monthly social competition to members of the community – see ‘Monthly’ towards the end of this page.
- Non-fiction: Elephants. You gotta LOVE ‘em! And can you WRITE about them? Let’s find out. We’re looking for FICTION (including but not limited to fantasy and humor) and for narrative non-fiction, between 500 and 5,000 words.Prize for 1st place is $150 and 2nd place is $50. Plus, the top tales may be included in an anthology {ELEPHANTHOLOGY} with your name. See http://www.phylsbooks.com/#!contest/c1kbb. Submissions accepted from 1 April 2013 to midnight of 1 July 2013. Cost $10.
- Non-fiction: another non-fiction competition is FBFT Sports Writing.
- Novels: A brand new ‘Navegator’ Competition is now officially launched. This time writers are invited to produce the first pages (800-1500 words) of a credible continuation of the first novel. The judging panel will be guided by Philip Purser, who has several books to his credit and a prestigious career as a journalist. Another crime novelist, Leo McNeir, will also be one of the judges. No purchase is necessary and you can enter from anywhere in the world. Entries close on 31st May and full details can be found on the website: http://www.navegator.co.uk
- Novels: Novel Rocket runs an annual Launch Pad Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile. Entries will be accepted in all genres beginning mid-January. The deadline for submission is different for genre categories according to the following schedule. In each case, entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on the 10th day of the month (April to September) listed on http://www.novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html. They also post a new writing-related article seven days a week, from author interviews to marketing discussions to articles about the craft of writing.
- Novels: Words With JAM is running a ‘First Page Competition’ where you can enter the first page of a finished novel, work in progress or page specifically written for the competition. Closing date 31st May 2013.This year’s judge is Sue Grafton. Prizes £500 / £100 / £50 with fee of £6 first entry, £4 per entry thereafter. See http://wordswithjam.co.uk/#/first-page-competition-2013/4573741026 for details.
- Playwriting: RealDeal Theatre is looking for 10-15 minute scripts for its new event, Popcorn Saturday!, short plays inspired by the movies, to be held on Saturday, 29th June 2013 to be held at Westminster Reference Library, off London’s Leicester Square. The entry window for sending entries to scripts@realdealtheatre.org.uk is Monday 20th May – Sunday 26th May 2013. A link straight to the entry details http://realdealtheatre.webs.com/scripts.htm.
- Playwriting: Lightship First Act Competition. Judges: Micheline Steinberg, Dave Whybrow, Anthony McCarten. Maximum 6,000 words, closing date 31 May. See http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk/competition/lightship_first_act_competition.
- Playwriting: Pint-sized Plays 2013. Scripts should be capable of being staged in a pub with a running time of 5-10 mins, closing date 31 May. See http://www.pintsizedplays.org.uk.
- Poetry: Templar Poetry Pamphlet & Collection Awards closes for submissions on 7 May.
- Poetry: Northampton Literature Group usually runs a yearly poetry competition with a mid-May deadline but it has 2013 off and is running a flash fiction competition instead!
- Poetry: The Montreal International Poetry Prize has a top prize $20,000 CDN, single poem, max 40 lines. Closing date 15 May. See http://montrealprize.com.
- Poetry: Printerpix Poetry Competition is a free competition to enter and winners will receive $100 worth of Amazon vouchers and a free canvas. The theme for this competition is ‘sunshine’. Entries can be no longer than 45 lines and must be original work. Competition closes Friday 24th May 2013. For more details and how to enter, click here.
- Poetry: The Welsh Poetry Competition. £4 entry per poem. Prizes: £400, £200, £100. The judge for their 7th competition (2013) is Eloise Williams and the deadline is Sunday 26th May. Poems in English, 50 lines, unpublished. See http://www.welshpoetry.co.uk for entry forms and rules.
- Poetry: The second ‘Poems Please Me’ Poetry Competition has a deadline of 31st May. Entry is by subscription to the site and the example given is a ‘single’ at £12 which entitles you to three entries to the competition. See http://www.poemsplease.me/?page_id=118 for more details.
- Poetry: The fourth Battered Moons Poetry Competition is now open to all UK residents aged 18 or over and accepts poems on any topic and style of up to 40 lines. Main judge Alice Oswald and Cristina Newton will read all the poems. The 3 winners and 4 commended poets will be invited to read their poems at the Swindon Festival of Poetry on Saturday 5th October 2013, when Alice Oswald will present the prizes and read from her own work. Winning and commended poems will appear in the Battered Moons pamphlet and website. First prize, £300; second, £150; third, £75. Entry fee: £3 each poem or £10 for 4. Closing date for entries is 31st May 2013. Online and postal entries accepted. For further information and to enter, visit http://batteredmoons.com. Queries to Cristina Newton on cristina.ne.newton@gmail.com. Supported by Swindon Artswords, the Swindon Festival of Poetry, and Arts Council England.
- Poetry: David Burland International Poetry Prize 2013 - in either French or English - closing date 31st May, 1st prize £200 + website publication. See http://www.davidburlandpoetryprize.com.
- Poetry: The Bridport Prize. Poems 42 lines max, short stories 5,000 words max, flash 250 words max. £15,000+ prize fund, closing date 31st May. See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk.
- Poetry: The Frogmore Poetry Prize 2013 has been annual since 1987. You can win 200 guineas and 2-year sub to The Frogmore Papers. 2013 adjudicator is Stephanie Norgate. Max 40 lines, closing date 31st May. See http://www.frogmorepress.co.uk.
- Poetry: Another 31st May deadline is Wigtown Poetry Competition. First Prize: Main Prize £2000. Runner-up £400. Gaelic Prize £250. Scots Prize £250. Eight additional prizes of £25 each. The first poem submitted costs £7.00. Multiple entries: the first three poems cost a total of £19.00. Each subsequent entry after the first three costs £5 or a total of £14 for every additional block of 3, ie: 1 poem £7; 2 poems £14; 3 poems £19; 4 poems £24; 5 poems £29; 6 poems £33; 7 poems £38; 8 poems £43; 9 poems £47; 10 poems £52; 11 poems £57; 12 poems £61 etc. Main Prize Judge: Robin Robertson, Gaelic Prize Judge: Meg Bateman, Scots Prize Judge: Liz Niven. Winners will be invited to read their poems at the Wigtown Book Festival 2013 (28th September to 7th October). Winning poems will be published on the Festival website. For further details, rules and entry form, visit: www.wigtownbookfestival.com/poetrycomp.
- Poetry: The Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition is a monthly contest for poems of up to 40 lines. Closing: Monthly. Entries arriving too late for one month go forward to the next. Prizes: 1st – £100. Runners-up – A Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Entry Fee: £5 each, £3 each thereafter. Includes a free critique (sae required if entering by post). Comp Page: http://www.writers-forum.com/poetrycomp.html.
- Poetry: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
- Poetry: Other poetry competitions include Bridport Prize (also shorts / flash), Northampton Literature Group (on hold for 2013 but flash fiction instead), Partners, Templar Poetry Pamphlet & Collection Awards, Writing Magazine (WM: subscriber-only theme: poetry for children), Stephen Spender.
- Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
- Scriptwriting: Mini Operas scriptwriting competition opens March closes May.
- Scriptwriting: The 10th Annual Screenwriting Challenge is a competition open to screenwriters around the world. There are 3 rounds of competition. In the 1st Round (June 14-22), writers are placed randomly in heats and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment (see examples of past assignments here). Writers have 8 days to write an original short screenplay no longer than 12 pages. The judges choose a top 5 in each heat to advance to the 2nd Round (July 25-28) where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have just 3 days to write an 8 page (maximum) short screenplay. Judges choose a top 25 from the 2nd Round to advance to the 3rd and final round of the competition where writers are challenged to write a 5 page (maximum) screenplay in just 24 hours (August 23-24). It’s easy to register. First, download and read the Official Rules and Participation Agreement. Once you have read, understood, and agree to the terms, you are ready to register by clicking here. The entry fee is USD $39* until the Early Entry Deadline of May 16, 2013 and USD $49* until the Final Entry Deadlline of June 13, 2013.
- Short stories: Elephants. You gotta LOVE ‘em! And can you WRITE about them? Let’s find out. We’re looking for FICTION (including but not limited to fantasy and humor) and for NARRATIVE NONFICTION, between 500 and 5,000 words.Prize for 1st place is $150 and 2nd place is $50. Plus, the top tales may be included in an anthology {ELEPHANTHOLOGY} with your name. See http://www.phylsbooks.com/#!contest/c1kbb. Submissions accepted from 1 April 2013 – midnight of 1 July 2013. Cost $10.
- Short stories: Curry Mallet History Festival Short Story Competition judge is novelist Amelia Carr, max 2500 words with the title The Reunion or The Journey or The Letter, 1st prize £100, closing date 17 May. See http://www.currymallet.org/short-story-competition.
- Short stories: The Bridport Prize. Poems 42 lines max, short stories 5,000 words max, flash 250 words max. £15,000+ prize fund, closing date 31 May. See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk.
- Short stories: The Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition welcomes ghost stories from 2,000 – 5,000 words. Closing date: 31st May 2013. (Annual competition). Prizes: First prize £500, second prize £100. Entry fee: £6 for one story; £9 for two stories submitted together. For more details, see: http://www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/ghost-story-competition.php.
- Short stories: Bridport Prize (shorts/flash, was June), The British Fantasy Society, Glimmer Train (different category each month), The Lorian Hemingway, Writing Magazine, Biscuit Publishing and the monthly competition Five Stop Story.
- Short stories: Hayley Sherman also runs a monthly short story competition for submissions on any subject up to 2,000 words. The winners are published on the website, promoted online and receive a £10 First Writer voucher. All entrants are also considered for publication in The New Short Story Annual at the end of the year. Deadline 25th of the month. Heather Marie Schuldt runs a similar contest, although 500-750 words max., but with the same deadline.
- Short stories: The New Writer 17th Annual Prose & Poetry Prizes launched April 2013. £2,000 in prizes. Closing date 30th November. Short stories, flash fiction and poetry.
- NB. Don’t forget to check out the ongoing competition websites listed at the end of this page.
And do let me know how you get on.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and fourteenth, is of non-fiction writer and novelist Julie L Casey.
Julie L. Casey lives in a rural area near St. Joseph, Missouri, with her husband, Jonn Casey, a science teacher, and their three youngest sons. After teaching preschool for fifteen years, she has been homeschooling her four sons for ten years.
Julie has bachelor of science degrees in education and computer programming and has written four books. She enjoys historical reenacting, wildlife rehabilitation, teaching her children, and writing books that capture the imaginations of young people.
Julie has written four books, including:
- a non-fiction book about the problems with the public school system titled Stop Beating the Dead Horse
- a humorous novella titled In Daddy’s Hands
- a futuristic post-apocalyptic young adult novel titled Holt: Guardians of Hope (not yet published)
- and a modern-day post-apocalyptic young adult novel titled How I Became a Teenage Survivalist, which will be published by Pants On Fire Press in June 2013.
*
And now from the author herself:
I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I never attempted to write anything significant until I wrote my first book, Stop Beating the Dead Horse, in 2010 at the age of 49. After that, I was hooked and wrote three more books in quick succession.
My first book is non-fiction and took a lot of research to back up my thoughts and ideas. I had been thinking about all those ideas for many years – since high school, as a matter of fact. It was very cathartic and affirming to finally get all those thoughts out of my brain and onto paper. The actual writing and editing of it took about six months. I had a group of peer editors who read each chapter as I wrote it and helped me refine my ideas and fix my grammar / typo errors.
The next book I wrote, In Daddy’s Hands, was just a quick, funny little novella inspired by actual events and took only a couple of weeks to write and edit.
I wrote my third book, a young adult post-apocalyptic novel called Holt: Guardians of Hope, in about three months with another month for editing, thanks to my friend Landi Quinlin, a terrific English teacher.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000039_00071]](http://morgenbailey.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/how-i-became-cover.jpg?w=98&h=150)
How I Became a Teenage Survivalist was my fourth book and it has a very interesting story of how it came to be. I started with just a few basic ideas about the story, such as the solar event, the names of the brothers, and that they would live on a farm, but other than that, I began the novel with no preconceived ideas. I had decided in October, 2012 to write this story for the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) contest, in which you must write a 50,000+ word novel within the month of November to qualify. I began on November 1st, 2012 and finished on November 22nd with How I Became a Teenage Survivalist as the finished product. The story was so fun to write. Every morning I’d sit down at the computer, place my fingers on the keyboard and the story would just start pouring out of me; I had no idea where it would take me each day. It was like I was reading the story as it unfolded. I would pause only occasionally to research parts of the story to make sure it was as accurate as a fiction novel can be.
I self published the first two books. Self-publishing was a very enjoyable and creative process, but in order to sell books, you have to be good at marketing. I decided to try a traditional publisher to get some help with the marketing.
I found querying literary agents to be a tedious task. A writer needs an agent to land a contract with one of the “big six” publishers. After querying 20 agents and getting three requests for the full manuscript (which is good considering the average rate of requests is only about 2%), all of whom ultimately declined, I decided to try another route – indie publishers. While these are still traditional publishers (as opposed to self-publishing or vanity presses), they often take submissions from authors without agents. I sent my manuscript to three indie presses, all three of whom expressed interest in my story, and ultimately chose to go with Pants On Fire Press out of Florida.
My advice to new writers: just do it! Many new writers fear failure and rejection, so never really get serious about writing. My advice is to just write for yourself; write to clear the jumble of thoughts and emotions out of your brain. And when you’re through, if you like what you wrote, go back and make it better, word by word, line by line. When you’re really feeling confident about it, let someone else read it and see what they think. In time, you will gain the confidence to consider publishing your work.
**
You can find more about Julie and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing the full interviews on this blog, which have now dropped to weekend mornings only, another new interview on my interview-only blog has been posted! The (670+) interviews from this blog are there as well so there’s plenty to read.
The latest interview on the new blog is with non-fiction self-help author Jonathan Bennett who co-authors with his brother David Bennett and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/author-interview-with-non-fiction-self-help-author-jonathan-bennett.
***
If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.
Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, as Jonathan did, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.
If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, David Bennett, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jonathan Bennett, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing the full interviews on this blog, which have now dropped to weekend mornings only, another new interview on my interview-only blog has been posted! The (670+) interviews from this blog are there as well so there’s plenty to read.
The latest interview on the new blog is with freelance writer and poet Julie Lemardy and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/author-interview-with-freelance-writer-and-poet-julie-lemardy.
***
If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.
Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.
If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, Carmen Calatayud, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, Emanuel Xavier, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, Helene Cardona, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jericho Brown, Joseph Bathanti, Judith Skillman, Julie Lemardy, Kevin Pilkington, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, Seth Michelson, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, Terri Kirby Erikson, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and fourteenth, is of writer, editor and tutor Arlene Knickerbocker.
Arlene Knickerbocker was born in Michigan, USA. Her parents owned a restaurant, where she learned to work hard and long. She attended a business college, married young, and had five children, who occupied most of her time for many years. She had at least one pre-school child for eighteen years straight. She kept her business skills alive by working at temporary jobs in offices and schools, as well as volunteering in various positions. She took care of other children in the neighborhood, served as scout leader, directed a junior choir, and led a youth group in her local church.
When she and family moved to a rural area, she had never seen a garden close up. However, her husband Jerry planted a big organic garden, and she soon learned to preserve food. She still makes her own pickles, relish, jam, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and more. She cans and freezes all kinds of fruit and vegetables. In recent years, she and her family have enjoyed an herb garden.
Arlene also crochets and knits. She loves to bargain hunt and choose special gifts for family members. Her children have grown, married, and had children of their own. Four of her ten grandchildren are now married.
Arlene has written teaching materials for many years. As a Christian, she has taught every age from two years old in nursery church to adults in her local church and in home Bible studies.
When her youngest child went to high school, Arlene stepped into an office management position. She was the first employee for a school tour company, and it grew to about fifty employees in the nine years she led the office team. She gained new insights into accounting, marketing, sales, and desktop publishing. She hired and trained staff, set up and documented procedures, as well as established and maintained positive vendor relations. She also trained staff in customer service and telephone skills. Before she left the company, she wrote an operations manual and a training manual. The owner of the company planted a tree in her honor at their new building and held a ceremony as a tribute to her work.
In 1993, Jerry took an early retirement from his job and took a position as caretaker for a Christian retreat center that served college students and other groups. Arlene left her job and had no duties for the first time in her adult life. She started to write with publication in mind.
She first wrote and self-published a book of short stories about dogs the family had enjoyed (and some they tolerated). She gave the book to family members as a Christmas present. Arlene also wrote and self-published a series of studies about family relations, which she and Jerry taught in three churches.
That year brought a mysterious illness. Arlene noticed a strange bite on her right arm. The bulls-eye rash stayed for about three weeks. She didn’t connect it with the fatigue, chronic pain, or the sudden weight gain. After two months, the rash came back. She went to a new doctor since they didn’t have a family physician in their new surroundings. The doctor said, “It’s Lyme Disease” and gave Arlene some antibiotics. The doctor didn’t mention symptoms or follow-up treatment. At that time, Lyme Disease was not known by people in Michigan. Arlene thought the tic bite only caused the painful rash.
Jerry and Arlene returned to their home where she found a new doctor who advocated environmental medicine. She failed to mention the Lyme Disease, thinking the antibiotics had cured it. The new doctor diagnosed her with severe allergies and autoimmune disease. He treated her and helped take care of the allergies. However, some symptoms persisted.
In 2001, Arlene had a heart attack from inflammation. She contracted five different blood infections and was on life support from October 18 to October 30. Doctors in the hospital told her family to prepare for her death. She survived!
Her beloved doctor sent blood to Spain for a special diagnosis. The report said the autoimmune disease had attacked her heart and her thyroid. In 2002, she endured heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic. In 2005, she had a second heart attack. In 2008 and 2012, she had two more heart attacks and two more heart surgeries.
One day, her doctor mentioned Lyme Disease and Arlene asked him, “Did I ever tell you I had that?” His mouth dropped open, and he said, “That would answer a lot of questions.” He tested her, and the diagnosis came back, “Lyme Disease is still active.”
As of this writing in 2013, the Lyme Disease is gone. Arlene’s heart is regaining strength.
Through all of this illness, Arlene continued to write.
Her latest book looks at communication from a biblical perspective. 12 Ways to Make Your Words Count mines the meaning below surface interaction. Readers discover why we say what we say and become aware of the powerful, positive potential our words hold.
As an editor, Arlene enjoys making other writers look their best. She has edited many articles, book proposals, and books for individuals and organizations. She tries hard to keep the writer’s voice and provide encouragement.
As a teacher and mentor, Arlene becomes friends with her students. She says, “I like to give beginning writers the help I wish someone had given to me at the start of my writing career.”
As a speaker, Arlene is an award-winning member of Toastmasters International, where she has polished her speaking skills for several years. She helped start a local club and has served in various leadership positions there. Arlene is available to speak to church groups, women’s groups, and businesses about communication.
*
And now from the author herself:
I can see how my managerial experience, business education, and acquired teaching skills prepared me for my current position. In 2001, I founded my business ‘The Write Spot’. One of my daughters is a computer whiz, and she designed a website for me. She has updated it a few times, and now she and her daughter have a web design business http://www.dynamicdzine.com.
I started The Write Spot thinking I would primarily write resumes for individuals and newsletters for businesses. At that time, I had just completed a co-authored book of creative nonfiction, which a traditional publisher put into print. I also was writing monthly articles for a magazine, a column for an ezine, and selling a few stories and devotions here and there. Shortly after starting my business, I applied to write Bible study materials by assignment. Currently, I am writing my twenty-third teaching manual for that publisher. I now have more than 1000 works in print by various publishers.
After founding my business, I kept studying books on writing and editing, attending workshops and conferences, and participating in critique groups. I added editing to my list of services.
Then I started to teach writing classes online and in person. I found a sense of satisfaction when my students were published. I also home schooled one of my granddaughters who had epilepsy that kept her from school one year. Soon parents started asking me to tutor their high school students in English and in preparation for the essay portion of college entrance exams.
I wanted to improve my creativity, so I started to write poetry. I joined an online poetry critique group, and six years later self-published a devotional book of poetry entitled, Open the Door to Another Realm: A Poetic Spiritual Journey.
I enjoyed speaking to groups of young mothers at church and in the community. In 2007, I started to attend a Toastmasters Club to polish my public speaking skills. After a couple of years, I helped to start another Toastmasters Club nearer to my home. I have served this club in various leadership positions, have earned several awards, and have placed in several speech contests. I will function as area governor beginning July 1, 2013.
About three years ago, tears fell on my pillow as the clock ticked away the hours. Someone had hurt a loved one with cruel words. I started to think about the negative effects of words, and then I started to contemplate the power of positive words and the potential that often lies untapped. I thought about the fantastic gift God has given each of us—communication! I felt the need to write a book that would encourage people to speak words of healing, encouragement, and affirmation.
This book did not come easily, but I learned amazing truths while writing it. I have written, prayed, rewritten, sought critiques, edited, and begun the whole process again—writing, praying, rewriting…
I have blogged and spoken about communication for the past year.
A few months ago, I sought an agent and/or publisher and was offered contracts from two different traditional publishers. However, they were not good contracts. I decided to self-publish. I gave my granddaughter a rough draft, and she designed a beautiful cover. I solicited and obtained credible endorsements. I was able to edit the book, but I hired a proofreader because it is easy to miss my own errors. I formatted it ready for print and found a wonderful printer. My daughter turned it into Kindle format, and I hired a friend with broadcasting experience to make an audio book, which is still in the making. 12 Ways to Make Your Words Count was born in March 2013. It is receiving rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
By reading 12 Ways to Make Your Words Count, readers discover why we say what we say and learn new ways of speaking that bring lasting positive results. Written from a Christian perspective, it encourages words that will do the following: 1) Establish a Healthy Environment 2) Enrich Relationships 3) Express Godly Character 4) Enlarge Your World View 5) Emulate the Living Word 6) Esteem Lasting Values 7) Engage Your Audience 8) Exchange Negative for Positive 9) Elicit God’s Power 10) Extend Grace 11) Equip Followers 12) Encourage Faith.
This book offers exciting possibilities to individuals or small groups. I am teaching it to an adult Sunday school class and receiving good feedback from participants.
All three of my books are available at a discounted price on my website http://www.thewritespot.org. In addition, I share a devotional thought, a joke, writers’ tip, and favorite quotes on that site. Visitors can read my blog and subscribe to it at http://www.thewritespot.org/knicksnotes.
**
Thank you, Arlene. I was also offered two contracts for my chick lit novel but my heart sank when I read them and following great advice from The Society of Authors, I decided to go my own way and don’t regret it.
You can find more about Arlene and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, Arlene Knickerbocker, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and tenth, is of multi-genre author Sam Sackett.
California-born Sam Sackett received his Ph.D. from UCLA. While a student he published several science-fiction stories. He taught at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where he published a translation of a Flemish novel, a collection of Kansas folklore, a children’s book of cowboy songs, and a critical study of E.W. Howe. He also founded and served as president of the Kansas Folklore Society.
After 23 years as an English professor and folklorist he burned out and left teaching. He worked first for a newspaper, then for an advertising agency, then for a public relations firm. By this time he was an expert on career change, so he moved into the career management field. After gaining experience with two local companies, he worked for 12 years as vice president of the Oklahoma City office of Bernard Haldane Associates.
Sackett retired in Thailand for six years, writing short stories which have been collected in two books, Through Farang Eyes and Snapshots of Thailand. On his return to the US he published his first novel, Sweet Betsy from Pike. He had heard the song at an American Folklore Society meeting, and it struck him that Betsy learned she couldn’t trust sweet-talking Ike to take care of her and that she had the strength to take care of herself. He had been interested in Robin Hood since he read Howard Pyle’s book in the fifth grade and always wondered what truth might lie behind the legend. Answering that question resulted in his second novel, The Robin Hood Chronicles, which is a sharply different take on the story.
Adolf Hitler in Oz, Sackett’s third novel, grew out of his belief that goodness and love, symbolized in the novel as the Land of Oz, will always overcome evil and hate, symbolized by Hitler.
Also the author has been interested in the psychological theories of Carl Rogers and believes Rogerian therapy, based on unconditional positive regard, could have a beneficial effect even on a Hitler. Sackett calls it “a children’s book for adults” because these ideas would likely not interest children. He grew up reading the Oz books, and when his own sons were growing up read the books to them as well; his familiarity resulted in an essay, “The Utopia of Oz”
. Since Mark Twain was one of Sackett’s favorite authors, it was logical for him to write a sequel to Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the end of Twain’s novel Huck says he intends to “light out for the Territory.” In Sackett’s version of Huck’s future, the hero goes to Indian Territory to live among the Cherokees. When gold is discovered in California, Huck joins a wagon train bound for the mining camp of Hangtown. Then he spends some time in San Francisco. When Kansas Territory is opened for settlement, Huck goes there to help bring it into the Union as a free state. Along the way he falls in love (twice), gets married (once), has two children, and defends his home during the Quantrill raid of 1863.
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And now from the author himself:
My mother encouraged me to read, and I was reading before I entered kindergarten. I wrote my first book when I was in kindergarten; I remember being frustrated because my drawings were not so pretty and my printing was not so neat as those in the books I had read.
Also I had an aunt who gave me books as presents. When I was in fifth and sixth grades she gave me Howard Pyle’s Robin Hood, Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, and the complete plays of William Shakespeare. I started writing a Shakespearean-style play, but I never finished it.
In junior high and high school my writing interests veered toward journalism. I was editor of my high-school paper. Then in college I took all the writing courses I could in both journalism and creative writing. At different times I was editor of both the college newspaper and the literary magazine.
My reading interests in high school and college began with detective fiction, ranging from John Dickson Carr to Raymond Chandler — which you’ll have to admit is quite a range. But eventually I figured out that the structure of all detective stories was the same: crime-investigation-solution. The details were always different, but the pattern was the same. I got as far as writing a detective novel. I submitted some short stories to The Saint Mystery Magazine; the editor (not Leslie Charteris) took them seriously enough that he gave me some constructive suggestions.
I liked Charteris’s fiction a lot. I still remember one of his short stories, which I think is among the best in the language (but I don’t recall the name). When I was president of the college chapter of Alpha Phi Gamma journalism honor society, I managed to convince Charteris to come out to the college, give a lecture, and be initiated into the chapter. It devolved on me to try to keep him sober; I was not wholly successful.
But then I discovered science fiction. It was a whole new world. Science fiction was broad enough that every kind of story could be found in it. It provided a way to comment on social problems, as Ray Bradbury commented on the disadvantages of technology and A.E. van Vogt commented on racism in Slan. Of course I had favorite authors — among them, in addition to those two, Clark Ashton Smith and Henry Kuttner — and, being a brash young man, I entered into correspondence with them. Of course I also corresponded with Forrest J. Ackerman, the world’s number one science-fiction fan.
As an English major in college, it was of course impossible for me to avoid more literary writers. I fell head over heels for Mark Twain and Henry Fielding. And I happened, almost by chance, to become friends with Harlan Ware, a writer of commercial fiction, radio drama, and motion pictures.
But I continued my interest in science fiction.. One spring break my roommate and I drove to Auburn, CA, to meet Clark Ashton Smith.
On my honeymoon, I took my bride to visit some of my friends. Harlan Ware treated us to lunch. One evening when we were at Forry Ackerman’s — my bride did not like Forry — Ray Bradbury dropped in, and I got to meet him in person. Later I showed Ray one of my stories; he said it was too slow getting started and rewrote the first two pages into one. That page, of course, was great; but it was not my style, and I rewrote it back into Sackett. One sentence, however, I could not find any other way to say than the way Ray had said it, so one sentence in my first published science-fiction story was written by Ray Bradbury.
When I went to UCLA to work on my doctorate, I continued being active in science fiction on the side. I attended meetings of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society and there met van Vogt. Since I didn’t have a car, sometimes I rode with other people — once with Richard Matheson. Charles Beaumont became a friend and occasionally dropped in to my apartment for a chat. Bill Nolan was another friend; he used to pick me up in his car and we would go together to visit Bradbury. Ray was very friendly; he and Maggie took me and my wife to dinner once. Henry Kuttner was also in Los Angeles, working on a maser’s at USC, and he and I spent many hours talking together. Once my wife and I, our two sons, and Hank and Kat went on a picnic.
But my doctoral specialty was eighteenth-century English literature; my dissertation was on Fielding. So it was something of a shock when I got my first teaching job and discovered I was supposed to teach folklore. I had never even had a class in folklore. Fortunately, one of the great advantages of a doctorate — perhaps the only one — is that you learn how to learn. I hit the college library in June, and by September I was a folklorist. Eventually I gained a national reputation, published articles in many folklore journals, and co-edited a book on Kansas Folklore. Anoher publication which grew out of folklore was a children’s book, Cowboys and the Songs They Sang, picked by the New York Times as one of that five best in its age group that year. I also had to teach courses in Kansas literature, which resulted in my being picked to write the Twayne American Authors Series volume in E.W. Howe.
These experiences also taught me that you don’t really have to limit yourself. I continued publishing science-fiction stories — one has been anthologized three times — and became interested in Flemish literature. That last interest resulted in my publishing some translations, including one of a novel by Johan Daisne (pseudonym of Dr. Herman Thierry). The Belgian government rewarded me for my translations of poems by Paul Snoek (pseudonym of Edmond Schietekat) by giving me a cash prize which I had to go to Belgium to collect. While there I met a number of other Belgian authors, including Karel Jonckheere, Fernand Auwera, and Hubert Lampo. I had also become a fan of Suske en Wiske, the great Belgian comic strip, and visited Willy Vandersteen, its creator.
After 23 years as a university professor, I had burned out on teaching; and during 27 years of marriage, my wife and I had grown farther and farther apart. I made two glorious separations: I quit my job and left my wife. I moved to Hutchinson, KS, and set up as a writer. That year I made $3,000, even in those days not enough to live on, so I started looking for some way to support myself. I became dean of a proprietary business college for a year, until the president absconded with all the college’s money.
At this time the Anadarko Basin oil boom was in full swing, and a weekly newspaper had been established in Clinton, OK, to take advantage of it. I worked for it as a reporter for a year, during which I met and married my second wife, and was hired away by an advertising agency in Weatherford, OK, as its director of creative services. When the oil boom collapsed, so did the agency.
I landed a job as assignments manager of a public relations firm in Oklahoma City and lasted two years until the owner discovered in was incompetent and fired me. For the next two years I ran my own public relations firm until I was hired by my biggest client to work in her career management firm. After two more years we could not stand each other, and I went to a competitor to work on commission. Financially that was a disaster. Fortunately, I got another job with the Oklahoma City office of Bernard Haldane Associates, at that time the nation’s oldest and largest career management firm. I spent twelve years with Haldane, retiring in 2003.
My wife and I moved to Thailand. I had some uncompleted manuscripts and some unacted-upon ideas. I spent the next six years fulfilling the ambition that had first taken possession of me in in kindergarten: writing. In addition to writing fiction, I collaborated with Dr. Thanapol Chadchaidee on two books aimed at helping Thais prepare to pass the Test Over English as a Foreign Language, one book to help them prepare for the International English Language Testing Series, and a book called Learn Thai. Since my own Thai is worse than rudimentary, for the last I provided only the linguistic theory and the exercises.
We returned to the US in 2009, and I set about publishing the five novels I had in hand. Four of them are now extant: Sweet Betsy from Pike, a Fielding-esque historical novel based on a folksong; The Robin Hood Chronicles, a fictional biography based on ballads; Adolf Hitler in Oz, a comic science-fiction fantasy; and Huckleberry Finn Grows Up, a fictional biography sequel to Mark Twain’s classic. Still to come is Rabbi Yeshua, a fictional biography of the man Christians call by the name Jesus.
**
You can find more about Sam and his writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
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You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and ninth, is of non-fiction author Gill Winter.
Born in New Zealand in 1952, Gill Winter gained a degree in Art History and Anthropology and then wondered what to do next. After the obligatory OE (as Kiwis call their first venture abroad) she married and had two children, and spent three years living in Denmark. After returning to New Zealand in 1984, she worked for eleven years as publicist and public programmes organiser at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, one of New Zealand’s premier contemporary art museums.
Gill left the art world in 1999 to create Flying Piglets, a touring agency for folk and blues musicians. During the next few years she also worked as marketing manager for the Lake Taupo and Taranaki Arts Festivals, helped on the family pig farm and was a regular volunteer for Trade Aid, New Zealand’s largest Fair Trade organisation. In 2009, she wound up Flying Piglets and completed a CELTA course in teaching English as a second language. In 2010, she answered an advertisement on the Jobs page of Dave’s ESL Café website for volunteer teachers to work at Tibet Charity in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India.
In 2011 she self-published her first book, Between Monks and Monkeys, describing her experiences in India. She returned to Dharamshala for her second three-month teaching stint at Tibet Charity in March 2012. This inspired her to write a sequel, The Yeti in the Library, self- published as a paperback and e-book in March 2013.
She is married with two adult children and lives in Taranaki, New Zealand.
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And now from the author herself:
In my previous existence as a publicist for artists and musicians I spent a lot of time writing, playing with words to achieve the best affect. Whenever we travelled I wrote a travel journal, and for around ten years I kept a diary. However, it had never occurred to me to attempt anything more ambitious until I went to Dharamshala in India to teach English as a volunteer at Tibet Charity (www.tibetcharity.in). While I was there I kept a diary and also wrote long, enthusiastic emails home. These became the basis for my first book, Between Monks and Monkeys.
Living in India, in the Tibetan community, was totally different from anything I had previously experienced. I met people whose outlook on life was very different from my own. Tibetan Buddhists have a mantra: “May all sentient beings be happy” – and they really mean it! It affects everything about their lives, including the fact that for the past sixty years they have been living either as an occupied people within Tibet or as exiles in other parts of the world.
When I came home from India the first time I missed it tremendously. Of course I was happy to be home and reunited with my family. I enjoyed using a clean sit-down toilet, walking down a road that wasn’t choked with gridlocked, tooting cars, and not having to boil my water. But I found life in New Zealand both over-materialistic and quite boring after the colour and bustle of Dharamshala.
And it was difficult to really tell people about what it had been like in India – about the people I met who were poor but gracious, or about the grandeur of the mountains and the monkeys in the forest. Above all, I wanted to tell people about the humour and positivity of my students, some of whom had walked through snow for three weeks to escape from Tibet, and whose families were still suffering under Chinese occupation.
I started writing the book because it was a way of thinking these things through for myself, as well as finding the most engaging way of painting a picture of Dharmashala and its people. It seems to have worked – the most frequent feedback I get from readers is that Between Monks and Monkeys is humorous, easy to read and paints a vivid picture of life in Dharamshala. I also know that the book has inspired at least two other people to travel overseas as volunteer teachers.
The Yeti in the Library arose out of my second teaching stint in Dharamshala. In the fifteen months between my first and second visits to India, much had changed in the Tibetan community in exile. Most significant was the dramatic rise in self-immolations, which were now happening on a regular basis within Tibet. Sadly, these protests were receiving very little attention from the international media or the wider world. However, it was impossible to interact with the Tibetan community in Dharamshala and not be aware of what was happening.
Although I went to Dharamshala as a teacher, I learned far more than I taught. I was exposed to the philosophy and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, about which I had previously known next to nothing. I met people for whom a genuine sense of compassion was a natural way of dealing with life. At the same time I gradually came to understand the hardship which Tibetans, both within Tibet and in exile, have endured over the past sixty years. While still describing day-to-day life and the many interesting, funny or even ridiculous things that happened during my stay, fundamentally The Yeti in the Library is an attempt to give readers a sense of the Tibetan people and their struggle. If it works, I will have achieved what I set out to do when I began the book.
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You can find more about Gill and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and tenth, is of multi-genre author V. Karen McMahon.
V. Karen McMahon, born and raised in southwestern Virginia, has lived in Virginia’s horse country for many years. Her career included owning and managing an art and gift shop. After many years of working as an editor and writer for several companies, culminating in consulting work after retirement, she decided to turn her writing skills to personal writing. To-date, she has authored books, short stories, poems and song lyrics. Her books are available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in Kindle version and in paperback version from CreateSpace.
Karen has had 12 books published so far including children’s books, short stories, poems, and songs, along with 7 novels to-date, the latest being is ‘To My Last Breath’…
Patricia’s mother had told her all of her life that no matter how much she thought she wanted to die, when the time came for the last breath, she would struggle for it. Patricia always wondered how her mother knew that, but throughout her young and tragic life, she had more than one chance to test that theory. Travel with Patricia on her journey to struggle through depression and tragedy while she seeks the happiness that seems to elude her.
And what others say about Karen’s book…
To My Last Breath keeps the reader engrossed in the storyline and turning the pages. Readers can identify with the main character on a personal level. The powerful situations and the believable characters take on a life of their own, allowing the reader to feel the emotional ups and downs experienced throughout the story. This is one the avid reader won’t want to miss.
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And now from the author herself:
I was a young widow with a young child, working for the U.S. Government as an admin (government glorified secretaries). I mostly typed about eight hours a day, but it just came naturally to me to correct anything I saw that wasn’t correct. A boss caught on and sent me to a government writing course, and then put me in charge of writing letters—which I could have done without the course, but protocol and all…
Then my life changed when I was rear-ended by a large truck on the 14th Street bridge in D.C. and ended up with plastic bones in one of my wrists / hands. The doctors told me to forget typing as a way to make a living (I tested out at 105 wpm then and put out more letters in a day than most of the others did in a week). So, thinking I’d have to find another way to make a living, I allowed the insurance company of the person that caused the accident to “test” me to see what else I was suited to do for the rest of my life.
Now try to imagine a girl in her early 20s with a baby, being told she had just been tested and that the top suggestion they had was that she become a writer! I’m serious—a writer. Only one useful arm and no means of support other than the insurance company but I was supposed to just be a writer! I laughed, and cried, and told them they were insane, and went about the therapy to make my arm, hand and fingers work again. It took over a year, and then I went back to my old job. I only type somewhere between 90-100 wpm now and nobody’s tested me lately.
After that I remarried, had another baby, and helped my second husband run an engineering firm of 20 people for several years. To be able to be near the younger one when she started school, I opened an art shop which I ran completely for 11 years. When she left for college, we closed the shop and scaled down, but I needed to work. To my surprise, I was hired as a technical editor / writer to work on proposals, and I found out that I was good at it very quickly and did it for many years.
I was forced to retire early because I had to have open-heart surgery, and after I recovered somewhat, my old company and others were hiring me to work from home. I was being paid quite well and loved the work, and loved being able to juggle my hours at home and still get them the work so quickly that it amazed them. But in 2008, it began to change—government became anti-business, and companies started scaling back or closing. I would go to a company reunion with all of the old people I work for and each year there would be less and less—another one laid off, another one left and got another job. All of my contacts were drying up, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
My oldest brother died in 2008 and I sat by his side and held his hand for three weeks. I had some really strange things happen to me in that nursing home and when I told everyone about it, they insisted I write it down. I began by thinking I’d write this story, print it out and send it to his friend who was encouraging me, and my friends and family; I was not even thinking “book.” But everyone that read it said I needed to write more. I always say I have a gnome in my head that does the writing, and it is the gnome that decides when and what I will write and I have no control over it, but the gnome was listening. I remembered ONE line from a story I wrote in high school that my teacher had embarrassed me by reading out loud and saying it was the best story any student had ever written…one line about a little girl swinging on a rusty fence gate.
So, with no consulting work coming in and bored out of my ever-loving mind, I asked the gnome if he (not sure why it’s a he) could write a book around that line, and he said, “Yep” and we started. And my first full novel, Back There: A Female Assassin Proves You Can’t Go Home Again was born, completely around that one sentence. And then I started to try to find ways to display all of this stuff, for family and friends that kept asking for it. I built my own website for them to go read the new stuff.
Then I found out how to get the books up on amazon in kindle, and then how to get paperbacks made of them, and the gnome did the rest. Each book was his decision and had its own “strangeness” attached. For instance, The Frozen Leaf was written AROUND the cover picture. I found a leaf in trash can lid filled with water and then frozen and thought it was beautiful. I took a picture of it and kept it on my desktop for about a year; then the gnome decided he could make a story around that leaf. My last one came from a dream I had that I made the mistake of telling my daughter about and she insisted I make it into a book.
So now I write books, and people tell me they’re pretty good, and each time I hear it, I think of that silly guy who told me the only thing he thought I’d be REALLY good at was being a writer! I guess I should have listened then! But since I didn’t, back then, and it just “happened” now, I call myself the Grandma Moses of Writing.
**
You can find more about Karen and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, V. Karen McMahon, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and eighth, is of novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer Gail Lukasik.
Gail Lukasik wrote her first short story and poem when she was seven years old. Her mother, an avid moviegoer, took her every Friday night to the local movie theater. That’s where she fell in love with stories of all kinds. Her dream was to be a movie star, a ballerina, or a writer. She’s realized two of those dreams: she was a member of the Cleveland Civic Ballet company in the early 1960’s. She is now the author of four mystery novels and numerous poems, essays, and short stories. Though never a movie star she was active in Chicago area community theater groups dancing, singing, and acting in productions such as Cabaret, South Pacific and California Suite. She especially enjoyed being a Kit Kat girl in Cabaret.
Raised in the working class city of Parma, Ohio, Lukasik spun stories to entertain her friends and family but at the time did not seriously considered pursuing a career as a writer. Although she never stopped writing, keeping journals, writing poems and short stories, it wasn’t until she won a prize in a national poetry contest in 1974, did she think she had what it took to be a professional writer. She believes that her years of training as a classical ballerina influenced her writing, teaching her the importance of timing, giving her a sense of aesthetics, and showing her how to harness her creativity. To Lukasik words on the page are like musical notes on a score.
After a series of career changes that ranged from a manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone to a freelance writer for McDonald’s Corporation and with her two children in school, she quit her job as Director of Public Relations at Robert Morris College in 1983 and became a graduate student in creative writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). At UIC she earned a M.A. and a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in writing poetry. Her Ph.D. thesis was published as a book of poems entitled Landscape Toward a Proper Silence in 1992. Lisel Mueller called the book “a splendid collection.” “In Country,” her poignant poem about her father’s death, was awarded an Illinois Arts Council award in 2002.
Gail Lukasik worked at UIC until 2002, teaching writing and literature classes while simultaneously managing the Internship Program and the Nonfiction Writing Program. Her innovative graduate internship program won a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Grant in 1999. It was during this time that she became hooked on female detective novels. At her son’s urging she decided to write a mystery novel entitled Destroying Angels (Five Star/Cengage; 2006). Kirkus Reviews called Destroying Angels “a riveting debut thriller.” Before writing the second book in what had become the Leigh Girard series, Lukasik, always ready for a new adventure, became a certified canoe instructor. She tapped into her experience leading such trips and teaching water rescue when writing Death’s Door (Five Star/Cengage, 2009), which Kirkus described as “fast-paced and literate with a strong protagonist and a puzzle that keeps you guessing.”
Her life-long interest in painting, American history, and Native Americans led Lukasik to write her first stand-alone mystery, The Lost Artist. The book concerns the hunt for one of the greatest lost art treasures of sixteenth century America. The secret to finding this lost art treasure is hidden in four murals, which have been buried under 175 years of wallpaper and paint in an old southern Illinois farmhouse. When struggling Chicago performance artist, Rose Caffrey, inherits the farmhouse, and uncovers the mysterious murals, her quest to find the treasure unearths buried crimes and secrets going back over 400 hundred years with the potential to transform American history. A history minor in college, Lukasik enjoyed the research for The Lost Artist from the sixteenth century French fleet lost off the coast of Florida to the process of restoring nineteenth-century murals to Illinois’ involvement in the infamous Trail of Tears.
Besides writing novels, she continues to teach creative writing as an occasional guest lecturer at Roosevelt University in Chicago and at various venues throughout the Chicago area.
She lives in Libertyville, Illinois with her husband. After years of vacationing in the resort area of Door County, Wisconsin, where her series takes place, she now has a summer home in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin.
The third book in her Leigh Girard mystery series, Peak Season for Murder, will be available September 2013.
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And now from the author herself:
How I Turn my Ideas into Books
As a writer of mystery novels, one of the most difficult times for me is between books. I wrote my last two books back to back and after handing in the completed manuscript for Peak Season for Murder last fall, I felt that I’d earned a break. Not to mention that I felt creatively exhausted. Here’s the odd thing about being a writer, I immediately starting thinking about my next book. Between books is not a comfortable place for me.
I had a few ideas for a book—all very different. So how was I chose the “right” idea for the next book? Add to that dilemma, I was considering writing a literary novel. Several friends had suggested I write a novel that wasn’t a mystery because they’d enjoyed the 19th century section of The Lost Artist. So not only did I have to decide on one idea for a book, I had to decide whether or not to write another mystery.
I sometimes give book talks on how to turn an idea into a book and I’d like to share those tips as well as the process I went through before I began my next book.
The first thing I did was to write down my various book ideas in a few sentences. Fortunately or unfortunately three had promise. There was depth and breadth to each one. In other words I felt I could write about 80,000 words or so about each idea. I also saw that the three ideas lent themselves to subplots and multiple characters. Without getting too specific, in case I turn one of the rejected ideas into a book later, here are my three ideas. The first idea was based on a true crime that I stumbled across in a magazine article. The second idea sprang from an upmarket women’s novel that referenced one of Shakespeare’s plays. The third idea was a composite of personal biography and several books I’d read about Poland during World War II.
Since I was unsure about which idea would be my next book, I took the next step. I opted for the true crime article and started writing. Most likely I began with that idea because I’ve been writing mystery novels for over seven years and the conventions of the genre are very familiar to me. Since my writing process is to write organically from scene–to-scene, chapter-to-chapter, exploring characters as I write, I didn’t begin with an outline. But if you outline before writing, then at this stage of exploration, you should outline the book and see where it goes.
I wrote about 25 pages of the true crime idea and ran out of juice. Granted I could have pushed it another 25 pages, but something stopped me. Call it instinct or years of experience writing, but the book wasn’t sparking for me. I still liked the concept but something wasn’t working. So I put that book idea away and tried book idea number 2: the upmarket, women’s novel. I did more research on this idea before doing any writing. The bulk of the book would be set in the Caribbean. I read a few books, watched a few videos about the Caribbean, thought about the characters and started writing. This time I knew I was in trouble from the onset, mainly because I kept writing and rewriting the opening chapter. Never a good sign for me. Finally, I wrote a first chapter that I liked but then lost interest.
The last idea required quite a bit of research on an area of history I was both interested in and knew little about—occupied Poland during World War II. As I read diaries, watched videos, and read historic books on the period, I began to see that I was becoming engaged, taken over by the idea. Characters were presenting themselves to me as well as a loose plot. So I began writing this book in earnest about a few weeks ago. It’s still very early days, and like most writers I’m superstitious, and don’t want to say this is the next book until it is the next book. But fingers crossed it might be my next novel. Only time and writing will tell.
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You can find more about Gail and her writing via…
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If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Gail Lukasik, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
If this looks like deja vu, don’t worry. Slight clerical error where below advised 20th-24th but it’s 21st-25th.
Jim Cliff’s The Ultimate US TV Quiz Book: The ’80s will be free on Kindle from today, 21st until 25th April
Whose best friend was Mr Snuffalupagous? What was the name of Jessica Fletcher’s rather dangerous hometown? Who sang the ‘Family Ties’ theme tune?
The answers to these and 347 other questions on over 160 shows can be found in The Ultimate US TV Quiz Book: The ’80s.
What’s more, UK readers have just as much chance of answering the questions, as all the TV shows featured in the book have also been shown in the UK. Available from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU0YU92 and http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AU0YU92.
Then…
The Shoulders of Giants (A Jake Abraham Mystery) will be free on Kindle from 27 April-1 May.
A missing girl. A ruthless killer. A rookie P.I.
Jake Abraham is a child of the 80s, brought up by Jim Rockford, Thomas Magnum and three beautiful girls who worked for a man named Charlie. He’s loving his new job as a Private Investigator and already has his first client – a disgraced former police captain whose daughter has disappeared.
When the girl shows up dead, Jake is drawn into a dangerous world of organised crime, police corruption, infidelity and serial murder.
With a terrified city in the grip of a killer who’s always one step ahead of the police, how can a raw young P.I. hope to make a difference?
The Shoulders of Giants is a fun, fast paced thriller in the mold of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker.
Available from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RZBN3E and http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007RZBN3E.
I will be blogging (as another 5am flash) about this free novel on the 27th April so don’t worry if you forget!
Jim Cliff lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his beautiful wife, two brilliant children and an aardvark. Ok, so there isn’t actually an aardvark.
Thank you, Jim!
***
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jim Cliff, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events,
Laurie Boris has been writing fiction for almost thirty years, inspired by the work of Joyce Carol Oates, TC Boyle, John Irving, Vladimir Nabokov, Gail Parent, Nora Ephron, and many other brilliant, prolific, and funny writers.
While she has attempted several genres, Boris feels most comfortable with contemporary fiction, literary fiction, and humorous women’s fiction. She is the author of three novels, The Joke’s on Me, Drawing Breath, Don’t Tell Anyone, and the upcoming Sliding Past Vertical (due out in August 2013). The Joke’s on Me was a finalist in General Fiction in the 2012 Beach Book Festival.
Even while I was writing Don’t Tell Anyone, I knew I’d face some serious challenges once I published it. But I still felt compelled to complete the novel and release it, hoping it would find an audience, secretly terrified that even if it came out well-written, thought-provoking, insightful or whatever good adjective you want to plunk on it, people would hear the word “cancer” and run.
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