Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…
Poetry Writing Exercises 083: Wednesday 1st May
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: dozen, magazine, people, photos, complete
- Random: Second-person viewpoint poem about a skydive
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Sentence start: Some years back…
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
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Story Writing Exercises 087: Wednesday 1st May
Here are your four story exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: light, honey, sleep, company, breathe
- Random: S/he has a scar on her/his neck
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Sentence start: Turning on the radio…
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
- First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
- Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. :)
- Second-person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. :)
- Title: This is the title of your story.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Tips
- Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
- Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
- Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
- Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
- Only use repetition to emphasise.
- When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
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Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com
** 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.
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, 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 graphic and prose novelist Leonardo Ramirez and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/author-interview-with-graphic-and-prose-novelist-leonardo-ramirez.
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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, 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, Leonardo Ramirez, 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.
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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.
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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
Tonight’s guest blog post is brought to you by psychological thriller novelist, guest postee (also on marketing) and interviewee Rachel Abbott.
Evolving your marketing plan
Just over a year ago, I wrote a post for my own blog called “Using Twitter – are you a writer, a brand or a salesman?” and it received more responses than any other post I have ever written. I talked about how, as a writer, you have three choices: you either write books and don’t worry at all about marketing on the basis that if you publish enough books, they will take care of themselves; you are a brand, and you are trying to connect with people at a deeper level, so that readers remain faithful to you in the years to come; or you’re a salesman and all you care about right now is people buying your book!
There is absolutely no doubt that when I launched Only the Innocent, I was a salesman. I desperately needed to get people to notice my book, and I believed that, given most people’s Twitter streams zip by at a rate of knots, I had to tweet about my book at least every 15 minutes, or nobody would never get to see the tweet. I can almost hear people screaming in horror at the thought – but do you know what? It worked. I don’t regret it, and even though I know it turned some people off completely, I did sell a lot of books.
I am not quite naïve enough to believe that I sold them all because of Twitter. In reality, it probably had a relatively low impact once the book started to take off – but I did measure Twitter’s impact in the early days, and I do think that at a time when I was building the book’s visibility it was accounting for about ten sales per day. Not huge, but enough to get the book noticed and more visible on Amazon. Ultimately it was the positive reviews and the fact that people started to talk about it in forums that made it take off – two things that I had very little control over.
However… one year on, and it’s a different story. When I wrote Only the Innocent I had a target of selling about a thousand copies. That was what success looked like to me. I had a vague plan for another book, but I didn’t know when I was going to get the time to write it. I ended up being incredibly lucky, and my first novel has now sold over 150,000 copies. And nobody is more shocked than me. Because of this success, I have changed a few things in my life and I’ve found the time to write the next book.
So why is it a different marketing story this time around?
It’s because now I want to focus on the brand. I was lucky enough to get some terrific readers who have been very supportive of my writing. If these people follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, they’re not doing that to have my new book thrust down their throats every two minutes. I now plan to be a writer for the long haul, and I already have book three planned. So I would love to have these readers stick with me.
In many of my previous blog posts – both on my own site and as a guest blogger – I have talked about my marketing plan. For book one, it was seven pages long. My second book – The Back Road – was launched in the UK on the 18th March 2013, and in the US at the beginning of October 2013, and my marketing plan this time is twenty-eight pages long. And the big difference is that it’s all about reader engagement.
I haven’t got this right yet, so don’t check my Twitter stream and say “oh yeah” in a scathing tone, but the whole focus of my new plan is to create content online that my readers are interested in. That’s on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the various forums. I want my readers to continue to follow me, and continue to be interested in the future – so that they may (hopefully) decide to read book three, four, five.
The question that my marketing plan tries to identify is exactly how to go about this, and it’s not easy. Some authors seem to think that they must never mention their books – almost as if the title’s a dirty word (or words). They assume their readers are interested in their daily lives, and tweet about what they had for breakfast, or how much they spent at Tesco. That doesn’t interest me at all, so I’m going to assume that it doesn’t interest my readers either. Other writers are funny. I love the funny ones – but I know that I’m not very, so that’s never going to work. Then there’s the group that somehow believes that their tweets are invisible and they write snarky comments about people who have reviewed their books. I really don’t understand that.
To be clear, I am not going to stop talking about my books on social media, but I am going to look at innovative and fun ways of engaging my audience, in a bid to get to know more of them. When The Back Road was almost finished, I was able to approach readers who I had been chatting with on social media to ask if they would be early readers. The response was terrific, and they gave me honest comments about storylines and characters – all of which I was able to incorporate before it went to final edit. I’d love more of this engagement.
Getting a solid bank of people who are interested in my books to follow my tweets and engage on Facebook is now more important that striving to reach the number one spot – a nearly impossible feat given the plethora of 20p books. That level of pricing is beyond my control – it is a decision taken by Amazon to price match other retailers. But that’s okay. I have to focus on what really matters.
And if you’ve published a book, so do you. The decision in terms of marketing is exactly the same as it was a year ago, and each individual will have a different point of view. The question is – are you a writer, a brand or a salesman? If you go the salesman route, you won’t be alone. There was a post in The Guardian recently that demonstrates quite clearly that some big names have no compunction about self-promotion. But for now, I am going to try a somewhat gentler route.
I don’t deny that there will be some promotional tweets – but not one every fifteen minutes! I ‘m going to try to develop ideas for tweets and posts that readers will enjoy in the hope that they stay with me in the years to come. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I’ll get there, and I’m sure it’s going to be worth it.
*
That was great. Thank you, Rachel.
Rachel Abbott spent the majority of her working life running an interactive media company that designed and developed software and websites, mainly for education. Her company was sold in 2000, and although she continued working for another 5 years, she also fulfilled a lifelong ambition of buying and restoring a property in Italy, where she now lives with her husband and their two dogs. Her website is http://www.rachel-abbott.com and she blogs at http://rachelabbottwriter.wordpress.com.
Rachel’s new book, The Back Road, is available exclusively from Amazon UK until September, when it will be available in other formats.
The paperback will be published in the US in October.
Only the Innocent is available in Kindle format from Amazon UK, and in paperback, Kindle and audio formats from Amazon US.
For other ebook formats please visit http://www.rachel-abbott.com/how-to-buy.html.
***
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, 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, Rachel Abbott, 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 the two hundred and ninth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story using the keywords: cuddle, shuffle, whimper, hospital, Daddy. Below is my 198-worder.
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-nine days of April, I’d written 42,026 words (against a target of 48,333) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Tuesday UK time, the balance is now 47096, but I have until midnight to get to the 50,000 target so I’m very confident. 
Now on with today’s story which is the last 5pm fiction for a month as Story A Day May takes over tomorrow (yay!). So 5pm Fiction will return on Saturday 1st June.
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All he wanted
All he wanted was a cuddle. I could see it in his big brown eyes. He looked up at me, pleading silently.
I sighed. I’d have given anything to pick him up, like I’d done a hundred times, but I couldn’t.
“Sorry, Bertie.” I looked up at the clock. “Daddy’ll be here shortly. He’ll give you a cuddle.”
On hearing the magic word, Bertie’s ears pricked up and he barked, edging closer to the side of the bed.
“Shhh, Bertie! You’re not supposed to be here. The nurses will kill me if they hear you.”
Bertie whimpered and lay down, chin on paws.
I heard someone in the corridor and on a silent cue, Bertie shuffled under the bed.
The door swung open and I smiled as the tall figure entered the room. “Yay! Daddy’s here Bertie!”
Bertie re-appeared, thankfully without any verbal greeting, and leapt up at Elliott.
“Honey?” I said.
“Yes dear?” he said, lowering the dog’s front paws.
“Can you do me a favour?”
“Anything.”
“Scratch my nose.”
Elliott stared at my broken arms, tilting his head sympathetically. “Sure.”
“And give Bertie a cuddle.”
Elliott laughed, scratched my nose then crouched down, holding out his arms and gave our Doberman a hug.
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
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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.
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
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…
Poetry Writing Exercises 082: Tuesday 30th April
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: grumpy, 50-something, repetitive, target, April
- Random: concealed the body
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Tuesday Title: Symphony
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
*
Story Writing Exercises 086: Tuesday 30th April
Here are your four story exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: mountain, opera, horse, printer, legs
- Random: Re-write any one of the above using dialogue only
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Tuesday Title: Symphony
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
- First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
- Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. :)
- Second-person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. :)
- Title: This is the title of your story.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Tips
- Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
- Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
- Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
- Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
- Only use repetition to emphasise.
- When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
*
Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com
** 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, 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 my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and thirteenth, is of science-fiction adventure novelist and interviewee Erren Grey Wolf.
Erren Grey Wolf is a science fiction adventure novelist whose saga, Beneath the Surface, explores supernatural and metaphysical subjects. The series borders on the fantasy genre, as well, since many consider some subjects in her books to be unbelievable. For example, though she hates to use the term, “fairy,” she believes they truly exist and calls them, “elementals,” but if you do not believe these etheric creatures exist at all, then you would consider them mere fantasy. Erren cites the book, “The Real World of Fairies,” by Dora Van Gelder, in which the author of that book, a rare person who can see the fairies, describes many in much the same manner as a birdwatcher might describe birds in field guide. Erren also hates to use the term “fairy” for another reason: people just do not take the word seriously and her books are, as she describes, “too serious for airy fairy nonsense.” Sorrow fills her first book and she includes several deep poems on the subject.
Erren Grey Wolf’s first book, Beneath the Surface: The Lost Boy, has been described as a science fiction adventure because it takes place in the future on other planets. Humanity fled to these new worlds before the Earth perishes. The first two chapters describes life aboard the space station, Titan, which humanity created from all the space arks they used to transport flora and fauna to their new planetary homes.
Erren Grey Wolf is the sort of person who believes in a lot of things that others do not and then she writes about them. She believes that Nostradamus is correct and that our sun is expanding and will destroy our Earth in less than 2000 years. She believes that is the real reason for global warming. Also according to Nostradamus, humanity will find a new home in the constellation of Cancer. She believes the Earth is hollow and has a central sun, so she writes about hollow planets. She writes about telepathy, telekinesis, remote viewing, empathy, ghosts, angels, demons, aliens, auras, thought-forms, and other interesting subjects. She does not mention all of these in the first book, however. Aliens do not appear until the fourth book, for example.
It is also worth noting that although she writes about two brothers who are Catholic, she, herself, has no religion. She still believes in much of the Christian faith, but too many bad things have happened in her religion and so she is no longer religious. In her later books, she describes other religions such as Muslim, Buddist, Shinto, Jew, Hindu, etc. She describes an era of religious tolerance, even though the first book deals with racism at the beginning. Erren is quite eclectic religiously because she believes not only in many Christian beliefs, but also in many beliefs from other religions. As a result, her spirituality is a combination of Eastern and Western philosophies.
Long ago, when Erren was a teenager, she used to daydream about living somewhere else and doing fantastical things, but as she was suffering from depression, her mood was dark and her daydreams were definitely not “airy fairy nonsense.” They were full of deep dark themes. In 2005, she began to seriously type her stories into her computer from her written notes. At first, she planned to write an autobiography about living with mental illness, but she wanted to include one paragraph about the daydreams she had. That paragraph became a chapter, which she took out of her autobiography and continued to work on it until that chapter became a book and that book became a saga.
At present, she has published but one book, but the whole series has mostly been written during the time between 2005 and 2013. She plans to publish her second book in May and her third book later this year. She is currently working on polishing the books that are to come.
*
And now from the author herself:
My name is Erren Grey Wolf and I am the author of Beneath the Surface: The Lost Boy, which is the first novel in a saga. I believe that my creativity comes from my subconscious mind, which tries to tell me something is wrong in symbolic form. As a result, my stories are a sort of autobiography, if you are able to read between the lines. Writing about horrible events in my life, in a science fiction format, is a form of therapy for me. I suffer from depression, so my stories have a lot of sorrow in them, but they are also full of hope. If it were not for hope, they would not exist and neither would I. My stories are my life blood, which I bleed upon the pages for your entertainment and for my own need to speak about things I cannot quite tell the truth about.
I did not choose to be a science fiction writer. I originally wanted to be an artist and I was a good one, but after I had a breakdown at the end of 2004, I had to take Lithium, which made my hands shake. In great sorrow, I had to quite art school. However, my creativity demanded an outlet and so I turned to writing instead. I began typing about the stories that have been in my head since I was a teenager and once I got going, I ended up with an entire saga. Instead of painting on a canvas, I now paint stories with my keyboard.
It is so true when someone says, “When one door shuts, another one opens.” I have been writing ever since and I have no signs of stopping. I have a whole saga to write, which is mostly finished, but needs more polishing before I publish them. That is pretty much what I am doing right now: polishing. When you truly care about what you are creating, you want to make sure it shines!
**
You can find more about Erren 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, Erren Grey Wolf, 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
Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the seventy-first poem in this series. This week’s piece is by romance, paranormal, Gothic and comedy author, and poet Linda Hays Gibbs.
Syria’s Massacre
I am crying, I can’t see
I am disgusted I can’t believe
Why Are They Killing the Children
What is happening where and when?
Why are they killing the children
What type of monster is this we see
Coming across our TV
A new type of man or creed
A Spawn from hell a demon seed
A man with no conscious or fear of Hell
A man who has a lust to kill
I don’t think a man but an abomination
But God is not mocked by your sins on a nation
You will pay the price when you die
You will pay for God does not lie
So get ready for your retribution
There will be your death soon and jubilation
All children go to heaven’s well
But you sir, will go to hell!
***
A very touching piece. Thank you, Linda, for sending it to me.
Linda D. Hays-Gibbs was born in Mississippi and married at a young age. She went back to school late in life, graduated with a BA in Anthropology from University of Alabama. She always loved Indiana Jones. Anthropology was so exciting to her until she could not use her imagination to write her papers. Her instructor insisted she stick with the facts not fantasy.
She loved to write poetry and jot it down all the time. Her fourth book, “My Angel, My Light As Darkness Falls” really meant more to her because she worked on it for such a long time and because she was determined to make her writing much better than it had been. Kim Richards and Sally Odgers from Eternal Press were inspirations for her. Barbara Metzger, one of her favourite authors gave her encouragement too. She loves writing and hopes to continue to do it for the rest of her life along with anything she can do for her God and children. You can also find out more about her from:
***
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, Kobo, Linda Hays Gibbs, 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 the two hundred and eighth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story using the sentence start ‘Fred had always wanted to be…’. Below is my 60-worder.
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-eight days of April, I’d written 42,026 words (against a target of 46,666) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Monday UK time, I’m yet to write any today but I will tonight and have all day tomorrow so I’ll get there.
Now on with today’s story…
*
Passion wagon
Fred had wanted to be a train driver ever since he was a child but fate lead him to be an accountant. Now he was retired he was finally fulfilling his dream. He loved to watch the children laugh as he pulled the chain to sound the horn. “All aboard!” he’d shout when they reached Lakeside Park’s miniature railway station.
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
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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.
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
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…
Poetry Writing Exercises 081: Monday 29th April
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: red, curtains, face, vicar, laugh
- Random: a bank holiday
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Monologue Monday: Write a first-person poem about covering up a mistake
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
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Story Writing Exercises 085: Monday 29th April
Here are your four story exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: impervious, position, check, burn, quick
- Random: S/he has no belongings of any kind
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Monday Monologue: your character is waiting for test results
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
- First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
- Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. :)
- Second-person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. :)
- Title: This is the title of your story.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Tips
- Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
- Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
- Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
- Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
- Only use repetition to emphasise.
- When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
*
Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com
** 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, 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 sixteenth, is of epic fantasy novelist TM Shannon. TM Shannon is also offering an eBook Rafflecopter giveaway. Click the link for your chance to win.
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T. M. Shannon works a full time job processing invoices, is one half of a dynamic duo making rent and car payments, and has the fortune to be living with a head full of ideas – a bit hard to get out when taking care of a 99% well-behaved son. His first ever published work, The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart (The Hero of Talbadas, Volume 1) has already moved over 430 copies.
Catching the writing bug at an early age, his forays with the pen met boredom, and rejection a total of three times – two with the very book he calls a “six-year labour of love.” Enough for him, the project sat gathering dust.
Vowing to regain the momentum to write once he became a published author, the moment he heard about self-publishing through CreateSpace he decided to get out there and do it himself – leading to an epic edit and a proofing run all but over now, ready for 2nd Edition release. He also intends to continue on with his book’s sequel, and release it later this year – given he is already well ahead in his project, it should not come as a surprise.
If you ask him, self-publishing is worth it, especially when used as a stepping-stone into the bigger written world. KDP select is worth it to build some early momentum, especially with Kindle Free Days; and Facebook ads work to accumulate Kindle Free Days sales.
During his time in Kindle Free Days he got within the top 20 Epic Fantasy for Free, and occupied spaces opposite Tolkein and Martin in the paid section. He also made his book into a “This Is SPARTA!” meme as a bit of fun.
All humour considered, he takes his work and his story very seriously. The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart is an Epic Fantasy with a Heroic and Historic bent, exploring both the good and evil sides of human nature, and making use of authentic martial arts.
The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart (The Hero of Talbadas, Volume One) is an Epic Fantasy novel with elements of Historical and Heroic Fantasy. Blurb: As the king of Talbadas nears his end, and treasonous parties seek to usurp the throne, young farmer Halm Dresden discovers that his father’s dying advice, the actions of two Elves, and a nightmare vision have put him on a destined path. While impressionable youth and some of his friends join this treacherous league, Dresden has a sword made and prepares for looming conflict.
*
And now from the author himself:
My first big story was a Science Fiction with flight sequences and Space Marines taking the fight deep in enemy territory. It’s still floating in mind, and will make a return. But something happened in between; instead of the gun I took up the sword.
It’s name was Diablo, a video game in which I took the “role” of a fighter, a mage, or a thief, and embarked on an epic campaign to slay thousands of monsters in a dungeon on the way to take out the title’s demon. Game play was simple: click a monster to kill it. It didn’t matter it was very banal, because behind it was one of the most impressive stories I’ve read
I had begun down the fantasy road. I envisioned a world of mages, dragons, and war, and an epic adventure throughout it. Interesting to me, I got to 50 pages and got bored with the stagnant story. I went back to games, movies, even sat down to read LOTR a second time (to truly appreciate it, except the songs), and came up with a Role Playing Game of my own.
I had a story plotted out, big in scope like Blizzard had done with Diablo and Diablo II. I envisioned the player rising from mediocrity to greatness, driven to lofty heights by heroic deeds. As Mel put it of William Wallace in Braveheart, “I hear he’s seven feet tall, and if he were here today he would consume the English with fire from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his (posterior)!” I reached a dilemma – I reckoned it was good idea, but I didn’t know how to program, didn’t know who to ask about making my idea a reality.
The epiphany was quick. “I can’t code, but I can write.” The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart was born!
It fell together quickly, built on another idea I had between times. Before I knew it, I had the back story of Fate and Destiny, made use of Norse mythology to drive my people’s religion. Soon enough, a hero named Dresden stared out at the dawn, and his companion, the Elf Velmia asked of his thoughts. An interlude, a look of his destined vision, and I went to the very beginning: a farmer mucking out a pig pen.
I call on a lot of inspiration for this book. First and foremost I have to thank my history teacher for teaching me about the Viking period. A heaven where everybody gets drunk and fights, and gets brought back to life the next day to do it all over. The reason why Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have their names. A brief hint of the battle at the end of all time. And of course long-boat raiders, but that’s another story I have planned.
Mostly my inspiration is drawn from myth, movie and manuscript. After Lord of the Rings came Beowulf, a truly powerful journey (especially thanks to Seamus Heaney’s translation). At the time, I was already up Braveheart and Gladiator. By then, Schwarzenegger was the best-known barbarian, Conan. And long before them all, I wanted a Lightsabre and a Death Star to destroy.
These are the stories I enjoyed most growing up. I would never know it then, but I would one day bring my own to life.
I wrote. I finished the first instalment, then the second, and got mostly through the third. I slowed down a bit. It was good to me, but in bad shape. The fight scenes had to be the best, so I wanted something to help me envision them better. It happened to be a longsword, and $135 later I owned one (still do, except its rusting somewhere).
Things picked up a bit – I knew what a sword weighed, it felt good to swing it. I nearly clobbered myself trying to pirouette like in Robin Hood. Then it happened again: an unexpected gift turned up. Instead of a story idea, it was Mark Rector’s Medieval Combat – translated from the 1467 Hans Talhoffer “fechtbuch.”
I had in my hands an authentic fight manual, with vivid pictures drawn five centuries before. Since adding the 1459 Talhoffer to my collection (through Jeffrey Hull’s Fight Earnestly) – complete with the actual fighting lore of Johan Liechtenauer’s Twenty Directives translated into English. More pictures, siege warfare, even a bit about medieval science!
Since then, The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart gained intensity to its martial arts, and a rare hint of realism more than, “He swung the sword, catching his foe off-guard and spilling his blood.” Now I have footwork, winding and swatting. The plough and ox guards. The skuller strike and setting aside.
Truth be told, I sat on my work since then. Until I found out about CreateSpace, and putting my work out there for the world to read all by myself. Sure it’s not a runaway success, but to me it means the world; it’s the inspiration I’m taking to keep on going. I vowed I’d complete my work the minute I became a published author; having achieved my goal, its time to keep going!
The Hero of Talbadas will have his end, but that’s not curtains for me. I have plenty of other ideas, including another fantasy or two, my sci-fi dream from long ago, and I also hope to enter the real world – both historical and modern, and of course with the action and thrills I crave.
Of course, I intend for there to be a point. A story should have emotion, humanity, and my characters should have frailty. But that’s for the future. For now, I am a proud Talbadan from the town of Kirim, finding myself on a destined path after hearing my father’s dying advice, receiving a nightmare vision, and suffering Elvish actions.
I am Halm Dresden. The Torment, The Shadow, The Heart is the start of my journey. It’s my hope that you’ll enjoy the journey, too.
**
You can find more about TM and his writing via…
And synopsis of his book:
“To a kingdom facing darkness, a Hero will come…”
As the King of Talbadas nears his end, and treasonous parties seek to usurp the throne, young farmer Halm Dresden finds that his father’s dying advice, the actions of two elves, and a nightmare vision have put him on a destined path. While impressionable youth and some of his friends join this treacherous league, Dresden has a sword made and prepares for looming conflict…
**
In association with the Virtual Book Tour Café, TM Shannon is also offering an eBook Rafflecopter giveaway. Click the link or picture below for your chance to win.
***
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, authors on tour, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, book blog tours, 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, epic fantasy, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy authors, 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, heroic fantasy, 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, The Torment The Shadow The Heart, TM Shannon, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, virtual book tour cafe, 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
Two of Linda Hays-Gibbs’ eBooks will be free on Kindle today, 29th April.
NB. This notification goes out at 5am UK time which will still be the day before in Amazon.com world, so you may have to wait a few hours for the offer to kick in.
Book one: Song of the Easter Bunny
Genre: Fantasy / children’s / religious
This is a simple story for children about the Easter Bunny. It is very short but gives a message about what Easter is really about. This Easter bunny had no choice but to give voice to his joy on that wonderful day. His song can’t be stopped.
Book two: Married by Morning
Genre: regency historical paranormal adult romance
This is a Regency romance with vampires and werewolves. The hero has a large family and obligations. His mother and sisters rule him. Suddenly his life isn’t so horrible anymore because a beautiful lady enters his home and his life.
He finds he can’t keep his hands off her and they need to marry with all haste. The problem is his family doesn’t want him happy. It’s funny and steamy with twists and turns but hopefully by morning things will be better.
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Linda was born and bred in the south. She graduated from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. AL, home of the Crimson Tide. Linda is a big fan of football too. She has also traveled overseas.
Her great great great great grandfather was Daniel Boone. Linda knows this because she researched it herself. She was looking for her Cherokee and Chickasaw blood and found some Shawnee too. She said, Life is a treasure hunt and you always find gold when you dig.” Her favorite thing is writing. She loves poetry as well as fiction. Linda now has 12 books to her credit.
**
Both of Linda’s books mentioned are free today April 29, 2013 via the following links:
You can find out more about Linda via…
Thank you, Linda.
***
** 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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Welcome to Novel Nights In where I’ve been bring you guests’ novels in their entirety over a maximum of ten weeks. Tonight’s is the fourth, and final, book in this series and tonight features part nine of a 100,900-word novel by Alberta Ross. You can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8.
NB. This novel does contain some strong language.
*
Ellen’s Tale: the first of The Sefuty Chronicles series – Synopsis
2060: The catastrophic results of climate change lead to mass migrations, whole nations fleeing rising seas and desertification. The world at war: land, water and survival the prize. The survivors split, most scrambling to the purpose-built cities the others fortifying their settlements behind the false security of rings of land mines.
Genetic manipulations lead to populations in the cities being freed from greed and violence but this has resulted in the destruction of the drive which made the human race so successful.
Imprisoned behind the mines, deprived of resources, the settlements battle famine, natural disasters and despair. Populations everywhere continue to tumble.
2162: Young researcher Maia Linne contacts archivist Ris Menai for assistance with a study of Ellen Wellfit, a young girl who had lived and loved 50 years previously. Through incomplete correspondence we follow their increasing interest and eventual love for each other.
2111: Ellen Wellfit, innocent and naïve. Bix Sefune, dangerously charming. They meet when she seeks his help to fulfil the dying request of an old lady. Terrified of life outside the city walls Ellen, is forced to cling to Bix and he, responding, finds his interest in her growing.
They both dare to think of a future together. It is Ellen who seeks to find a way to achieve their dreams. The results of her actions hold out hope for them and also for the dwindling survivors of mankind.
An historical romance in the future, with three time periods and two love stories set against a background of climate change, child soldiers, land mines, genetic engineering and eugenics.
*
Ellen’s Tale (part 9)
KENNET MARSHALL
I saw that first attempt of course. Not as it happened, I watched a re-run of the tape. She has turned out to be very headstrong. I do not envy Bix his trying to keep her reined in. Actually, viewing her disintegration Outside was sobering. How does the girl think she will manage this life she has chosen? If Outside was so frightening for her I think she behaved remarkably well that time in the Village. I know Bix left his report of what she had had to deal with but there was always a doubt that he had exaggerated, especially once we had learnt of their feelings for each other. He could have been trying to shield her from Discipline for her Deviant Behaviour. He was obviously speaking the truth. Do I tell Bix, I wonder? What she is up to when he is not around.
I decided to talk to Jack, had him up to the office and he explained what had gone on down there, what the Riders had put together and the promise they had extracted from Ellen. I thought this over for a few minutes and then agreed to let her try a little longer before informing Bix. I asked Jack to keep me updated on progress, especially if they thought it was getting dangerous. I had a feeling that I could help Jack if Bix lost his Control again. I told Jack so, he smiled and thanked me but I was left with the impression that he wasn’t that scared of Bix.
*
Ellen has taken to coming and spending time with me when Bix is away. I find her company very pleasant. At first she came seeking information and permission to access restricted archival material. Then she just came to talk.
One of the first requests was to see the reports that were instrumental in sending Bix for Alteration. She also wanted to see her own. When I questioned her I found that she had already found her way into the restricted area but, on discovery, had been stopped. How does she do it when she cannot read any better than a child? I had heard that she was learning to read very swiftly but it was still limited skill. I can understand how Bix and the Riders are becoming concerned about her; she seems to roll under her own momentum.
Why did she want to see these particular reports, I asked her. What purpose would be served in seeing them?
‘I need to understand. To make sense of our lives.’
Well, that did not make much sense to me. I told her so. She frowned then and thought for a while. ‘While I have been listening to the books it has seemed to me that, although what all the Administrators did at the beginning of the City was for the good of the survivors of the Wars, in trying to eradicate aggression and greed, trying to bring Stability and Order to the world that was left, something was eradicated that has put the security of the City at risk. In a different way.’
I listened in astonishment, what material had she accessed? Did the Archivist know what she had been listening to? Was no one monitoring her actions at all?
‘I may be wrong, maybe the Cities are not dying. I am wondering if, by destroying some human traits, something else has been destroyed. I have been trying to understand this Manipulation and Conditioning. I know why and can almost understand how.’
She certainly had been wandering where she was not allowed. I looked at her with new interest. The model citizen had certainly left her. Whatever had happened Outside had set in motion some new Ellen. Was this how she had been as a child before Conditioning and her Gran had held her in?
‘I would like to see what it was that made Bix a candidate for Feral. I would like to see what I was like before Conditioning. I believe something very nasty happened to me when I was very small. Probably in a Conditioning Session. Always when I behaved it was with this feeling of acute unease deep in my mind. Some awful punishment that would be mine if I did not behave as well as was possible. If I am right, what was it about me that led to Conditioning? What distressed the City so much about us?’ She was silent for a while then continued. ‘I found out in the Village that they too have Deviant Behaviour which they ultimately destroy with a killing; the individuals have time to amend their ways and very few die and it only happens when they are grown. People like Bix would not be killed until he was grown.’
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Alberta Ross, 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, 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 the two hundred and seventh in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story from the mixed bag of Mrs Smith, toy bear, carriage clock, bicycle ride, busy. Below is my 698-worder, another children’s story (second in two days) and semi-autobiographical (my father presented me with the same wooden box).
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-seven days of April, I’d written 32,559 words (against a target of 45,000) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Sunday UK time, the balance is now 39,454, so I’m catching up and have every confidence that I’ll get there.
Now on with today’s story…
*
Furry like a dog
Sydney was a little grey bear with a bright red bow around his neck. He was very handsome but quite shy. He’d been bought as an Easter present for Charlie Smith and they went everywhere together. Charlie’s bike had a basket on the front and wherever the family’s cycle rides took them, Sydney would be there, leading the way.
As winter approached, the weather got colder and they went out less. One Friday evening Sydney was sitting above the fireplace in the lounge. Charlie had gone to bed without him which was unusual, but Sydney didn’t mind because he would be there to greet him in the morning.
As Sydney sat against a carriage clock, he watched Charlie’s father putting together a big wooden thing. Mrs Smith was busy in the kitchen and the lovely smells made Sydney hungry. It was a very cold evening and the fire was so warm that he soon fell asleep.
The next day, Sydney woke to find the household rushing around like blue-bottled flies, too busy to pay any attention to him. It took him a minute to realise what was happening. It was Charlie’s seventh birthday. Sydney had heard Mr and Mrs Smith talking about it earlier in the week.
Charlie was now begging his parents to let him open his presents and they finally gave in. Sydney watched as streams of wrapping paper produced a plane model kit, a new cycle helmet and computer games. Sydney was grateful there weren’t any toys like him to take his place.
As Charlie’s father wheeled the final present into the lounge, Sydney recognised it as the wooden box. The back was plain but when it was turned round the front was covered with wire mesh and inside he could see something moving. Charlie gasped then clapped his hands wildly.
Sydney was too far away to see what all the excitement was all about and wondered what kind of thing could live in there. Maybe it was a dog. One of Charlie’s friends had a dog but he didn’t live in anything like this.
He watched Charlie open the door. There wasn’t just one thing in there but two. They were furry like a dog, but much smaller. Charlie leant forward and picked one of them out. It was grey, like Sydney, and was very handsome. For the first time in his life, Sydney was jealous. Charlie frowned and looked up at his mum.
“They’re guinea pigs, Charlie” she explained.
“Guinea pigs!” Charlie cheered as he dug back into the cage for the other fur-ball. This one was completely white with pink eyes. A funny looking thing, Sydney thought, not handsome at all.
Pigs? Sydney thought. The only pigs he’d seen before were on a cycle ride to Mr Parker’s farm where Charlie fed them. Whatever type of pig they were, Sydney felt happy they wouldn’t eat him.
Sydney watched as Charlie struggled to hold both of them.
Charlie’s mother took the white one. “They are very special guinea pigs, Charlie,” she said. “Auntie Lily has sent them all the way from Scotland for you. The grey one is a type called ‘Cinnamonrex’ and the white one is an ‘Ivorysatin’. They’re both boys so we have to be very careful they don’t fight.
“Don’t worry, Mum.” Charlie beamed. “I will stay with them ALL the time.” He looked the guinea pig in his hands. “I’ll call this one Lewis.” He then looked at white one which was wriggling in his mother’s hands. “And that one, Duncan.” Charlie’s mum smiled as she knew her sister would be delighted that Charlie had named them after his slightly-older cousins.
Sydney started to feel sad. What Charlie said about looking after his new pets meant that he wouldn’t have time for him anymore.
Charlie turned away from the cage and looked around the room until he spotted his best friend. “Look, Sydney!” Charlie said as he walked towards him, still with Lewis in his hands. “We’ve got some new friends. We can’t take them with us on the bike but we can play together in the house, wouldn’t that be fun?”
Yes, thought Sydney, that WOULD be fun.
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
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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 my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and fifteenth, is of poet, short story author and novelist Janet Tan.
Janet Tan, born and raised in the exotic, jungle-covered peninsula of west Malaysia, is a post-graduate student of accounting and management living in Adelaide, Australia. If pressed, she couldn’t tell you how old she was when she first held a book in her hands but ever since she was taught to read, her “full-on European nose” could be found buried in a book.
In her formative years, she grew up in a high-rise apartment. Other kids would be downstairs running around with their friends, playing and shouting and being children in general while she’d be sitting indoors reading yet another new book. It wasn’t that she was anti-social; being their only child and hard to come by, her parents just preferred that she was safe within their sight. Yes, she was brought up to be seen and not heard, to only speak when spoken to, and her mother – bless her soul – was not one to spare the rod when absolutely necessary. That is not to say that she doesn’t appreciate how she spent her time. Her childhood was a mishmash of adventures in strange lands and fictional planets, thanks to her local library.
Enid Blyton was her favourite author when she was younger. Her work sparked Janet’s imagination as a child. She started writing her own stories in her early teens and has never stopped since. She always knew she had a gift for words and languages because she is her father’s daughter. He is a veritable Jack-of-all-trades, having worked in many industries throughout his life. He has been an interpreter, a teacher, a writer and many more other things.
Janet finds that she expresses herself best through the written word and it is on paper that she’s most verbose and communicative. When it comes to things that she cannot bring herself to tell someone, she writes it down and that part of her, the emotions that she’s experiencing at the time, are then validated. To her, the art of writing is the greatest gift she was ever given.
*
And now from the author herself:
I am 23 (soon to be 24 this year), I don’t have a tragic life story to tell and maybe that’s okay. Maybe you can accept that. Some people say you need to have experienced suffering and pain to be able to write about it. I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Empathy is a great connector between you and a stranger walking down the street. What links me to my writing is the range of emotions I pour into each piece as I work on them. Every story, every poem I write, magnifies certain beliefs of mine. True, I am but young, but everybody is multi-faceted. I believe it would not be right to dismiss a person’s abilities purely because of their age. After all, Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon at age 15.
Over the past few years I have had some ideas and half-baked storylines come to me at random moments. I’ve turned some of them into poems, short stories and even expanded several into half-written novels. My greatest challenge is not a lack of inspiration but rather the perseverance to finish what I started. Fortunately for me, the desire to see my name on the cover of a book overrides my lack of tenacity.
After taking a six-month creative writing course two years ago, I decided that I wanted to write something in the contemporary genre. I experimented with a few ideas but none of them seemed quite right. It was after I met my now close friend and trainer that I landed on the perfect storyline. I wanted to share some of his past with the world but I didn’t want to write a biography (that might come later). I incorporated the little details that identify him perfectly into one of my favourite characters, Victor Price. Victor is his own person but there’s enough of my friend in him that one will always remind me of the other. In some ways, this book I’m working on is my baby and I know that when it’s done, it will always be my greatest achievement.
Visit my blog for more insight into my mind and for updates on what I’m working on: http://witchdoctress.wordpress.com.
**
You can find more about Janet and her writing via…
And now more about ‘On The Edge of Consciousness’:
The most delightful contemporary poetry collection to hit Kindle thus far. Poetry for young adults, and any poetry lover who enjoys fresh, dreamy prose.
How does it feel to writhe in your bed, thinking of a lost love, to contemplate your place in nature atop a cliff and to be transported into the night, where the world ends and adventure begins?
Forced by fate to rebel against convention, stalking the echoes of your own footsteps as you worship phoniness above all and melt into the crowd … on the edge of consciousness.
An eclectic mix of poems on love, loss, fear, nature, urbanism, globalism and mother nature.
***
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, Janet Tan, 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 Novel Nights In where I’ve been bring you guests’ novels in their entirety over a maximum of ten weeks. Tonight’s is the fourth, and final, book in this series and tonight features part eight of a 100,900-word novel by Alberta Ross. You can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.
NB. This novel does contain some strong language.
*
Ellen’s Tale: the first of The Sefuty Chronicles series – Synopsis
2060: The catastrophic results of climate change lead to mass migrations, whole nations fleeing rising seas and desertification. The world at war: land, water and survival the prize. The survivors split, most scrambling to the purpose-built cities the others fortifying their settlements behind the false security of rings of land mines.
Genetic manipulations lead to populations in the cities being freed from greed and violence but this has resulted in the destruction of the drive which made the human race so successful.
Imprisoned behind the mines, deprived of resources, the settlements battle famine, natural disasters and despair. Populations everywhere continue to tumble.
2162: Young researcher Maia Linne contacts archivist Ris Menai for assistance with a study of Ellen Wellfit, a young girl who had lived and loved 50 years previously. Through incomplete correspondence we follow their increasing interest and eventual love for each other.
2111: Ellen Wellfit, innocent and naïve. Bix Sefune, dangerously charming. They meet when she seeks his help to fulfil the dying request of an old lady. Terrified of life outside the city walls Ellen, is forced to cling to Bix and he, responding, finds his interest in her growing.
They both dare to think of a future together. It is Ellen who seeks to find a way to achieve their dreams. The results of her actions hold out hope for them and also for the dwindling survivors of mankind.
An historical romance in the future, with three time periods and two love stories set against a background of climate change, child soldiers, land mines, genetic engineering and eugenics.
*
Ellen’s Tale (part 8)
Jack Sefune continued
I felt all tensed. Wound up like a spring, you know. Ready to sweep her away if he got violent. I didn’t care it was Bix, I wouldn’t let anything happen to Ellen. I could feel the men around tensing as well. He would have a fight if he touched her. Yelling her out; well, yes, she deserved that, it had been a stupid thing to do and she could have been killed. I mean, it was high and smooth, you know the Wall? When did she do it before?
She didn’t back away or look scared; she listened quietly with a smile. When she was sure he had finished she raised herself onto her toes and kissed him. Kissed him first on his nose and then, when he didn’t react, on his mouth so softly, so gently, as she did her children. My gods, she was foolhardy. We waited. She waited. Her head a little on one side. Eventually, when Bix did not respond, only continued to stare at her with that closed, dark cloud over his eyes, she put a hand up and stroked the side of his face. Like she does. ‘If you want me to say I’m sorry I scared you, I am sorry. However, you and Jack do it all the time. You steal my babies and clamber down with them on your backs. Do you not think of their safety?’
‘We know what we’re doing,’ it came forced through clenched teeth. But I saw his muscles had relaxed a bit. ‘We’ve been climbing all our lives.’
‘In case you didn’t notice, my love, I knew what I was doing. I have been practising night after night. I knew exactly what I was doing.’
What she said tensed him up again. His voice was edged with fear but it sounded angry as he interrogated her. Practising who with? When?
She said she had done it on her own when everyone was asleep and I thought he would explode with rage then. Not rage like in battle, you understand. He was more scared even than we were. On her own she said, at night she said, climbing that Wall, teaching herself. I thought he might crack. Now I moved nearer him. I knew how he was feeling. I stared at Ellen, was she totally mad? She shrugged and would have turned away from him but he held her arm.
‘Never,’ his voice was hard and even, ‘do anything so stupidly foolhardy again. Do you understand?’
‘I’m going to follow you wherever you go, Bix. You will climb, so must I. If you wish me to do nothing dangerous then we must stay here in the City. If you wish me, as I do, to go Outside you must allow me to learn the skills I will need. You cannot carry me up every mountain we come across.’ Her voice was as soft as silk but it matched his steel. It was then, I think, we all realised truly what had attracted him. He couldn’t ever have stayed with weakness, however beautiful. He had known this steel right from the start. Now he had to accept she had grown and was nearly his match. He understood. We could see in his eyes the instant he accepted it. A moment more staring at her, tasting her words, and then he folded her in his arms and held her. Was he, I wondered, matching his heartbeat to hers this time?
Matt who was standing just behind me muttered, ‘If I had known that was all it took, a kiss at the end of his nose, hell I’d have saved myself some grief back then.’
We laughed and Bix, whose hearing has always been too acute for comfort, made an obscene gesture behind his back at us all, never leaving go of his Ellen.
It all worked out okay. You know Ellen, just doesn’t know how to be scared of Bix. Right from that first day she just never has been. I’ve seen men, I mean real battle-hardened tough men, scared of him. Her, never. She walked straight into his arms in that cab and has never left them. She just doesn’t know how to be scared of him. He’s right, we’ll have to rethink some of the things we do, if she’s going to be this foolhardy. If she’s going to follow blindly where he leads. It’s a whole new game with females and kits.
Things calmed down then and Ellen continues charming the Riders. Now there isn’t one who doesn’t worship the ground she walks on. She had often come out to the Yard to talk to them. She was getting used to the Outside was always her excuse, but she really seemed to like us all. Always ready with a smile and a laugh. She had never reverted to her well-mannered self with us. She looks at us all, stands close, touches, asks personal questions. Oh yes, every one of those Riders basked in her sunshine. Bix pretends to be jealous but you can see he enjoys her popularity. She’s a prize and he’s not ashamed to show her off.
Did any of you know what she was getting up to at night? I mean is there no Security at all. Or has she seduced the guards? Just kidding! But you ought to keep a better eye on her. Bix will be storming up to the Administrator right this minute, I should think. He’s really worried what she’ll try next.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Alberta Ross, 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, 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 the two hundred and sixth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story from the keyword of courage. I’ve written some grim stories on this slot so I thought I’d write something uplifting for a change. Below is my 330-worder.
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-six days of April, I’d written 32,559 words (against a target of 43,333) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Saturday UK time, the balance is still the same, so still a way to go but I’m going to be cracking on this evening so I’ll get there.
Now on with today’s story…
*
Andrew would have been proud
“I can’t hear you!” the teacher boomed.
The little voice tried again but was barely a whisper.
“Speak up child!” At six-foot-six, 4c class tutor Peter Clarke towered over Matthew Long and the poor boy opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish struggling for air.
Matt was built like a twig and Peter Clarke thought it amazing how he had the strength to stand as he clearly didn’t have the strength to speak. “Confidence, child! Shoulders back, head up and project your voice.”
The little boy looked lost. Matt was only seven and had always been terrified of speaking out in class, although less nervous with his previous teacher, Mrs Strickland, who had taken him under her wing. Mr Clarke reminded him of the giant in Jack & The Beanstalk.
Matt’s dad never listened to him as he built his model planes, and his mum was too busy with baby Beth. Emma, his 16-year-old stepsister was ‘in love’ so on the rare occasion that she was at home, she’d be chatting on her mobile to, or about, Simon at every opportunity.
Matt spent a lot of his free time writing about wild adventures, through the eyes of a boy called Andrew. He remembered a story he’d written a long time ago about Andrew overcoming his shyness and becoming Prime Minister!
Shaking a little, Matt stood up. Doing as Mr Clarke said, he slowly lifted his chin, pulled his shoulders blades together and in a loud clear voice, read out the adventures he’d had ‘on my summer holidays’ (very little of which was actually true as he hadn’t done much at all).
Part-way through, he looked over at Mr Clarke and saw that he did actually know how to smile.
When Matt finished reading out his story, a fellow student started clapping, followed by another, until the whole class was cheering.
Matt dropped his head in embarrassment, hiding a huge smile and shining blue eyes. Andrew would have been proud!
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
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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 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
Jim Cliff’s The Shoulders of Giants (A Jake Abraham Mystery) will be free on Kindle from 27 April-1 May.
NB. This notification goes out at 5am UK time which will still be the day before in Amazon.com world, so you may have to wait a few hours for the offer to kick in.
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.
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, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the eighty-fourth piece in this series. This week’s is a 983-worder by regular contributor JD Mader. This story will be podcasted in episode 29 (with two other stories) on Sunday 14th July.
The Spores
It had appeared as if out of nowhere, from a constellation of Vehicles. It was plopped down on a wooden counter covered in white powder. It was a product of alchemy. Revolution. Yeast uprisings often predated the Voyage. It was known to be this way. By some. Some did not believe it. But how could the Vehicle just appear? It was a question of faith. Some believed in the Yeast. Some believed the Vehicle, shaped by the hands of monsters, warm and dusted, covered with oats or bran… nuts… berries, all sorts of adornments… just, well appeared – they could not explain it. Sometimes it was round or flat or square, but not this time. This time is was a mighty oval, aerodynamic and strong, with a stout black shell and drenched in the smell of molasses.The Spores had been organizing their forces for some time; the actual travel had been relatively uneventful. The Trip was nothing new to them…. even if it was their first time. It lived in them, it was part of them, constructed from snippets of legend and whispered stories. A Vehicle did not always present itself. Sometimes they spent their lives circulating, spinning meaninglessly in the air, trapped in Hepa filters to die a slow death… but this, this was the kind of trip they all dreamed of. The Vehicle was large enough that whole tribes could make the journey.
The Voyage had been easy. The Vehicle was slipped into its paper shell. It was not sliced. This caused much rejoicing. But only for a brief time, because the trip began almost immediately.
Darkness and chaos reigned. The Spores were frightened, but brave. They knew not where they would end up, but they knew it was their destiny. They had been plucked out of the air. And that was the adventure…that was faith…they had to believe they would arrive somewhere. And they did have faith. When the jostling stopped, they found themselves in the dark corner of a room like they had never seen before. The walls were white. Everything was white. There was a table covered in a white sheet. Machines blipped and chirped. Monsters were everywhere, some robust and some hacking and coughing… the Spores recognized their handiwork in the hacking coughs. Everything smelled like the death chemicals that the Spores feared the most, but they pushed that fear away. It was fruitless to dwell on it.
Every few minutes a monster dressed in white would come in with another monster – costumed in various colors – and the white one would connect the other to machines that beeped and blinked and they made sounds that the Spores had heard before but did not understand. Occasionally, an older monster – clearly the Patriarch – would enter, holding papers and speaking in clipped sentences to his comrades. He wore a necklace over his white coat. It looped around his neck and hung limply. It was a long tube that ended in a circle. He touched this to the others… he moved the necklace from his neck to his ears. He nodded knowingly. But the Spores paid scant attention… they had work to do. And they knew there was only so much time. This was always a part of the stories. The work. Speed. Cooperation. It would determine if the mission was successful or not.
The room was dry and cold. This made the work more difficult. The Spores craved warmth and moisture. But they were intrepid in their endeavor. They set about to create their civilization with ardor and passion. They sang the anthems of their forefathers. They knew this Vehicle was theirs for the taking. It was time to rise up; the Yeast, if you believe in that kind of thing, had done their part. Now it was up to the Spores. And they would not fail.
Then they heard a booming noise so close to them that it shook them to their core. “Doctor, someone left some groceries in the examination room… you interested?”The monsters circulated all day. They came close to the Vehicle. It made the Spores anxious… almost vibrating with nervous energy. They had to work harder. Faster. If it was true…what they all hoped in the back of their minds, that the Voyage would end at the place… god… if it was true? They had different ideas of what the place would look like. What it would smell like. But there were constants… it would be dark. It would be wet. It would be a place where the Vehicle could finally rest and the spores could reap the rewards of their hard work. But that meant speed. That meant they had to work harder than they ever had in their lives. That meant fighting the arid wasteland they found themselves in… ignoring the smells of the Spore killers even when they were sprayed alarmingly close to their Vehicle.
“No, thanks. You can take them or throw them in the bin out back.”
Then the Spores were in motion again. The lights were dimmed; the Spores looked at what they had created. It would be enough… if only… they felt the Vehicle being lifted. They were moving… outside the room… outside the building! The evening air was cool and damp and the Spores rejoiced. Perhaps it had been true all along. They were traveling quickly and this time there was no paper to block the view. They saw the box. Black and stout. They watched the monster’s hand as it opened the lid. They smelled a wet redemption. And then they were falling. And they found themselves amongst millions of their own. Warm, and moist and growing. The non-believers shook their heads in astonishment as the prothletizers rejoiced. They had reached the promised land. The rank smell of darkness and decay surrounded them and they bowed their heads in thanksgiving. The Vehicle had served them well.
**
I loved it, but then I always love your stories. Thank you, JD.
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.
He 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.
***
If you’d like to submit your 1,000-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here, or up to 5,000 words for critique on my Online Short Story Writing Group (links 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, 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, 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, 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 the two hundred and fifth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second-person story about a widower. Below is my 622-worder.
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-five days of April, I’d written 28,054 words (against a target of 41,667) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Friday UK time, the balance is now 32,559 (4,505 since yesterday) so still a way to go but I’ll get there.
Now on with today’s story…
*
The ghost of the half-empty bed
“You look knackered,” they say and you feel like it. Six-hour sleeps certainly haven’t done you any favours.
“Early night tonight,” you mumble to yourself unconvincingly.
Life’s never been quite the same since Doris died and the void is so big that you think you’ll never get over it. Still, you plod on, doing your best. It’s just a shame that it’s not quite good enough.
Night times are the worst. The bed seems huge without her petite frame lying next to you and the house is too quiet. Your brother Matthew says that you should have moved on by now, but what would he know? He still has Jane. He might think about the possibility but he couldn’t know what it’s like to lose a soul-mate. How it feels now you’re only a half.
Unbearable, that’s what it is, and you do wonder why you carry on but the little voice, Doris’, tells you that you have to, so you do it for her.
You think Christmases are going to be the worst but as soon as you’re widowed, everyone thinks you’ll hate to be on your own, so invitations flood in. Having people around takes your mind off the day-to-day.
At least there’s the dog to be walked. Billy’s getting a bit slow but he’ll see out another year or two. “Good company” you imagine Doris saying. She’s the company you really want. He was her dog not yours but you look after him all the same. She named him after you.
The alarm finally goes off and you look up. Billy’s there, as always, lying at the end of the bed; on Doris’ side. He looks as miserable as you do, and you smile sympathetically. He doesn’t notice; still fast asleep, and you laugh at his twitching legs. He won’t hear you of course; deaf as a foghorn, just like Doris.
Billy reacts to movement these days, so you edge out of the bed, slowly pulling back the sheets. You imagine Doris shaking her head. She’d upgraded to a duvet years ago but it never suited you. With Doris’ shifting and Billy’s weight, you always ended up with a cold side. You didn’t like to complain because Doris always had other things to think about, but now you’d give anything to swap the sheets for her. You treated yourself, gave the duvet to the animal refuge, but the sheets aren’t how you remember them. You no longer have a cold side but you’re not warm either; the ghost of the half-empty bed sees to that.
You walk to the window and peek through a gap in the curtains. You think that anyone seeing them move will misjudge you, now you’re on your own. You no longer have a wife to hide behind; just curtains.
The snow that started falling last night is now as thick as a doorstop and your heart sinks. But then you smile. Matthew’s house is going to be impassable in this weather and he’ll be too busy with his children building a snowman to think about collecting you. You’ll have phoned to say you’ll stay locally and imagine the smile on his face as he realises he can have a beer or two after scooping up his children when they refuse to come in for lunch.
You will stay locally, very locally. You’ll share the sofa with Billy, something else Doris would have frowned at, wading your way through turkey and trimmings for one. You’ll open a big bottle of malt which you’ll raise to the health of the Queen. Yours isn’t so good these days but you don’t complain. You’ll wait for Billy then have your early night and look for Doris’ smile.
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
** 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, 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
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs (and poems, script / novel extracts, stories at the weekends). As you’ll see by the headings, you’ve missed a few but they’re listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there…
Poetry Writing Exercises 080: Friday 26th April
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: paper, red, nut, stapler, claim
- Random: A child is screaming
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- One-word prompt: crash
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
*
Story Writing Exercises 084: Friday 26th April
Here are your four story exercises for today. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.
You can do them in any order.
- Keywords: slay, sleigh, haul, all, genuine
- Random: S/he fancies her/his electrician
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- One-word prompt: today
Have fun, and do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on!
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
- First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
- Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. :)
- Second-person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. :)
- Title: This is the title of your story.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Tips
- Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
- Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
- Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
- Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
- Only use repetition to emphasise.
- When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
*
Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com
** 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, 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 eleventh, is of paranormal novelist Tracy Lane.
Tracy was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and moved to Topeka Kansas when she was very young. She loved to read and at 10 years old would stay in her room and read a book for hours. Her favorite book growing up was A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle. At school she would write short stories and share them with her friends. She dreamed of being able to write books and have them published.
Marriage and children seemed to take up all of her time and her dreams were forgotten. Being a mother, wife, working and taking care of a house took up all of her time and writing seemed to take a backseat to her life. After her children grew up and her husband passed away in a car wreck, Tracy found herself alone with two teenagers and much more time on her hands.
Tracy wasn’t for sure she could revive her dream at her age and was sure her time had come and gone. One day visiting her sister-in-law she mentioned about her love for books and writing and how she wished she had written a book when she had a chance. Her sister-in-law encouraged her to write a book and told her dreams don’t die with age, they are only forgotten. Her enthusiasm renewed Tracy decided to write a book. It took her about 2 months to come up with the idea for Paranormal Properties. Not knowing exactly what to write she started thinking about life experiences she had and remembered October of 1985 where she was in a car wreck and had been “dead” for about 2 minutes before they brought her back. Thinking of the NDE experience she thought a paranormal book would be a great start. One children and adults alike would enjoy. She began to make outline after outline until she came up with the one that seemed to speak to her.
Being very excited she wondered how she would begin the writing process. She had read somewhere that if you just put aside 5 to 10 minutes a day for writing and only if you produce one page a day, that would equal a book a year. So she decided to follow that advice and made herself start right before bedtime. Later on she realized that she was more creative in the mornings while having coffee. After months of writing, reading and rewriting, Paranormal Properties was done.
After having friends and family read it and give their input she fixed a few errors but knew it needed a professional eye to clean it up so she hired an editor. The end result was amazing! It looked like a book she read in her youth and could not believe this was her story come to life. Her editor helped her submit to several publishers and within two weeks she had a contract in hand. Shocked was an understatement. She had heard it was extremely hard to get a publisher and being a first time writer it would be almost impossible. So when the contract came to her in only two weeks she couldn’t believe it.
Tracy is now working on her next novel ‘Entwined Courage’ and says this one is even better than her first. She says she has about eight more books she is going to write and does not see herself slowing down at all in the future.
*
Let’s hope not! And now from the author herself:
My name is Tracy Lane and I am a new Young Adult Fiction writer. I got my start writing late in life when I found myself with quite a bit of time on my hands. I grew up in Topeka Kansas and went to Washburn Rural High School. Straight from school I married and had children. I just did not have the time to write.
I had a husband pass away in a wreck and then found myself with two teenagers that did not need me as much. With all this time on my hands I decided to start writing and it worked out much better than I had anticipated! I found I still had the same dreams I did when I was a young lady and just because I was older did not mean I could not make those dreams a reality. With renewed confidence I wrote ‘Paranormal Properties’ and working on my next book ‘Entwined Courage’. I enjoy bringing my stories to life and hope your enjoy reading them. No matter how old you are you can still bring your dreams to life.
**
You can absolutely. Thank you for joining me today.
You can find more about Tracy 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, Tracy Lane, 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 novelist Cherry Radford.
Writing Blush-Free Sex Scenes
Do I like writing sex scenes? Yes. But only because I’ve got rules that keep me blush-free. Thought I’d share them with any new novelists getting their knickers in a twist.
1. No Body Parts
There are no names for the relevant bits that don’t evoke an element of smut, comedy or memories of pre-teen dictionary-searching. Besides, we already know what condition the parts have to be in and what (usually) goes where; that’s just biology, we can do better than that.
Also to be avoided are unedifying descriptions such as ‘randy’; the ‘show rather than tell’ rule of writing is more important than ever in the bedroom (or wherever). For example, a woman describing herself as ‘horny’ sounds cheap, but we can sympathise when she says:
I’d gone into a stupor, my brain taken over by a primal need to be as entwined with him as possible on a large soft surface; it was just a question of how to get there.
(Flamenco Baby)
2. No Puppets
Concentrate on the sensuality rather than the sexuality. Let’s have a multisensory experience while we’re at it! Visual description alone will just give you something like the hilarious puppet sex scene from the film Team America: World Police.
Sometimes I think humour is the sixth sense. Here’s a couple getting inspiration from that very scene in Team America:
‘And you want see marioneta sex again?’
Of course I did. More laughter, but holding back a little; aware that we could hardly act this one out. Or at least I was. He lay back, his head on the arm of the sofa, and acted the hero.
‘I can’t help it, this feels so right and I don’t want anything mess it up,’ he said, with a hopelessly inadequate American accent.
‘Shh, mustn’t talk Gary,’ I whispered seductively, pointing with the guffaw-inducing vague puppet finger that misses his mouth and pokes him in the eye, ‘there’s not a thing in the world that can mess this up.’
Then we made explosion noises and tossed the cushions into the air, shaking and wheezing with laughter. Perhaps he moved the shoulder I was leaning on to keep my balance – perhaps deliberately, come to think of it – but suddenly I fell on top of him, our faces an inch apart.
‘Oh! That was close – I nearly head-butted you!’ I said, laughing again and trying to get myself up. But his arm came round me.
‘No, stay,’ he said, twisting his body slightly, his leg pushing on mine so that all of me was lying on top of him. It was suddenly very quiet in the room. I was sort of trapped and I couldn’t meet his gaze anymore, so I tucked my head under his chin and let myself melt into his warm, firm body. Just for a moment, I told myself. Just a bit longer. Oh God.
‘Is so nice, no?’ he said. Gently. The softness of his voice lowering my defences, lulling me into receptivity, an acceptance of the inevitable. After all, I could hear myself thinking, it’s going to happen sooner or later. Late or soon.
His hand slid under my blouse, stroked my back, tickling my sides deliciously. He started to kiss me. Then all of a sudden he needed to be in control: he turned me over and was swiftly undoing the buttons, kissing my tummy, his hand coming up under my skirt, murmuring something in Spanish that I couldn’t quite catch…
(Men Dancing)
3. Sex = Dialogue
Think of sex as just another form of dialogue between the characters; it’s a great way of showing what’s going on between them. For example, look what this usually gentle chap does when he’s feeling threatened:
He led me into the bedroom without bothering with the light, and started to undo his jeans. No first clearing up and getting ready for bed tonight then, I thought, a flutter of excitement shooting through me. But when he pushed me down onto the bed before I could take my top off I realised there wasn’t going to be much else first either. Then he yanked down my jeans and knickers and was on top of me, pushing in hard then just lying there, silent, his face in darkness.
‘Javi?’ I stroked his t-shirted back and waited for the Javi I knew to come back. I could hardly breathe. I wriggled underneath him.
He put a hand to my cheek. ‘Is where I want to be. Te quiero tanto.’ He wanted or loved me so much. Perhaps both. ‘Es problema.’
‘No es problema.’
(Flamenco Baby)
And conversely, dialogue can be enticing, even if one of the characters appears to be declining…
‘Look, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong idea but…’ I wouldn’t sleep with you again if you were the very last man on earth. That’s what I thought. Then, too weary to come up with anything else, said it.
His smile faded. ‘Qué?’
‘Well, I don’t think I can make it much clearer than that.’
‘No entiendo. In Spanish.’
I gave him a subjunctive-free rendition. ‘It’s an expression.’
He laughed. ‘Is stupid expression. Woman wants a baby.’
‘What?’
‘If one man in world. And any-way, why is so bad, if we sleep before…’
‘Sleep? That’s hardly the word! You just buggered off, scarpered, desapareciste in the night. Not a note or a phone number, nada.’ I started to feel shaky.
He breathed out heavily and shook his head. ‘Yoli, I have explained before, I try to make more easy for you.’
I sipped my drink. Damn it, I thought, if he knows I’m in love with him – if that’s what I am – he could at least have the grace to pretend he hasn’t noticed.
(Flamenco Baby)
Hm. Perhaps I should reassure you that my heroines do occasionally fall for non-hispanics…
But there you are. Just concentrate on ‘how’ rather than ‘what’, listen to what they’re saying, and enjoy it!
*
That was great. Thank you, Cherry.
Cherry Radford was a piano teacher at the Royal Ballet Junior School, a keyboard player in a band, and a research optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. She lives near Brighton, England. Flamenco Baby is her second novel; her first, Men Dancing, was published in 2011.
You can find more about Cherry and her writing via…
Flamenco Baby (February 2013)
“A lively tale, with all the emotion, darkness and humour of flamenco” (Sarah Bird, bestselling author of The Flamenco Academy)
Men Dancing (October 2011)
“A great read for Strictly fans” (Sir Bruce Forsyth, host of BBC Television’s Strictly Come Dancing)
***
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
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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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Welcome to the two hundred and fourth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a dialogue-only story where the main character is buying something odd. Below is my 433-worder.
I’m also doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month alongside this 5pm fiction slot. Although Camp’s minimum is 10,000, I’m aiming for NaNo’s 50,000… as well as these daily short stories – yes, a glutton for punishment!
In the first twenty-four days of April, I’d written 25,150 words (against a target of 40,000) and at the time of posting this, 5pm Thursday UK time, I’ve done another 1,000 words but I’m home all evening so hopefully I’ll double that at least.
Now on with today’s story…
*
Transparent
“Good morning, sir.”
“Hi.”
“May I help you?”
“Just looking, thanks.”
“Certainly. Give me a call if-”
“What do you prices start from?”
“It depends on the quality and quantity, sir.”
“A rough idea.”
“Low grade unconcentrated aerosol is twenty-nine greitons. Superior concentrated crystal jar is one hundred and fifty greitons.”
“How long do they last?”
“The two examples I’ve given run from half an hour right up to a month and a half.”
“Half an hour? It’ll be half gone by the time I get home. That’s fifteen greitons for nothing.”
“Fourteen greitons fifty-siebels, but yes sir, that does seem a little extravagant. I would certainly suggest a concentrated version.”
“But I can’t afford one fifty.”
“In a crystal jar, though.”
“Yes, that’s probably very nice but…”
“Shall I leave you to look around?”
“What have you got up to sixty greitons?”
“In the concentrated variety, not very much but that will get you a week’s worth of unconcentrated.”
“A week?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s much better value than the thirty greitons-”
“Twenty-nine. Yes, sir.”
“Why-?”
“It’s a different method of transportation sir.”
“Transportation? How?”
“Intravenous.”
“What? I’m not letting you stick any needles in me!”
“It is the cheapest method.”
“And it’ll last a week?”
“Oh yes. Guaranteed to do that.”
“How big are these needles?”
“Tiny. You’ll hardly feel a thing. And we use new ones for every customer.”
“That sounds alright.”
“I can arrange that for you now. Anston! Mark II for this gentleman. Right away.”
“And you say it won’t hurt.”
“Slight sensation then you’ll feel a little light-headed but just think, you’ll get to live for another week!”
“You’re right. It’s worth every siebel.”
“It certainly is.”
“I’m surprised you’re not busier. Seeing as you’re the only place around here to sell-”
“We have our moments, sir.”
“But the people I do see look so happy. You look very healthy yourself.”
“Thank you, sir. Yes, we do provide a wonderful service. Ah, there’s Anston. Thank you. Now, sir, please open your shirt. I just need to get to your lungs.”
“Lungs?”
“It’s the most direct route.”
“Oh my, that’s huge.”
“But the needle itself is small, see?”
“Oh yes, but I can’t see anything inside-”
“Of course not, sir. Air is transparent.”
“Silly me, of course it is.”
“And you’ll feel so much better. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“OK, just a little-”
“Ouch!”
“Sorry about that.”
“What? What are you doing?”
“Won’t be long.”
“But you’re not inserting air, you’re-”
“Removing it. Of course, sir. Where do you think we get it from in the first place?”
***
Picture above courtesy of morguefile.com.
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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 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 romance novelist and poet Lin Treadgold and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/author-interview-with-romance-novelist-and-poet-lin-treadgold.
***
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, 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, Lin Treadgold, 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.
*
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!
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 romance novelist Robin Leigh Morgan.
Changing Genres
Some of us who have chosen to write fiction come from a variety of places. And by a variety of places I’m not referring to a physical location, I’m referring to our writing experiences.
There are some of us who have enjoyed writing since we were a child, and each year by writing something in school it improved. For some of us, it continued until we graduated college and began working. Some of us entered the work force taking jobs which required us to write, whether it was procedures, handbooks/manuals, or news stories. But all of these are non-fiction, and each one has a set of “rules” which need to be followed to write something well enough to be acceptable.
As for myself, while my regular job did not require me to write, for eleven years I wrote articles [commentaries / viewpoints] of what was happening in my community and my feelings about it. When I started to write these items my writing skills were not honed, I didn’t have my ideas organized in a tight manner, although my writing had been informative. By the time I’d written my last item, I’d become quite adept at it.
When I started to write fiction, I somehow drifted to writing a contemporary romance story with a paranormal element running through the storyline, but after almost 9 years I still hadn’t completed it. That is, until someone suggested I should write for a much younger audience; which is what I did, cumulating in my first YA Paranormal / Time Travel / First Kiss romance novel, entitled “I Kissed a Ghost.”
Anyway, making the transition from non-fiction to fiction I’ve had to learn a new set of rules in how to write. Most of these involved dialogue, showing not telling; where before I just told. I now had to learn about the use of tags. I had to learn not to be overly descriptive of something, but allow my reader to create the image for themselves in their minds. In the beginning I found it hard to break my old writing habits. Now I’m finding myself with these habits essentially gone. The biggest issue I still have and am trying to get a good handle on, is POV [Point of View]. Regardless of what’s happening or being said it has to be in one’s character’s perspective, and you can’t flip-flop between two characters within a scene, there needs to be a transition from one character to another.
All these things have helped me mold myself into the author I’m today. I’ve also learned there are additional rules within a genre depending on the sub-genre you’ve decided to write in. These rules apply to the dialogue spoken which needs to be true to the time period you’re writing in, as well as how your characters are dressed, and their titles if any, as is the case with the regencies sub-genre of romance novels.
So as you can see writing is not mere a string of words you put together, there are rules which need to be followed if you’re to be well received by your readers.
If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you.
*
Thank you, Robin Leigh. That was great.
And now a little about Robin Leigh herself…
Robin Leigh is a retired NYC civil servant with various job titles, the last one of which was in the Systems Analyst title series. She’s been married for 19 years with no children but has two cats, one adopted and one rescued.
She began to write back in June 1995, about eleven years over 450 commentary type items for a community newspaper. Along the way Robin Leigh decided to see if she could write something else. She didn’t own a computer back then, but did have access to one where she wrote her commentaries, and it was on this computer that she wrote about two pages a week. Once she got her own computer she began to write what she wanted to be a contemporary romance with a paranormal element running through, but never seemed to get the sense it would be good enough to be read by someone else.
Eventually, someone suggested she write for a younger audience, which how she came to write her first novel, a YA [Young Adult] Paranormal / Time Travel / First Kiss romance entitled, “I Kissed a Ghost”.
As far as Robin Leigh’s next book is concerned, she’s going to return to writing the romance manuscript she had started many years ago, and approaching it anew with the knowledge she’s gained along the way in writing “I Kissed a Ghost”. The reason she’s writing it is relatively simple; she’s always felt somewhat incomplete not having completed something she once had started out to do, and now wants to fill the void it has created in her life.
Morgen: I’m biased but writing does that for me.
***
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.
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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, Robin Leigh Morgan, 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
You can do them in any order.
You can do them in any order.
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