Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and thirty-second, is of Jan Christensen.
In the early 1990s, the writing bug hit Jan hard. She quickly finished the first novel she’d started in her twenties. It’s still in a drawer. She next turned to short stories and found she loved writing them. Over a period of a few years, she had three more novels written, plus a pile of short stories.
Some of the short stories began to appear in print magazines in the mid-to-late-90s. By this century, more appeared in both print and ezines, and now her list of published stories numbers over fifty. She’s been nominated for two Derringer Awards (for short mystery stories) and won several other awards for her short pieces.
In 2004, one of Jan’s novels, “Sara’s Search”, was published and is now available for the Kindle. Since then she’s had two more novels published, “Revelations” and “Organized to Death” with another, “Perfect Victim”, coming out in April, all in both print and ebook formats. Also, a small collection of some of her previously published short stories for the Kindle is available titled “Warning Signs”.
Jan has also had several non-fiction articles published and has a regular column about reading in Mysterical-e called Reading for Smarties. She blogs about writing on Fridays and personal organization and time management on Mondays to tie in with her new mystery series about a professional organizer.
*
And now from the author herself:
When people ask me what books influenced me the most, I have to list two books in particular, and one genre. The first book I remember my mother reading to me was Alice in Wonderland. The next book I can name that greatly influenced me was Cheaper by the Dozen. And the genre I enjoyed in my teens and into adulthood and still enjoy the most is the mystery genre.
Cheaper by the Dozen taught me about time management and goal setting. Although I don’t enjoy fantasy books very much as an adult, Alice in Wonderland taught me about humor and that books should be fun to read. (Cheaper by the Dozen was a fun book, too.) And many mystery writers write with humor.
Mix them all together, and except for the occasional segue into dark mysteries, most of my stores tend to be light and have at least a hint of humor. Frequently I have an ordinary person (like Alice) surrounded by extraordinary people and events. Another theme I seem to keep coming back to is female friendships. My first published novel, Sara’s Search, is based on one, and it runs through my third, Organized to Death. (My second, Revelations is one of those darker stories.) Back to a strong female friendship theme is my upcoming private eye novel, “Perfect Victim”.
Since I am fascinated by organization and time management (that Cheaper by the Dozen influence), I made Tina Shaw, the protagonist in Organized to Death, a professional organizer. Also in the planning stages is a second book with Tina and a non-fiction book about those two topics.
I do love to write short stories, and when you think about time management, a writer can get out a lot more of them in a short timeframe than she can novels. When I started writing and joined my first writer’s group, I decided to write a short story to submit every time we met—every two weeks. I experimented with all sorts of characters and plots, and I learned the habit of sitting down to write at a regular time and finishing what I started. It did spoil me, however, for sticking to one type of mystery story, and I’ve found it harder to market the novels because of that.
The most luck I had with a short story was one I first had published in “Hardluck Stories” ezine, later published in a western noir anthology edited by Ed Gorman, Dave Zeltserman, and Martin Greenberg titled, On Dangerous Ground, now out of print. In April “Going Where the Wind Blows” from that anthology will be available in ebook format from Untreed Reads Publishing. Untreed has also published my four short crime capers about a hapless burglar named Artie. He keeps running into beautiful women who need his help, and he’s helpless to turn them down. The wonderful thing about the stories being in ebook format is that they should be available for a very long time, maybe even forever.
When people ask me for advice about writing, I always say, “Write every day. Read every day.” It’s a wonderful life.
**
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you, Jan. You can find more about Jan 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, Jan Christensen, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the twelfth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a story set at a wedding. Below is my 162-worder.
*
Making up the numbers
“Bride or groom?”
Robbie looked at the pews. Plenty of space on the left-hand side. Groom on the left. “Groom.”
“Name?”
Robbie went with his usual alias. “Jimmy. Cousin.”
The man with the clipboard looked at the left side of his list. It didn’t take him long. “Sorry, don’t see your name here.”
“Ah yes,” Robbie started his well-worn speech. “I was a ‘no’ because I was going to have to work but then at the last minute. You know…”
The man shrugged and added ‘Cousin Jimmy’ to the list.
Robbie took an end seat halfway down the aisle then turned to the woman beside him, holding out a hand. “Jimmy.” He then lowered his voice. “The bride’s side really but I thought I’d make up the numbers.”
The young lady giggled softly and Robbie noticed her blush.
He’d woken up that grey and gloomy Saturday feeling equally dispirited but now it looked like it might be a good day after all.
***
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, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and thirty-first, is of romantic fantasy novelist Andrea Baker.
Andrea Baker has had ideas for stories and poems all of her life – as a child she would live inside stories that grew from her favourite novels, playing with these characters for hours, inventing “what happened next” scenarios. Her Mother had encouraged her love of stories, and she could read simple books before she started school, and this was further encouraged by one of her Primary School teachers, who, recognising her love of reading, challenged her to read all the “Famous Five” series in the second half of the school year. A challenge she happily accepted, and achieved. Her favourite childhood stories included “The Chronicles of Narnia” by CS Lewis, and as she grew older, she added the “Anne of the Island” series by Lucy Maude Montgomery, as well as the Bronte Sisters and Jane Austen. Each of these favourites was read several times, and she would regularly accompany her Father to the local library, as at one time she would bring home, and read, as many as fourteen books each week!
As she grew up, and left University, she convinced herself that these imaginary stories were something that she should have grown out of – that these daydreams belonged in the realms of childhood. For many years she fought against the ideas. Every time she read a different novel, the ideas would return – she couldn’t stop her mind creating these worlds and stories, but she refused to write them down.
Instead she focused on life, and developing a career for herself. As a result has worked across both the private and public sectors, and now runs her own interim management company offering support and consultancy to those same client groups.
Describing herself as “pretty normal really”, she met her husband just two months after leaving University. They now live with their young daughter in the beautiful county of Warwickshire, close to where Andrea grew up, and just a few short miles from the stunning locations of her books.
Becoming a mother seemed to fuel her imagination once more, and since the birth of their daughter the ideas returned and grew, refusing this time to be ignored. As a result, the Worlds Apart Series, an idea that has floated around her for many years now, has been created.
*
And now from the author herself:
Thank You Morgen, for inviting me to be part of your wonderful blog. 
It was quite strange reading through that author biography, as it brought back so many memories of those early journeys into writing my own stories.
Now my daughter is of the age to read the Chronicles of Narnia, it is strange how I still get that same tingle when she reads the odd piece aloud to me, the excitement that I remember feeling as I read those books. I love the fact that she too seems as enthralled by them as I was all those years ago. Of course nowadays we’d call these stories “fan-fiction”, and there is a growing market for them, from readers desperate not to have to leave behind their favourite characters. Although my own stories are now unique, I know that every single book that I have ever read has influenced my work in one way or another. Whether helping me to understand a situation that I have never been in, but find my character drawn to, or allowing my mind to rest, in order to find the escape hatch once more, they are all influencers in their own right.
Looking back though I can’t believe how many books I used to read, and I honestly wonder where I found the time. Even at primary school I’d read seven or eight books a week while at the same time I was also attending ballet lessons twice a week, learning to play the Violin, and having swimming lessons! I remember that I never went anywhere without a book though, and would read on every car journey too. As I grew up, I recognised that ballet wasn’t for me, and switched from playing the Violin badly, to being not so bad on the Oboe, a legacy from another primary school teacher, and an instrument that gives me goose bumps even now when I hear it, although I can no longer play it myself. That was when my reading peaked, to fourteen books a week, at the age of 13/14. Many writers are creative in other areas – some of my author friends are fantastic artists in their own right too, but the only other area that I could be described as being creative in was music.
I think reading is an integral part of being a writer, don’t you? There are so many fabulous books out there, and I can still easily devour a good novel within a day, if time allows. I find now though that I actually have to plan my reading, and pace myself. Since the idea for Worlds Apart became a series, just hearing a snippet of a track off my writing playlist can trigger the flow of ideas, and my mind will drift off on a path of its own. That’s fine when I’m at home, but not so good when helping a client with their CRM Strategy, or major transformation programme and someone has forgotten to turn their mobile off!
The biggest challenge for me though has to be finding the time to write. I work full time, and when I’m not at work, my first priority is our daughter, so I rarely get time to stop, let alone think, before late in the evening. When the story is flowing, I can easily get several hundred words written in the space of a couple of hours, and in fact the bones of book one, over 30,000 words, were written over several evenings during a six-week period. That’s not so easy however when I’m struggling with where the story is going – and many times I’ve sat at our computer, or with a laptop on my lap, staring at a blank screen. I often find that happens when I’m trying to force the story to go in a certain direction, and the characters aren’t ready to do that. I don’t know about your own writing Morgen, but my characters have surprised me with some of the things that ended up on the page. The story still goes where I’m expecting it to, but there have certainly been a few significant events along the way that I wasn’t quite expecting!
I have to admit though that when I first starting writing Book One properly, and the realisation that this was a complete product, not just another idea, I found it a very isolating experience. I’m quite shy in many ways, and told less than a handful of people, including my husband and parents, that I’d started writing properly again. So knowing where to begin in terms of marketing and getting published was really difficult. By chance I came across the Authonomy website, and although I don’t use that site very much at all, I joined a group of writers called the Alliance of Worldbuilders, all of whom are fantasy authors of one genre or another. Book One would never have been published without their support and advice, and I know it is a much better book as a result of their comments. I’d highly recommend that anyone new to writing, who really wants to get support and advice, seeks out and joins a similar forum for the genre they write.
Thanks for having me Morgen.
**
You’re very welcome, Andrea. I’m delighted you could join me.
You can find more about Andrea 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, Andrea Baker, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and thirtieth, is of novelist, speaker and poet Robert E Hirsch.
Robert Hirsch was born in Pusan, Korea in 1949. At age five, upon the conclusion of the Korean war, his mother placed him on an airplane and sent him to America under the adoption of his biological American father due to post-war hardships and the ostracism against Amer-Asian children that existed in Korea at the time. He did not see her again until forty years later in 1993 when they were finally reunited. Living in the South (Columbus, Georgia, 1954), he was prohibited by segregation practices from enrolling in public school because he was half Asian and deficient in English, and subsequently received his first four years of education in Catholic schools. From there he attended Department of Defense schools until age thirteen when he received American citizenship. His family then moved to France where, despite the fact that he did not speak French, he was placed in the French school system. Within three years, however, he became fluent in French and upon graduation from college at Cameron University in Oklahoma (1971), he became a French teacher. He retired from education in 2012 after a 40 year career in which he served as a teacher, Dean of Discipline, assistant middle school principal, high school principal, and superintendent. He is currently writing novels and serving as a public speaker / organizational consultant.
He has long had a passion for writing, has published poetry, authored a regular newspaper column, and has recently published his first fiction novel, Contrition, with JournalStone Publishing of San Francisco. As with most writers, witnessing the human condition has been utterly fascinating… a bittersweet communion of heartbreak and inspiration. “Due to the extremely unusual, transitional circumstances of my life and the many odd experiences it has thrown at my feet, writing has been cathartic for me,” says Hirsch. “We as feeble humans are often swept into the rushing tide of circumstance, and are consequently forced into making decisions that violate our core principals… and thus begins that inner struggle that so hauntingly lingers within the brackish backwaters of our conscience.”
*
And now from the author himself:
My writing delves into the cerebral aspects of the personal reflection that arises as we confront challenge and conflict. More specifically, I like to examine and expose the impact that previous failures, collapses, and misdeeds have had upon my characters, and how those past experiences affect the psyche of my characters as they grapple with the obstacles I have placed before them within my plots. I have determined by now through both personal experience and observation that regardless of our individual successes and victories in life, we each inevitably leave behind us a wake of damage as we plod forward through life. Often this damage to others is created through no malice or intent of our own, but comes about as a result of being swept into the currents of circumstance. Whether the damage done to others is deliberate or incidental, however, the end result is the same… hurting others. This may be of little consequence to the malevolent, but the decent soul is profoundly affected by the effect of his/her own errant actions upon others. And thus begins that parasitic inner struggle that slowly eats at the “good heart” as he/she struggles to navigate through the see-saw of the conscience.
In my novel, Contrition (JournalStone Publishing, August, 2012), the placid existence of a small coastal community is disrupted by the brutal murder of a ten-year-old girl within the attic of the house of the Brothers of Holy Cross who run the local Catholic school. Within the web of shock, mystery, and horror that begins to unravel as the crime is investigated, the disconnected lives of five characters begin to converge in an unanticipated communion of personal contrition as the murder of the young girl forces them individually to return to the pillory of their own guilt for things that occurred earlier in their lives. Contrition crosses genres (suspense, mystery, crime, horror/supernatural), but remains true to one simple theme… the human heart’s quest for atonement. Though the human heart is the wellspring of great strength, courage, and perseverance, it is also fragile… and once broken, can force the strongest of souls into the bottomless depths of depression, defeat, and inner collapse. The heart, then, is the very core of our humanity, and there is no medium in existence that can so effectively and precisely convey the struggles of the heart better than the written word of fiction. Solid writing entangles us within the lives, aspirations, and fears of the characters placed before us. Good writing sweeps us into plots and storylines, regardless of themes, settings, or time. And this, I find, is the exciting challenge of writing… imagining and creating emotion.
I have just completed two more novels, Promise of the Black Monks and Hammer of God, and have just this month sent them off to my agent (Loicano Literary Agency, Texas). These two novels form a prequel-sequel package and, unlike Contrition, are purely of the historical fiction genre. They cover the abandonment and subsequent upbringing by Benedictine monks of a ten-year-old boy during the political and spiritual turmoil at the close of the 11th Century, just preceding the First Crusade. Again, despite the complete left turn from Contrition in terms of setting, genre, and time period, my driving theme in these two books is the human heart and how it navigates one through both internal and external adversity.
**
Robert’s novel, Contrition, can be ordered through JounalStore.com, Kindle, Nook, Barnes and Noble, and Books-a-Million. More information and musings by Robert Hirsch are available at his website: robertehirsch.com.
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, Robert E Hirsch, 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 eleventh in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month while I write a story a day for Story A Day May 2013.
Today’s prompt was to write a story for submission to a particular market. Micro fiction is incredibly popular and whilst I won’t submit this one, especially because anything published online is deemed published, my very first published (by Woman’s Weekly) piece was a 60-worder. So below is my 60-worder for today…
*
Dating paradise
The Brington Chronicle’s lonely hearts advert read ‘gentle giant 40s sought for romantic picnics and cinema visits by petite blonde late 30s, reply to Box 147’.
Eve waited for over a week for replies to trickle in but by the second week she’d had fifty.
She sifted through them and found her ideal man, Adam… a match made in heaven!
***
Picture 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, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-ninth, is of novelist Panos Nomikos.
Panos Nomikos was born in 1961 in Athens, Greece. During his carefree, youthful years, he roamed the idyllic islands of his home country having fun on the golden beaches under the sun with his friends and lovers. Later, he studied for a Ph.D. in the UK and started a career in Information Technology in the maritime sector, roaming again across the world on intercontinental business trips in faraway places in Asia, Europe and America. In the course of his career he has authored numerous essays and articles in professional publications.
He maintains a blog at http://panosnomikos.wordpress.com writing about his favorite themes related to his beautiful home country, Greece, its position within the world-wide socioeconomic transformations, and its current upheaval in the midst of the worst financial crisis that we are experiencing here. He writes especially about ordinary Greeks, those living within the country, but also those who live and distinguish themselves around the world, trying to understand their vivid pulse and their feelings of belonging to the worldwide Greek diaspora.
Similarly, he has always aspired to share all those views and experiences and his quests to discover his own ‘true meaning of life’ by writing books. His first novel, ‘Fateful Eyes’, narrates the story of Peter, a busy professional who travels constantly around the world trying to solve a perplexing puzzle that has upset his life, whereas his affectionate lover tries to fend-off the threat posed by a mysterious antagonist in his heart.
*
And now from the author himself:
People around me have always been telling me that I am a “good writer” and that I should use my talent one way or another, someday… Since childhood (since I was ten years old) I have kept a diary, a habit that I have maintained continuously for the past forty years. Although, of course, nobody else has read my secret diaries, whenever I am revisiting my past pages, I am glad to notice that I am amused and entertained, not by my uneventful and ordinary past life per se, but by the way that I had been expressing my inner feelings and emotions.
Later on, during my professional career, I have written dozens of essays and articles in professional publications and magazines in my industry sector. The readers of those articles, and the editors of those publications, gave me a very heartening feedback, truly enjoying my pieces and my style, and encouraging me to write something “bigger”.
Thus, I decided to follow their advice. Witnessing first-hand and participating in the rapid socioeconomic developments that characterize the final decade of the previous century and the first years of the new millennium, from my professional standpoint, I wished to share all my observations and my opinions about the world-wide developments, one way or another. Moreover, the acute crisis that occurred recently in my home country, Greece, that again I am witnessing first-hand as it evolves around me on a daily basis, gave me an additional insight on how things can go terribly wrong, for a whole nation. I do maintain the position that, what has happened so far in Greece, is not unique to this country and, if the appropriate lessons are not learned by the educated world-wide elites, the intellectuals, the professionals, and the masses themselves, and if risk mitigation actions are not taken now rather than later, then I will not be surprised to see the same phenomena repeated again and again all over the world, including today’s richest, industrialized countries.
But how to “spread the word” about what has happened in my own country, and about what can go terribly wrong elsewhere? I wrote a novel, “Fateful Eyes”, where the protagonist, Peter, is a cosmopolitan Greek who grew up in Athens but who migrated to the UK. As he wanders around the globe trying to solve a mysterious puzzle that is tantalizing his life, he is unwittingly entangled in the rolling thunder of the world’s upheavals that characterize the beginning of the new millennium. His adventures give him a lot of stimuli to ponder on what has gone wrong in the global affairs, and what lies ahead for all of us.
A sequel of “Fateful Eyes”, the second volume, is already in the works, plus one more, shorter novel that will complete a trilogy. I hope that you will join me in this fascinating trip and that you will enjoy it.
**
I certainly do. Thank you, Panos. You can find more about Panos and his writing via…
Fateful Eyes is a story about a life spent searching for love, accomplishments, and true fulfillment, within the world upheavals that, unfortunately, characterize the beginning of the new millennium. In his own life, Panos Nomikos (the author) has traveled in many continents, has been acquainted with many different people from different cultures, and he has also humbly attempted to comprehend the dizzying pace of events that are unfolding in such a frenetic tempo around us.
Panos aspires to share those experiences by narrating the story of “Peter”, a cosmopolitan who is traveling around the world at several exotic places, trying to solve a great puzzle, trying to locate a mysterious lady who came from his distant, youthful, and lustful past, and upset his life and his relationship with his affectionate lover. All the while, she is trying to fend-off by the threat posed by that mysterious rival in his heart.
Yet, the puzzle itself is not the essence of this novel. The puzzle is only a “pretext” to justify the exposure of Peter’s tortuous and twisted path in life, as well as to narrate the lives of everyone around him, as they all become unwittingly entangled into the rolling thunder of the world’s current upheavals, terrorism, wars, and economic crises. Like a modern Odyssey, the real essence of this novel is Peter’s long and tormenting journey towards his destination, towards the completion of his mission. Notwithstanding the mystery, the problems, and the upheavals, this story also celebrates love, affection, optimism, and the enthralling beauty of marvelous life.
Fateful Eyes can be found on Amazon www.amazon.com/author/panosnomikos in paperback or e-book formats.
***
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, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the eighty-sixth piece in this series. This week’s is a 483-worder by Caron Allan. This story will be podcasted in episode 30 (with two other stories) on Sunday 28th July.
The Blue Dress
“They’ve found something, sir.” A young policeman spoke through the car window. Inspector Smith heaved himself forward on the seat and got out of the car. Seemed like these days he was always tired. Time to quit, go fishing, get away from all this. He’d given them thirty-five years, they’d had enough.
“Is he still alive?” He asked the constable. He looked too young to be a copper. Looked like he should still be in the Scouts. They all did, with their degrees in Criminology and their fresh faces, still with acne, some of them. The constable shrugged.
“The paramedics are still working on him. It doesn’t look too good, sir.”
Inside the funeral parlour, the assistant who had raised the alarm watched as a couple of paramedics laboured over the undertaker. The scrawny white chest was bared for the use of the defibrillator. Smith turned away, the image frozen, a moment in time, imprinted on his mind – a few greying hairs in the middle of the chest, the prominent ribs supporting the pale skin.
“How did you know this wasn’t just a routine call?” The constable was at his side, and the question was a welcome distraction. As Smith responded, they turned about and headed for the rear door. “I mean, we were called out to a robbery gone wrong, and straight away, you knew. It was like magic, sir.”
Smith halted in the doorway and looked at the youngster.
“There’s no magic in this game, son. As soon as we went into the flat upstairs, I saw the dress.”
“I saw it too, sir, but it didn’t ring any warning bells with me.”
Smith looked at him. “You didn’t find it a bit odd that an elderly bachelor should have a blue dress hanging on a mannequin in his bedroom? A blue dress that clearly dated from the 1950s, and was the size of a girl of about 12 to 14 years of age? It didn’t make you wonder if the undertaker had a secret? You didn’t find any of that at all unusual, constable?”
The constable flushed, and looked down at his feet. “Well, I suppose …”
They headed into the back garden. There was a concrete area set aside for client parking, beyond that a tall hedge enclosed a private garden. Some men in plastic all-in-ones had dug up a small patio area surrounded by climbing roses. In any other time or place, a beautiful bower of contemplation. One of the men got to his feet and beckoned the police officers over. He pointed into the shallow pit.
Smith looked. A cold hand clutched momentarily at his heart. He nodded and turned away. The constable was at his elbow like an eager puppy. “Sir? Do you know who it is, sir?”
Smith nodded again.
“Jessie Flynn. 13 years of age. Missing since 1958. The owner of that blue dress.”
*
I asked Caron what prompted this piece and she said…
The inspiration behind this short story came mainly from your (Morgen’s) online novel-writing group daily exercises featuring a photo of a blue dress on a mannequin. In the end I changed the kind of dress it was to suit the story, but the visual clue set off my imagination. I wondered who the dress might belong to and why it was on a mannequin. I could visualise it standing in the corner of an old dark room, a room no one visits apart from an elderly man. I could imagine him stretching out greedy arthritic fingers towards the soft stuff of the dress. It was a symbol, a reminder of a terrible act he had committed in his past. This was a secret that wouldn’t be discovered until he was dead. The prompts also indicated a character who was always tired and this led me to my jaded detective who has seen too much over his years as an investigating officer. Thank you Morgen for the brilliant exercises!
You’re so welcome, Caron. Thank you for doing something (and great somethings) with them!
**
Caron Allan was born in Kent and has lived all over the south east of England, and also spent five years in Brisbane, Australia, which has provided plenty of material for writing novels and short stories, mainly in the mystery / crime genre but Caron also writes fantasy fiction.
Married with two grown up children and now living in Derbyshire, Caron has previously worked as a railway ticket clerk, a classroom assistant, a secondhand bookshop assistant, an archivist, and a University administrator.
When not plotting how to kill people, Caron can be found trawling the aisles of her local grocery store in pursuit of everyday items with lethal potential. Other interests include history and family tree research and chatting on Facebook. Caron self-published her first eBook, Criss Cross, on 1 January 2013, and is currently writing a sequel, which at the moment has the working title Cross Check.
Caron’s novel is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criss-Cross-Posh-Hits-ebook/dp/B00BM9AJ3Q and http://www.amazon.com/Criss-Cross-Posh-Hits-ebook/dp/B00BM9AJ3Q.
***
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, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the tenth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a third-person omniscient story. I was going to continue on from the previous three days but fancied doing something different and although the first section is only third-person limited (one character’s point of view) I’ve taken the literal ‘God’s view’ of omniscience. The second section is connected and is omniscient. Below is my 1,048-worder.
*
Death & Life
Death
Wonder how long would it take me to reach the ground if I jumped? Ted thinks as he swings his legs in the light breeze. How many bones would I break? Which part of me would hit the sidewalk first? He won’t of course, would have thought about it a year or so ago but he’s turning his life around, working hard, getting off the booze. This is his last bottle of old JD. Mr Daniels and Ted go way back. JD was there when he needed him or thought he needed him but instead of going to the liquor store, he’s started going to the café next door. Hadn’t even noticed it before, in a world of his own, but it’s real cute, a real homely atmosphere with damn fine cups of coffee.
He sits looking at his colleagues, eating their lunch next to him on the girder, chatting away, not a care in the world and thinks, They’re lucky – probably have swell homes, loving wives… gals who make their lunch pails and kiss them off to work. Someone to meet them, hold them, have their supper ready on the table when they get home, someone to care for them… think about them when they’re not there. The ‘old’ him would have felt all bitter and twisted, but he takes a good hard look at them then at himself, and sees they’re no different; just men trying to be happy, getting through life as best they can.
Things on the outside are improving too; the Depression’s easing and the mayor’s got big plans for the grand city of New York. “Do something about the smog,” he says – breathe it in and it chokes you – gonna be a thing of the past. “Look to the future” he says. More high-rise buildings as far as the eye can see, right up to the clear blue water of Rhode Island and out to Martha’s Vineyard. So the city is on the up, literally, and that’s gonna keep Ted in a job, so he’s all for it. Maybe he’ll even get out of the Bronx and move to Queens… and one day Manhattan!
So they’re constructing the great Empire State Building. Making a new piece of history – John Raskob’s vision – he reckons there’ll be a million bricks by the time they’ve finished. Had to be higher than Walt Chrysler’s Building. That Raskob fella must be mad, Ted thinks, doing all this just to outdo his rival. Hey, maybe one day I’ll even be able to buy one of their cars.
This girder is boiling – Ted feels like his arse is burning. Fred’s got the right idea, bare chest and all.
Ted looks down, at all the people, the worker ants, crawling about their business, never talking to their neighbours. Up here, they’re a world away. Ted then spots his apartment block. Could do with a lick of paint.
His mind wanders to the girl in the coffee shop yesterday, thinks maybe he’ll speak to her tomorrow. “What? Yeah, Joe, it’s a fantastic view. Thanks, I’d love a cheese sandwich.”
*
Life
The hospital doors fly open and a woman is screaming out “where’s my husband? Where’s Matthew?”
Twenty blocks away a man kneels down and takes a picture. Little does he know that this innocent snap will be famous worldwide for many years to come. Right now he’s thinking about getting the job done before he rushes home to his expectant wife. Their first child is due any day and he can’t concentrate. So he continues staring through the viewfinder, hoping for clear shots before getting his equipment together and going home. He looks at the people that compile his picture. Eleven ordinary men but with nerves of steel. He marvels at how they could sit on a tiny, narrow ledge hundreds of feet up in the air. He expects them to look fragile – as if a gust of wind could carry them over at any point – but they’re as strong as the girder they sit on. His eye, then lens, focus on a solitary figure at the end. Although he’s sitting next to his colleagues, he seems detached – a bit of a loner – and a liquid lunch it would appear. Looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. The photographer wonders what the man is thinking. He puts down his camera and sighs.
The heat of the day hits him. He had thought that it would be cold so high up but it’s baking. The white vested guy manages to look cool, clearly used to the heat. Apart from the outsider, the rest of the group seem very relaxed. One lights up a cigarette for a colleague, two others shut their lunchboxes and get to their feet and all but four head back to their site office, casually strolling back along the solid iron tightrope as if they were part of a trained circus. The four remaining men chat for a while, then to the photographer’s amazement, swing round to face each other and lay length ways along the girder and go to sleep! He carefully takes more pictures – the shutter sounds deafening as it closes. Today has been one of the best of his life.How many people have the opportunity to see life so raw. Up, natural above the clouds? He feels privileged. Here he is…over a thousand feet off the ground, witnessing the building of the eightieth floor of a planned one hundred and two. As he watches the men nap, he realises that he’ll have little sleep from now on but he can’t wait.
As his thoughts drift, his wife is going through the early stages of labour.
Senior nurse, Bertha Albright, applies a damp compress to her patient’s forehead and holds her hand while a colleague tries, again, to get hold of the father-to-be, willing for the day when people will be able to carry telephones with them. Bertha has assisted in numerous births but the moment a baby arrives still amazes her. She is sure that tonight would be no different.
A visitor in the next ward talks to her friend about a customer in her coffee shop the previous night and hopes that she sees him again before too long.
*
Footnote: The Empire State Building – highest building in world until 1972 – was built by John Raskob, Creator of General Motors who wanted to build a building taller than a recent building created by his rival Walter Chrysler.
***
Picture above courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_atop_a_Skyscraper.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, 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 children’s author Jaquelyn Muller and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/author-interview-with-childrens-author-jaquelyn-muller.
***
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, Jane Wenham Jones, Jaquelyn Muller, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-eighth, is of short story author and novelist Randy Attwood.
Randy Attwood grew up on the grounds of a Kansas insane asylum where his father was a dentist and the State provided housing on the grounds. He attended The University of Kansas during the troubled 1960s, getting a degree in art history.
After stints writing and teaching in Italy and Japan, he had a 16-year career in newspapers as reporter, editor, and column writer, winning major awards in all categories. He turned to health care public relations and served as director of University Relations at The University of Kansas Medical Center.
Attwood finished his career as media relations officer of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.
Now retired, he lives in Kansas City and pursues publishing his works of fiction and creating new ones.
*
And now from the author himself:
I started trying to create fiction in college in the 1960s. Reynolds Price was guest lecturer during one of my creative writing classes. I didn’t have much to show him, but he called the few paragraphs I gave him, “lovely.” But then he was a lovely Southern gentleman.
I did that young man in Europe thing. Florence. Short stories. Very short. Some not bad.
Best thing for me was I went to work for a newspaper whose publisher / editor wrote a wonderful column. I got into doing columns and editorials along with reporting and editing. Doing the column helped me find my writing voice.
Ideas came. Longer pieces were tried. Nothing really worked. Everything seemed forced. In my 40s things finally started to click. I was up by 5 a.m. and my eight-year-old son was up, too, practicing the piano (Koji Attwood, Google him). I’d write for two hours and go to work at the paper. Then you start to try and get published and query letters to agents, some interest, no cigar. I had an address for Walker Percy. I sent him a letter and the first two chapters of “The 41st Sermon.” “Reads fine. Send rest” he responded. I thought I might finally get a break. I waited and waited. Three months later I read his obit in the paper.
Keep writing. New idea worth pursuing. Opening scene worth getting on paper. See where it might go. Characters get born and you wonder what will happen to them. Keep exploring.
Writing conferences, small literary magazines, writers groups. None of it turned our right or helpful for me.
Internet arrives. Easier to email queries. Web based magazines appear. Some accept my work. Got paid $150 for one story. Found a couple of agents, amateurs it turned out. And work and life and all that brought a long period in my life where I shoved the fiction aside with an “I tried. I couldn’t have written any better than I have.”
Got laid off near 60. Freelance writing helped, not financially, but the ego. Interesting consulting work developed. Re-approached the whole effort of finding an agent. Nada.
Could be self-delusional. Maybe my stuff is junk. Time to test myself with comedy. If you could make a reader laugh, you’ve succeeded. Had an opening scene idea and the damn thing almost wrote itself in three months. Never had anything come that fast. I have a novella that took me 30 years.
Finally snared an agent. “Reminds me of Hiaasen.” Nice. Work got before editors at good houses. Close, but no cigar. Recession hits, Kindle happens, publishing business turned upside down.
Never wanted to self-publish. Seemed like admitting defeat. Then the agent says a couple of editors urged self-publishing. Now they can use author-paid test marketing.
So here I am. And now semi-retired so I have more time to pursue all this and plenty of completed works beside the agented one to promote. It actually feels pretty good that my stuff can find a home outside my file cabinet. Now it’s up to me to go out and find an audience for them. What a brave new world that is.
I wonder how young writers do it now. I spent a lot of time with my writing and my ideas. Rereading, rethinking, rewriting. The internet is a huge distraction. Especially when you’re involved in self-promotion. To create, I need a lot of stare-off-into-space time. But now I bounce around websites and follow tweets and Facebook messages and blogs. Overload.
**
You can find more about Randy and his writing via…
http://randyattwood.blogspot.com/2013/03/current-listing-of-my-titles-now.html
***
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, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, Randy Attwood, 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 novelist, short story author, poet and spotlightee DJ Swykert.
Crime writing – Familial DNA
The underlying theme in my latest book, The Death of Anyone, poses the Machiavellian question: Does the end justify the means? I developed this story around an impulsive homicide detective, Bonnie Benham, who wants to use Familial DNA, a search technique not in common use in the United States. Only two states even have a written policy regarding its use, Colorado and California.
Many legal analysts believe it violates Fourth Amendment rights which guard against unreasonable searches and seizures. The courts may ultimately rule that searching among Familial DNA databases for partial matches would constitutionally be the same as the use of a generalized warrant to search someone’s house when there is no prior reason to suspect the person of wrongdoing, which citizens are constitutionally protected from.
Even Thomas Callaghan, the former head of the F.B.I.’s national DNA database, feared that Familial Searches might be legally vulnerable, since courts might view the searches as an attempt to use samples collected for one purpose for a very different purpose.
Just as we would consider it unreasonable to cast a wide net of suspicion without probable cause in general due to concerns of privacy, personal dignity, and unwanted intrusion in the lives of innocent citizens, we should be similarly concerned the identification of a suspect through partial DNA searches will contribute to further loss of freedoms as DNA databases grow and lead to ever more invasive investigative techniques. These are all constitutional issues that will come into play as the use of DNA science continues to progress towards solving criminal investigations and determining the guilt of suspects. Decisions will be made by the courts that will regulate just how invasive of civil rights law enforcement can proceed in the investigation of serious crimes.
Lonnie David Franklin, The Grim Sleeper, was caught because his son’s DNA was the closest match to DNA collected at the crime scenes in the database. Investigating Franklin’s son led them to investigate Lonnie Franklin. But there was no direct DNA evidence that linked Lonnie to the crime scene until they obtained a sample from him after his arrest. Lonnie Franklin will be the first person in the U.S. to ever stand trial based on Familial DNA evidence, and its admissibility issues will be thoroughly tested by defense attorneys. These are the very same issues that face Detroit Homicide Detective Bonnie Benham and form the plot of my story.
I first heard about the use of Familial DNA working as a 911 operator in 2006. It came up in a conversation with officers working a case. I thought at the time it would make an interesting premise for a book. I began writing the mystery some three years later after leaving the department. I had just finished editing a first draft of The Death of Anyone in the summer 2010 when news of The Grim Sleeper’s capture in Los Angeles was released. I read with interest all the information pouring out of L.A. regarding the investigation and the problems confronting prosecutors. All of which are explored in The Death of Anyone.
Detroit Detective Bonnie Benham has been transferred from narcotics to homicide for using more than arresting and is working the case of a killer of adolescent girls. CSI collects DNA evidence from the scene of the latest victim, which had not been detected on the other victims. But no suspect turns up in the FBI database. Due to the notoriety of the crimes a task force is put together with Bonnie as the lead detective, and she implores the D.A. to use an as yet unapproved type of a DNA Search in an effort to identify the killer. Homicide Detective Neil Jensen, with his own history of drug and alcohol problems understands Bonnie’s frailty and the two detectives become inseparable as they track this killer of children.
Bonnie is a no nonsense cop who describes herself as a blond with a badge and a gun. She has her own answer to the ethical use of Familial DNA, but the actual legality of its use will be yet another story to read as it plays out in a real life courtroom in the California trial of The Grim Sleeper.
*
Thank you, DJ. That was fascinating, especially to us crime writers.
**
DJ Swykert is a blue-collar writer from Detroit. He’s worked as a truck driver, dispatcher, logistics analyst, operations manager, and ten years as a 911 operator. His work has appeared in The Tampa Review, Detroit News, Monarch Review, Zodiac Review, Scissors& Spackle, Spittoon, Barbaric Yawp and Bull.
His books include Children of the Enemy, a novel from Cambridge Books; Alpha Wolves, a novel from Noble Publishing, and The Death of Anyone is his third novel, just released by Melange Books.
You can find out more about him and how to buy his books on the blogspot: http://www.magicmasterminds.com, they are also available at Melange Books, Amazon and at select mystery bookstores. He is a wolf expert.
***
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, DJ Swykert, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, Familial DNA, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the ninth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a story in third-person limited (one character’s point of view). Julie said we could write the same piece as yesterday’s (The Last Thing You Think About) and Tuesday’s (Quiet and Noisy) from a different pov so I’ve connected it, and again chosen a different character – and we can for tomorrow’s third-person omniscient so I’ll probably do that too. Below is today’s 226-worder (it’s been a busy day today).
*
What cost a human life?
Jack didn’t care that it hurt his shoulder. All he cared about was getting the people out. He’d been to derailments before but this was the first train of the day – he didn’t expect there to be many passengers – but on home territory there was a chance he’d be rescuing people he knew.
They’d arrived in the dark, someone heard or witnessed the crash, he didn’t know but they’d called 999, and now it was just getting light, making the job easier but not easier. He’d see clearer but then he’d really see what devastation the Jeep had caused.
He knew the driver would be dead. No one would escape a head-on like that; head-on car to side-on train. Only one victor in this entanglement. Not that anyone would call this a victory, with all but two of the eleven or so carriages concertinad in various directions down the embankment, the remaining at right-angles to the track.
Jack blamed the council. The locals had been campaigning for better barriers on that bridge for years but it all came down to money. What cost a human life? he thought as he thumped his right shoulder again at the twisted metal.
A shout went up, “I’ve found someone!” so Jack stopped pushing, ran over to join his colleague, just as the man behind the caved-in panel stopped breathing.
***
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, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-seventh, is of fantasy / new age / spiritual / romance novelist DM Yates.
Author DM Yates spent years studying languages. She holds both an Associates Degree and a Bachelors Degree in languages. She studied in a Masters program majoring in Classical Chinese Lit and Linguistics. All degrees were obtained from BYU campuses.
She entered the U.S. Army, retiring after 14 years.
She spent another 14 years as an Ind. Avon Sales Rep where she learned her marketing skills.
DM Yates’ motto is ‘Believe in Yourself and Dream Above the Clouds. I do and I Believe in You.’ She has proven this belief in her life. When her 8th grade teacher advised her that a woman’s role was a wife and a mother, she proved him wrong by entering pre-college courses in which she excelled. She was one of the first 44 women in the U.S. to hold the rank of Warrant Officer. She graduated with her Bachelors Degree as Magna Cum Laude and gained membership in Alpha Chi. As an Avon Rep she was ranked 7th in sales out of 550 women.
Now at age 63, she is starting her third career as an Independent author and poet.
*
And now from the author herself:
Stories play through my mind like movies and always have.
I write in the Fantasy / New Age / Spiritual / Romance Genre. My first novel, Always took me over entirely, compelling me to write until it was finished.
Always is about a middle aged man Simon who lives a quiet life alone, his best friend Dixon who enjoys finding ways to complicate Simon’s life, and Dixon’s 16-year-old niece who is sure she and Simon should marry.
I’ve just finished my 2nd novel, The Lone Hero which is about humans fighting in dragon wars. My poetry will be published this spring, and this summer a book of short stories about an older Midwestern woman named Gerri. I describe her as a woman who loves the Lard (hallelujah) and prunes.
This is a great time to publish. It’s exciting to read works by my friends and to know that I’m a part of this amazing group of Indie Authors.
Within each story lies a treasure for the reader. It’s time to scatter my treasures to the wind, that they may be found by the right people.
**
You can find more about Donna 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, DM Yates, Donna DM Yates, Donna Yates, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the eighth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a story in second-person point of view. Now that I can do. Julie said we could write the same piece as yesterday (Quiet and Noisy) from a different pov so I’ve connected it, just chosen a different character – and we can for tomorrow’s third-person so I’ll probably do that too. Below is today’s 330-worder.
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The last thing you think about
Four hours’ sleep isn’t enough for anyone but you’re used to it. You pretend you’re Margaret Thatcher. RIP.
You’d wanted a Jeep ever since you were a boy, since Uncle Frank had given you the white one on the huge wheels and now you were driving one, your pride and joy. Not white, but red – ‘Fireman Red’, your mother had called it, amongst other names.
Sylvia loves it as much as you do, or that’s your impression from her emails, your webcam late nights, your chatroom banter. You could both talk for England, or Scotland in her case.
And now you’re going to see her, for the very first time. You’d offered to meet her halfway, drive all the way, but she’d told you how much she’d loved going by train so you’d offered to collect her from the station, in the Jeep. You’d got up early to wash it, in the dark you may have missed a bit. You still smelled the shampoo as you’d started the engine, switched on the radio, too short a journey for a CD.
As you drive, about to cross the bridge just a mile or two away, you imagine her chatting to the person next to her, boring him or her rigid about anything and nothing, probably about you, possibly the Jeep.
You wonder what she’ll be wearing, something pretty for sure. She liked to dress up even just for a webcam. Sometimes she’d like to undress too.
You picture her getting on the train at Edinburgh, her floral skirt blowing in the early spring morning breeze, you know it’s too early for the sun on her face, too early for warmth. You’re with her as she settles into the journey, passing through the beautiful Lakes District, the not so beautiful West Midlands then gathering her belongings at Rugby… embarking on the last part of her journey at Milton Keynes.
She’s the last thing you think about as you drift off to sleep…
***
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 children’s author Judy Pierce and can be read in full at http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/author-interview-with-childrens-author-judy-pierce.
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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, Jane Wenham Jones, Judy Pierce, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-sixth, is of Orwellian-style dystopian novelist John G Nelson.
In 2006, John Nelson began his writing journey to pen a modern dystopia. His inspiration came from the news headlines that reported on secret prisons, torture, extraordinary rendition, domestic spying and wars based on falsified intelligence. It was all the material he needed to begin to imagine an Orwellian-style dystopia. No one had written about the post-9/11 American political landscape as a dystopia and John set out to fill that literary void.
He chose a global pandemic as the catalyst for his storyline. Now a global pandemic certainly isn’t a new vehicle for a storyline. There are plenty of works of fiction on the bookshelves about pandemics, but they all seem to end with the good guys coming up with a cure and the world is saved. At this point, John took some inspiration from Ray Bradbury and Michael Crichton and made the disease-causing organism an extraterrestrial dust mite introduced to earth in the wound of a returning astronaut.
John wondered what pandemic America would look like if the disease was not a known bacteria or virus that could be easily defeated or how scientists would react if the microbe’s properties went against our understanding of nature. How long would our society remain cohesive if the disease was highly contagious and one-hundred percent fatal? How would the government and society react if the bodies were stacking up and the economy was in free-fall? Would the misdeeds seen in the headlines following 9/11 wash up on our shores? Would a government paid for and controlled by corporations and a handful of elite billionaires be responsive to the masses? How would we distribute an experimental vaccine? Would we really distribute it in an egalitarian manner? Would the venture capitalist get vaccine before the bricklayer and the banker before the inner-city pre-school teacher if the amount of vaccine was limited?
John wanted the reader to see themselves in the landscape of the pandemic. Like a parable of the Titanic, his novel Against Nature allows the reader to see where they fit in. If our society was listing and taking on water, would you end up in a lifeboat or would you be left to perish in the icy waters?
It was John’s background in healthcare that motivated him to make the catalyst for a modern dystopia a pandemic. John is a retired Air Force Master Sergeant and former Special Ops Medic—Air Commando who now lives a quieter life as a quality and risk management director and infection control practitioner for a hospital in the Rocky Mountain West. He was also inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement of young progressives trying to raise the alarm of inequity in our society and wake the electorate up from our political slumber.
The end result of his writing journey is Against Nature, an e-novel published by Wild Child Publishing. The reviews, thus far, have validated what he set out to do. He wanted to write a smart, fast-paced modern dystopia that took the reader on a wild ride across pandemic America. He hopes his readers are thoroughly entertained with Against Nature, but also begin to see our society through a slightly different lens.
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And now from the author himself:
George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World are among some of my favorite novels. So, it’s no accident that my first published novel would be in the classic dystopia genre. I’m also pleased to see the rebirth of dystopia albeit in YA fiction. I hope the success of YA fiction will motivate publishers to consider adult-centered modern political dystopia as a viable commercial offering. I think our society is fractured enough to stimulate some really compelling modern dystopian fiction
As a fiction writer in the dystopia genre you really should ask some tough questions about your own contemporary society and look for road signs in our everyday lives that may one day take us to a dystopian landscape. For writers a generation or two ago, it was totalitarianism and the threat of nuclear annihilation. I think that offered us a post-apocalyptic landscape as a backdrop, but does such a fear ring as true today as it did a few decades ago? Today, I think we have to look at new social warning signs for inspiration.
I think in order to write a truly unique dystopia, you have to move beyond the well-travelled path of the post-apocalyptic landscape. In order to do that I think you have to be more than just a good storyteller; you also have to be a social critic. You have to look at your own society from outside the fishbowl and be willing to move away from your own comfort zone. You have to examine faith, gender, race and class from many perspectives and peel back the layers to expose the roots of our social structures. When you do that, you create a blended narrative that is quite complex. Fiction, like life, should be many shades of gray.
With Against Nature, I tried to avoid a predictable ending where everything is wrapped up in a tidy package and we feel hopeful that good has trumped evil and the poor all end up wealthy and self-actualized. A good narrative in any fiction genre should be more complicated than that. In the dystopia genre, it’s imperative that we see the reflection of our own society (warts and all) in the pages of the fantasy society. I think that’s the most important ingredient and that’s what I look for in dystopian literature. Sometimes we need that social self-reflection to shake us from our moorings. We need to be transported out of our fishbowl and look back in from a different perspective. It’s what makes the journey to the dystopian fantasy world worth the trip.
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John loves feedback from his readers. A 300-page novel should spur comments, questions and conversation, he says. You can find him at: http://johngnelson.blogspot.com
Against Nature is available at:
Read some reviews:
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If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, dystopia, 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, George Orwell, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, John Nelson, 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, Orwell, 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 writer / editor Sandra Miller.
Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
As a writer, if you want to get your words out to a wider audience and, ideally, earn some money along the way, you have two main options: to hire a traditional publishing agency, or to keep all the control over the process, and try yourself as a self-publisher. Both of the options have their own advantages and disadvantages, and here are the pros and cons of self-publishing over the traditional way that you should consider before you decide which road to take:
Self-Publishing Advantages
Autonomy. When self-publishing, as a writer, you also have complete control over the process of publishing, while the traditional publishing agency keeps the rights to have the final say over how the book is edited, or what cover design and copy to choose, and how to handle the marketing efforts.
Marketing. Largest part of the marketing attention and activities of the traditional publishers is focused on well-known authors who, for the luckiest, represent most of the writers they work with. But the Internet and the Social Media had made it possible for writers who have an established audience, like bloggers, or experts, speakers, to also successfully market their self-published work by themselves.
Timeliness. A traditionally published book can be found on the market, usually, after more than a year since it was first accepted for publishing, while you can distribute a self-published book in only few weeks, or months, at most.
Compensation. The compensation you’ll get from a traditional publisher is about ten percent or less, while if you self-publish your book, you’ll roughly get half of its sale price. In both situations, you can decrease some of your expenses by figuring your taxes.
Trial. If you’ve already tried to get to some literary agent or traditional publisher, but haven’t succeeded, you can try getting their attention by self-publishing a book. This opulent experience will also help you determine whether you can work through the traditional way of publishing.
Self-Publishing Disadvantages
Isolation. Yes, it’s great that you get to determine everything and have control over all aspects of the publishing process, but the catch is you don’t have all the needed skills and experience to do all that alone, so you’ll either have to acquire that knowledge, or find others to help you complete the tasks.
Selling. Selling a self-published book certainly isn’t easy. There are lots of activities you need to organize – identify your target readers, get the needed publicity materials, appear to certain events, or even host your own. This alone takes enough time and effort, without even considering the actual sale of the book.
Workload. You can choose to delegate some or all of your responsibilities around producing, marketing and selling your self-published book, or you can carry them all out by yourself. Either way, it will take you some time and effort, at least to manage and control them.
Expenses. If you decide to self-publish your book, you’ll have to be prepared to invest up-front in its production, marketing, distribution, while a contract with a traditional publisher would cover all the risk and the expenses, in some cases even providing an advance or pay out royalties. Also, when self-publishing, you need to hire a distributor for your book, because in most cases booksellers don’t buy books directly from their authors.
Prejudice. There are some self-publishing success stories, but we all have to admit that most of these books are poorly written and/or designed and the readers and agents can rightly assume there’s a valid reason the traditional publishers rejected their manuscripts. It also isn’t certain that if you have succeeded as a self-publisher once, you’ll get better chances to be accepted by a traditional publisher for a new edition of that book, or for a completely different piece of literature.
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That was really interesting. Of all the 800+ authors I’ve interviewed only two have said that their publishers do all their marketing, yet the same authors are active on Twitter and Facebook so it’s a necessity for raising the profile – a necessary evil, some have said. Thank you, Sandra.
Sandra Millers works as a writer at editing services Help.Plagtracker. She has a PhD in English literature.
***
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, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, Sandra Miller, 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 seventh in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a story in the first person viewpoint. Below is my 812-worder.
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Quiet and noisy
The candle flickered while the man crouched over my ankle. It looked like a candle but I think it was probably a lighter.
Someone had put their briefcase under my head and I could feel the catch digging in. I didn’t like to complain because it meant I had a better view of the man. Compared to the pain in my right leg, my head was OK. Uncomfortable, not painful really.
Pain’s good though isn’t it because it means I can feel it, that it’s going to be OK. I know there’s something on it, my leg, pressing down, so once they get it off they can move me, take me to hospital.
I remember shouting when I first came to, but no one took any notice apart from that one guy but I think he was close to me and it seemed like I was the only one making any noise, so I stopped. The woman next to me had take the full force of the metal caving in and I think died instantly because she didn’t answer me and she hadn’t stopped talking since she’d got on at Milton Keynes so I know she would have said something if she could have done.
The lights going out was the worst thing. I hate the dark.
Noise. I had expected to be more noise but I remember the impact then the quiet. Too quiet. I thought everyone was dead but then I sensed people moving around, shadows, then the pain of my leg took over.
I think the man went to tend to someone else, there are bound to be people worse off than me, but the briefcase is still there.
My head’s beginning to hurt a bit now and if I concentrate on that, my ankle isn’t so painful. I know I should think of something else, good things like meeting Josie for lunch.
Oh shit, I must phone her, tell her what’s happened, that I’m OK. She’ll hear it on the news and worry. She’s a worrier when everything’s going well, so…
A light! There’s a light! Hello? Over here! No, this way…
It’s OK. I’ll wait. I’m not going anywhere and the train certainly isn’t. Not for a while at least. They’ll have to clear it out the way, bring in cranes. The poor sods on the later commutes are going to be pretty pissed off. They’ll either have to divert… not sure if they can do that. Buses. They put on extra buses, don’t they?
Something doesn’t smell very nice. Not like petrol or diesel so that’s good. At least we’re not going to blow up.
And it’s cold. Whatever ran into us… it definitely ran into us because it came into the side, we didn’t run into it, must have made a hole… of course it did you stupid sod. Even if it caved the side in there’ll be a hole.
Poor train company. I don’t usually feel sorry for them… costs me over a grand a year just to get to work and back, but trains are expensive aren’t they. I suppose they’ll have insurance.
It’s still quiet. Can’t understand why there aren’t people panicking, you know, pulling at things, trying to get out or get other people out. I know someone will come for me… back for me soon. They know I’m alive so they’ll come.
Just need to get to my bag. I should have left it on, across my chest like I always do but I wanted to read my book, the latest Kate Atkinson, only just started it so can’t even tell you what it’s about. It’s another Jackson Brodie so it’ll be good for sure. Can’t help picturing Jason Isaacs now with his lovely blue eyes.
Need to find my bag. Get my mobile then I can ring Josie and she can ring for help. It’s fully-charged with plenty of credit. She’s my ICE. In Case of Emergency. I was going to ask her to move in with me. Think she’d say “yes”. They say something like this tests a relationship. You know, when one person’s injured and will need rehabilitation but I’m lucky in that respect too. Josie’s a nurse. Senior. Not long had a promotion. That’s where we met. At the hospital. I’m a bit accident prone, you see, although this is the worst one yet. Usually just come off my bike… bicycle not motorbike. No, not going fast enough to cause any real damage.
It’ll get light soon. That’ll help. They’ll be able to see where everyone is, not rely on torches.
You’d think there would be mobiles ringing. Everyone uses mobiles, don’t they? Shout too loudly because of the noise, even quiet electric trains are noisy. That doesn’t make sense. Quiet and noisy.
Hello? I’m here! Anyone? Can someone see my bag? I need to ring, Josie. Hello?
***
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.
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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-fifth, is of thriller novelist Barry Johnson.
Barry is now seventy-four so I’ll just skip across his life. I’m sure if you ask him he won’t say he has done anything of note but let me just explore that. He was born the fifth of November 1938. He was a couple of weeks premature due to some kids throwing fireworks. A banger frightened a bulldog that bit his mother and he was on his way, his mother having been taken to Honeypot Lane Maternity Hospital.
He was christened Barry Edgar Johnson. Shortly after that war was declared. This, he claims had absolutely nothing to do with him but it did have a massive influence on his life.
Barry’s mother was a tailoress and took up with a guy working the black market and her skills were vital. His Gran called her a gangster’s moll. Powder puffs were an excluded item during rationing so some of the housebreakers and burglars used to steal furs and sheepskins etc. and his mother made fancy powder puffs for wealthy ladies. How did this affect him? At regular intervals the black marketeer was arrested, and Barry was put into homes. His gran used to get him out and a few months later it would happen again so when he should be learning in school he wasn’t. The only thing that did happen to him when he was with his mum was the Germans decided to bomb the mews they lived in. His skull was badly fractured and he says if he goes bald people will think he is from Star Trek. At seven he contracted TB so was put into an open-air convalescent home. This was a pre-antibiotics time so fresh air and nourishing food was the cure. He says he just got better to get warm.
The criminal went to prison but bought his mother a shop (Newsagents). His mother met Bert Smith, got pregnant and married him and Barry came home. His Mother had some money now so sent him to Lower Latimer School and they tried to educate him but before they made much progress the family moved to Sussex and he went to the village school in Rottingdean in a class, he says, that must have had fifty kids in it. Still he could swim and captained the school swimming team and they won the Brighton championship that year. He also was the captain of the football team.
With a fragmented early education he stood no hope of passing the eleven plus so he spent a year at Whitehawk secondary modern school. The only thing the school did was sharpen his fighting skills. He swam for the school (the only boy that won anything) and he played football for the school. He also came top of the class, One A despite playing hooky on Mondays and Fridays. After a year they moved to Newhaven and he went to Newhaven Secondary modern school into 2A. At Christmas they jumped him into 3A and the following summer he went to Lewes County Grammar School for Boys into the third year that was called the forth year because of the crazy numbering system they had.
The Grammar School was a different world; he loved it. It was all about tough intellectual challenge and sport. He joined the Army Cadets and became a corporal. Played Rugby for the school, was the school swimming champion, winner of the Sinfield Cup, and taught other boys to swim on sports afternoons in the summer. Then they had to wear swimming trunks because the girls from the secondary modern school went onto the roof of their school to watch the boys swim in the nude. Barry thought the binoculars were over the top.
The school leaving age was fifteen then, so his stepfather, Bert, expected him to leave school. ‘Thrasher’ Thompson invited his stepfather to come to the school on an open day. His parents had never visited the school. Bert was blown away. Barry had his name on an honours board. He appeared on photos next to trophies and photos of the cadets winning things so he agreed Barry could stay another year and take ‘O’ levels. He did and got eight subjects. He says it was a cheat really as some of them overlapped like physics and applied maths.
In his final year at school Barry had to think about what he was going to do. The only thing he knew was he wanted to leave home.
Barry joined the Royal Navy as an Artificer Apprentice. It was renowned then as the best apprenticeship in the country. He not only gained entry but also managed to get selected into the Fleet Air Arm for which the selection was tougher. He did a five-year apprenticeship four of those in a RN training establishment. The top quarter of the class would be selected as engineering officers. Barry passed out in the top four but by then he was married and didn’t see the Navy as the life he wanted but he had to serve until he was thirty.
Barry had a great Naval career and was a Chief Petty Officer at twenty-three. Of the fourteen years he served the Navy trained him for seven so he ended up with a whole bunch of qualifications.
Barry’s thirtieth birthday was approaching. The Navy once again offered him a commission and BOAC (now British Airways) offered him a job as a technical training officer training pilots, flight engineers and licenced aircraft engineers to the required CAA licence standards. BOAC created a learning environment and he achieved a degree in psychology, a teaching qualification and some other qualifications.
To gain broader industry experience Barry joined the Food, Drink and Tobacco Industry Training Board (A Government QUANGO) that the Government closed – he claims it wasn’t his fault.
Barry job-hunted, had some offers and joined STC as the Training Manager of their largest site (5000+ people). While at STC he became a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Member of the Chartered Management Institute. STC was taken over by Nortel and Barry was moved to the European HQ to become the Senior Manager of the European Learning Institute. Nortel was the most progressive telecommunications company in the world and then the Canadian Board sacked the CEO (he got his PA pregnant). The company made the classic mistake and appointed an accountant, and Nortel started to go down the tubes. The Learning Institute was closed in every geographical zone so Barry was redundant.
With three people that Barry describes as wonderful they set up Learning Partners in 1994. Their aim was to design and apply assessment centres and run people development programmes. They thrived by staying small and focused around three clear values – make a difference, have fun and earn some money. Barry says they didn’t get paid a lot of money but they built a solid reputation and worked for some very good companies. Learning Partners is still a thriving consultancy primarily working internationally. Barry retired and now he writes, using the varied experiences he has had.
*
And now from the author himself:
Writing and my goals as a writer
I don’t think I even considered writing anything until I went to the grammar school. I don’t suppose I would have had any interest then if it hadn’t been for my English teacher, Colin Silk. Not that I did anything about it for many years. I can remember him sitting cross-legged on a desk in the front of the class as selected members of the class took parts in a Shakespeare play. He knew the plays by heart and if you read anything incorrectly he would correct you. The other thing he would do is insist I spoke correctly. “Johnson, ring your ‘ings’,” or “Johnson, explode your ‘bees’.” I learned to speak two languages from Colin Silk, the one I spoke in school and the one I spoke at home. What a foundation for now. In writing dialogue I think back and adapt to the character I have speaking. Colin Silk was my hero, the man I admired most. He had survived the Burma-Siam railway and the evil treatment by the Japanese and had no hatred or even resentment of them. He was my role model for life that I’ve never been able to live up to but I have tried. I suppose Jake Robinson, the protagonist of my thrillers, owes much to my view of Colin Silk.
Colin Silk got me through ‘O’ level English language. He knew I had mild dyslexia but nobody spoke about those things back in the early 1950s but his encouragement guided me in writing essays though he did chide me for writing short stories instead of essays. So I had an inbuilt recognition of what a story was.
When I look back I suppose I’ve always enjoyed writing, I just got a kick out of writing home when I was at sea describing what I had seen and where I had been and I knew the readers of my letters enjoyed them and had a laugh, well I did exaggerate just a bit.
I can remember when I worked for STC having to write my monthly report. I would do a different style each month, a sermon one month, the format of the report of a football match the next month and most of my bosses enjoyed this. Mind you some didn’t. It was interesting that I was asked to write papers and brochures for the departments and when thing got really tough a report of what had gone wrong and for that I had to interview miscreants and I suppose I learned a lot there that I can use now.
In Learning Partners I just loved writing, the challenge of putting together the ideas, the very process of writing, together with the research needed. I have written training and guidance material, courses, assessment centre scenarios and assessment guides. Over the years I have written over fifty published professional articles always supported by another director of Learning Partners and the feedback and advice has always caused me to think and rewrite so what I wanted to achieve could be achieved with both learners and fully experienced professionals.
I wrote a newsletter for the retirement village I live in that included short stories both fiction and non-fiction, audience was key to that.
I started writing full-length novels in 2009. This was about interest rather than with publication in mind. I wrote four historical fiction novels with a single central character and the theme was the Trojan wars. These I may revisit and rewrite. I’d always done research in my former professional life so, I suppose I was used to that. I even had the third one published and gave it to friends just to see if I could write.
The Jake Robinson series I started in 2010. I had no idea how to write a thriller. I just started with an idea. Supposing bird flue was modified so it could be transmitted between people and a terrorist group decided to use it. Simple idea. So I sat down one afternoon and started writing a novel, not planned had no idea about who was going to do what or when, I just did it. That was the fun, The JBDI approach (Just Bloody Do It). The shear excitement of wondering where it was going next and the sheer surprize when it happened. The first thriller that I wrote and the one that will be the last in the series, Venom 27, I had published privately and I have given it to friends and relations with very positive feedback but that might be expected from friends and relations. Why the last in the series – the nature of the story dictated that.
The first one spawned the next three. I thought others may arise and they have. These had the goal of eventual publication. So I chanced my arm and Wherein Lies Justice has been published by Book Guild; with the sort of support and advice that a publishing company gives you.
I love the feeling that here is something complete and achieved that then triggers another idea for a novel.
I get a kick from the idea that others may enjoy reading what I have written and perhaps, in my arrogance, that they may discover something, for or of themselves, from the novels.
The hope I will get pleasure from seeing a book I have written in a bookshop and those who have read my attempts have encouraged me to go down that route.
Lastly the chance that I might earn some money to enable me to get for my wife the things she wants more than anything else.
I have no interest, no skills and no motivation to venture into the field of marketing and selling of my books. I have a need for an agent who has the skills, interest and motivation to market and sell that which I can produce. So lets try another one.
**
I then invited Barry to include an extract from his book…
I came to a dead stop in the doorway, looking at a lady’s handgun pointing at me. It was rock steady. Her body was square to me with her feet wide apart and knees bent.
She had her arms extended and was using a firm, double-handed grip. The weapon was pointing at my head and was brought down slowly to my chest. Now this was worrying. I felt my stomach contract and my heart beating fast. Less worrying was the expression on her face, which indicated that she was at least as scared as me. The difference was that I’d been here before.
‘Wherein Lies Justice’ is available from…
and you can find out more about Barry and his writing from…
***
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, Barry Johnson, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the seventy-fifth poem in this series, this week by Ute Carson.
Today’s Slippers Become Tomorrow’s Army Boots
Warm bodies, heated anticipation
fuse our solidarity.
Snug in knitted booties
we stretch out on our magic carpet,
the children young, content as kittens.
I orchestrate flights of fancy
and promise the little ones
that the swords and crowns missing by morning
will reappear come dreamtime.
Years later,
a grandson soldier walks down his chosen path,
boots shining with confidence,
but the back of his grey army coat
bars me from seeing through to his heart.
My hands fling forward wanting to hold on
but I pull back,
my fears clinging to my upturned palms.
We lose our children to the world
which shapes them beyond our wishes and control.
Proudly we teach them
to be self-sufficient
but never learn ourselves
not to worry.
*
I asked Ute what prompted this piece and she said…
Parents hope to provide safe and happy childhoods for their children, perhaps even filled with magical moments. In this poem that magic takes the form of a flying carpet which propels the child into the land of dreams and the imagination.
When children grow up and go their own way parents stay behind with their worries, evoked in this poem by a grandson’s eagerness to be a soldier and his choice of a military profession.
Parents try to instill confidence in their children and encourage them to spread their wings. But they themselves must live with apprehension which is as eternal as their love.
**
Thank you, Ute. It was very touching.
A writer from youth, German-born Ute Carson’s first story was published in 1977. Her story “The Fall” won the Grand Prize for Prose and was published in the short story and poetry anthology, A Walk Through My Garden, Outrider Press, Chicago 2007. Her novel “Colt Tailing,” was published in September 2004 and was a finalist for the Peter Taylor Book Award Prize for the Novel. Her second novel “In Transit” was published in 2008. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and magazines here and abroad. Carson’s poetry was featured on the televised Spoken Word Showcase 2009 and 2010, 2011 ChannelAustin, Texas, USA. Her poetry collection “Just a Few Feathers” was published in 2011.
An Advanced Certified Clinical Hypnotist, Ute Carson resides in Austin, Texas with her husband. They have three daughters, five grandchildren, two horses and a number of cats.
Ute Carson’s website is www.utecarson.com.
***
If you’d like to submit your poem (40 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, 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, Ute Carson, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ‘short stories’ episode number 24 went live today and contained three flash fiction pieces that have appeared on my blog as Flash Fiction Fridays. Do email me should you like to submit your own.
This episode contained:
See the links above to read the stories… or hear my dulcet tones on the podcast.
The podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe).
*
BIOS
Bethany Rycek was born in Pusan, South Korea and adopted into a wonderful home at a young age. She has since traversed the world, from Boston to Hong Kong, Singapore to the Philippines, New Jersey to Philadelphia.
She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature and currently tutors Japanese. Ms. Rycek is pursuing a career in voice acting and is currently represented by TAG Talent. She loves penguins and singing. Her voice demos can be found at http://www.voices.com/demos/NatsumeRika.
**
Elizabeth Cage is a writer, speaker and fundraiser. Her stories, poems and articles have appeared in numerous magazines including Scarlet, Desire, Forum, For Women, In the Buff, The Hotspot, and the International Journal of Erotica, as well as The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica 2010 (Cleis) and her fiction regularly appears in the fiction anthologies and e-books from Xcite.
Her collection, Kissing Velvet, was published in 2003 by Chimera. She also does guest blogs, author talks, interviews, events and workshops. Her website is http://www.elizabethcage.com.
**
Kathy Lynn Harris, a native Texan, has written children’s books, poetry, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and personal essays. Blue Straggler is her debut novel.
Kathy likes to play in the snow year-round, which is easy since she lives in a log cabin in the high mountains of Colorado at 10,500 ft. above sea level.
Stellar mountain playmates include her husband, her son and two fairly untrainable Golden Retrievers who own both couches. Her website is kathylynnharris.com.
***
Thank you for downloading / listening to this short story episode – I hope you enjoyed it. The next episode will be a hints & tips episode in a fortnight, then short stories return a fortnight thereafter.
All the details of these episodes are listed on this blog’s Podcast Short Stories page and my email address to submit a short story for critique (or review for the Short Story Saturdays) is morgen@morgenbailey.com.
The podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, Bethany Rycek, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, Chimera, Cleis, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, Desire, editing, editor, Elizabeth Cage, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, For Women, forum, 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, In the Buff, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kathy Lynn Harris, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, Mammoth Book of Lesbian Erotica, 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, Rika Natsume, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, Scarlet, 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, TAG Talent, tanka, terza rima, The Hotspot, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, University of Massachusetts, 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, Xcite, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the sixth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write a story set in a location I’ve never been to before. Below is my 588-worder.
*
Sally never listened
As holidays go, this one was definitely going to be one of the most memorable.
Ted clicked on the right arrow, flicking through the array of photographs. The camera told him he was on number 173 of 1,729. The joy of digital. He was surprised there weren’t more, although he had been through them, back in the hotel room, deleting the fuzzy ones. Following wildlife around on safari, there had been plenty of those.
He wished Sally had been there to see the results of the last few but then she would have said that 2D could never replace 3D, having a rhinoceros charge at you, a lion feeding its young, hyenas ripping apart… Ted didn’t need to picture that image, he was looking at it.
He looked up as the announcement called for his flight. He picked up his bag and walked to Gate 17. This was the bit he usually loved and Sally usually hated but today he felt the same. They were travelling on different flights and that felt too weird.
The woman in the blue and yellow uniform smiled as she took his boarding pass.
He tried to smile back but knew it was fake.
She read his name and her smile faded. She nodded and held out her arm to indicate his path.
He trudged in line following the other passengers, some in suits, most in casual clothes. He was still in khaki, a last memory to his two-week vacation, one he didn’t want to remember but knew he always would.
As the ‘no seatbelt’ sign dimmed, Ted removed his belt then swung his legs round as the man in the next seat asked to be let out. Ted watched him walk up the aisle and into the toilet. His wife was staring out the window, hands gripping the seat arms.
Ted laughed, not just to himself, but out loud, to the whole plane and he couldn’t stop laughing.
As he started to unnerve the other passengers, an air stewardess approached. “Is everything alright, sir?”
Ted nodded, tears rolling down his face.
“Is there anything I can do, sir?”
Ted shook his head, and wiped his cheek. “I told her…”
“Yes, sir?”
“I told her, my wife Sally, not to get too close but she wouldn’t listen. She had to get out the jeep and see for herself. Had to get the best photographs. It was a new camera you see. I bought it for her for our anniversary. She bought the holiday. Very brave, I thought, seeing as she doesn’t… didn’t like flying.”
The stewardess looked at the woman staring out the window.
“Oh, that’s not her,” Ted said. “No, she’s on the next flight.”
The stewardess looked puzzled.
“They wouldn’t let us travel together. I said I’d wait but-”
“That’s terrible,” the stewardess said half-heartedly, then went to attend to another passenger.
The woman carried on staring out the window as her husband returned. He took his seat and turned to Ted. “I hope you’ve not been trying to talk to her. You won’t get anything unless you touch her. Deaf as a post. Never listens to a word I say. Still in shock, I suppose.”
“Shock?”
“Oh yes, terrifying really. Came a bit too close to a pack of hyenas on one of our jaunts. They said afterwards that a woman did exactly the same thing the day before and wasn’t so lucky. I’d told her to be careful but as I said, never listens to a word I say.”
***
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 twenty-fourth, is of multi-genre author and interviewee Gary Dobbs.
Gary M. Dobbs (The M being for Martin or Matilda depending on his mood) was born and bred in the small Welsh village of Gilfach Goch. Since reaching adulthood, and realising he doesn’t really like it that much Gary has been a taxi driver, factory worker, stand up comedian and actor (see photo). The pinnacle of his acting remains a part in a Doctor Who two parter and playing a gimp in the Neil Jones movie, The Reverend.
As an author Gary first made his mark writing westerns for Robert Hale LTD’s Black Horse Western imprint. For these books he used the name Jack Martin but he’s also written horror as Vincent Stark, crime as Gary M. Dobbs and for the Granny Smith series he is G. M. Dobbs.
“I don’t stick to one genre,” he says. “Why should I? I think it absurd that writers are only supposed to work in the one genre. Actors work in all kind of movies, as do screenwriters and it is only with novels that authors seem to be expected to fit into a particular spot. I go where the muse takes me regardless of the genre.”
And over the last few years that muse has led Gary into some strange places – a zombie infested world for the Dead Walked series, to Victorian South Wales for his historical thriller, The Welsh Ripper Murders and out West for several best-selling westerns. Lately the muse has been hanging around the Welsh village of Gilfach for the popular Granny Smith series.
The village of Gilfach is fictional though Gary prefers to call it semi-fiction, since it is based very much on his home village of Gilfach Goch. This semi-fictional village is populated by a surreal bunch of characters such as Dai Twice, the local special police constable and Mr Patel the owner of the minimarket.
Granny Smith, billed as Miss Marple on steroids, is a seventy odd years old hippy chick who just happens to find herself mixed up in all manner of mayhem. One reviewer compared the character to Stephanie Plum but with more wrinkles.
“I liked that,” Gary says. “After all the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series is bloody good. Having Granny compared to the character is a thrill.”
It was a long road into print for Gary. He’s always written, ever since he was a child and over the years published short stories and articles in magazines as diverse as Interzone, Skeleton Crew and People’s Friend. A particular highlight of what he calls his early years was having plays broadcast on both Radio Four and Radio Wales. However it was not until he was forty that Gary saw his first novel published when he sold a western, The Tarnished Star to the respected publisher, Robert Hale.
From there on in it’s been all systems go and Gary has a backlist that includes several westerns, a handful of horror thrillers and a sprinkling of mysteries. This March saw the digital publication of Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs, and late summer will see the third and final book in the Walking Dead series. And in November Gary’s new western, The Afterlife of Slim McCord (about a mummified outlaw) will be published in hardcover by Robert Hale LTD.
So where does Gary get his ideas? “I like people watching,” Gary Explains. “Well one woman in particular but the police have told me I’ve got to stop it.”
Ideas, he claims, can come from anywhere. From items in the newspapers, from movies, from other books or just out of thin air. Gary tells us that he initially had a dream about the character that became Granny Smith, though no doubt this was fuelled by his love for Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books as well as the comedic crimes of writers like Simon Brett and M. C. Beaton and the more farcical elements of authors like Tom Sharpe.
There are certainly comedic elements in the Granny Smith books. In the latest book Granny Smith and The Deadly Frogs there are scenes in which Granny finds herself having to defend herself against two naked lesbians as well as a high-speed pursuit of a drugged up joy rider.
*
And now from the author himself:
These days there seems to be a lot of buzz about enhanced books – you know books or eBooks with added content and I wanted to stretch this a little and so I’ve created an enhanced web presence for Granny Smith – for instance Granny has her own blog and Facebook page and these sites are maintained as if by Granny herself. This, I feel, allows the reader to have some fun in Granny’s world and the blog and Facebook page are very much an extension of the books. And when you read about Granny Smith’s detective website in the books a Google search will take you to that very page.
Granny Smith has her own Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/granny.smith.1029
And her own blog at http://grannysrockshack.blogspot.co.uk
These pages are not exactly fake since there is no secret that I am actually the author, but I find it fun posting on Granny’s Facebook page in the guise of a seventy one year old ex hippie chick who once bedded Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Check out the Wings song, Famous Groupies and there you have the younger Granny Smith.
Granny Smith, the geriatric sleuth, takes it all in her stride. I love the character and have outlines for another five books featuring Granny’s world. The character’s proven popular with readers and I hope to eventually extend the lives of the secondary characters who pop up from book to book. I think Dai Twice could carry a standalone novel as could Granny’s gay son, Gerald.”
In the future I hope to finish the script I am writing for a possible Granny Smith TV series as well as continue to pen novels that people will want to read. At the moment I’ve got the proofs of my next western, The Afterlife of Slim McCord on my desk waiting for my attention. I need to get these to my publisher by the end of the week and then I’m going to finally complete the Dead Walked trilogy, before starting work on another Granny Smith.
It’s all go…
**
As well as the Granny Smith links above, you can find more about Gary 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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Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the two hundred and twenty-third, is of non-fiction author and interviewee Peter Jones.
Peter Jones started professional life as a particularly rubbish Graphic Designer, followed by a stint as a mediocre Petrol Pump Attendant. Then one day a freak accident with a credit card zip zap machine (remember those?) restructured his DNA at the molecular level and gave him entrepreneurial powers. The next twenty years were spent helping humorless men with more money than they deserve separate the man on the street from his hard earned wedge.
Nowadays, Peter spends his time – most of it anyway – writing. He is the author of two and a half fabulously popular self-help books on the subjects of happiness, dieting and dating. If you’re over-weight, lonely, or unhappy – he’s your guy.
US cover
His first book ‘How To Do Everything and Be Happy’ was re-published by Harper Collins UK in January (2013), whilst their colleagues across the pond have given it a brand new cover for the American launch in June. His second book ‘How To Eat Loads and Stay Slim’ – co-written with the lovely-as-she-is-slender Della Galton – will be available as an audio book in May (2013), and all other formats shortly after that.
Peter lives just a few miles outside London with his cat. He doesn’t own a large departmental store, and probably isn’t the same guy you’ve seen on the TV show Dragons’ Den.
*
And now from the author himself:
Well this is all very exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a spotlight before. It’s a little like being on stage isn’t it? Or being interrogated. One or the other. Which strangely enough is pretty much how I feel about writing too. Somedays I’m an actor, playing a part, delivering lines as best I can, to an audience I can’t quite see, and who might very likely turn out to be row after row of empty seats. Other days I’m strapped to this chair (metaphorically speaking of course, but still against my will), and even when I’ve torn out part of my soul, shredded it into words, and arranged those on the page in what I’m hoping is an entertaining order – it isn’t enough! My agent wants something more. My publisher would like some changes. The magazine wonders if I could expand that line into a paragraph or three.
Still. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
One of my earliest ambitions was the desire to create books. I would kneel on my Grandparent’s living room floor, take as many sheets of paper as I was allowed, and use my Grandmother’s stapler to create a ‘book’. I’d then proceed to fill the pages with illustrations and narrative, until I ran out of space, which is when the story would – sometimes quite abruptly – end.
Those publications were distributed on a strict ‘read and return’ basis. I don’t remember the stories I wrote. I have no idea what happened to the manuscripts. But I do remember it used to make me happy. I remember that.
But you know how it is. You grow up. Put aside childish things. Get real. And all the dreams you had – becoming James Bond, becoming an actor, working in a job that you enjoy – they all get compromised. Down to nothing.
On my thirty-second birthday, I finally realised that there was a distinct possibility that the last of my ‘dreams’ might also never come to pass. At the time I hadn’t even realised that it was a dream – I just hadn’t had a proper girlfriend for a while. A long while. A really long while. But I’d always assumed that things ‘would work themselves out’. Eventually.
Apparently I was the only one who thought so. Colleagues had long since stopped describing me as an eligible bachelor, and some had even questioned my sexuality, which wasn’t exactly helping the situation.
So in order to avoid a life of bachelorhood, I started to plan. I made lists. I came up with a strategy. I took all the problem solving skills I was developing to make rich men richer, and applied them to my own life, and the gargantuan task of finding a girlfriend.
And a year or so later my strategy worked.
Kate was a wonderful person. A real visionary. When we met I had vague notions of settling into a rather typical domestic life-style; putting up with a job that I didn’t care for five days a week, in return for the company of a loving woman in the evenings and at weekends. Kate had very different ideas.
Life wasn’t about ‘settling’ for things. To her there was a world of possibilities out there. We could go anywhere, do anything, have everything, all we had to do was put our minds to it. During the three years we were together Kate became more than my wife, she was also my teacher.
I didn’t realise it at the time of course. I had no idea that the ideas she kept sharing with me would become such a central part of who I am. That didn’t happen until I lost her. To a brain haemorrhage. At Stansted airport.
I’ve learnt since that sudden deaths like hers (a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage) are surprisingly common. Kate had a weak part in her brain, probably since birth. It could have happened at any moment. It was almost inevitable. I learnt too that after the shock of losing someone comes the guilt. Every cross word, every nasty thought, every lie – they all come back to haunt you. And amongst the demons that were queuing up to torment me was the realisation that I still wasn’t happy, and maybe I never had been. There had been happy moments, of course. Quite a lot of moments. Most of them in the previous three years, and most of them down to Kate, but they were moments none the less. And I wanted to be happy all the time. Not just occasionally. Not just for a moment.
And so I decided to tackle the problem in the only way I knew how: by coming up with a plan. Making lists. Developing a strategy.
I kept it to myself at first. Well, you would wouldn’t you. But one day a colleague got me talking and I told her about ‘Boxing Day’. And my ‘Now List’. The items on my ‘Wish List’. My yearly goals – and how I make sure I actually achieve them. I told her how I’ve taken back control of my life, decided how I want it to be, pointed it in that direction, and given it a kick up the backside. I told her how I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. Smiling more than I ever did. How there’s love in my life again. How I think Kate would be proud of me. And that I can finally say, I’m happy.
“Those ideas are too good to be kept to yourself,” she said eventually. “You ought to write those things down.”
And so I did.
Thirty something years later after kneeling on my Grandparent’s living room floor I am finally doing something that I always wanted to do. I’m realising a childhood ambition. I’m making books again. And I remember now, how happy this makes me.
**
You can find more about Peter and his writing via…
Peter Jones
UK cover
How To Do Everything And Be Happy
How To Eat Loads And Stay Slim
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, Peter Jones, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-help, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Straight from the horse’s mouth… or rather from much better looking (although I love horses) Jane’s blog…
Taa-Raaa – we have the first set of results of the Fight the Flab Competition, judged by Janie Milman, co-owner of the fab Chez-Castillon, Morgen-with-an-e-Bailey - blog-designer extraordinaire and me. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Morgen has been the organised one and done all the admin, so over to her….
Hi Morgen here
Yes, that’s right – the entries were so impressive that we couldn’t agree on just ten.
Five of the twelve received a vote from all three judges, the other seven were picked by two of us.
Below are the shortlisted twelve and we shall be putting our heads together to pick out a winner… we may be some time! Only kidding, we will be posting the Top 5 here on Saturday 11th May then the winner on Saturday 18th May… listen out for the fanfare.
For a reminder of the prize…
The entrants had to: Write a diet or fitness tip in no more than 250 words. Entries were be judged on originality and entertainment value.
The author of the best tip will win: a week’s writing course with Jane Wenham-Jones, September 28th-4th October 2013 at Chez Castillon (see http://chez-castillon.com for full description) including meals and accommodation (flights not included) – worth £875.
***
and now for the Top 12… (in alphabetical order by surname)
|
Name
|
Tip Name
|
| Karen Booth |
The Regulating Waistband Plan |
| Philippa Bowe |
Clean out your colon |
| Tracy Fells |
The E-Plan |
| Jessica Kennedy |
Stop Doing the Dishes |
| Cathy Lennon |
Acquire a Labrador |
| Jane Lovering |
Bum’s Away |
| Clare Mackintosh |
The upside-down diet tip: a poem |
| Jan Newton |
Make Rejection Work for You |
| Janet O’Kane |
Why join a gym when you can work out at the supermarket? |
| olivespastavino |
Sleep The Fat Away |
| Rebecca Stanley |
In a Spin |
| Tony Tibbenham |
Roll 6 for Chocolate |
So good luck to those 12 and watch this space for the top 5 next weekend and the winner the weekend after!
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, science fiction, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the fifth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013.
Today’s prompt was to write a story inspired by the current http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. I picked:
and decided to combine all three. Below is my 834-worder.
*
The Thing and the Nameless Page
“What was that?” Willem-Alexander, the 10-minute-crowned King of the Netherlands, scanned the large state room.
His right-hand man, a strange-looking tall, thin Englishman called Nigel Barron-Smythe, followed his employer’s gaze. “Sorry your… Highness? I can’t see…”
“There! Over there!” the King pointed towards one of the gold and red embossed wallpapered walls.
“May I ask, sir, what I might be looking-”
“There! There! That thing! What is it?”
“Oh yes. I see… well, I don’t rightly know sir. Perhaps it’s a-”
“Spy!”
“Spy sir? I highly doubt-”
“Someone catch it! Over there before it flies to the… you there! Shut the window!”
A page who no-one knew the name of and had almost nodded off during the ceremony which had taken place on the hottest day in the Netherlands’ history, leapt to his feet and bolted for the window. He’d not been able to see the ‘thing’ either but knew he had to do as he told or he’d follow the way of the last page who had missed fulfilling an order and had been turfed out with the recycling. Rumour has it that he’d had to put it out en-route but there had been no witnesses to confirm that, or none that would tell him. After he’d shut the window, he’d felt something buzz past his ear. He swung round to see the tiny flapping of wings and an electronic hum.
“Catch it!” he heard as he watched the ‘thing’ fly towards another open window so he bolted again and managed to get to the window before it reached it. Thwarted again it hovered and spun in circles looking for other exits. Using his initiative, the boy did the same and shut every other window.
The room’s gaze then loomed on the door, seconds before the thing spotted it.
“The door!” the King shouted and two sentries who had been chatting about which maid-in-waiting they’d get off with at the next door after-ceremony party, slammed the front door which such force that it made the 12-tier cake, the centrepiece of the festivities, wobble.
Encouraged by his earlier success, the page ran after the ‘thing’, remembering a bag of treats he had in his pockets for the King’s Smoushonds, he retrieved it, threw out the treats – oblivious to the resulting scurrying of claws along the newly-polished floor – and lunged at the ‘thing’, wrapping it expertly in the bag, twisting the top so it had no chance of escape.
His heart thumped as the object battled to get out. Eventually, the thrashing subsided and the page realised the only sound he could now hear was his heart thumping. He looked up, around the room, and realised that everyone was staring at him. He swallowed, then as the King beckoned him, the page stepped forward, slowly, head lowered, inching step by step.
“Bring it here!” the King boomed and the page quickened along the long old room.
“Run, man!”
So the page did as he was told, the bag bumping in his hands, a squeak escaping from it as he did so.
When he reached the King he stopped, held out his hands and bowed his head.
Not sure what to do now, knowing it would likely escape if he undid the bag, the King called on Barron-Smythe.
“I… er, don’t know sir. Perhaps if-”
“Anyone else?” the King boomed, looking around the room. His gaze stopped on a short red-faced man standing near to where the King had first spotted the ‘thing’.
“You!” the King shouted. “Step forward.”
The flushed-faced man looked to his left, right, then pointed to his chest.
“Yes, you! Step forward.”
The man did as he was told.
“You look familiar. What’s your name?”
“Herbert, sir.”
“Herbert… Herbert what?”
“Herbert Wintergrund, sir… your Highness.”
“Sir is fine. Who are you?”
“I’m your Science Advisor, sir.”
“Oh yes, so you are. You look shifty, what’s the matter with you?”
“I… erm. That…” He looked over at the bag that the page was still holding.
“Yes. Go on! What about it?”
“It’s… I’m sorry, sir, but it’s mine.”
“Yours? Yours? What is it?”
“It’s a new type of robot, sir. A present from the Herschel Space Observatory. For you. They thought you might like one – it does all sorts of clever things – and…”
“And?”
“I was going to put it with all your other presents next door but I was late arriving so I stuffed it into my pocket. The little blighter… sorry, your Highness. It escaped and well, went for the light.”
The man’s face was getting redder and redder, and the page wondered whether he might explode at any moment but then the King burst out laughing. He clapped his hands twice, whistled for his dogs, and announced that there was enough food next door to feed an army and that they might even play pass the parcel before the disco started.
***
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 twenty-second, is of novelist, artist and entertainer Natalie Buske Thomas.
Natalie Buske Thomas, author of the Serena Wilcox series, is also an artist and entertainer. She is best known for her oil painting “Savannah Reading in the Butterfly Garden” and the Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy that began with Angels Mark. Angels Mark hit Amazon’s bestselling list shortly after its debut in 2011. It was followed by Covert Coffee, an ALLI author pick in 2012. New release Bluebird Flown is the final book of the trilogy. The Serena Wilcox series will depart into a new trilogy in 2014.
Natalie lives near Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota with her husband and three children. She likes container gardening, photographing weather and nature, and gourmet cooking. “Life’s short–do what you like” is her motto.
Natalie was a dance student and teacher for over twenty years. She has also directed community theater and has performed as a vocalist. She is working on her first CD.
Natalie attended Purdue University and was a journalist for the college paper. After her first year of college she lived in Germany for three years, where she taught dance arts through the military family entertainment branch. When she returned to the United States she graduated from Ball State University with a degree in German. She has taught German as an independent teacher throughout the years.
In addition to the Serena Wilcox series, Natalie has penned The Miracle Dulcimer (a music method book), Fred Born Gifted, and juvenile book, The Magic Camera, with plans for a children’s poetry and art book.
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And now from the author herself:
I write suspenseful, futuristic, political thrillers that are hard-hitting, dystopian, and humorous. The books have plots that twist, twist and twist again, but the series is really all about the characters. Serena Wilcox and her crew have become real to readers, and real to me personally. Some of the characters are based on people I know, and their involvement in the series has grown to the point that I seem to be collecting people who want to be “in” the book.
And why stop at people? I held a Serena Wilcox Mysteries pet contest to find which pet “has what it takes to be in a mystery novel”. The winner was decided by popular vote. I couldn’t bear for only one beautiful animal to win, so I expanded the contest to include second and third place winners. Writing the pets into the series was a joyful experience.
Besides animals, the newest Serena Wilcox thriller Bluebird Flown also has celebrity guest appearances. I met Eric Dittelman, finalist in last season’s America’s Got Talent, after his show in River Falls, Wisconsin. He was game to be included in the book as himself. Another celebrity, radio host Bob Krejcarek, volunteered himself to be a character while interviewing me live on the air! I held him to it and his fictional role turned out to be much bigger than I expected.
Having been a dance teacher and theater director, I was used to working with large groups of people, juggling multiple projects, and conquering stage fright on a regular basis. When I fictionalize real people that I know, and involve them in the book, my series becomes more alive. I have never enjoyed solos as much as I enjoy working with a cast and crew.
To maintain excitement the Serena Wilcox series is bundled into trilogies. When one trilogy ends, the series departs into a new direction. My first three books were so short that they are now sold as a collection of short-stories. My second set of three is the dystopian trilogy that began with my break-through novel Angels Mark. The final book of the dystopian trilogy, Bluebird Flown, is my new release:
“Bluebird Flown, the final book in the Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy, goes even deeper into the madness of futuristic America; corrupt, heavy with conspiracies– chillingly close to tomorrow’s headlines. President Ann Kinji trusts no one, except for government outsider, former private detective mother-of-three Serena Wilcox and her motley crew of vigilantes, burned agents & the criminally insane. As the United States continues to spiral out of control, can Serena stop all of the traitors before they kill the President? As the layers of betrayal are peeled, will anyone remain standing?
Covert Coffee’s dystopian, eerie, and intense vibe continues! What began in Angels Mark and escalated in Covert Coffee is revealed in Bluebird Flown.”
I’m currently working on book one in the third Serena Wilcox trilogy, Project Scarecrow.
**
You can find more about Natalie and her writing via…
***
If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog (the spotlights are option (a)) or email me for details.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!
See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0
or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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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 the conclusion 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, Part 8, and Part 9.
NB. This novel does contain some strong language.
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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.
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Ellen’s Tale (conclusion)
BIX SEFUNE
My Mouse, well not such a Mouse, I guess, but I like the name so Mouse she stays. She is full of surprises that girl. I have a feeling she’s rattling a few cage doors around here; good for her, they need it. Life’s not so bad at the moment, come and go as I choose. I can manage small doses of the City, especially when Ellen is there with her smile of welcome. No matter what time of day or night I appear she smiles and comes to me. Never a frown, because of the hour or the inconvenience, just pleased to see me. Somewhere, somehow, I must have done something to deserve her but damned if I know when or what. Not questioning it mind, doesn’t do; just enjoy it I say, just enjoy it. And I do.
Must say, though, it’s a funny set up really. Here I am making free with the City, father of three . . . Stop just there. Father of three, never in wildest dreams did I see that one coming. Still don’t really believe it. Ah, well. Then there’s Ellen setting them all by their heels with a revolution. Okay, maybe not a revolution but the ideas she’s got. Marshall listening to them as well, as if she was his equal. Neither of us can quite take that on. Her head is buzzing with ideas, she hasn’t told them the half of it yet. Breaking them in slowly, very wise. They might have her head otherwise. She’s an important person now, new tunic and all. Actually I like her in it, the colour reminds me of Outside: sky, flowers, that kind of thing. But Ambassador no less. Well, well, little timid Mouse has grown indeed. Hasn’t she done well? I tell her every time I come back I find a new woman here. Am I lucky or what?
Marshall is the one I feel sorry for, he doesn’t stand a chance against my girl. Told him so. I never did, none of the Riders managed either. Why did he ever think he could resist her? He just smiles and inclines his head, like this. I have no hard feelings now, and I understand why the Programme was put into place. Ellen told me about the unAltered children and Marshall’s hopes for them. That’s great but I told him not to stop the Programme. Listening to all this stuff about Manipulation and Alteration has made me realise the advantages. I am firmly on the Geneticists’ side here. Marshall and I have many a discussion about it, quite heated sometimes; well, quite heated for him, anyway.
Outside? Well, our house is almost ready now; Jack and I have done well there, I think. Hope Ellen likes it. This Trade Route business Ellen has handed us will curtail our time in the Village if it takes off and I worry a bit about having to provide for Ellen and the babies. The Villagers have said they will look after them but the original deal was for us to look after ourselves, with their guidance, not for them to do it all. I’m not happy with them doing my job.
Ellen laughs at me. Says I’m playing man games. No respect. Actually, I don’t think I’m cut out for farming, this Trade Route stuff is much more my line. Have made a few trips to other Villages. A bit of work still needed to convince them all. They do like that I can mostly point them to more land. It’s always been a problem for them all, not knowing where the mines are laid, and good land going to waste for want of that knowledge. Marshall is most interested in how well they are all doing and how they have been coping with the weather and bandits. Well, we have helped with that last of course, the Ferals I mean. We have them pretty well beaten here in this part of the country, not sure about the west or across the sea.
I think the Trade Routes will work well, there is talk of me escorting a few of the Council to some of the Villages I have found and then maybe, if they can be convinced, getting them into the City to meet with Ellen. I think Ellen will have left by then so maybe I’ll bypass the Council and take her straight there. If she’s able, of course. She won’t talk about the problem. Outside I mean. She turns the subject every time.
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 fourth in a 31-day series Story A Day May 2013.
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. This is on hold this month as I write a story a day for SADM2013
Today’s prompt was to write an obituary. Below is my 544-worder.
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RIP Lenny ‘Shades’ Froug
Characters as colourful as Lenny ‘Shades’ Froug don’t come along very often and the world is most certainly a darker place without him.
Born Leonard Dennis Froug on the 4th of May 2013, the only son to Dennis Froug Snr and Lillian Froug neé Smith, of Northamptonshire, England, Lenny ignored fashion trends, wearing stripes with spots, snakeskin with floral, and neon with nylon. He earned his nickname not by the sunglasses he wore – he loved direct contact with the sun – but by those worn by the people around him on particularly colourful days.
As soon as he could talk, Leonard Jnr told his parents that he only had a limited time to live and wanted to fill it with as many experiences as he could. Being an only child, he was not short of love and attention, forming the easy-going personality that endeared him to everyone he met.
As a child, he would venture into his father’s shed, help with Dennis Snr’s experiments and soon he was trying his own, with success, leading him to ultimately find the cure to the common cold, all strains of cancer known to man, and some unknown, and why the underneath of a yoghurt pot lid always falls the wrong side down (gravital proportion to the square coverage of surface area on each side).
With those achievements, all before the age of 12, under one’s belt – in his case, a skinny Rattlesnake – some would then have taken a step back and settle into a more normal life, but Lenny would regularly be spotted jetting off to war-torn countries where he would take over the peace negotiations and bring them to a satisfactory conclusion – the Gaza Strip now a nature reserve – to parched and famished African countries where he would dance his version of a rain dance, powerful enough to whip up the fiercest of rainstorms, filling the Froug Developments’ wells deep enough to last the rest of the century.
One of many figments of English writer, Morgen Bailey’s imagination, who is famous for killing off many of her characters, she and Leonard had a short (544-word), but endearing relationship and Ms Bailey is quoted as saying, “I wish I could have known Lenny better. Maybe I’ll bring him back to life in a later story.”
Those who knew Lenny, are devastated by his early demise and are, at the time of this item going to press, raising funds for his return.
Lenny leaves behind his parents, Dennis and Lillian, and a hamster called ‘Pixie’.
The memorial service will be held on 14th May 2013 at the Chapel in the grounds of the Leonard Froug Garden on Mars’ Fourth Quadrant, near to the florescent rock pools that Lenny loved so much. A free shuttle bus will be available from all UK airports, where Lenny was a season ticket holder, and Mr and Mrs Froug welcome all attendees back to their home, Froug Mansions, which Lenny bought them with the money he received from his seventeenth Nobel Prize.
Those attending are forbidden from wearing black, including underwear – security guards have been instructed to check – and a disco will be held after the service in stretch marquees in the grounds of the family home – formerly known as Buckingham Palace – until ‘late’.
***
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, 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 twenty-first is of David W Berner.
David W. Berner is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author, and teacher. His first book, Accidental Lessons was awarded the 2011 Royal Dragonfly Grand Prize for Literature. His broadcast reporting and audio documentaries have been aired on the CBS Radio Network, NPR’s Weekend Edition and a number of public radio stations across America. David has been the recipient of awards from the Associated Press, RTNDA (Radio and Television News Directors Association) and the Broadcast Education Association.
David was awarded the position of Writer-in-Residence at the Jack Kerouac Project in Orlando, Florida for the summer of 2011. His writing, both reporting and personal essays, have appeared in publications and online journals such as Under the Gum Tree, Chicagoland Journal, PERIGEE, Tiny Lights Journal, Shaking Like a Mountain, Travelgolf.com, Worldgolf.com, Golf Chicago Magazine, The Sun Newspapers, and Write City Magazine. David is also a performer. He’s a regular on the Chicago storytelling circuit, reading his personal essays at events such as 2nd Story, Story Club, Essay Fiesta, and This Much is True. As an associate professor at Columbia College Chicago, he teaches radio narrative, audio documentary, and writing. He has presented writing workshops at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and for numerous literary organizations throughout the Chicago area.
David holds a Masters in Education/Teaching from the Aurora University and a MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He also tries to find still time to play guitar and watch as much TV coverage as possible of his beloved Steelers.
He lives in Forest Park, Illinois just outside Chicago.
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And now from the author himself:
Where I Write
There’s forever been that romantic belief that writers do their work in wonderful, even glorious spaces. Dylan Thomas had his shed, the boathouse in Wales, a spare spot of fertile ground where wonderful ideas germinate. Some see the writer toiling away in the oak lined room of a country estate; the surrounding shelves lined the classics. But here’s the reality: many if not most writers work in far less picturesque or grand places. An author friend of mine writes nearly everything on a simple, lined legal pad while lying on her twin bed in her tiny studio apartment on Chicago gritty West Side. The place where I write is somewhere between the meager and the grand. Truth is, I write in a lot of places: coffee shops, trains, slumped in my living room couch. But one spot is a favorite. It’s a corner of my small dining room near the window where I can hear city noises. I like the soundtrack of traffic, car tires on rain, the bells of the old church across the street, the voices of those walking by. I like being surrounded by books I’m reading and the beloved old ones. Their presence inspires. Coffee is necessary. And behind me there are two photographs that have always been special to me. One is of Hemingway’s writing space at his home in Key West and the other is by photographer Zeny Cieslikowski entitled “San Francisco”. It’s an image of the street outside City Lights Bookstore, one of my favorite literary destinations. Below them is a portable Royal typewriter, circa 1940. I don’t always write in this space, but when I do it may be the best place in the world. It not only drives my work, but it helps to present the importance of “place” in my stories.
I first experienced how important a writing space could be when I was given the opportunity to be the writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida. It’s the modest home he lived with his mother after all the attention of On the Road, and where he wrote The Dharma Bums. The three-month experience of writing in such a revered place, allowed for a renewed attention to “place” in a story. Setting can be as much a character in a work as the voices heard in those spaces. When I started writing Any Road Will Take You There: A Journey of Fathers and Sons, my memoir of a 5000-mile road trip and the struggles and triumphs of fatherhood, I rediscovered the importance of space, setting, and place. Where the story happens, why it happens in that location, in that house, on that road is crucial to the story. Each of the stops along the long journey in Any Road Will Take You There evokes a memory, a moment that fuels the trip and the story.
Just like the places where I write, the places in my stories have meaning, something true and honest and revealing.
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In the early 1990s, the writing bug hit Jan hard. She quickly finished the first novel she’d started in her twenties. It’s still in a drawer. She next turned to short stories and found she loved writing them. Over a period of a few years, she had three more novels written, plus a pile of short stories.
