Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo: Blog Tour, Interview, and Giveaway!

Monday, September 09, 2024

Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo

We here at WOW! Women on Writing are excited to launch the blog tour for Murder by Milkshake by returning author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. This book is a perfect cozy mystery readers are excited to get into - and the best news is it’s the first book of a fabulous series! 

Read on to find out the author's inspiration behind this series in an exceptional author interview, and enter to win a copy! 

Murder by Milkshake is the first book in the Sweet Dreams (cozy YA) Series. If you haven’t read the other books by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo, you’ve arrived on scene just in time for this sweet treat and we are also accepting reviewers for book two (click this link to sign up today)!

Here's a bit more about Murder by Milkshake: 

Book Summary

Life is sweet for high school senior and ice cream slinger Genevieve Winterland. Her father owns Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Parlour, the cutest confectionery shop in their little town of Pinewood, Arizona. Genevieve loves her job, but when her father hires a broody newcomer with a dark past to provide extra security on her closing shifts, Genevieve bristles. Is this part of her father’s plan to send her away to college, when all she wants is to stay in Pinewood and run the family business? 

Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite new teacher at Pinewood High, Miss Love, is receiving death threats, and then she goes missing. Genevieve suspects the crabby substitute, Ms. Pierce, who seems murderous about being passed over for the position. Or is the culprit Mr. Garcia, the longtime instructor who Miss Love replaced after he was fired for assaulting a student? Just when Genevieve thinks she knows the answer, she stumbles across the dead body of another missing faculty member. 

Can Genevieve find the killer terrorizing the teachers in her beloved hometown—before someone else gets iced? 

Genre: Cozy Mystery 
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D94VG7L8 
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 15, 2024 
Print length ‏ : ‎ 220 pages 
Best Sellers Rank: #897,102 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #413 in Teen & Young Adult Detective Story eBooks #3,672 in Teen & Young Adult Mysteries & Detective Stories #8,610 in Amateur Sleuth Mysteries (Kindle Store) 

Murder by Milkshake is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon. You can add it to your GoodReads reading list as well. 

Elizabeth Maria Naranjo

About the Author, Elizabeth Maria Naranjo: 

Elizabeth Maria Naranjo is the author of The Fourth Wall, The House on Linden Way, and What Was Never There. Her stories and essays have been widely published and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Essays, and Best of the Net, and her short story, “Windows,” was selected for Best Microfiction 2023. She lives in Tempe, Arizona, with her husband and two children.

#murderbymilkshakenaranjo 

Elizabeth and Murder by Milkshake can be found online: 

 Interview by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto

WOW: Welcome back my friend! Thank you for allowing me, and the team here at WOW! Women on Writing to be part of the entire journey with the Sweet Dreams Series! It’s such a pleasure to welcome you back and support your fabulous writing! Let’s get down to business and the burning question: what first sparked the idea of the series? 

Elizabeth: Thanks, Crystal! The pleasure is mine; it’s always wonderful to be back on WOW, and I’m thrilled to launch the Sweet Dreams Series on my favorite writing blog. 

The idea for Sweet Dreams goes back to 2019, when I was reading a lot of young adult (YA) fiction and also a lot of cozy mysteries. One afternoon on a break at work I had the sudden idea to combine the two. I swear I actually felt the light bulb go off. There was this surge of giddy excitement, and then I thought, no way this hasn’t been done before. 

To anyone not familiar, cozy mysteries are light-hearted, funny, and PG-rated. They are murder mysteries with no gratuitous violence, sex, profanity, or drugs. Cozies feature an amateur sleuth, a close-knit community, and a theme centered around a job or hobby, like baking or knitting. They are written for middle-aged women, but I’m convinced they’d be loved by teens if the protagonists were aged down. 

I started looking for any examples of YA cozy mysteries, but there were none. All of the teen mysteries I found were dark, high-stakes thrillers that usually involved dead girls. I figured if anyone needed more laughter in their lives, it’s teenagers, so I decided to write a YA cozy mystery series. Something low-stakes, with humor, and no dead kids (all victims in Sweet Dreams are adults). Think Scooby-Doo, but with murder. 

WOW: That’s fascinating and a wonderful glimpse into your thought process. Thank you! What have you learned through publishing so many books? What tidbits can you share with others just starting out? 

Elizabeth: Starting out, I would say, write like a kid, and edit like an adult. Embrace that initial joy of a project with all the childlike enthusiasm it deserves. And when you inevitably lose momentum, be disciplined and commit to seeing your vision through. You’ll build confidence, and you will never regret finishing a project. 

One thing I’ve learned from publishing several books is there’s no point where you’re like, hey, I finally figured out how to write a book! Each one is different. For example, the second book in the Sweet Dreams series was the hardest book I’ve ever worked on. Editing it was a challenge, and often a slog. Murder by Milkshake, by comparison, was easily the most fun I’ve had writing a book. It took three months to draft, and every edit was a joy. In the end, I love them both, but you can never predict how a project will go! 

One tidbit I’d like to share is that you don’t have to edit in a linear way. Let’s say, like me, it takes you about a month to edit a book, and you edit that book at least three times. If you start with chapter one every time, two things will happen. One is you will hate chapter one. Two is chapter one will be absolutely perfect because it gets all of your best efforts and optimism. 

When I go in for a second or third edit, I start at different places. Maybe for edit two I start with the final chapter and work my way backwards. Edit three I start in the middle. In the end, each part of the book has had the benefit of me coming in fresh and energized, something that fades pretty quickly about a week into a tough edit! 

WOW: Thank you for that wonderful insight; I don’t know where you find the time and patience! Speaking of advice, this is a favorite question of mine: What would your current self like to say to the teenage Elizabeth? 

Elizabeth: I’d tell her not to worry, that the stories will still be there wherever she goes, and that she’s lucky to have discovered so early in life what she loves to do. I’d tell her “One day, you’re going to have a dedicated shelf on your bookcase filled with your own books, with pretty covers and your name on the spines, just like you always dreamed.” 

WOW: I’m absolutely a cover girl so I feel every part of those pretty covers - it’s all about drawing the reader in and getting them to read the book summary! Well done my friend. Your cover may have drawn me in, but your characters are the best! That leads me to the next question, or questions - tell me about your cover art and your favorite character in Murder by Milkshake! 

Elizabeth: Ooh, I love this question! For the cover art, I was very specific with my designer, Deranged Doctor Design. I wanted it to be cute and fun and girly—just like my MC. I wanted Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Parlour to be the main feature, so I described the shop in detail—the cheery atmosphere, the polka-dot tiled floor, the pink-and-white striped wallpaper. Like all cozies, I wanted the cover to be 90% adorable and 10% sinister, with perhaps one ominously oozing dessert. The book designer absolutely nailed it. 

As for my favorite character in Sweet Dreams, that’s my MC, Genevieve Winterland. She is everything I always wanted in a young adult female protagonist. She’s energetic, cheerful, adorably flawed, loves her small town, her father, her job, embraces her feminine side (Genevieve loves clothes and is never without her signature Cherry on Top lipstick), and is way too busy running the family business to even think about romance. Her friendship with BFF Brandon Summers is entirely platonic, something I’d longed to see in YA. 

Genevieve is flawed in that she can be impulsive and stubborn, but she is unfailingly kind and has such a positive outlook. She sees the best in everyone and believes most problems can be solved with a dish of ice cream. And even if you only visited her ice cream shop once, three years ago, Genevieve will remember your order. I love her. 

WOW: That’s deep and thank you for being so open with us here today! As we discussed, you’ll be back soon with book 2, Pralines and Creamed, (sign up to be an early reader/reviewer by clicking here), so tell us, what's next for you for 2024 and beyond? 

Elizabeth: My goal for 2024 was to publish all three books in the Sweet Dreams series. I’m so close! But Pralines and Creamed took longer to edit than I anticipated, and it’s more important to me to make sure each book is as good as I can possibly make it. So although Pralines and Creamed will be out as planned on October 1 (preorder here!), the third book is getting pushed to 2025. 

After that, I’m torn between continuing my micro memoir project, returning to motherhood essays (with my youngest going away to college next year I have so much fresh material!), or drafting a new novel. Whichever I choose, the common theme is literary. I’ve had a blast writing commercial fiction, but I am ready to embrace again the more melancholy and lyrical writing that’s defined the majority of my work. 

WOW: Thank you so much for letting us be part of your journey and I’m excited to find out more about your next book(s). Be sure to keep in touch with us; returning authors are important lifelong friends!

Elizabeth: I will definitely keep in touch! I’m planning a WOW reviews tour for Pralines and Creamed later this year (sign up for that by clicking this link), and when the third book is ready to publish, you’ll be the first to know! 

Check out this hashtag to stay up to date with this tour, the book, and it’s author: #murderbymilkshakenaranjo 

Murder by Milkshake Blog Tour

 ----Blog Tour Dates 

September 9th @ The Muffin 
What goes better with coffee in the morning than a muffin? Join us at the WOW blog to celebrate the launch of author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo’s Murder by Milkshake. You can read an interview with Elizabeth and enter to win a copy of the book. 

September 9th @ StoreyBook Reviews 
Leslie Storey reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at StoreyBook Reviews will be dying to learn more about this cozy mystery! 

September 10th @ Goodreads with Karen Brown Tyson 
Stop by Goodreads and find out what Karen Brown Tyson thinks of the latest cozy mystery by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Murder by Milkshake will leave readers wanting more stories by this talented author! 

September 10th @ Rockin Book Reviews 
Lu Ann at Rocking Book Reviews shares her thoughts with readers about Elizabeth Maria Naranjo’s Murder by Milkshake - this is a fabulous cozy mystery readers won’t want to miss! http://www.rockinbookreviews.com

September 11th @ Book Woman Joan 
Joan Nienhuis - known as Book Woman Joan reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery! http://bookwomanjoan.blogspot.com 

September 11th @ The Burgeoning Bookshelf 
Veronica Joy reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at the Burgeoning Bookshelf won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery! https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com

September 12th @ Life According to Jamie 
See what Jamie has to say as she reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery!

September 12th @ Writer Advice 
Fellow WOW! Author, B. Lynn Goodwin reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Fellow authors leave some of the most helpful reviews - see how many stars Goodwin gives Naranjo! https://www.writeradvice.com 

September 12th @ Just Katherine 
Katherine reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at Just Katherine won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery so they can add it to their own TBR pile today! 

September 13th @ What is that Book About 
In the spotlight today at What is that Book About is none other than: Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery by this talented author! 

September 14th @ Chapter Break 
Today’s guest author at Chapter Break is Elizabeth Maria Naranjo who is touring with her latest cozy mystery, Murder by Milkshake. Readers will delight with today’s post titled: YA Cozy Mysteries: A Perfect Pairing! 

September 15th @ Finished Pages 
Renee Roberson is a big fan of Elizabeth Maria Naranjo who is touring with her latest cozy mystery, Murder by Milkshake. Find out what Renee has to say and how many stars she will give! www.FinishedPages.com 

September 16th @ Fiona Ingram Author 
Today’s guest author at Fiona Ingram’s website is Elizabeth Maria Naranjo who is touring with her latest cozy mystery, Murder by Milkshake. Readers will delight with today’s post titled: 5 Key Ingredients to Creating a Cozy Mystery. 

September 17th @ Bibliotica 
Melissa reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at Bibliotica won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery so they can add it to their own TBR pile today! 

September 18th @ Frugal Freelancer 
Sara reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at the Frugal Freelancer won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery; others are raving about this fantastic read! 

September 19th @ Knotty Needle Creative 
Judy reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at Knotty Needle Creative won’t want to miss this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery! Enjoy! http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com 

September 20th @ Boy’s Mom Reads 
Stop by Boy’s Mom Reads and find out what Karen thinks of the latest cozy mystery by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Murder by Milkshake will leave readers wanting more stories by this talented author! https://karensiddall.wordpress.com 

September 21st @ Book Bunnies 
Gizem reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers at Book Bunnies will love this opportunity to read more about this cozy mystery! Enjoy! 

September 23rd @ One Writer’s Journey 
Sue Bradford Edwards at One Writers’ Journey reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers will delight in this cozy mystery! 

September 24th @ Author Anthony Avina’s Blog 
Fellow author Anthony Avina reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Fellow authors leave some of the best reviews - don’t miss Anthony’s thoughts on this cozy mystery! http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com 

September 27th @ The Faerie Review 
Lily at The Faerie Review reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers will delight in this cozy mystery and won’t want to miss today’s review! 

September 28th @ Boots Shoes and Fashion 
Short and Sweet: The Joy of Bite-Size Books Today’s guest author at Boots Shoes and Fashion is Elizabeth Maria Naranjo who is touring with her latest cozy mystery, Murder by Milkshake. Readers will delight with today’s post titled: Short and Sweet: The Joy of Bite-Sized Books! https://bootsshoesandfashion.com 

October 1st @ Words by Webb 
Jodi at Words by Webb reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Readers will delight in this cozy mystery and won’t want to miss today’s review! 

October 4th @ My Beauty My Books 
Nikki at My Beauty My Books reviews Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo. Stop by and see what Nikki has to say about Naranjo’s latest! 

 ***** BOOK GIVEAWAY ***** 

Enter to win a copy of Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo! Fill out the Rafflecopter form by September 22nd at 11:59 CT for a chance to win. We will choose a winner randomly the next day and follow up via email. Good luck
 
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Interview with Tina Engelfried: 2024 Q3 CNF Contest Runner Up

Sunday, September 08, 2024
Tina’s Bio: Tina Engelfried has spent 53 of her 63 years playing with words. Because of WOW and the classes and contests they offer, she has gained enough confidence to find her writing identity. It will be a long time before she gets comma use done correctly. She unschooled her two children until they were ready for college and considers that time as the best years of her life. Her partner in all of her endeavors is her husband, Steven. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Tina's award winning essay "We Started with Walnuts" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Q3 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest! How did you begin writing your essay and how did it and your writing processes evolve as you wrote? 

Tina: I began to seriously consider writing about the subject of unschooling while taking classes through WOW. The guidance I received helped me to organize my scattered thoughts. Chelsey Clammer laughed in all the right places in the assignments for her class and made me realize that I don’t have to write in a straight line. Learning to take the time to write is a big hurdle that Kelly L. Stone helped me jump. The classes I took with Kimberly Lee and Kandace Chapple showed me how to recognize the beginning of a good idea. 

WOW: That’s fabulous that you learned so much from WOW’s instructors and used that to craft an award-winning piece! What did you learn about yourself or your writing by creating this essay? 

Tina: I always thought that when I sat down to write about unschooling it would be easy. I had so much to say, I had learned from trial and error and had buckets of information. But it wasn’t easy; it was too close to my grieving process over that time in my life being over. I knew I needed to approach this subject with a little distance. 

WOW: I love the style of your essay. Can you tell us more about your decisions to use this style and challenges and/or successes you experienced with it? 

Tina: I have written poetry since the age of 10 when my 5th grade teacher paid me a compliment and posted my poem on the class bulletin board. When I was having a hard time expressing myself through an essay, I went back to my old friend, poetry. Poetry welcomes random thoughts and I do best without structure. Once I had a poem, I could take it apart and present those thoughts as an essay. 

WOW: I find it fascinating – and helpful – to hear how writers use multiple genres to craft their work. Thank you for sharing your innovative process. Which creative nonfiction essays or writers have inspired you most, and in what ways did they inspire you? 

Tina: I am one of the many millions of fans who love Anne Lamont. Her sentences take a sudden turn and become poetry when the reader least expects it. She exemplifies how to be funny and serious at the same time. 

WOW: Oh yes, her writing is well-loved for good reasons. If you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be? 

Tina: If I could go back in time to that 5th grade girl, I would tell her to read her poetry to anyone who will listen and to have faith in her ability to write stories. I would let her know that even garbage writing is valuable; getting the garbage thoughts out the door leaves behind shiny thoughts. I would use this analogy so that I could clean my room. 

WOW: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Tina: I have been entering contests through WOW and NYC Midnight for just a year and have now written something worthy of an honorable mention. So maybe the future me told the present me to keep writing. 

WOW: Thank you for sharing your writing with us and for your thoughtful responses. Happy writing! 


Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes. Engage on Twitter or Instagram @GreenMachine459.
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Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life: When It Rains, It Pours, and Your Book Gets Challenged

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

 

Abdo, 2016
This last week has been a big bite in the butt. That’s not normally how I’d start a post for WOW! but I’m all about transparency. I was really struggling to figure out a compelling topic for today. I’d tried out several different ideas and even asked Chat GPT for suggestions. Chat GPTs ideas weren’t bad, and I’ll save them for later, but none of them felt like THE PERFECT TOPIC for today. 

I know that a big part of the problem is that the last week has been wicked. I had a book due which is normal enough. My son brought home a virus which he shared with me. Our principal vehicle broke down . . . again. And I friend went into the hospital with suspected CHF. The good news is that she doesn’t have CHF, and she is now home from the hospital. That’s actually not everything, but we’re reaching the point where if I added to the list, you’d just think I was making stuff up. 

I was half-heartedly considering writing about how to squeeze writing in when life happens in great abundance. Then a message popped into my inbox. Apparently one of my books, Black Lives Matter, is being evaluated in the Leighton, Pennsylvania school district to see if it is appropriate for a high school library. The short answer? Yes, yes, it is. I don’t write for adults so it is pretty much a given that if you match the book to the age level of the young reader, it will be appropriate. The district staffer who contacted me wonders if I would like to comment. Cue the semi-hysterical laughter. Oh, sweet mercy. You had better believe that I do. 

And just like that, I have something to write about! When you don’t know what to write about, take a deep breath and then look at your life. There are so many things that we could each write about. That said, I’ll have to come back to what to do when your book is challenged. I’m going to rewatch a video about fighting bans, download the resources, and get busy. I’m also going to contact my co-author who just happens to be a lawyer. I will write up a post about this when we get to the other side. 

But I did mean it when I said that we could each write about so many things based on our own lives. I could write about dealing with an unresponsive auto dealership “service” department. I’m sorry, I just can’t write that without the quotation marks. Or I could write about the value of an extended vehicle warranty. How long do you have to keep a vehicle for that extra expense to be worthwhile? I could write about modern wedding etiquette and what practices have gone by the wayside and what new practices have replaced them. Are e-mail invitations acceptable? What if you don’t want a destination wedding? Or gifts? I could write about what questions you need to ask the specialist when you get an unexpected diagnosis. 

See? Life feeds us ideas all the time. You may not have time when you’re in the middle of something but sketch out a few notes. That’s what I’ll be doing as I contact the editorial director, my writing partner, and a few other helpful people. Because . . . life. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 55 books for young readers.  
  • To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.  
  • Click here to find her newsletter.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin again on October 7, 2024. She teaches:
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Interview with Julie Lockhart, Runner Up in the Q3 2024 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

Sunday, September 01, 2024
I was thrilled to chat with Julie Lockhart about her incredibly creative essay, "The Fist." It's a fantastic example of what writers can do with a hermit crab form, and I encourage everyone to read it and then join us for a craft discussion. Julie and I chat about changing people's names in nonfiction, the hermit crab structure, and how she uses her rejection letters to enhance her work.

Julie Lockhart loves an adventure in wild places. She spent most of her career in academics, where she published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation and Advances in Accounting Education. During the last years of her career, she led a grief support nonprofit, where she discovered the beauty and depth of personal stories, writing about her experiences to help grieving people feel less alone. Her essays have been published in The Journal of Wild Culture, bioStories, Feels Blind Literary, Minerva Rising (Keeping Room), and Witcraft. Julie has several times placed in the top ten in Women on Writing Essay contests. She is a Pushcart nominee. Born in the Chicago area, Julie has lived, worked and played in the Pacific Northwest since 1982. She lives in Port Townsend, WA. Find her at: julietales.com.

----- Interview by Angela Mackintosh

WOW: Welcome, Julie! Your winning essay, "The Fist" is incredibly creative. The police report format really complements the narrative in an interesting way. How did you come up with the idea for the format?
 
Julie: Thank you, Angela! Because this essay covers an incident that happened in April 2023, the trauma was still pretty fresh. I was taking Chelsey Clammer’s flash trauma class, so the essay needed to be 800 words max. I felt emboldened to write about the assault because of her class. This particular week she had us looking at perspective in writing about trauma. I tried a few different ways to write it, but nothing was working. I honestly can’t remember how I came up with this idea, but I did have a copy of my witness statement taken by the police, so I think that’s what spurred the idea. What I loved about using the format of a police report is that it allowed me to fit a complex story into a flash essay. The format also gave me some distance from the trauma, and I could play with perspective, thus satisfying Chelsey’s assignment for that week.
  
WOW: It's a delightful format to read, and it sounds like it provided the perfect container to write with some distance from the trauma. Well done! I also love Chelsey Clammer's WOW workshops.

Many creative nonfiction writers change character's names in their essays to protect the people they're writing about and/or themselves. You changed the suspect's name to "The Fist," and his friends to "fist people," which is really innovative and serves as an image and metaphor. What inspired you to change his name in this clever way, and do you change the names of all characters in your nonfiction writing?
 
Julie: When “the fist” assaulted my husband, neither of us saw who the person was that threw the punch. I suspect it was the father of the boy who fell off the ATV, because after the assault, that guy terrified me by coming over to our camping area pushing the bent-up two-wheeler screaming that someone owed him $600 to fix it. In figuring out how to craft the essay, the fist popped into my head as the suspect, so that I didn’t mistakenly accuse someone when I don’t know for sure. The people surrounding my husband were angry and aggressive, ready for a fight. “Fist people” seemed to be an appropriate way to describe them. 

About changing other names, sometimes I do. My husband asked me to use an alias, “Charles,” in this essay. Whether I change a character’s name has a lot to do with my intuition on whether using their real name would hurt that person. I will change a name to protect a person, or even to protect myself in a situation where I’m describing someone’s horrible behavior.
  
WOW: That's smart! I also noticed that the police report doesn't include the victim's statement. Was this because of the limited word count or an aesthetic choice?
 
Julie: The word-count definitely had me pick and choose what to include. The victim’s statement was similar to mine, so I left it out.
 
WOW: Your piece has a really inspiring message. To me, it's about those intense traumatic events that help us realize how much we love someone, and the importance of being there for each other, and the importance of love overall. I simply adored the last section ("Wife's Epilogue"), and could feel the emotional connection between you and your husband. What do you hope readers will take away from your piece?
 
Julie: I am so happy you got the message I hoped to share! My way of being in the world is to look for the lessons, the positive things, that can come from difficulty. It’s a spiritual practice, and I try to express my personal growth and insights in all of my writing about trauma and grief. When we as humans are in the midst of a tragedy, we may not be able to see our growth potential while bombarded by grief, trauma, etc. I don’t want to seem flippant about the enduring pain people find themselves in, but for me, it’s important not to get stuck there. In this situation, both my husband and I worked to move through the trauma after our experience. But what blew me away is how our connection deepened with this tragedy. That deepening of love, the expansion of our hearts, helped us to get on with our lives in the aftermath. It’s a real testament to the power of love. I am so blessed to be with him.
  
WOW: The reader felt that love, too! You did a great job of showing that, and "The Fist" is an exemplary hermit crab essay! What advice would you give to a writer who is interested in trying this format, but doesn't know where to start?
 
Julie: Thank you! The hermit crab essay is one of my favorite structures. I get my ideas after reading other hermit crab essays, which stimulate my creative juices to create something unique that fits what I want to write about. Author Brenda Miller has used the hermit crab structure, such as in her grief essay called, “Artifacts.” Also, Miller beautifully describes the various forms that can be used in her book: A Braided Heart: Essays on Writing and Form. I am also inspired by Eula Biss’s, “The Pain Scale.”
  
WOW: Oh I adore Brenda Miller and Eula Biss! I first read their work in one of Chelsey's workshops.

Last time we chatted, you mentioned a digital "pile" of rejection letters. I have those, too! But you do something creative with them—you sort through them to see if there's a different way to tell a story. Have you done this recently, and could you give us an example? This sounds like something I want to try!
 
Julie: Yes, if I gather enough rejections on a particular essay, I often try to figure out what else to do with it. For example, I wrote about an abusive situation with my first husband, but didn’t find a home for it. I decided to create a braided essay, instead weaving in the story of abuse I witnessed as a kid to show that my childhood experiences in a sense informed why I would end up in an abusive marriage. In another essay about the death of my second husband, I have rewritten it from his perspective (looking down from wherever his soul is in the afterlife). Neither of these has been accepted at a magazine, but I still feel good about how each turned out. And I love the creative process of making something different, and hopefully better.
 
WOW: Those essays sound incredible! Julie, I always love hearing about your nature adventures, and your essay's setting of Canyonlands and Moab, Utah, was simply gorgeous and immersive. Where have you been lately and what was the most memorable thing you've seen?
 
Julie: I often wonder if I should do some travel writing, so thanks for asking this question! There are oh so many amazing things I’ve experienced. In early April, we camped in the Hoh Rainforest on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Some of the biggest drops of rain I’ve ever seen accompanied the steady showers, but weather did not keep us from hiking through the incredible mossy, lush, every-shade-of-green landscape. On our last morning, my husband stepped out of our truck camper and turned back around to tell me there was an elk. I grabbed my phone and joined him. As we peered around the campsite, we realized we were completely surrounded by a herd of about ten stately elk, munching away on spring’s tender leaves and fresh grass. Elk symbolism is about strength, stamina and pacing yourself. Their presence as they surrounded us felt powerful, especially in these times when there’s so much stress and chaos in the world. I can still breathe in their circle around us when I feel overwhelmed. While our health is still excellent, we hope to continue adventuring to beautiful places. In September, we’ll visit Taiwan and then South Korea. Maybe I’ll write a new essay from that trip!

WOW: That is such a surreal experience with the elk, and definitely essay worthy! I can't wait to hear about your trip to Taiwan and South Korea, too. I'm sure it will be amazing and inspire many creative works. Thanks again, Julie, for chatting with me today, and best of luck in your travels and writing! I can't wait to read more from you soon.

Writers, find out more about WOW's flash contests here: 

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Why You Shouldn't Put All Your Freelance Eggs in One Basket

Thursday, August 29, 2024


Since 2013, I've been a freelance writer in some capacity, whether writing articles for clients through SEO companies or contributing to a media outlet. And I enjoy the work! It comes pretty easy for me, except in the rare case if I'm writing about something terribly complex (like that one horrible Internet of Things article I wrote once, but I digress...) 

And 2024, I have been going strong with my writing. I'm so thankful to God for the opportunities I have landed. I've written for major media outlets this year, including The Spruce, Better Homes and Gardens, Tom's Guide, National Geographic, and more. 

Wow, right?

I have learned one thing recently: don't put all your freelance eggs in one basket.

Why? For me, one big factor is the changing media landscape

2023 and 2024 have been brutal in the journalism world. There have been countless journalists affected by layoffs. Two of the editors I worked with regularly were affected, and ever since they were let go, I haven't been getting assignments from whoever took over their workload. Meanwhile, rates dropped drastically for a bread-and-butter writing job that I frantically had to replace (and thankfully did). 

Meanwhile, I have heard from other editors that I pitched for possible assignments who said they aren't taking on freelancers much any longer. And just this morning, I learned that USA Today Reviewed got shut down and has recently been accused of using AI to write its articles.

It's not impossible to land work as a freelance writer, but it's rough out there. Personally, I'm still trying to improve my cold pitch capabilities to land assignments, but it's not my best skill

And I've also learned, I don't always want to write all the time in this capacity. I miss creative work. I miss blogging on my own sites. I don't want to drain my writing capabilities due to freelance work.

So, recently, I branched out and decided to offer podcast bookings to people again. It's slow going, but I am hoping to pick up more clients. It's a reminder to me not to solely rely on one type of freelance work for income.

Nicole Pyles is a freelance writer living in Portland, Oregon. Say hi on Twitter (and it will always be Twitter to her) by tagging her @BeingTheWriter.
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Plotter’s Paradise Review

Wednesday, August 28, 2024
It’s all in the name. 

PlottersParadise.com is the novel planner of your dreams! This platform for plotting provides a fun way to plan a novel, check the structure of your story, or just log ideas. 

Thanks to Tal from Plotter’s Paradise and Angela from WOW! for granting me paid access. 

My first impression: Plotter’s Paradise is a good-looking, colourful and engaging website made by and for writers. It’s easy to sign up and navigate, and I like the cartoon-style creator profiles.

 
As a planster who is trying to become a fully-fledged plotter, Plotter’s Paradise provided just what I never knew I needed. 

You can work your way around the menu, up down or in any order, but the first step I took was to name my project and choose a cover image. On Plotter’s Paradise you’ll find there are plenty of cover images to choose from, but I chose to upload my own. 

Basically, you are building your story. Take whatever you know about your idea and put it into Plotter’s Paradise. Let the system keep it safe and secure, ready for the construction of a brilliantly plotted manuscript/novella or short story.

Now, if you were plotting a new novel you may enjoy playing with characters and world components first. The vision board is also a great place to upload images that inspire your story, giving you the ability to house them in one place that you can easily refer back to. 

Or if you are using the site to help you plot because you didn’t plot that well to begin with (guilty!) and you need to wrangle your words into a better structure, then you might like to skip to the Story Dashboard.
 
 
There are currently two outlining options: Free Form or Fractal Method. 

As someone who loves guidance, I loved the Fractal Method. 

Your starting point is the Single-Sentence Summary. Just like a logline, that will come in handy when you’re query ready at a later date, there are examples of single-sentence summaries, so you can get a feel for what you need to craft for your own story. And if you need another example, simply hit the refresh button for more. 

As every story has a main plot; let’s start with that. Plotter’s Paradise helps you look at your plots and ensure they have all the ingredients for a compelling story. Such as Status Quo, Inciting Incident, First Effort, Second Effort, and Final Effort.

All steps come with instructions, examples, and encouraging comments when you add something new!
 
 
Once your main plot and subplots are plugged in, the program prompts you to go further with summarising each act and then expanding on that to create a detailed overview. Like a synopsis! Who doesn’t like the sound of that? 

This program made summarising my story easy—the entire manuscript! Text like this helps to see what you’ve got so far, so you’ll know if something’s missing or if the story doesn’t flow. 

And you can edit at any time. 

Now you have the bones, it’s time to look at the scenes. Scenes are created from a single sentence to a full description, and then characters, plots, and locations can be linked. Similar to the Story Grid template, you also look at the main change, conflict, and stakes of each scene. Then the mood of the scene is selected, giving each scene a colour code to help you monitor the tone of your story. Scene cards can then be dragged and dropped into any order you like, so feel free to keep creating cards and playing around with the order until it’s just right.
 
 
By the time you have done all that, you’ll be well and truly ready to write! 

I loved the guided creation process that prompted me along the way, helping me to make sure my plots were hitting the right beats and ensuring I had scenes that fulfilled every aspect of my story along the way.
 
 
The character profiles are fun and great to have and refer back to, and I love how they link back to scenes, so you know where and when each character features. 

Also, I loved how Plotter’s Paradise encouraged me to pull out all my plots and look at how they intersect, and what scenes they feature in. The ability to tag plotlines and characters or keywords is great! 

There’s also a dark mode for anyone who likes to write at night! 

Join now for free to see if you like the idea of prompted short story or novella plotting or sign up for $9.90 per month or $97 per year to experience all the features of full manuscript plotting. No payment details are required to use the free version. Cancel at any time (monthly or yearly). 

You can input all your ideas with the security that all your material is only visible to you. 

Happy plotting!
 
 
Kelly Sgroi is based in Melbourne, Australia. Represented by Beyond Words Literary Agency, Kelly is looking forward to what comes next in her writing journey. She’s an enthusiastic member of the writing community and is published by WOW! Women on Writing, Dream Journal, The Endometriosis Foundation of America, Endometriosis Australia, and a few Medium publications. Visit her website at www.kellysgroi.com.
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Suspenseful Settings in Novels

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

 


I’m more than halfway through the book “A Flicker in the Dark” by Stacy Willingham and I may have a new thriller author to binge. I love the setting of the book, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and her descriptions of the bayou as a backdrop for a series of murders that took place during her childhood. I personally don’t believe you must have an exotic location to create a spine-tingling thriller—it can be set anywhere from a cabin in the Berkshires (“The House in the Pines” by Ana Reyes) a school for children with unique gifts in a rundown town (“The Institute” by Stephen King) or even a quaint, lakefront community (“Daughter of Mine” by Megan Miranda). 

For some reason I have a fascination with summer camps in my own writing, and it’s become a joke in my house. I’m not sure if it’s because I never went to a sleepaway camp as child or teenager, but I wrote a time travel middle-grade novel set at a summer camp in Texas, a short story based on a real-life murder at a Girl Scout camp in Oklahoma, and my current novel features a character who disappears while working as a camp counselor in North Carolina. Here’s an excerpt: 

The dream was back. I was in the woods again—the smell of damp earth filled my nostrils. My feet were bare, and I wore only a thin, cotton T-shirt and running shorts. I tried to run faster towards the sound of Addie’s voice, but it didn’t seem to be getting any closer. The darkness clouded my visibility. The trees cast ominous shadows over the ground, and I shivered from the chill in the air. The lack of shoes kept me from making any progress. I flinched when I stepped on a sharp twig, crying out in pain. Bursting out of the woods, my feet hit a cold patch of sand. I could still hear Addie’s voice, calling my name, but all that was in front of me was the darkened water of a lake. Staring out at the lapping waves, I wondered what secrets the water held. 

There are tropes that turn up a lot in suspense novels (a protagonist with an alcohol or prescription drug addiction, or both, often leading to an unreliable narrator, a protagonist with insomnia, a charismatic leader of a secretive group, missing people, cold cases, a mysterious stranger, a reporter digging into a story, an isolated locale, etc). Consider a few of these titles and you can tell there will be tropes aplenty: 

  • The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 
  • Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty 
  • Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera 
  • What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall 
  • Home Before Dark by Riley Sager 

In addition to the use of these storytelling devices, I guarantee you all of these books feature plenty of spooky settings and observations. I keep finding passages I want to highlight in “A Flicker in the Dark,” such as this one: 

And in that moment, the moment of the crash, it made me realize that monsters don’t hide in the woods; they aren’t shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight. 

Willingham skillfully weaves in images of fireflies, cemeteries, creeks, dark and winding roads, an isolated and abandoned family home, and more to build suspense. I’m about seventy percent of the way through the book right now, and I can tell the setting is going to become even more important in the final chapters. 

What are some settings that you’ve enjoyed in stories you’ve read or written? I’d love to hear about some of your favorites. 

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and the host/creator of the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. Learn more about Renee at her website, FinishedPages.com.
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Interview with 2024 Q3 Creative Nonfiction Essay Runner Up, Sandra Jensen

Sunday, August 25, 2024
Sandra Jensen has over 50 short story, essay and flash publications including in: World Literature Today, The Irish Times, Descant and AGNI. Awards include winning the Bridport Prize for a first novel and the Grindstone Novel Prize, and multiple honorable mentions, short and long-listings for her short stories and flash pieces. She is currently working on a hybrid memoir in essays about art, illness, trauma and her relationship with her sculptor mother. Sandra leads writing workshops and mentors writers. She has been living with chronic illness for three decades and a commission by Story Machine to write a book for writers with chronic disabling conditions is slated for publication in late 2024. She currently lives in Brighton, England. You can find her at www.sandrajensen.net.

Check out Sandra's winning essay "What Men Want" here and then return to learn about Sandra's life as a writer.

---Interview by Jodi M. Webb

WOW:  Congratulations on being a runner-up in the WOW Creative Nonfiction Essay contest. "What Men Want" is such a powerful, deeply personal piece. Is it difficult writing about such personal experiences?

Sandra:  Actually, no! I think this is partly because of the way I write first drafts. As I’ve often said, I always thought I’d be a writer when I “grew up”, but growing up took a long time and I only committed to writing as a vocation in my mid 40s. The impulse for this was the fortuitous discovery of a wonderful writing teacher, Barbara Turner-Vesselago, who teaches a simple but highly effective writing method called Freefall.

Freefall isn’t the same as freewriting, which can sometimes produce diary-type work, or work that is
similar to what happens if I write morning pages. With Freefall, you follow five simple precepts. These are on Barbara’s website but I’ll list them here:

1. Write what comes up for you: whatever occurs to you once you have started writing, write it down. Put plans aside, in case something else wants to be written.
 
2. Don’t change anything: not even spelling errors, just keep going!
 
3. Give all the sensuous detail: what you hear, feel, smell et cetera). This precept to give all the sensuous detail (what you hear, feel, smell et cetera), slows me down, preventing a gush of emotive writing.
 
4. Go where the energy is, or go “fearward”: write what you don’t want to write about! “Write
what makes you sweat,” as Robert Burdett Sweet said. 
 
5. “The Ten-Year Rule”: if what comes up for you is inspired from your own experience, it will work better and be easier to write if it is an experience from some time in the past. If you write about a very recent, challenging experience, it’s unlikely it has ‘composted’, to use Natalie Goldberg’s phrase. The actual writing could be challenging to actually do, and lack the clarity that time can give. When I write about a challenging personal experience, while I do have one foot directly in that experience, so to speak, I also have distance from that experience.

I wrote "What Men Want" about three decades after the events I describe, so I have plenty of distance. And while I was bulimic for about seven years after those events, I am blessed in that I am completely free of the eating disorder.

Perhaps what also helps when writing about challenging personal experiences is I am always aware I’m not just writing these pieces just for myself. I am not entering into a therapeutic process. I am writing to be read, to communicate to others. (That being said, I don’t have my mind on publication when I write, that would stop me writing altogether!).

WOW: The events portrayed in your essay happened many years ago. How do you effectively recapture the past?

Sandra: I don’t journal I’m afraid. I know I should, particularly as I have a very poor memory. But when I am settling down to do some new writing, opening a blank page and waiting for something to arise, usually all sorts of past experiences pop up. In fact, most of my fiction is closely based on events in my own life, I can’t seem to get away from them!

I do have one process that works very well for me, a process I call A Page a Day. It’s a process to develop the writing muscle, a daily practice, but for me it’s also produced publishable pieces (once edited!). I wrote about a version of this process for the Story Machine. 

I often combine this with specific memory prompts that I developed when I read about Ray Bradbury’s word-association lists in his book, Zen in the Art of Writing. Bradbury’s lists are specifically nouns—The Toy Chest. The Old Woman. The Fog Horn. The Crowd. My lists tend to be short sentences associated with a memory: The Thing in The Road, Bloated Sheep in Kashmir, for example. It’s important not to be too specific or detailed or I’d get bogged down when writing my list. I might not even remember the whole experience when I jot the sentences down. When I’m about to write my page for the day, I’ll scan the list of prompts and choose which ever one strikes me the most forcefully. As I write, almost always more of the memory returns to me.

WOW: You have a long list of writing awards for everything from flash fiction to novels. Tell us about the appeal of writing contests. Where do you find the contests, how do you choose which ones are right for you and how many do you enter each year?

Sandra: I subscribe to a number of newsletters which list competitions and other calls for writing: Hope Clark’s FundsforWriters, Erika Dreifus’ Practicing Writer newsletter, Winning Writers. I also try to keep an eye on certain websites: Poets & Writers and Almond Press. Also, since I have submitted to so many literary magazines, I receive newsletters which alert me to when they have an upcoming competition.

It’s hard to say how often I submit to competitions, it depends on my state of mind, how engaged I am with a current project or story. Entering competitions can be a way to distract myself from actually writing! But I also find entering competitions forces me to polish a piece, so even if I don’t place or win, the process is worth it. The advice I often give is to send out work to several competitions, if it’s possible, so you are not waiting hopefully. I won the Bridport Prize for a first novel, and when I heard I was longlisted, I had completely forgotten I’d entered! I had to scramble to polish up further pages to send on for the next stage of the competition, and when I was shortlisted, I had to write from scratch the next chapters of the novel in short order, as I hadn’t written them yet!

As for choosing which competitions are right for me, I do try to have a look at other pieces that have won or placed in that particular competition, but I can also be a bit profligate and just send out rather randomly. And, it can depend on my pocket book as most competitions have an entry fee.

WOW: Tell us about the book about writers living with chronic illnesses you’ve been commissioned to write.

Sandra: It’s a short book aimed at giving encouragement and support to writers, whether budding or experienced, who live with chronic disabling conditions. Sam Ruddock, who heads up Story Machine, commissioned the book. I credit my being awarded an Arts Council grant to his support and guidance, and we co-led an online workshop for writers living with illness, disability, or a chronic or life-limiting condition. The commission is one in a series of five short books aimed at specific groups, including prisoners, working class writers and writers living with illness. The whole series is titled You Are A Writer, and my book’s title is The Irrepressible Writer: How Writers with Ill Health Write Well.

When Sam first contacted me about the commission, I balked. Partly because I didn’t think I had any advice to impart, I was just another writer struggling along, albeit with a few more limitations than some due to my chronic illness (ME/CFS, to be brief). I also balked because other than blogs, I’d never written nonfiction. Creative nonfiction, yes, but not something like this. But I said yes, and although it had to go through a few drafts with Sam’s help, I found it surprisingly easy to write. I also enjoyed the research aspect – discovering other writers with chronic illness, and a plethora of literary magazines and organisations supporting writers with disability, not to mention competitions specifically aimed at writers with disability. I had never even thought to look for such things!

Sam wanted the tone of the series to be conversational, encouraging, and non-academic. The format combines narrative exploration of my development as a writer along with specific chapters on editing and other aspects of writing. In each chapter there are writing exercises and prompts, and several pages of resources including literary magazines and support groups for writers with disability. Included in my commission is leading a 6-week online workshop course for a small group of writers with chronic disabling conditions who will attend the course for free. I’m looking forward to that! The first one I did with Sam was a revelation, not because I hadn’t taught before, but teaching a group of people who truly understood what it meant to live with illness, particularly invisible illness, was amazing.

WOW: Do you have any rituals or habits that help with your writing life?

Sandra: “Writing is so difficult that I feel that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter,” Jessamyn West said. For the most part I agree, and it’s important to find ways to ease the difficulty.

For me the best is attending a writers retreat where I don’t have to think about anything at all other than what I’m writing. There are only so many of these I can afford, so at home, a view, a good chair and no interruptions are critical. I used to write to music (no lyrics, unless in a foreign language!) but now I need silence. Some writers write best in cafés, or in bed.  

Then there are rituals, which are known to help form a consistent writing habit and get you into the mood. For me it’s making an Aeropress espresso, or a little pot of Ceylon tea, and preparing a little plate of nibbles. For others it’s reading a poem, or lighting a candle, or drawing a Tarot card. 

What works for you?

WOW: I'm a silence gal too. And recently, my pre-writing ritual has been yoga. It helps get me out of the "What do I need from the grocery store" mindset and into the "What would my characters say" mindset. Readers? What are your writing habits?
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Ask the Book Doctor: How to Handle Numbers

Saturday, August 24, 2024
 
By Bobbie Christmas
 
Q: When am I supposed to write out numbers or use the numeral? Do I use the actual number, for example, 5, or do I write five? Are there certain times when I should write it out and other times when I use the numeral? Does it even matter?
 
A: It matters if you hope to get your writing published. It doesn’t matter if you’re just writing an email to a friend. 
 
I understand your confusion with numbers because you’ve seen them handled in differing ways, depending on what country you’re in and what you’re reading—a newspaper or a novel, for example. 
 
The first thing you need to know is that professional writers follow specific style guides—a list of rules to follow depending on the intended country, industry, project, or periodical. In America most periodicals follow AP style, most scholarly publishers follow MLA style, and most fiction and nonfiction publishers follow Chicago style, and the styles differ in how to handle numbers. 
 
Back in the 1970s when I was a journalist writing for newspapers and magazines, I had to follow AP style. Its style guide had about six hundred pages. When I became a book editor in 1990, I had to unlearn AP style and adhere to Chicago style. The Chicago Manual of Style had more than a thousand pages. To make matters more complicated, Chicago style changes a little every few years, and editors must keep up with all the changes. 
 
In Chicago style the format for numbers also depends on what the numbers refer to, for example sports scores, dates, or times of day. It also depends on whether the numerals appear in the narrative or dialogue. No wonder writers are confused!
 
If you hope to write an article for a periodical, ask the editor of that periodical what style guide to follow. 
 
Because I’m an American book editor, I’ll explain how numbers should be handled in fiction and nonfiction books for American audiences. 
 
Spell out whole numbers one through one hundred. Also spell them out when followed by hundred, thousand, or hundred thousand. Examples: Only four people applied for work, when I expected at least fourteen. I’ll never forget the three thousand customers who frequented my store. Some 2,500 more came in only once or twice. 
 
Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Forty-seven people fell ill. 
 
Dates are always in numerals. Example: We wanted to find an area still living in the 1960s, so we left town on October 16, 2006, to begin our search. 
 
Numerals in dialogue, with the exception of dates and uneven numbers, are usually spelled out. Examples: “I’ll meet you at six o’clock.” “I’ll be there at one-thirty.” “I live at three oh one North Elm Street.” “I won 5,241 dollars.” “She hasn’t visited since 1999.” 
 
Avoid informal use of dates in narrative. Instead of William King was born in ’02, write out the whole year. William King was born in 1902. 
 
Numbers with decimal points can be used as numbers in narrative, but not in dialogue. Examples: The average age of dogs is 12.1 years. Tom said, “The average age of dogs is twelve point one years.”  
 
Centuries are spelled out and lowercased. Example: The artist copied works from the sixteenth century. 
 
Depending on the publication, sports scores may be used as numerals. Example: The final score was 7-0. 
 
Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Seven people fell ill. 
 
Approximate numbers above one hundred are written out, whereas exact ones are in numbers. We spent about a thousand dollars on airfare, but only $242.50 on food for the trip. 
 
In ratios it is better to spell out the numerals instead of using a colon. He has a ten-to-one chance of winning. In technical text, however, it is okay to use numerals and a colon with no space between the numbers and the colon: a 10:1 ratio. 
 
Use the number in percentages followed by the word, not the symbol. Example: Only 40 percent of the people voted. 
 
The details about numerals can be too much to digest. You can see why many writers are confused about how to handle numbers. When in doubt check the appropriate style guide or use a professional editor familiar with the style guide your piece should follow. 
 
*
 
Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications. Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or BZebra@aol.com. Read Bobbie’s Zebra Communications blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
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Getting an Assignment with Just Four Words

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Always leave them wanting more. 
 –P.T. Barnum (supposedly)

There are some questions about if it was actually P.T. Barnum who said this but – no matter who said it -- I think it’s good advice far beyond the big top. In creative writing, I feel we unconsciously strive to follow this advice. After all, we want to get people from that attention grabbing opening sentence to the next one, from the first chapter to the next, from the first book to the next. It’s great to leave that hint of something more to come…a mini cliffhanger that encourages everyone to keep reading. Our book title, book cover and even our author’s bio are designed to peak people’s curiosity.

Turns out you can use this advice beyond your creative writing career. The other morning I received an email from a magazine editor asking for photos of the treehouses and details about the article.

Umm…ok.

I am an Excel fanatic and all my queries, submissions, assignments and invoices are faithfully recorded in the proper spreadsheet with updates as I communicate with editors, publishers and agents. Treehouses were not on my spreadsheets. Truthfully, I had to look back at an old email chain to get a grasp of this puzzling request.

Three months earlier I sent a piece to this editor on spec, an article on a historical aspect of Longwood Gardens. I also offered the option that, if it wasn’t for them, I could adjust it to feature more recent changes at the gardens. Plus four words in parentheses: the treehouses are amazing. I'm not exactly sure why I added that. Was I thinking of changing the whole article to focus on the treehouses? The child friendly parts of the garden? Was it just that I really love the treehouses? Anyway...they bought the historical article as is and, at some point, someone must have looked at that tiny detail I added off the cuff to my email and thought, “Treehouses could be interesting.”

Interesting enough to reach out months later and assign another article. An article based on an idea that was just a vague notion in my brain. Who knew that four words could get me an assignment?

My new resolution is to always leave my editors wanting more. Each time I touch base with an editor I’m going to include a mention of an idea I’m considering that could work for their publication. Not a full query (although I still will be sending those) but just enough to plant a thought in their head. Enough that they may say, “Tell me more.”

I'm not recommending this as your primary way of touching base with editors; just suggesting it as something extra in addition to the tried and true query method. After all, even if you don't get an assignment, it's nice to keep your name top-of-mind. It's also a great way to prod yourself to come up with new ideas. 

Have you ever received a “surprise” assignment based on a minor detail? 

And more importantly, if you worked in P.T. Barnum’s circus what would your act be? My heart says trapeze artist but my brain says lady getting knives thrown at her.

 


Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from DIY projects to pretzels to butterflies to treehouses.  She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing. Get to know her @jodiwebbwrites,  Facebook and blogging at Words by Webb.

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You Don’t Need to Know It All, You Just Need to Ask

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

I know I’m not the only writer who has experienced something like this. You’ll be at church, the office, or your kids’ school and someone asks you where they need to go to find out how to write a book . . . article . . . essay. 

My most recent request was an adorably message vague. “Can you recommend a book on writing a book?” I told her I’d need more info and groaned when I saw her response. She wants to write a memoir. That’s an area I don’t know well. But I do know who to ask. I fired off an email to our own Angela M. Soon she responded with a list of books, Youtube videos and more that looks more like a course syllabus than a book recommendation. I printed out a copy for myself! 

Recently another WOW friend said an agent told her that her book read like NA. She wasn’t sure what agents handled New Adult. This time I could help. I had just seen a call for New Adult queries and sent her the info. Then when I was looking for someone to send my own work to, I found five or six more. Eventually she’ll tell me that enough is enough. 

This made me think of Jodi Webb’s people list.  You can see her post here. 

We all have people that we go to for certain kinds of information. I have a specific friend, a nurse, I contact when a manuscript includes medical information. “Here’s my source and here’s what I wrote. Did I accurately explain it to 4th graders, or have I made something up?” My son, the mechanical engineer, found the right formula for converting temperature change from Celsius to Fahrenheit. When I needed to confirm a detail about the Greek Orthodox church, I emailed our church secretary. No, I’m not Greek Orthodox, but she is. 

If someone isn’t on my own people list, I reach out. This is especially true when someone asks me a writing question. Writing can feel overwhelming. Oh, let’s not sugar coat this. There are times that writing is overwhelming.  There is just so much information and I can't know it all. 

I know I can reach out to my WOW family if I have a question on memoir, essay writing or poetry. There will be someone here I can turn to with queries about graphic novels, autofiction, or product reviews. If there’s something you need to know and can’t find yourself, ask around. One of us is sure to know. Heck, Jodi knows where to find a blueberry farmer. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 55 books for young readers.  
  • To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.  
  • Click here to find her newsletter.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin again on September 2, 2024. She teaches:
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