If Twitter Goes, Where Will Writers Convene?

Wednesday, November 23, 2022



In case you missed it, Twitter has had a hectic couple of weeks (or months, really). From Elon Musk's takeover to the layoffs and departure of many of its core employees to rumors of the platform's eventual demise, it begs the question: what will happen when Twitter is gone?

Personally speaking, I use Twitter far more passively than I ever did in the past. There once was a time I was so active on the site, I considered myself an expert on building a community there, but with minimal effort. Now, I use the site to keep track of breaking news and apply for writing jobs. 

But even that limited use of the social media platform will be difficult to replace elsewhere. I don't find many editors on other sites asking for people to DM them to apply for jobs like I do on Twitter. Breaking news is hard to find on Facebook (stupid algorithm). 

I've seen people talk about Tribel, Tumblr, and the more mysterious, Mastodon. All of which I'm on, by the way. Just look for @BeingTheWriter on any of those three sites. But in less than 5 minutes of using those platforms, I realize they don't capture the same community feeling as Twitter.  

Then there's talk of people starting a Substack which reminds me of the burgeoning blogger days of yore. Even then, there are only so many newsletters I can follow before I mindlessly hit the delete button and never read them. 

And then there's the final factor that has made all of this more difficult as I think of Twitter's demise: me. I find it hard to imagine rebuilding a new community on a new social media site. The battle of thinking of something clever (or informative or helpful) to say, finding followers that are willing to follow me back, and being consistently active feels overwhelming to me.

So, much like the musicians on the Titanic (which people who remain on Twitter have been compared to, strangely enough), on Twitter, I will quietly remain. Although not so much making music on the site as I am sitting on a deck chair watching the players play. 

Where will you convene if Twitter does, in fact, fall by the wayside?

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My 2022 NaNoWriMo Style

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Post-it note revision wall

I signed up for this year’s NaNoWriMo on the official website, although I knew going in this year would be different. Last year, I completed 60,000 words of a new suspense/thriller novel. It was the first time I had a general outline going in and focusing on the story beats was helpful throughout the process. I still need to revise that novel . . . but that’s on my calendar for next spring. 

This year I decided to focus on revising my young adult novel that is scheduled for publication early next year. I knew there would be some additional scenes added in, so I estimated writing 15,000 more words throughout the month of November. It’s currently November 22 and I’ve written approximately 1,000 words. But wait . . . it’s not as bad as it sounds, I hope! 

First, I wrote a new scene. I still don’t know where in the overall manuscript this new chapter will end up, but it introduces a new main thread into the book that I believe will add some depth to the topic of sexual abuse. After I wrote that scene, I started going through the manuscript, page by page. I’m using a Post-it note to document what each chapter features, usually in one sentence. I’m also using a separate stack of Post-it notes to write page numbers where I plan to either write new scenes or expand on current ones. I wrote the first draft of this book so long ago that a lot of ways teenagers communicate has changed—so I need to modernize the content in places. My book is a ghost story so I’ve been exploring “rules” that need to be in place. Can the ghosts touch physical objects? If they do, do they have to teach themselves how to do that? How many times will “the light” come for them before they remain Earth bound? I should be done with this overall exercise this week, and then I plan to start writing the new scenes. 

I’m not sure if I will end up having 15,000 new words by the time I’m done. And that’s okay. The manuscript currently has 56,000 words, and I think that’s a great base. In years’ past, I’ve pounded out manuscripts during NaNoWriMo with no structure or outline and those are all still on my hard drive, in dire need of revision. I won’t lie and say the fact that I’m not cranking out a ton of words each day isn’t giving me anxiety, but I think this is a more focused and productive approach for my manuscript’s current needs. 

I found an article on NaNoWriMo’s blog where the author suggested a few big questions a write should ask during the revision process, including:  

  • Is there enough at stake? (A novel should be about a character’s fight with some form of death—physical, professional, or psychological). 
  • Do the characters act like real people would in a similar situation? 
  • Are there parts where a busy editor or reader would be tempted to put the book down?
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? How is it going for you?

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and true crime podcaster who has completed NaNoWriMo four different times. Maybe the fifth time will be the charm!


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Rebirth by Kate Brenton: Blog Tour & Giveaway

Monday, November 21, 2022
Rebirth by Kate Brenton
I'm excited to announce our upcoming blog tour for Rebirth by Kate Brenton. She's one of the instructors for the Sit & Write course we shared with you a couple of months ago, and her book shares real life stories about what happens when you let go and let life lead. This book is perfect for someone who needs a little support in listening to their true voice and remembering what is possible when they have the courage to surrender. 

Join us as we interview Kate Brenton about her book, share more details about her inspiring book, and give away a copy to one lucky reader.

First, here's a bit about her book:

When life is calling, often we need only the space and the support to remember our way. Sometimes we lean into our expansion, and sometimes we bolt from our greatness. The biggest shock is that big change happens in small choices. In Rebirth you will find real-life stories of people who made courageous leaps, inspiring you to make your own. It’s time to step out of line and back into the spiral of life—that’s where the alchemy is. This book fits right into the side pocket of your bag + your life to inspire you as you read others’ stories of how they listened and learned to make embodied changes in their own lives.

Publisher: Inspirebytes Omni Media (September 2022)
ISBN-10: 1953445261
ISBN-13: 978-1953445261
ASIN: ‎B0B3V3JQT7
Print length: 160 pages

Purchase a copy of Rebirth on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author, Kate Brenton

Kate Brenton
Kate Brenton, Ed.M., educator, author, mama, and healer, used to climb trees in her childhood to sit in and read books. A lifelong teacher, from secondary English to spiritual development, Kate has the archetype for sharing wisdom to empower and elevate through online courses, inspirational speaking, and retreats. Come say hello or listen to the Rebirth podcast at www.katebrenton.com. 

You can also follow her on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Substack.

--- Interview by Nicole Pyles

WOW: First off, congratulations about your book! I have found it to be so inspiring. With this book being originally a podcast, what inspired you to start the podcast? And what eventually led to you writing this book? 

Kate: The 95 Interstate, on the outer rim of Philadelphia, can be a quagmire of traffic. When I was approached by a friend and manifestation coach, Joe Longo, about creating a podcast—I created an image of a woman, stuck in her car, and in her life and uncertain what to do. I wanted her to hear the Rebirth podcast, and gain either hope or an idea on how to create one small, positive action. I wanted the podcast to be both resourceful and inspirational. Somewhere in the second year of the podcast, the Founder of Inspirebytes Omni Media, reached out to me with a book contract, for a book that is still unwritten. A few months later, when I hosted my publisher on the podcast, I said nothing about my writer’s block; she called me the next day and said, “The podcast is the book.” I felt the rightness of that, and Rebirth the book was born. 

WOW: How amazing! Those five words made all the difference. I love all the courageous leaps that happen in this book. How did you meet or find the people you end up interviewing on your podcast and for your book? 

Kate: The people in the book were all first on the Rebirth podcast, either colleagues I knew or people that I cross-paths with and invited on to speak. The focus of the show was to talk to women about the intuitive moments of listening to themselves, against all odds, and in phases of great change. When it came time to turn the podcast into a book, I thought about the journey arc of the book and selected from three seasons of podcasts for interviews that would hit different tones and messages. So even though the book is a collection of stories—you can pop it open anywhere to read—it also has a coherent theme that runs through about how to surrender to the life that is calling you. I wanted to show that no matter how different the journeys from yoga to publishing, from skincare to Waldorf education, we can find the commonality and the inspiration from others and within to strive and surrender to life’s magic. That is the power of story. 

WOW: You are very right! I felt that there was a synergy within the book, even though they were separate stories. What was your revision process like? 

Kate: The revision process taught me a few things. First, with every iteration of the book, I uncovered something within myself, at least as a first-time author. A place that I didn’t see in structure or writing (because I was literally too close) or a gap that I missed because I was emotionally too far, revealed itself with each revision. It was fascinating to witness. Also, having an intention, a good set of beta readers, and thorough copy editors are all crucial to ensuring that what you intend to create is indeed transmitted through words and structure. You might spend more time pinpointing one word choice than you ever have, and it's amazing to create something that will live on in the hands of others.

WOW: It is definitely a learning process to write a book that teaches you a lot about yourself. What do you hope readers take away from reading this book? 

Kate: That life is an up-and-down ride for everyone—even though sometimes we can feel that life is only happening in a hard way to us. In a world that focuses on appearances, it is how your life is sitting within you that makes all the difference. I think the power of story, both struggle and triumph, can do a lot to grow fortitude and bring us back to ourselves. I wrote this book to be a friend to the reader. 

WOW: I completely agree! How did the lessons you gained from your podcast and book weave into the class you have started? 

Sit & Write Master Writing Course
Kate: Thank you for this question because Sit & Write has been an amazing birth. This is a class for mission-led writers, addressing the spiritual and analytical sides of writing. Becoming an author really honed my gifts of supporting other writers. First, everything I mentioned above about climbing out of iterations of yourself, as well as doing the work to let your true voice come out, are the foundations of this class. Writing a book is a large and amazing undertaking and the fortitude to finish comes from being aligned with your voice and your intention for writing, whether that is a fiction piece, a memoir, or a cookbook. 

A book is created from nothing into something because of you, and Sit & Write is a space for that certainty to root. Now, once you have the thing you want to say, you need to find a way to let the world find your book, easily. That’s where my co-teacher Claudine Wolk comes in. She is doing for our students what she did for me: demystifying book marketing and teaching practical and personalized avenues for any writer’s budget to get your book Seen & Sold (which is her next book). Writing is so personal that you need a community; I had one and leaned on them heavily, as well as my own intuition, which helped my book land in #1 for New Thought on launch day, but that’s a story for another time. We are taking all those pieces and sharing it with other writers to help them get their books into the hands that need them. 

WOW: I love you are giving that community to writers. What advice do you have for writers (and other creatives) who feel like they are getting in their own way in terms of their success? 

Kate: Expect this to happen; it’s a part of your growth process. All creative processes expand and contract. What we need is a structure or practice to keep going and not get stuck in one phase. Same in the seasonal phases of nature; we are not always producing, and sometimes we are bursting through the shell in the dark.

Let’s talk about the craft of writing, as an example of this expansion and contraction. There are times that you write, and there are non-writing times. Even when you are on a deadline, don’t force. Put down the pen, go for a walk, read another book, let the space around you organize your thoughts and allow new inspiration to come through. If you give it the space, and you are committed, it always comes through. I should also mention, pay attention to your patterns. If you are prone to forcing, relax. If you are prone to avoiding the page, sit & write. It’s a process at times, but perhaps you are being grown to evolve into the writer you were meant to be.

WOW: That is so inspiring! Thank you so much for joining us today! Best of luck with your book, podcast, and class.

Rebirth by Kate Brenton Blog Tour


--- Blog Tour Calendar

November 21st @ The Muffin
Join as WOW's blog The Muffin as we interview author Kate Brenton about her inspiring book Rebirth and give away a copy to one lucky reader.

November 21st @ Rachael's Thoughts
Join Rachael as she reviews Rebirth by Kate Brenton

November 24th @ Deborah-Zenha Adams' Blog
Join Deborah as she features a guest post by Kate Brenton about writing where and when you can.

November 25th @ Freeing the Butterly
Join Michelle as she reviews Rebirth by Kate Brenton.

November 27th @ Shoe's Seeds and Stories
Visit Linda's blog where she reviews the insightful book Rebirth by Kate Brenton.

November 29th @ Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Join Lisa as she interviews Kate Brenton about her inspirational book Rebirth.

November 30th @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog
Join Anthony as he reviews Kate Brenton's book Rebirth.

December 1st @ Michelle Cornish's Blog
Read Kate Brenton's guest post about story as medicine over at Michelle's blog.

December 2nd @ The Frugalista Mom
Join Rochie as she shares her thoughts about Rebirth by Kate Brenton. You can also win a copy of the book!

December 3rd @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Join Beverley as features Kate Brenton's guest post about writers needing a high inspiration diet.

December 5th @ Balance and Joy
Join Sheri as she reviews Rebirth by Kate Brenton.

December 6th @ Anthony Avina's Blog
Join Anthony as he features Kate Brenton's guest post about why what you love will get you through.

December 7th @ Katherine Itacy's Blog
Come by Katherine's blog and read her review of Rebirth by Kate Brenton.

December 8th @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Join Beverley as she reviews Rebirth by Kate Brenton.

December 9th @ Rebecca J Whitman's Blog
Join Rebecca as she features Kate Brenton's guest post about when to keep going on faith.

December 10th @ A Story Book World
Deirdra showcases Rebirth by Kate Brenton, a must-read book for the new year!

December 13th @ Word Magic
Visit Fiona's blog and read Kate Brenton's guest post about the evolution of podcast to book and how it was a walk of faith.

December 15th @ Create Write Now
Read a guest post by Kate Brenton on Mari's blog today about the power of birth as a mother and as a creative.

December 17th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Linda interviews author Kate Brenton about her writing and her inspirational book Rebirth.

December 18th @ Choices
Visit Madeline's blog and read Kate Brenton's guest post about mothering, writing, and working in the modern world.

December 19th @ Liberate and Lather
Join Angela as she reviews Rebirth by Kate Brenton. Don't miss this inspirational book!

December 20th @ World of My Imagination
Visit Nicole's blog to read her review of Rebirth by Kate Brenton.


***** BOOK GIVEAWAY *****

Enter to win a copy of Rebirth by Kate Brenton by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway ends December 4th at 11:59pm CT. We will announce the winner in the Rafflecopter widget the next day and follow up via email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Interview with Penelope Richards - Runner Up in the Quarter 4 2022 WOW! Essay Contest

Sunday, November 20, 2022
Congratulations to all the contestants and winners in the Quarter 4 2022 WOW! Essay  Contest! If you haven't already checked out the impressive list of authors, please head to the WOW! Blog and do so! And now, without further ado - I'd love to tell you more about Penelope Richards!

In 2021, Penelope Richards graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders. Though speech therapy is fulfilling in it’s own way, Penelope’s true passion is the Arts. Almost immediately after graduation, she decided to return to school to pursue her dream of being an actor. She is currently enrolled in KD Conservatory in Dallas, Texas. When not on the stage, at work, or at her desk writing, she loves reading and shopping. Penelope’s work has appeared in WOW-Women on Writing, Inscape Journal, and Wingless Dreamer. Penelope is currently working on a collection of essays about womanhood and feminism. You can find Penelope on Instagram as @Penelope_Richards_Actor.

If you haven't done so already, check out Penelope's essay "Prey" and then return here for a chat with this talented author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Q4 2022 Creative Nonfiction Contest! I know all the emotions I felt after reading your submission, but what is the take-away you’d like readers to gain from Prey?

Penelope: There are two big take-aways from Prey. First, be careful who you trust. Examine your relationships. Take an objective look at the people in your inner circle. Try to see them without the rose-colored glasses of affection or idealization. Second, be the best ally you can be.

 

WOW: That's fantastic advice, though incredibly difficult. Thank you for your perspective. What advice would you give to others (specifically female authors) when it comes to self-care?


Penelope: Self-care is not a luxury. Nor is it something you finally earn after killing yourself staying busy for weeks and weeks. Self-care is a necessity, and it takes many forms. Sometimes self-care is the stereotypical bubble bath and facial. Other times it’s quitting your job, going to therapy, or letting yourself be unproductive on a regular basis. I struggle a lot with that last one. If I’m not doing something lucrative with every spare minute of my time, an angry voice inside my brain shouts WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS! YOU ARE WORTHLESS! As hard as it is for me to accept, self-care is acknowledging that my worth doesn’t get lower when I make less money.


Many women struggle with self-care. We, more than any other demographic, are taught to take care of everybody else first and by all means necessary, including by grinding nonstop.


This is propaganda.


The glorification of our suffering is meant to keep us from taking back the power that we deserve. That makes acts of self-care a kind of rebellion. Not just a necessity, but a duty. So, relish in it. Relish in all forms of self-care. For your sake and for women everywhere, take back your life, and make it for you.

 

WOW: I needed to hear that - I promise I'll take my duty more seriously (or I'll at the very least try). You have an impressive bio- what can you tell us about what inspires you and keeps you so motivated?


Penelope: I like to imagine the ghosts of famous women throughout history cheering me on. Usually it’s Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Sometimes I picture all three of them in my writing space, reading over my shoulder. Other times they are squished together in the backseat of my car during my long morning commute. It’s kind of a weird trick, but it works. Whenever I face an obstacle, I try to imagine what they would tell me to do. More often than not, it gives me clarity.

 

WOW: Speaking of some of these actresses - let's find out: Who is your favorite author and why?


Penelope: At the moment, I’m obsessed with Riley Sager. His mystery novels are atmospheric and gripping. I’m not the kind of person who sees a picture in their head as they are reading. I usually just see the words. But when I read his novels, I see the words alongside colors and textures. Survive the Night was midnight blue and cashmere. The Last Time I Lied was hunter green and glassy.


WOW: Thank you so much for your submission, your time, sharing your talents, and for all your insight and wisdom - it truly has been my pleasure. 

 




 Interviewed by Crystal Otto who just keeps on keeping on!

Check out the latest Contests:
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Hating Confrontation

Thursday, November 17, 2022

I hate confrontation when it’s writing-related business. 

In fact, I’m stalling right now and it’s not even a face-to-face situation. It’s an email. But I’m agonizing over this email—and I’m annoyed at how much time this problem has ended up costing me in both hours away from other work and the space it’s taking up in my psyche. 

Years ago, I walked by our home office and Mister Man was on the phone to an associate. He was, as we say in the rural South, “giving him up the country.” In other words, he was speaking harshly to this gentleman. When I passed by ten minutes later, Mister Man was cheerily working away, not a sign of distress. I was amazed. 

 “How,” I asked, “can you sit there so calmly after all that fussing? That poor guy! I’d be a wreck if someone lit into me like that!” 

My husband smiled. “He’s fine,” he said. “It wasn’t personal, Cathy. It was business.” 

And that, friends, in a nutshell, is why confrontation is so hard for me, at least when it comes to my professional writing side: I can’t help making it a whole personal thing. And I wonder if this is just me or if other writers struggle with this problem as well. 

Mostly, I wonder if it’s something inherent in a business like writing (or perhaps anything in the humanities). There are measurable elements to a writing business but there are just as many aspects that can’t be defined. Imagine something as simple as accurately calculating the hours put in to writing, say, a column: 

Coming up with the idea: 13 hours* 
 *Includes the moment when I first thought up the idea and the eight hours or so I slept on it and the four more hours when I was running errands and thought up supporting ideas.) 

Writing the column: 4 hours**
 ** Includes when I first started writing and didn’t finish because I had to take a call and then came back and had to remember what I was writing about and then needed to eat lunch because who can think when they’re hungry and finally came back and finished writing the column. And then re-read it and realized the beginning had nothing to do with the ending and revised. 

Of course, sometimes an idea comes to me in a flash and within an hour or two, I’ve finished it. But when I send the invoice, I bill for an agreed upon fee whether I’ve spent an hour or three days. That’s fair, of course, but then how does one ask for a raise? I may feel that my work has more value (based on time involved and skill level) but confronting my employer (likely another professional writer/editor who, let’s face it, is in the same boat) feels a bit…pretentious. Am I worth more money? Am I that accomplished as a writer? Who do I think I am, the reincarnation of Erma Bombeck? Do people buy the magazine just to read ME?

 See? That feels a lot personal. Not so much business-y. 

Conversely, and what I’m dealing with presently, is confronting professionals in the publishing business who, in my opinion, are doing a less-than-stellar job after quite a few back-and-forth emails explaining what I need. Communications, I might add, that I have labored over in order to be as clear as possible. But—and here is where it gets personal—is it my lack in communicating or that I don’t understand the skills involved? I mean, is it really a badly done project or just me, the suddenly highfalutin art critic? I don’t want hurt feelings, but I also don’t want an expensive, crummy cover. It’s so hard to quantify writing and/or design when you are paying for…well, evoking feelings. 

So I am stuck in this space of confrontation related to my writing business that feels way too personal. What I wouldn’t give for Mister Man’s fast and pragmatic handling of the situation. But if anyone in the land of the living has thoughts, I still have a few hours of stalling left.

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WOW! Writers Using Their Powers for Good

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

 


Last week, Nicole posted and encouraged us to nominate WOW! for Writer’s Digests 101 Best Websites for Writers. I immediately clicked through and filled out the nomination. 

Then I went to a Zoom meeting for another writing organization. When I left, I was shaking.  I’m not going to go into the details but suffice it to say that the negative energy was palpable. I wished that I hadn’t already nominated WOW! for the Writer’s Digest award because now I had so much more to say about what a great place this is. 

If you are new to WOW! Women on Writing, you may not be familiar with everything the community has to offer. And first thing, realize that this is a community. We write a wide variety of things, we publish traditionally and independently, and live scattered across the globe. And yet we are a community of writers working together to strengthen each other’s work.  Here are some of the ways that we do this.

Blog 


If you’re reading this, you’ve discovered the Muffin, the community blog. Come back several times a week and read the posts and you’ll discover just how varied this community is. We are essayists, children’s book writers, magazine journalists, poets, and more. Because of this, the information is wide ranging.  You'll find yourself challenged to learn more and try new things.

Contests 


WOW! sponsors quarterly contests in flash fiction and creative essays. A variable entry fee allows participants to enter the contest or enter and receive a critique. Contest winners are interviewed on the blog. These interviews are a great way to find out what inspires other writers as well as how they hone their work. Many give tips on how to know if your work is ready for competition. 

Classes 

I’ve taken WOW! classes on school visits with Margo Dill, on narrative structure with Madeline Dyer, and on writing graphic novels with Melanie Faith. You will find classes on writing, rewriting, and marketing your work. There are classes on platform and on research. That last one, the class on research, is mine and you can find out about it here. 

If you want access to actionable information and feedback on your work and ideas, pick out a class. Tell me which one you’ve chosen because I’m having troubles picking out my next one!  

Newsletters 


With so much going on in one community, it can be hard to keep track of it all. It helps if you visit often and subscribe to the newsletters. Click on this link and fill out the form. Me? I checked it all! As I attempt to tell you which is my favorite, I waffle. Every newsletter about classes tempts me to sign up for something new. Markets newsletters send me to my files, looking for pieces that will allow me to take advantage of the many publishing opportunities WOW! has helped prepare me to try.

I can’t say enough positive things about this community. Thank you to Angela and to my fellow bloggers and instructors. Thank you to all my fellow writers who make this the place that it is. Where many corners of the internet are filled with negative energy and toxic tongues, WOW! is a community of writers who excel at using their powers for good. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 35 books for young readers.  To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.

The next session of her new course, Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work will begin on December 4, 2022).  Coping with rejection is one of the topics she will cover in this course.

Sue is also the instructor for  Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins December 4, 2022) and Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins December 4, 2022). 
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Interview with Kay Bowman, Runner Up in the WOW! Q4 2022 Contest

Sunday, November 13, 2022

 


Kay Bowman grew up in England, but has spent most of her adult life in New England. As a child she was disappointed by the lack of magical worlds behind wardrobe doors, so decided to create her own with words when she was nine-years-old. A “few” decades and many imagined worlds later, some of those words have been published in various online and print anthologies. Kay is currently working on a rewrite of a middle-grade novel she hopes her nine-year-old self would be proud of. This will be the first CNF piece Kay has written and shared publicly. She still lives in New England, a place that provides the perfect inspiration for the spooky stories she tends to write. 








 ----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: “Defying Gravity” is complex, layered, and moving. What was the writing and revision process like to get to the final version? 

Kay: It took me a while to get it to this final version, but it always started with me packing the suitcase. When I started writing I kept getting stuck, it was clear I was too close and needed some separation. Once I switched to 2nd person POV, I found it easier to write about my feelings and emotions around going home for my mother’s funeral. I focused on the moments that really stuck with me; agonizing over what to pack, seeing the lights on the surface of the ocean, the Christmas tree at the airport, the empty vase, her perfume, among so many other things. It struck me that these were all things that, by themselves didn’t mean all that much, but putting them together brought all the memories of that time back to me. And writing it as one sentence felt right. 

WOW: Thank you for sharing that glimpse into your writing process with us! What was the first piece of writing you ever had published? 

Kay: When I was nine-years-old I entered a contest to write a story based on the movie “The Black Hole.” My entry placed and was published in a national newspaper. It was around Christmas and the prize was a trip to London to see the film with my family. I also got to light one of the advent candles during school assembly—all very exciting. Then in 2019, a ghost story I wrote, “Violet’s Blossoms,” was published in Devil’s Party Press - Halloween Party 2019 (thank you Dianne Pearce and David Yurkovich). That was just as exciting, even without the trip to London and the advent candle. 

WOW: That is such a fantastic prize and an amazing start your life as a writer. When is your favorite time of day to write and why? 

Kay: I love writing first thing in the morning. There’s something about the quiet before the rest of the house is up; something about the possibility of the day before it starts that inspires creativity. 

WOW: Can you share with us what the topic is for the middle-grade novel you’re currently working on? 

Kay: That’s a tough question! It’s a light fantasy novel with some adventure elements, featuring a 12-year-old girl and her dog getting into all kinds of shenanigans—it’s about a lot of things, but down to its bare bones it’s about a family learning how to navigate their way through grief. It’s about regret and how we long to change the past and often forget to live in the moment. 

WOW: We’d love to hear about some of these spooky places in New England that have inspired your writing! 

Kay: Our local cemeteries have some deliciously haunting stories and urban legends attached; there are abandoned buildings—even some currently occupied ones—with creepy histories; a road not too far from where I live is supposedly haunted by a mysterious creature and ghostly children; and let’s not forget Ed and Lorraine Warren’s Occult Museum in Monroe, CT. Also, if you happen to venture beneath the New Haven Green you’ll run into an ancient burial ground. Even hiking in Connecticut will bring you up close and personal to the paranormal. And who doesn’t love a fog-enshrouded beach?

WOW: Me! That's a great endorsement on why one should visit New England if given the chance. Thank you so much for joining us today and we look forward to reading more of your work in the future.
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About Writing for Travel Periodicals

Saturday, November 12, 2022
By Bobbie Christmas


Q: I want to write articles for magazines. I’m especially interested in travel writing and hope a periodical will pay for my travel. I don’t know where to start, though. I need a step-by-step process.

A: The process isn’t simple enough to cover in brief, although I’ll give you a few tips. In addition to my information, please read and follow the instructions in a book about how to write for magazines and other periodicals. Warning: resources, payments, periodicals, and methods have changed over the years, so choose one of the most recent books on the subject.

Editors need to see proof that you are a qualified writer, so before you can get hired to write for periodicals, you must create a portfolio of your published works. To get clips, many people start by volunteering as a writer for a nonprofit or other organization. One writer I knew created imaginary articles crafted for imaginary publications.

Once you have a portfolio of clips, you are ready to query periodicals who may ask to see those clips. Yes, you usually have to query with your own subject ideas until and unless you become one of the stable of writers that editors then assign articles.

With the advent of the internet, travel writers today don’t necessarily have to travel to a location to write about it, so I’m not sure if periodicals pay for travel anymore, but don’t give up on the idea, if you like to travel. Most of the travel articles I’ve sold were based on travels I took for fun. While I didn’t get paid for the travel, I did get paid for the articles, which helped pay for the trips I would have taken regardless. I used frequent flier miles for at least one of my longer trips, yet based on that tour I sold three different articles to three separate periodicals, which recouped most of my expenses for food and land transportation. Result: Inexpensive eighteen-day vacation.

Here’s an insider’s tip: Once you determine the magazines that publish your types of articles, ask for their editorial calendars. Editorial calendars outline the focus of upcoming issues. For example, the focus of the May issue might be Florida. In advance of that issue, the sales staff sells advertising to companies that have products and services of interest to people traveling to Florida.

Although the editorial calendar is created to help the advertising sales staff, it can help writers as well. With the editorial calendar in hand, you’ll know that the May issue is going to focus on Florida. If your interest is hiking, as an example, you can query six months in advance of May and propose an article about hiking trails in Florida.

In addition to studying the editorial calendar, you must scrutinize a magazine to learn of its focus, style, and preferences before you develop a query. If you’re not already a subscriber to the periodical, get sample issues and study them before you query the editor.

In short, you first need a portfolio. Next you need to uncover potential periodicals and get their editors’ names and preferred methods for querying or submitting. You might start with periodicals that pay little or nothing and gradually move up to periodicals that pay a decent rate—more than a few cents a word. You must formulate and send a relevant query. Last of all, you must be patient, because responses may be slow. Payment may be slow as well, because most periodicals pay on publication. You may send your story in June, but if the story doesn’t appear until the February issue, you won’t get paid until then.

Oh, wait! That’s not all. You must also set your ego aside. Chances are strong that your articles will be revised to fit the space or comply with the style of the periodical. Do not complain, or you may not be assigned any more articles. It won’t matter that you are right; the editor has the last word. Take a deep breath, exhale, cash your payment check, and ask for more assignments.

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Book Doctor Bobbie Christmas, author of Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing and owner of Zebra Communications will answer your questions too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or BZebra@aol.com. Read Bobbie’s blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
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Nominate WOW! for Writer's Digest's Best Website for Writers

Thursday, November 10, 2022

 


I couldn't resist when I saw the request from Writer's Digest to nominate your favorite websites for writers. The first website I thought of? WOW! Women on Writing, of course!

I joined the WOW team in 2017 and I've loved all the parts I've played. From blog tours to blog posts, this website keeps me inspired. And with as stressful as this year has been for me, I appreciate anything that has inspired me.

But maybe you love WOW for a different reason! Maybe it's the classes, the newsletters, the writing contests, the giveaways, or the chance to read some amazing books. Whatever it is, we hope you nominate us as one of the Writer's Digest Best Websites for Writers.

Right now, you can submit your request up until December 6, so take advantage now before you forget later. 



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A Time of Transition

Wednesday, November 09, 2022



I was looking up a list of writing prompts and found one that I thought was timely for autumn, as the leaves have been changing and summer fading away. The prompt suggested I reflect on the changes I have undergone in the past year. Well, that resonated with me. What hasn’t changed? 

This time last year I was anxiously helping my daughter with her college admissions essays. This year she’s tucked away at a large southern university more than seven hours from home and I’ve shifted my writing assistance to my 16-year-old. 

This time last year I was still hard at work with a contract job editing for a magazine and facing the reality that a lot of freelance writers don’t take assignments during the last two weeks of November, leaving the December issue in a lurch. This year, I’ve left that job and am devoting my month to revising a young adult novel and writing and producing weekly episodes of my podcast. 

This time last year I was overwhelmed with my day job, producing bi-weekly podcast episodes, and committed to writing 60,000 words of a brand-new thriller novel for NaNoWriMo, which I completed and have not picked back up since. 

How have things changed? Here are the pros. Without the day job, I have more time to research and write true crime focused on the North and South Carolina regions and tackle these YA revisions. I look forward to polishing up last year’s NaNoWriMo project early next year. I also have time to have lunch and coffee with my friends, which I have done so much more of the past two months. I hadn’t realized how much I had been chained to my desk before and I’m enjoying this new, slower pace. I’m sleeping better, cooking a lot more and the house is tidier, which is beneficial to my mental health. 

Here are the cons of this life transition. I still worry about my oldest child—I’m convinced that will never change. But thanks to technology we keep in constant communication and in ten days, we’ll get to see her for several days during her Thanksgiving break! I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I miss the freelance salary I was bringing in. But I have the time now to work with other clients and I’ve never had trouble selling articles and finding publications to pitch if I really put my mind to it. My goal is to monetize my podcast to replace that editing income so keeping my fingers crossed I can make that happen. 

How has the past year been for you? Are you in a different phase of your writing life? I’d love to hear about it!  

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer who also produces the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas.
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Writing That Wails or Whimpers (And How to Fix It)

Tuesday, November 08, 2022

There’s a scientific connection between a child’s cry and an adult’s response. That is, there is something in a distress cry that, once detected by the human ear, causes said human to react. It’s all part of the great survival plan of the human species. For animals, too, when you think of how many animals vocalize distress. 

I mention it because very early this morning I proved how well this science works. In a deep sleep, I heard a child crying outside my bedroom window. I told my brain that it was just a kid waiting for the bus, probably annoyed with a sibling. But then my brain argued back, “Get up and go check.” (I did. The kid was fine.) 

My thoughts wandered to a writing project I’m working on and how a particular element is so distressing me that it’s practically wailing. “Fix me!” it shouts and I cannot ignore it. I began to consider what kind of distress calls in a writing career get my attention every time... 

Let’s start with grammatical errors. Just a few days ago, I heard a salesperson—a grown professional adult—use the word “brung” and it was a fingernails-on-chalkboard moment. At least, for me. (I’m much too polite to say anything but imagine if she were a speaker at a writer’s conference. Would I take her seriously?) 

I read articles of favorite teams almost daily; they are literally teeming with misspelled words, missing punctuation, or mixed-up tenses. Ugh. (I keep reading, though.) Online readers may tune out grammar missteps, but for writers hoping to be published it’s a different story. 

If grammar mistakes show up regularly in your work, whether it’s a manuscript you’re sending to an agent or a story or essay you’re submitting to a contest, or even a proposal as a speaker, you can be sure that the agent (or judge or conference coordinator) will react. One error can be overlooked, the same way a mother will hear a slight whimper and wait before responding. But once the howling starts—or the errors pile up—something must be done. Unfortunately for a writer, that something is generally rejection. 

What can you do if grammar is your Achilles’ heel? Read! Reading well-written prose and essays and such will fine tune your ear to mistakes. Use a grammar program that will check for errors, or rely on a trusted critique partner for help. Strive to get the wailing down to an occasional muffled cry. 

And speaking of the muffled cry, there are other writing problems that don’t exactly bawl for attention but my instincts will tell me that something’s just not right. Take, for example, the writing at the beginning, whether it’s a blog post or a 60,000 word manuscript. I often don’t start at the right place, or I go on too long on the front end. I know that I’ll get a familiar, annoying tug when I re-read if I need to fix that beginning. 

Leaving the work for a longer period is always helpful for finding those whiny, whimpering problems like the boring info dump or the fall-in-love-with scenes that turn out to be indulgent. When that old uncomfortable feeling hits during the revision, I know: the story’s not moving. Do you hear that whimpering, friends? That’s me, taking out favorite bits to make the writing tighter. 

So how about you, dear writer? What’s the wailing or the whimpering in your writing? And how have you learned to fix it? Tired writers want to know. (Yawn.)


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Chasing Tarzan... Like Chasing Your Childhood--And Catching Handfuls of It

Monday, November 07, 2022

 


Catherine Forster, author of Chasing Tarzan, took me back to my childhood. As I read her memoir, I journeyed back to my own youth.


I'm in my 60s, so I think I am close in age to Forster. The small details of her day-to-day life were details I remembered. The uncertainty... the constant concern over clothing choices or what others thought. 


I had to laugh when Catherine was reading the comments in her yearbook at the end of 9th grade. So many peers wrote she was "nice" or "sweet," and it made her determined to not be thought of in such boring terms ever again. Every teen wants to stand out (in a positive way) and make their mark. Every teen wants to be remembered forever because of their talent or their attractive appearance, or their charismatic personality. I too remember looking at the comments that my classmates wrote, and was upset that most of them were probably things that they wrote in everybody's yearbook. Stay as sweet as you are. (I didn't think I was ever sweet. I was sarcastic.) Stay in touch. (Anybody who wrote that was not anyone I was interested in staying in contact, and the feeling was mutual.) 2 good + 2 be = 4 gotten (how idiotic).


Catherine had to deal with bullying. Certainly bullying is different these days--what with group chats and texts and messages that can be sent to a whole school in an instant--but as a teacher, I think this memoir is a valuable book to have on classroom shelves. It's proof that the road to survival and self-worth is not a straight one and it's not without its obstacles.


It also encourages teens to become risk takers. Broadening one's horizon can have an incredible impact. The author lived in New Zealand through AFS. In my senior year, we hosted a French girl for a year (also through AFS). It was life-changing, and led to many trips to France (for me) and back to America (for my French sister Virginie). Catherine's time in New Zealand was life-changing as well...


Check out Chasing Tarzan. You'll laugh at spots, and you'll tear up at others. But throughout the whole book, you'll nod your head as you remember your own awkward teen years...


                                                                    Catherine Forster

Sioux Roslawski is a middle school teacher, a dog rescuer and the author of Greenwood Gone: Henry's Story. In her spare time she rescues golden retrievers from places as far away as Turkey and China. You can read more of her writing by going to her blog.


(By the way... AFS is the best exchange program around. They do the most screening, they have the best support and they don't just air-drop kids into foreign countries and say, "You're on your own now.")


Book Summary

In the 1960s, a relentless school bully makes Catherine’s life a living hell. She retreats inward, relying on a rich fantasy life––swinging through the jungle wrapped in Tarzan’s protective arms––and fervent prayers to a God she does not trust. She fasts until she feels faint, she ties a rough rope around her waist as penance, hoping God will see her worthy of His help.


As the second of eight children, Catherine is Mommy’s little helper, and like Mommy, Catherine is overwhelmed. The bullying and the adult responsibilities together foment her anger. She starts smacking her siblings, and becomes her younger sister’s nemesis. Spooked by who she is becoming, Catherine vows to escape for real, before she hurts someone—or herself.


Catherine finds salvation in a high school exchange program: new town, new school, new family, new persona. A passport celebrity. In New Zealand, nobody knows her history or her fears. Except for her Kiwi “mum,” who sees through Catherine’s façade and pulls her out from her inner safe-house. Exposed, her sense of self implodes. Catherine must finally rethink who she is.


Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 2022)

ISBN-10: 1947966618

ISBN-13: 978-1947966611

ASIN: ‎B0B6GFLXWC

Print length: 278 pages

Purchase a copy of Chasing Tarzan on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also add this to your Good Reads reading list.


About the Author

Catherine Forster honed her powers of observation early on, and later applied them to artistic endeavors. Although it didn’t happen overnight, she discovered that seeing and hearing a bit more than the average person can be beneficial. As an artist, her work has exhibited in museums and galleries across the United States and abroad. Her experimental films have won accolades and awards in more than thirty international film festivals, from Sao Paulo to Berlin, Los Angeles to Rome, London to Romania. Through her work, she explores the dynamics of girlhood, notions of identity, and the role technology plays in our relationship with nature. In her capacity as an independent curator, she founded LiveBox, an eight-year project that introduced new media arts to communities at a time when few new what media arts was. For the past four years she has been a member of the curatorial team for the Experiments In Cinema Film Festival held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received a Masters of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Masters of Business from the London Business School, and a fellowship in writing from the Vermont Studio Center. She is also included in the Brooklyn Art Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.


You can follow her on her website as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Interview with Audrey Stimson: Q4 2022 Creative Nonfiction Contest Third Place Winnter

Sunday, November 06, 2022
Audrey’s Bio: Audrey grew up on two continents hopscotching between Europe and the United States from an early age as part of a foreign service officer’s family. She continued to move her body through space for decades while pursuing a career in television, before finally settling in California. With a suitcase full of stories about her adventures in the far corners of the globe, she decided one day, not too long ago, to sit down and write. The writing was a way to process the questions because there are always questions. She sometimes writes poetry but finds creative non-fiction the best way to connect to herself and the world around her. 

Sometimes her creativity makes her draw, sew, and even dabble in producing short animated films. She enjoys bicycle touring with her husband, walks with her two dogs, sailing on a 50-year-old boat, forest bathing, and exploring the small forgotten towns across America. 

When she is not writing, she works as a television news producer for a German network, still traveling and still looking for that elusive thing called the truth. 

She has just finished a memoir about looking at the hard truths about yourself while on an epic coast-to-coast bicycle ride across the United States. 

Come visit her at her website audreystimson.com, or better yet sample some of her other writing on her Medium page. 

If you haven't done so already, check out Audrey's award-winning story "Unpopped Popcorn" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing third in the Q4 2022 Creative Nonfiction Contest! How did you begin writing your essay and how did it and your writing processes evolve as you wrote? 

Audrey: I began this essay as an experiment. It was a way that I could learn how to get into the mindset of someone writing a memoir. I wanted to go way back and embody a moment in time that was long ago and very far away from where I am now in my life. To do this, I used a trick I learned in a writing class that taught me how to use a muse to go back in time. I became that child or young college student in this case, and I let her guide me with her story. I left everything I know now about myself today disappear so that I could be that girl I was at that moment. I started the processes by pacing around the room for a few minutes to transform myself. I let myself become her before I even get to the blank page. Then after she enters me, I write and let whatever comes out come out. I usually don't edit my writing for at least a few days or weeks. I let it sit, then come back to it to find the gems that tell her story and delete the rest. 

WOW: What a marvelous drafting technique! I imagine it could be difficult to get in the right mindset to become a different person or a different version of the self, but the results can be stunning. What did you learn about yourself or your writing by creating this essay? 

Audrey: I learned that it's best to trust the process. Writing becomes a magical event that comes from a deeper place inside me. To let the magic happen, you have to release it by putting down words that tell the truth of who you are in order to get closer to the story of your life. The authenticity of experience is what I am looking for in my writing. How does it really feel to live your life? The words jump out when I have the courage to write the truth. It feels like a release of something I have been holding back. Because I have always played it safe in my life, I am now pushing the hard edges of me. Writing has freed me to laugh and dance and cry on the page when in real life I live behind a wall of professionalism that silences all of that. My writing experience is more about the heart than the mind. The mind comes later when I edit. 

WOW: Thank you for sharing so much insight into your creative process. You wrote a memoir about your "epic coast-to-coast bicycle ride across the United States." That sounds amazing! Can you tell us a bit about your process writing on this topic? 

Audrey: The book became a vehicle I used to give myself permission to be a writer. I silenced myself for most of my life because of the strange circumstances of my upbringing. My father was a CIA officer, and all of my family had to live in his lie. My mother was a survivor of the bombing raids in Berlin at the end of World War II. In the book, I worked through many layers of inherited trauma as well as my own lived trauma working as a television news journalist. All of these worlds collide on the pages of the book Across the American Dream. 

The book not only documents the adventures of the bicycle ride and places the reader right there on the bike with me, it is also an unraveling my past in order to make sense of who I am, or who I thought I was. It is strange like a coming-of-age story but for a middle-aged woman. The book is also a guide through many of the broken, forgotten small towns of America that nobody sees, and those broken bits become tools that help me see myself while doing the hard things like riding a bicycle 3700 miles. The process was cathartic and freeing. By finally going deep I am revealed on the page and that’s pretty cool. 

WOW: Wow, what amazing adventures, both the trip across country and being able to write about it. Which creative nonfiction essays or writers have inspired you most, and in what ways did they inspire you? 

Audrey: Reading poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction has been enormously helpful to me. I read slowly and cherish a well-formed sentence. One of the nonfiction writers who recently inspired me is Cynthia Cruz and her essay “Steady Diet of Nothing.” The essay moved me as it touches on a certain nihilism of youth that many Gen Xers like myself felt while growing up. She describes an innocence wrapped inside harsh circumstances of poverty and aimlessness with a poetic passion that places you there. 

I also enjoy the poetry of Annie Dillard's lines and recently enjoyed reading An American Childhood. Her ability to place the reader deep inside time and place is something that moves me. Annie’s lines are like taking a slow river cruise as it snakes through her childhood in that book. She uses our natural surrounding as characters in her work to bring us into place with such vivid details it becomes three dimensional. Just pick up her Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and read the magic. 

I enjoy reading works about the existential angst of moving through life. What does it really feel like? Take me there. The flow of words needs to move me and hold me on to page while describing the ordinary in extraordinary ways. 

I just read Annie Ernaux's A Woman's Life, a wonderful memoir about how a daughter reflects on her mother's life after she dies. The book spells out the writer's pain of loss so well. It is both distant in the objectivity of someone grieving and at the same time is incredibly intimate. I really enjoyed her skillful use of truncated sentences which really makes you feel her grief at the start of the book. By using factual, almost list like descriptions of what happened when her mother died, she places us in that somber denial of the first stages of grieving. 

WOW: Excellent list of literature. Thanks for those recommendations! If you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be? 

Audrey: That's simple. I would say write, write, write, and don't be afraid to get your words out there. The silencing, whether it is self-imposed or societal, is something we all need to overcome. Doing the hard stuff is well worth it. For me, the hard stuff was pushing through the membrane of the cone of silence I lived in. I wish I had started writing and publishing earlier. But it's never too late. Everybody has a story to tell, so write it down. 

WOW: I love that advice. Thank you! Anything else you'd like to add? 

Audrey: This essay is the first piece of work I have ever submitted to anyone in my life. I hope this will inspire other people to have the courage to do the same, no matter how old you are. 

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


Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, founder and editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes and offers developmental editing and ghostwriting services to partially fund the press. Engage on Twitter or Instagram @GreenMachine459.
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Friday Speak Out!: Nurses and the Vietnam War: Stories with Intersecting Points of View

Friday, November 04, 2022
By Pam Webber

Novelists who write from multiple points of view (POV) amaze me. Having worked with a writing group for two years under the tutelage of a New York Times bestselling author, I know writing one story from multiple perspectives can be demanding creatively and organizationally. However, after reading several wonderful books by authors skilled in the use of multiple

POVs, I felt driven to try it. Consequently, after many starts, stops, oops, and revisions, my third book, Life Dust, was written using two points of view.

As a long-time nurse educator and family practitioner, I wanted to weave a story that included the good and bad elements of nursing as well as my husband’s funny and heart-breaking experiences in Vietnam. Consequently, for the two POVs, I chose Nettie, a student nurse who found herself in a heap of unearned trouble while interning in a busy emergency room, and Andy, a young Army lieutenant who is leading a jungle reconnaissance squad in Vietnam.

While crafting the story, I learned the devil does indeed live in the details. Keeping the relationship between the two characters progressing while advancing their individual and collective storylines required careful integration of numerous details. To help keep the scenes, events, and sequencing organized, I developed a color-coded, intersecting timeline for the POVs that resembled the double strands of DNA.

The timeline allowed me to visualize what was happening with each character at every point in the story. It also aided in the development of a good story arc. Of course, the timeline had to be adjusted every time I added or deleted a scene or event, but it still proved invaluable in helping to maintain interrelatedness and progression of the storylines. It also helped with the transitions from one POV to the other. In Life Dust, I used letters from Andy to mark time and help synchronize Nettie’s life as a nurse in the Emergency Room with Andy’s life in Vietnam.

When using a timeline to guide two POVs, I’d suggest the following:

  • Identify the common beginning point and ending goal of both POVs, which is essential when planning the arc of the overall story.

  •  Determine the arc for each character/POV. While character arcs do not have to match, they should be close enough to ensure stability of the arc for the overall story.

  •  Decide which character provides the best platform for anchoring the story and lead with that character.

  •  Decide if the characters/POVs will have their own chapters or separated scenes within chapters.

  •  If you divide POVs by chapters, it is helpful to title the chapters. You can even use the characters’ names as titles, which eases the reader’s transition between POVs.

  •  Keep your characters/POV intermittently connected in a progressive and meaningful way. In Life Dust, this was done with letters and phone calls. Since it took two weeks or longer for letters to travel to and from Vietnam, I could move the story forward faster. I also connected the POVs through the characters’ old habits, phrases, and activities. For example, my two characters grew up together and used to lie on a hill and watch the stars at night. In Vietnam, Andy could see the stars above the treetops, and in Northern Virginia, Nettie could see them after leaving work late at night. The phrase, “Meet me in the stars. I love you,” became the last sentence in each of their letters.

  • When your manuscript is complete, check and recheck the sequencing and integration of the storylines against your timeline. Although I’d edited Life Dust dozens of times, I still found a sequencing error on my last readthrough. I was reading the manuscript aloud and heard the mistake instead seeing it.

Happy writing and best wishes!

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Pam Webber is the Amazon bestselling author of a coming of age trilogy. Last month, She Writes Press published Pam’s most recent novel, Life Dust. Pam lives in Virginia near where her novels are set.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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