Friday Speak Out!: A Writer’s Thick Skin Can Still Get Pierced

by Jeanine DeHoney

I was ecstatic when I got an email that my second essay was going to be published on a popular parenting website. And I couldn’t wait to read the comments, which for my last article had been heartening as readers shared their own stories about the often taboo subject I wrote about.

The comments from this second article though hit a nerve. I sat down and broke the number one rule of thumb for a writer, which was don’t take it personally. My lip began to quiver as I took it to heart when one reader called me a name and another said she had a problem with my delivery as a writer. But then I pulled up my big girl panties and realized that’s the business of wearing your vulnerability on your shirt sleeve as a writer and went on to my next project.

Still it was difficult not to feel the residue left from other’s opinions about my writing. Especially when you put so much of your blood, sweat and tears in each paragraph.

As writers we are supposed to have a thick skin. Maybe not in the beginning of our writing journey but surely after our twentieth rejection. As we hone our skills and write on, we are supposed to let negative words not helpful constructive words, fall off of us like bathwater.

Most comments from editors and agents are for our benefit, but many times the comments from our readers, the ones we so want to embrace our work if they are harsh can chip at our surface and pierce our skin.

In this day of social media, where a response to your blog post, story or article comes with an emoji and a tap of a finger, we have to not let a harsh comment scatter our emotions or our desire to write.

My late mother always said that if you don’t have anything good to say then maybe you better not say it. Although my mother was the wisest woman I knew, I don’t fully agree with that statement. We have to say what is our truth if it will offer another insight. We can’t grow in wisdom and be successful if we cannot carry or offer the truth. Still we must be careful of our delivery.

Even when we may be thinking something that isn’t so nice, and who hasn’t, we must be careful in our delivery. Telling a writer she doesn’t know how to write, hummm, well even if she never published another story in her lifetime, you’d be wrong because all she does is write; with a baby sleeping in the crook of her arm, maybe after working a double shift, or taking care of an elderly parent.

We writers are human beings too you know. So keep the comments coming. We want to hear all points of view. That’s called dialogue but when you come after our intellect and wit and this great gift we are refining each day…that’s something else. We may have thick skin but those are fighting words. And luckily for you, we writers are a peaceable assemblage of creative weavers of words who fight with our pen.

* * *

Jeanine DeHoney, wife, mom and grandmother "extraordinaire" has had her writing published in several anthologies, magazines and blogs including "Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul," The Mom Egg, Literary Mama, Mused Bella online, Writing For Dollars, True Stories Well Told, Underwater New York, Mutha Magazine, Metro Fiction, My Brown Baby and ScaryMommy.com. She was a 2013 finalist in the Brooklyn Art and Film Festivals Nonfiction Contest and the winner of that contest in 2014. 
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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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5 comments blog commenting, comments, Friday Speak Out, Jeanine DeHoney, reader response, writing feedback

Find the Perfect Ending to Your Story with Bookends

by Chris Eboch 

Strong stories have a distinct beginning (introducing the main character and problem), middle (where the character tries to solve the problem), and end (where the character succeeds or fails, and possibly learns a lesson). A story can feel especially satisfying if the end clearly echoes the beginning.

Perhaps a character has gone on a journey, and at the end he returns home. Maybe she starts by struggling with some physical task, and at the end she succeeds. Or he’s resisting a change, and embraces it at the end. When the final setting or situation is similar to the opening, creating “bookends” to the middle, the pattern feels satisfying. It also helps tie the story together and ensure it hasn’t wandered off on tangents.

Review but New

While the ending echoes the beginning, it shouldn’t duplicate it. With a few exceptions, a story requires change. Quite likely, a problem has been solved. Hopefully, the main character has grown. The traveler returns with a new appreciation for his home. The woman who thought she’d never make it as a dancer is satisfied with her progress. The boy who wanted nothing to do with the new baby appreciates having a sibling. They haven’t merely solved the problem; they’ve changed how they feel about the situation.

The ending scene illustrates the changes by using a scene or language similar to, but slightly different from, the opening. If you open with a girl trying to hit a baseball, close with her back at the same park, swinging at a baseball again. Try making the circumstances as similar as possible, with the same weather and other characters present. You might even use similar language, with small shifts to show what’s changed.

Here’s an example from my story “One Froggy Night,” (Highlights, April 2010):

I pulled back the blinds and stared into the wet night. I shivered, glad to be indoors. When Dad got home, maybe we’d play video football. This was a night to play games and drink hot chocolate.

Dad draws the child outside, where they find dozens of frogs hopping in the rain. After this outdoor adventure, the story ends with the characters still outside.

As we walked toward home, I said, “This night just needs one thing to make it perfect.”
“What’s that?” asked Dad.
“Hot chocolate.”

While the characters don’t return home before the scene ends, the repeat of “hot chocolate” echoes the beginning, while showing that the character has learned the appeal of both exploring outside and a cozy night at home.

Satisfying Echoes

Using bookend scenes is one form of showing rather than telling. The reader can see how things have changed, and whether or not the change has satisfied the main character. This typically suggests the theme, so you don’t need to explicitly point out the lesson learned.

By thinking about bookends, you may find a natural ending point for your story, so you don’t stop too early or drag on too long. Review your beginning when you work on your ending, and let the echo of a bookend bring your plot to a satisfying conclusion.

***

Chris Eboch is the author of over 50 books for children and adults. Chris teaches through the Institute of Children’s Literature and has led dozens of popular writing workshops around the world. Her novel for ages nine and up include The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series, about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show. Chris writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. “Kris Bock” novels are action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com.

Chris’s writing craft books include Advanced Plotting and You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog. Chris has her MA degree in Professional Writing and Publishing from Emerson College in Boston..

Would you like to learn new techniques to make your story's plot dynamic? Chris is teaching a brand new course with WOW! Women On Writing: Advanced Plotting: Keep Those Pages Turning.

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1 comment bookends, Chris Eboch, Endings, fiction writing, WOW class, WOW instructor

Just Write. It Will Come: An Interview with Novelist Harmony Verna

Daughter of Australia (Kensington Books, 2016) by Harmony Verna is a historical novel touching on three continents and spanning 20 years. It tells a deeply personal story of Leonora’s struggle to find a life for herself amid war, abuse and secrecy. I contacted Harmony Verna and asked her to discuss her writing process.

WOW: First, what inspired this story?

Harmony: For as long as I can remember, I've had an obsession with Australia...the people, the landscape, the history. As a child, I had a huge map of Australia hanging over my bed and would stare at the continent, the names of rivers and towns, with such longing.

I remember being so drawn to a tiny spot on that map named Leonora. I even put a thumb tack through the word. I believe that was really where the first inspiration for Daughter of Australia came about. The wild part is that I was only about eight-years-old at the time.

The start of the novel came through channeling a reverence for this land. I knew the main characters would be James and Leonora but I wasn't quite sure how they would take shape. I began writing about the scenery, pulling myself so deeply into the land that the characters began to form around the landscape like trees sprouting from the earth. After that, the first scene came very quickly and the story evolved around that first traumatic event of a child being abandoned in the harsh Australian outback.

WOW: With the plot, subplots and numerous characters, how did you keep track of the details?

Harmony: This was extremely challenging. I had several notebooks stuffed with information, research and facts. I wanted to use it all! But, I had to be very discerning in what to include, otherwise the story would have been overshadowed with historical data.

Weaving all the characters into a historical timeline, especially ones on opposite sides of the globe, took a great deal of organization. For instance, Australia entered WWI in 1914 while America entered in 1917. On top of that, Australia's seasons are reversed so I had to take into account weather differences as well.

There were many days that I sat amidst piles of crumbled balls of paper with my head buried in my hands. I laugh about it now, but at the time, it was very difficult. As I went through the story, I just continued to outline, outline, outline until all the scenes fell into place, not unlike a puzzle.

WOW: How did you create realistic dialogue for characters from various continents and economic levels?

Harmony: What helped me the most was reading poetry. I would read works by Australian poets such as Henry Lawson and replay the sentences in my mind over and over again. Pretty soon my characters took on the cadence, and the dialogue really began to flow. Anytime I had to convey an accent, be it Irish, Australian or American, I went to poetry for assistance.

WOW: How much did your novel change from the initial idea to the finished product?

Harmony: Originally, I thought the entire novel would center on Leonora. I began writing the story from her first person perspective, but then as the other characters came to life, I wanted their insights and perceptions to share the stage.

The biggest plot change had to do with Ghan, who, by the way, is my very favorite character in the novel. I had always envisioned Ghan, this hard and burly miner, finding Leonora and then disappearing from the novel...his purpose done. But I could not get this character out of my mind. He was the perfect blend of hard and soft and I became deeply attached to his story. Whenever I was at a loss in the novel as to where to go next (which happened a lot!), I brought Ghan in and he guided me home.

WOW: What words of inspiration do you have for our readers who may be trying to complete their first novel manuscript?

Harmony: First of all, you have my undying love and support! Writing is difficult. Sometimes it flows and everything comes out roses and butterflies; but then you have those days where you feel like you are trudging through manure.

But don't give up. Never, ever give up. If you have a story in your soul, let it fly.

I found that the hardest part of writing a novel was quieting that little voice in the head that was telling me all the reasons why I wasn't going to become a writer. Luckily, I had another voice inside my gut and my soul that told me, I COULD do this. In fact, the words were, "Just write. It will come."

So, I will share those words with you, dear writer..."Just write. It will come." You can do this. You wouldn't be reading these words if you weren't drawn to creating your own story. Trust yourself. Trust your worth. Trust your talent. Don't worry about writing something great, just write. And as you do, the great will emerge.

SueBE here:  A special thank you to Harmony for sharing her book, her talents and her insights with The Muffin’s readers! For more about Harmony and Daughter of Australia, be sure to check out the bio page and book page on her web site. A hint – take the time to look around and you will discover samples of her writing.

--SueBE

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Leave a Comment Daughter of Australia, Harmony Verna, historic fiction, interview, romance, writing process

Interview with Kate Eaton: 3rd Place in 2015 Fall Flash Fiction Contest

Kate’s Bio:

Kate F. Eaton has lived in Kansas most of her life, with brief interludes in Missouri. She writes copy for a number of online businesses as well as pursuing publication in fiction writing. Her love of a good story told concisely led her to flash fiction. As she submits her flash stories to contests and literary journals, she is also making final edits on a novel written during NaNoWriMo 2014.

During moments of downtime, Kate and her wonderfully supportive husband are restoring a vintage “canned ham” camper and enjoying life with five adult children and their growing families. You can find Kate online at http://katefeatonwriter.com.

If you haven’t done so already, check out Kate’s award-winning story “Horse Thieves” then return here for a chat with the author.

WOW: Congratulations on placing 3rd in the fall 2015 contest! What was the inspiration for your short story, or what prompted you to write this particular story?

Kate: Growing up on a farm in Kansas during the 1960s, my siblings and I had enormous freedom to roam the countryside and instigate all sorts of high-spirited adventures. From early morning to long after dark, we ‘ran wild’ but with a certain innocence. I wanted to share what that was like with readers, so I created a composite of my sensory impressions from those years.

WOW: A wonderful tribute to your adventures! Will you tell us more about the novel you started during NaNoWriMo 2014?

Kate: Ah, the dreaded unfinished novel. It’s also set in the Midwest, this time in an urban setting, and focuses on the challenges of redefining life after great tragedy. It also offers a glimpse into the lives of characters with various physical limitations and what they are able to accomplish.

WOW: Good luck with it! Unfinished novels, I think, always hold a glimmer of hope within them. What do you enjoy the most and/or the least about writing?

Kate: I love having the freedom to create a world from nothing and having people behave as we wish they would in real life (or as we suspect they might if given a chance). The thing I least enjoy about writing, at least in this season of my career, is deciding whether to self-publish or begin searching for an agent. So much to learn!

WOW: Perhaps searching for an agent while researching self-publishing options would provide a win-win situation! I agree, though, there’s a lot to learn in the publishing business. What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it?

Kate: I’m in the middle of two books right now. In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White was a gift from a friend, and is one I’ll read again. It’s an intimate look into the US justice system, our treatment of ‘outcasts’ and the process of spiritual transformation. I’m also reading through Daniel Silva’s series featuring the Israeli assassin/art restorer Gabriel Allon. I’m currently finishing Moscow Rules.

WOW: If you could give other creative writers one piece of advice, what would it be and why?

Kate: “Don’t give up!” This story is my very first fiction publication after years of ghostwriting non-fiction blog posts and articles (and also receiving lots of rejection emails). Even though I’m officially in the ranks of such late bloomers as Colonel Sanders and Grandma Moses, I still have something unique to say and so do you.

WOW: Wonderful advice! Thank you for sharing it. Anything else you’d like to add?

Kate: Just to thank Guest Judge Marie Lamba and the good people of WOW! Women on Writing for this honor. What a thrill!

WOW: You’re welcome! Thank you for your thoughtful responses. Happy writing!

Interviewed by: Anne Greenawalt

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Leave a Comment 3rd Place Winner, Anne Greenawalt, Fall 2015 Flash Fiction contest, Kate Eaton

National Poetry Month

Like most writers, at one time I fancied myself a poet. I wasn't. I could never manage to create emotion and lyricism in just a few words the way poets magically do. So all that is left of my life as a poet is a few badly written (and well hidden) poems and a great appreciation for the people who can
write poetry.

I don't often indulge in reading poetry, but I make an exception in April. This April is the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. I know this because a neighboring county -- home to several universities -- celebrates Poetry Month in a big way and I always hear about the events sponsored throughout the county during April. But apparently you don't need universities to organize Poetry Month for you.  The National Poetry Month website has a list of 30 things to do for poetry month, many which you can do on your own or with your writing group. This is not just a list, each suggestion links to a page with additional help. I'm looking forward to Poem in Your Pocket Day! You're sure to find something that would be fun for you.

Maybe you're thinking, "Why read poetry, I don't write it?" I'm not suggesting that you become a poet, but poetry has a place in all our lives. Besides just enjoying it for beauty's sake, as writers poetry gives us a new way to look at words. Poetry illustrates so many "rules" that writing books and teachers are always telling us:

• Don't use cliched descriptions.
• Create emotion with your writing.
• Cut out the unnecessary words.
• Make your readers think.
• Use foreshadowing.

Maybe you'll never publish a chapbook of poetry but I can attest to the fact that writing poetry exercises different writing muscles. It makes you think about individual words as more than what they mean, as you consider length, beat, how they "match" words in other lines. Dabbling in poetry (even badly written, half finished poems like those you will occasionally find in my journal) can help make you a better writer, no matter what your genre.

I'd love to hear which of the 30 poem activities you're doing to celebrate National Poetry Month.

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1 comment National Poetry Month, poetry

How To Lead Readers to a Satisfying Ending

Recently, I read a very sweet and well-written flash fiction piece--the only problem? After a couple paragraphs in, I knew exactly what was going to happen. The author had provided too many clues, and she didn't disappoint. As I predicted, the ending followed the clues she had set up.

This is a dilemma we writers have to face every time we write fiction. You can't completely surprise the reader (or viewer if you write screenplays) at the end--you have to set up events and characters that lead to a plausible ending. You can be very subtle and then shock readers and audiences everywhere, like The Sixth Sense did when Haley Joel Osment said, "I see dead people." Oh, yeah, we all thought: Now this whole Bruce Willis character makes sense. And obviously the director, producers, and writers thought maybe we would like to see the clues we missed when they take us back through the movie--but the clues were there for the most perceptive viewers.

Another example comes to mind--and I think I've talked about it on The Muffin before. If any of you watched Dallas on Friday nights in the 1980s or the reruns in the 90s on cable, you know that there was a season when Bobby was dead. But then Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby, wanted back in the show, so the writers decided--hey, we'll just make that whole last season a dream. Viewers everywhere were MAD, even the ones that love Bobby (umm, me) because we had no clue that the season we just invested in wasn't really happening. We all know why--because that wasn't the original plan (Bobby was supposed to be gone forever)--but that's the issue I'm getting at here:

Readers want some clues, so they can try to figure out what will happen in the end. But they don't want the solution to be too easy AND they don't want to be purposely misled! 

Easy, right? HA! One of the reasons why this part of writing is so difficult is because you, as the writer, know what is going to happen, and so everything seems like an obvious clue to you. Or you are so worried about the reader feeling cheated that you make it too easy. So what can you do? 

Find a good critique group or trusted beta readers, and don't tell them the ending before they read your work. If they ask for anything, give them a summary that reads like a book jacket cover. This would be just enough to catch their interest, but not tell them any crucial plot points. You can also provide questions for your critique group members or beta readers when they finish, and a couple of them should focus on predictability and a satisfying ending. Use their feedback and knowledge of your story to make sure you are providing clues that lead to a satisfying, but not too predictable, ending. 

The beginning and middle of your fiction story are important, of course, but the ending is what people talk about. Think about it. You'll often hear people after a movie or book: "I loved the ending!" or "What a waste of time--I loved the book until the ending." 

Don't let the latter happen to your work.   

Margo L. Dill is a published author and writing instructor, who teaches novel writing for the WOW! classroom. You can find out more about her at http://www.margodill.com .

End photo above by Angela Mueller--www.flickr.com 

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3 comments Endings, fiction writing, Margo L. Dill

Turning An Agent's Chair

I love The Voice, that TV program where people sing and try to get a coach/mentor’s chair to turn for them. And last time I watched, I had this epic thought. Wouldn’t it be cool if writers had something like that? We could read the first two minutes or so of a manuscript and try to make famous agents in our genre turn a chair for us.

That epic thought was immediately followed by a sobering thought. Oh, yeah. We do have that. It’s called a query.

If you’ve gone down the agent stream, sending out queries by the boatload, then you know how difficult it is to get an agent to pick you. But maybe we spend more time on the query and not enough on the manuscript. All you really need is to get an agent to read the first 250 words of your manuscript and pause long enough to think, “There is promise here. I want to read more.”

So what turns an agent’s chair?


Voice

Yeah, I know. Pretty obvious, right? But I’m not talking about simply a good voice. After all, plenty of singers have good voices and nobody turns. But a unique voice? A voice that gives an audience something they’ve never heard before? That’s golden.

It’s the same with writing. Plenty of writing is good. But a voice that grabs a reader and won’t let go? Something unusual and desperately authentic? That’s the kind of voice in a manuscript that will stop an agent in his or her tracks. Plot problems can be fixed; a forgettable voice with a great plot will ultimately be a forgettable story.

It’s not easy to master voice. That’s why you need to write, and write, and write some more. Feedback and critique are critical. But let’s assume that at last, you have the voice down. Now the Battle Rounds are coming and you need to step up your game to stand out in the crowd of great writers. You need story.


Story


Yeah, I know. I did it again. But if it’s so obvious, why do we keep making the mistake of offering the same old, same old? On The Voice, a coach will often say to a singer, “You have to make it your own.” Someone’s chosen a great song, a classic song, but if the singer performs it the same way it’s already been sung, where’s the thrill in that? Writers must do the same.

Mystery, romance, adventure, they all have a basic plot. The trick for you, the writer, is to take a story and make it your own. You have to give an agent—and readers—something that’s both familiar and yet different. Your story must surprise the reader, go somewhere unexpected. If your writing is following a well-worn path, there’s no thrill. And no agent interest. So read, read, and read still more. Knowing what’s out there will keep you from telling the same old story.


Whether you’re a singer or a writer, it all comes down to voice and story. It really is that simple.

And that hard.

~Cathy C. Hall

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8 comments Agents, Cathy C. Hall, query letters, story, The Voice, voice

How to Choose a Summer Writing Program or Conference

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about summer writing programs and conferences!

Invitations to return to old programs and to try out new programs have flooded my inbox. A quick Google search for writing programs will provide you with hundreds of options. With so many writing programs to choose from, how do you narrow down your search?

Courtesy of Strawberry Creek Inn

Geography
There are writing programs available in every nook of the world. You could stay local, which will cut down on travel and other expenses and allow you to be available for commitments like child care. Or you could choose a different part of the country or the world and turn your writing program into your dream vacation.

Live in a city but want to get away from the hustle and bustle to concentrate on your writing? Try a program in a remote, rural setting. Or perhaps you live in a quiet suburb and you want to network with others in a major publishing city like New York.

Each option has its own perks and distractions, so you’ll have to decide what’s right for your budget, time availability, and learning and writing preferences.

Length
Writing programs can be anywhere from a few hours to several weeks long. Choosing the length of the program depends on what you hope to get out of it and, usually, what you can afford time-wise and financially.

If you want a day to network with other writers and hear some of the industry news, a 1-day conference would work for you. But if you wanted to get feedback on your writing and have time to work on it, perhaps a multi-day workshop would better fit your needs.

Type
There are multiple types of writing programs that offer different experiences and services.

Conferences tend to be 1 to 3 days long and provide lectures and/or meet-and-greets with industry professionals. These will often provide lunches and discounted hotel accommodations for participants.

Workshops can be 1-day to multi-week affairs and provide you with opportunities to share your writing and get feedback from other aspiring and professional writers. These are often, but not always, residential programs that provide housing and meal plans.

Retreats will be multi-day programs, almost always residential, that provide writers with a lot of solitude to work on their writing with optional meals, networking, and other support services.

Some programs offer a mixture lectures, workshops, and free time to write.

Instructors and Genre
The instructors or speakers at a writing program are an important consideration because you want to make sure the people giving you advice are top-notch professionals in the writing business.

You also want to make sure they work in the area of the writing business that best suits your needs. For example, if you want to write children’s books, a writing program with Romance novelists would not be the best option for you. Likewise you wouldn’t want to attend an event for creative nonfiction writers if you’re an aspiring Sci-Fi novelist.

I recommend looking up the bios of the instructors or speakers to get a sense of their writing resumes, the genres in which they write, and what they could offer you in terms of your particular writing goals.

Cost
It would be an oversight not to put cost in this list of considerations! The cost usually depends on all of the above criteria.

If you've found the perfect writing event, but it's a little to costly for you, ask if the program offers need-based scholarships. Some programs also host writing contests in which winners receive a money towards the cost of the program.

Requirements
Many writing programs and conferences encourage writers of all levels and experiences to attend, but note that some require an application and writing samples, especially in smaller workshop or retreat programs, and the program will only select a few applicants based on quality of writing.

What are other aspects of writing programs you consider before signing up?

More Information
Check out these two databases for excellent compilations of writing programs near and far!

• New Pages: Writing Conferences and Events
• Poets & Writers: Conferences and Residencies Database

Written by: Anne Greenawalt

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Leave a Comment Anne Greenawalt, Writing Conferences, writing programs

Meet Beth Everett, 2nd Place Winner in WOW’s Fall 2015 Flash Fiction Contest

A short work of 750 words can come from anywhere: some uncompleted idea shoved away in your desk, or, as in the case of our second place winner, derived from larger project. Beth Everett’s prologue to her third book successfully captures the emotional world of her main character and sets the stage for a larger story. Please take a few moments to enjoy the imagery in Where Charlotte Lay.

Beth Everett grew up in the coastal hills of San Francisco. When she wasn’t writing books about ladybug circuses, she was suspecting the worst of her neighbors and looking for clues of their misdeeds. She blames Nancy Drew.

After college, Beth worked for a booming investment bank in San Francisco. She later sold real estate in a suburb of Manhattan, but always longed to return to the west coast. These days she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and sons. She drives for Uber part-time, which she claims is a goldmine for material.

The author spends most of her free time in the woods with two badly behaved Beagles, whom she fears will discover dead bodies.

Her first novel, Death on Adler, was published in October of 2015. The second, Dead on the Dock, will be released in April. Charlotte is a character from the third book in her series, called the Lee Harding Mysteries.

Visit her website at www.beth-everett.com, and connect with her on Facebook.


WOW: Hello Beth, congratulations on placing in our Fall 2015 contest! With one book launched and another on the way, what prompted you to enter the flash-fiction contest? I’m imagining you would already have a long to-do list!

Beth: I love the challenge of telling a story in just seven hundred and fifty words. It forces the writer to cut to the most useful pieces of language.

WOW: Your writing shows careful word choices and a strong poetic influence; at what point in the process does the poet emerge? Is she there on the first draft?

Beth: The Charlotte story really represents a new era in writing for me. I moved to Portland two years ago, and the beauty of the Pacific North West has moved me deeply. I find myself needing to be in the woods even on the rainiest of days. Finding new words to describe what sometimes is just downright spiritual has been a difficult. The Pacific temperate rain forest is the real poet; I am just trying to share the beauty of it.

WOW: You’ve succeeded! Tell us about the creation of the Lee Harding Mystery series; when did you know you were ready to tackle a series?

Beth: I’ve been trying to write books for almost thirty years, but couldn’t stand my own narrative voice. I would destroy my journals then come back and try again. I wanted to be Fitzgerald.

One cold evening in New Jersey, I complained to a friend that I was stranded on the East Coast. He responded with, “Do something about it.” The next day I started writing Death on Alder and I didn’t stop until it was finished.

It was an incredible experience to start and “finish” something. I didn’t know then that I would have six more rewrites. I wish I’d done seven, but I met so many people that had been working on their books for seven or eight years and that scared me.

I’m working on my third Lee Harding book (Where Charlotte Lay). I like writing the series because I am really getting to know her now. She is a contemporary woman in her thirties; struggling with some of the marriage, family and work life issues that I and many of my friends went through at that age. My hope is that other women can relate to her imperfections. We can be so hard on ourselves.

WOW: What is your story organization process? Do you outline, wallpaper your studio with character charts, …?

Beth: My stories come to me as I write them. Sometimes I find new scenes on my walks or in with my prompt writing group, PDX Writers.

With Dead on the Dock, my poor husband had to put up with me pacing the floor for days as I tried to figure out who the murderer was. When it came to me, I cried, because I fall in love with all of my characters.

WOW: You have an attractive website! Many writers struggle with the idea of creating an author website; do you have any tips or words of wisdom to share?

Beth: Thank you. I used Sitebuilder, which is website building for the technologically challenged, another group I belong to.

My advice is to be fearless. You can always “undo.”

WOW: Good words to live by in writing and in life! Thank you for visiting today, Beth. We look forward to reading the rest of Charlotte’s story.

Do you have an old, dusty story stuck in your desk drawer? Polish it up and send it in! You can find all the information for Winter 2016 Flash Fiction Contest on this page. We can hardly wait to see what you will write!

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Leave a Comment Beth Everett, Contestant interview, flash fiction contest winner, Robyn Chausse

Seeking Reviewers for Laura Davis Hays' May Blog Tour for Incarnation

Hello readers! We are gearing up for a fun blog tour beginning on May 9. This will be only a review-only tour, so we are seeking 10-12 bloggers to read and review Incarnation by Laura Davis Hays. Both digital and hard copies are available.

Below is a synopsis of Incarnation:

Kelsey Depuis, Santa Fe scientist, and Iriel, betrothed on Atlantis to a man she cannot love―two young women bound by a single soul.

In Kelsey’s everyday world, three men shape her life: Myron Crouch, the boss of BioVenture Enterprises; Harrison Stillman, a brilliant colleague of hers there; and Stan Dresser, who twists her feelings with his kisses and lies.

But gradually, growingly, Iriel is shaping her life too. Through dreams and visions, she draws Kelsey into the ancient realm where refusal to marry Gewil has driven her to daring flight with fantastic creatures across a strange and terrible land.

As Kelsey joins other BioVenture researchers testing a new organism on a remote Caribbean island, turmoil and violence darken her fate―and Iriel’s presence grows stronger. Worlds shift and merge, danger grows. Past and present, vengeance and love swirl together as the seas rise up, the seas that once swallowed Atlantis.

Tested in life-or-death struggle, Kelsey must face an ordeal she can survive only through great courage and deep karmic understanding.

About Laura Davis Hay:
Laura Davis Hays is a California native, the only child of a theoretical physicist and a librarian. Her prize-winning body of work includes a forthcoming fantasy series, the Atlantis Material, and a collection of linked stories set in Denmark, her ancestral homeland, in the early twentieth century. Hays is also an accounting consultant, a performing pianist, a composer, and a skier. She and her husband live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with their two cats, Rufus and Dexter.

Who will enjoy Incarnation:

• Readers who like tales of adventures with a taste for fantasy

• Those who are spiritually inquisitive and open minded

• Fans of stories with strong, courageous, female characters

Interested in hosting Laura on this tour? E-mail renee@wow-womenonwriting.com with your first two choices of dates and whether you prefer a PDF or hard copy of the book. The tour launches on May 9 and available dates include May 10-June 3.

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Leave a Comment book reviews, Incarnation by Laura Davis Hays, seeking bloggers, WOW! Blog Tours

The Importance of Your Tribe

Life is messy. As women, most of us say yes too much and often feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. Whether we have small children, grown children, no children at all…there is one thing we need. We need to be loved and accepted; we need a tribe. A tribe is a term that was new to me, and after looking it up I realized why it is so fitting when a woman describes her friends and family as a tribe. (I typed “tribe” into Google and this is what I found: noun/ a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

I didn’t realize the importance of a tribe until I became a mother. Maybe it was motherhood, or
maybe it was moving to the country? Maybe it was a husband who heads out to the barn at the crack of dawn and doesn’t return until the middle of the night? I didn’t recognize the loneliness, but I had all sorts of questions and ideas and it wasn't like those college days where there were people down the hall who would have the answers. I turned to my friends and family and they introduced me to more amazing people and my tribe grew. It started with a short text about getting a proper latch for nursing. That friend told me about a local group who could help. Someone in that group became a friend and stopped over for coffee. Other moms got in touch with us via social media. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a large group of like-minded individuals.

Some of us live far away (one dear friend lives an ocean away in Ireland) and some of us live just down the road. We gather together online as well as in the kitchen at my home. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to gather in the outdoors, next to lovely Lake Michigan. Regardless of the space in which we gather, we provide one another with love, support, and we share ideas. We are not all alike. Like members of any community; we have diverse backgrounds and talents as well as differences in opinion. What we share is a common bond and desire to support and empower one another. Getting back to the tribe analogy, some members of a tribe hunt, others gather, some prepare the food, and others teach the children. They are all working toward a goal of survival for the entire tribe. This is how a healthy tribe looks in 2016 as well. Some of us bake delicious pastries, others know exactly where to find the best sun dried tomatoes, some of us are incredibly organized and can pop over to help with a rummage sale, and others are great at babysitting or giving a quick driving lesson.

As our lives move forward, members of the tribe find themselves dealing with health issues, divorce,
rebellious children, dying parents, tough economic times, etc…and like any tribe, we pull together to help one another. These tough times make the tribe stronger. A lone person walking aimlessly in unfamiliar and desolate woods would have a difficult time surviving. A tribe of people under the same conditions would find comfort with everything they need to either get everyone out of the situation or turn it into a thriving village.

Where did your tribe come from? Did they find you or did you find them? Are you an intentional tribe gathered around a salt bowl, or a social media group? No matter how you found one another or where you meet (virtually or physically), please know each of you is important and cumulatively you can do amazing things. Please leave a comment telling us about how a tribe has been important in your life.

Photo credits for today's post go to Jenn Morris-Fodden who I am proud to call a member of my tribe.

Crystal is a church musician, babywearing mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 7, Breccan 2, and Delphine 1), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.


You can find Crystal riding unicorns, blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/ and here: http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

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Leave a Comment circle, circle of friends, friendships, gathering together, importance of friends, supporting women, supportive friends, tribe

Pull Your Reader into Someplace Real

Whether you are writing historic fiction or science fiction, pulling your reader into the world of your story boils down to creating a world and story that feel real to your reader.  Succeed at creating this reality and the reader will fall into your story.  Fail and the reader might not make it to page 5. 

Here are four things that you can do to create the sense of reality your reader needs.

Details make the setting.  The first step in making your world real to the reader is to create a world they can sense.  It isn’t enough for them to see it.  As much as possible it has to engage all senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, hearing, touch, and motion). This means that each manuscript page needs to include details that involve at least three of senses. That’s sounds like a lot but it is doable when you learn to take your descriptions beyond the obvious.  We know snow is cold, but how does it sound? How does summer heat smell? Choose things your character would notice and weave them into the story.

Make the culture real. This is vital for any story, historic, contemporary or science fiction, that takes place outside of the world of your reader. In book club, we read Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, set in the poverty rich hollows of the Missouri Ozarks in 2006.  These people, the majority of whom cook meth, police their own based on a complicated set of rules and morays.  In spite of the differences between this world and our own, Woodrell made the culture make sense even if it was still horrifying.

Common Goals make for a Common Experience. Another way for your reader to identify with the story is to give your character a goal the reader will recognize. It could be to see history made or to do something you’ve been told you will never accomplish (The Race for Paris by Meg Wait Clayton).  Perhaps the character wants nothing more than to clear his name (Storm Front by Jim Butcher).  Giving your character a goal that is familiar to your reader will help pull the reader into the life of the character.

Connect through Character Emotions.  None of us who read Winter’s Bone know that life, but we could connect with it through the main character’s emotions – fear and desperation at the thought of her family losing their home. The same will hold true for your story. Your characters and their lives may be unfamiliar to your reader, but the emotions that they feel are emotions that people have felt in every culture and every time. Use these emotions as another way to help your reader connect.

It doesn’t matter if your story is set one street over from where your reader lives or in the Amazon ca 2027. Pulling your reader in involves helping them connect with your story both through the setting and the characters. Learn to do it and don’t let go.

--SueBE
Sue is the instructor for our course, Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults. The next session begins on June 6, 2016.

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1 comment creating a bridge, hooking the reader, pulling the reader in

How to NOT Build an Author Brand: Learn From My Mistakes

A little over  a year ago, I wrote a version of this blog post for my writing friend, Shannon Yarbrough's blog, which by the way is a great blog full of writing advice, nutritional advice, funny posts, and more! Check it out here if you never have before. I've updated my post a bit and changed some things, as my opinion changes about this writing biz, but basically here it is: 

One of the biggest pieces of marketing advice out there is build a platform, grow an audience, and write in the same genre. Sure, people with several books, such as picture books or self-help, will decide to write romance and get a pen name. But generally, good, little authors write a young adult fantasy, and then they write a sequel or at least another young adult fantasy. It’s very smart.

But I did not do this.

Hopefully, there’s at least one other author out there besides me who likes to struggle through marketing and building an audience. If you are nodding your head, then please find me on Facebook, and let’s start our own private Facebook group, where we can complain and whine together. We can call our group: "Authors who like to make the hardest business in the world even harder."

Seriously, what happened to me?

Before I had any idea what I was doing and before the explosion of the e-book and self-publishing world, way back in 2000, I took a correspondence course where lessons were actually snail-mailed to me, and I wrote Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength in Vicksburg. This is the novel I always wanted to write for kids in upper elementary grades to read at school and home. It took three-plus years to write because I taught full time and had no idea what I was doing. Then it took three more years to revise it and figure out what to do with it. That was 2006, still the dark ages considering where self-publishing and e-books are today.

This book was freaking hard to write. Historical fiction is the most difficult thing I’ve ever tackled, and I thought the whole experience might kill me. (Especially when I signed my contract, did my revisions, and then my publishing company almost went out of business. . .) But alas finally, in 2012, I held my book in my little hands and had a party.

But what happened between 2006 and 2012? I wrote other books, of course, but I vowed to never ever write another historical fiction for kids. The whole experience, as I mentioned, almost killed me. So, I wrote a few picture books and a contemporary YA, and I started to pursue publication with a couple of these manuscripts. Lo and behold—I was offered two contracts—one on the contemporary YA and one on a cute, humorous picture book.

Do you see where this is going? I know what you are thinking: Margo, you have no platform or consistency.

I KNOW! But luckily, I have great writing friends who did things correctly, such as my publisher, Robin Tidwell. One day she said, “Just try to look at what all your books have in common. They all have girls as the main character.”

She was really trying to help me! But yes, I went with it. They do all have girls as the main characters, and in each one, the girls are smart and funny, kind and bull-headed. Then, one day, in the comfort of my living room, I came up with this tagline to try and pull all this together:

Be Unique. Be Strong. Be Yourself.

Not only does it encompass my books, but it also says a lot about me and my personality.

The lesson here for me? I have to work with what I have. I’m proud of my books. I love talking to kids and teens, and because I have such a wide range of audiences, I am more versatile when it comes to speaking—there’s probably something I have for any age of kid or grandkid you have. (hint, hint)

Now I have to figure out what to write next since I've been in a slump. I have a middle-grade mystery ready to go and another humorous picture book almost ready. I also want to do a blog where I am writing about life issues, trying to reflect on some things I learned this last year going through a divorce. So, we will see what the future brings.

I would also love to hear about how you created a platform--either the right way or the wrong way!

Check out more about Margo Dill on her website.
Photo of tools by Dylan Foley on Flickr.com.

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10 comments author branding, author platform, children's author, Margo L. Dill

Meet Fall 2015 Flash Fiction First Place Winner, K. Alan Leitch

As a citizen of both Canada and Australia, K. Alan Leitch considers himself a global denizen, and hopes one day to make a memorable contribution to American history. His work teaching literature has built upon his inborn love of writing to the point that his most rewarding moments involve the laughter, tears and outrage of readers moved by his work. Inspired by his study of literature at Oxford, and by great authors like John Updike, he challenges himself to synthesize literary style and theme with the accessible, adventure-driven plotlines that entertained him as a young reader. Other publications appear in Stringybark Stories, literary anthologies published by I.E.U. Australia, and even in a literary magazine he edited himself during icy winters in Calgary, Alberta. He is also the author of the award-winning (but unpublished) Starlite Lanes: We Bowl for Democracy, and another unpublished partner-novel—but not for long! Click here to read a sample.

Read Keith's winning flash fiction story here.

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on your first place win in our Fall 2015 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to enter the contest?

Keith: I first entered the Flash Fiction competition in 2011, at a time that I was using several competitions to motivate me to write to a deadline. The Flash Fiction competition appealed to me as a means of exhibiting a single ideal, while minimizing the risk of obscuring it to readers who hunger for twenty subplots and six hundred intertwined characters. Of course, I also enjoy writing longer fiction (including novels), but for reasons other than simply promoting an ethic. Flash Fiction is the contemporary answer to the fable, or the fairytale. I remembered feeling that way in 2011, so came back to it this year; I am very glad that I did.

WOW: Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story Ease?

Keith: I remember it exactly! I normally work as an English teacher, and one of my colleagues visited my home and made an innocent, offhanded comment about the beaten, decrepit leather chair into which I sank every evening. This triggered an avalanche of reflections about the nature of materialism: how our species is driven to acquire finer acquisitions and, as a result, tricked into abandoning many of the joys that materialism falsely advertises to us. This is the genesis of the circularity and situational irony in Ease.

WOW:  We’d love to know more about your writing routines. Could you tell us when and where you usually write? Do you have favorite tools or habits that get you going?

Keith:  This is a timely question, as I have been experimenting with many of these. Firstly, time is of the essence, but in the opposite manner to how that cliche is usually expressed; my creative process demands a day--preferably several days--of time dedicated to it before it really accelerates. That pesky need to eat is usually what interferes with this, as workdays can drain quality from a writer's expression.

When this happens, changes of scenery and background change the environment around my mind, and changing that environment is the essence of creativity. While I have set up a desk in my home to exploit a very nice view, there are times when my laptop and I need to escape to the beach, and other times to a coffee shop, in order for the writing to continue. I find that the sounds of life are more inspiring than the sights of it. I snatch syllables and inflections from the voices around me, and build, from this mosaic, the new voices of unique characters.

When I absolutely cannot start, I write a "throwaway" story: meaning, essentially, one that I know can never be published. This exercise sometimes takes the form of rewriting a published story, or adding a chapter to a published novel. Sometimes, I write a narrative using characters and circumstances from a favorite television series. In any case, this creates a scaffold of ideas from creators that I respect, and their ideas web intertextually with my own, until I can transplant something new into my original fiction.

Of course, on other days, I just give up and eat a brownie. Those taste nice.

WOW: Can you also share any good books you’ve read lately?

Keith:  There are so many! For those interested in experimenting with narrative sequence, Time's Arrow, by Martin Amis, chronicles a man's life lived entirely in reverse. This may seem silly when I describe it, but, using this sequence, Amis manages to give readers entirely new reasons to sympathize with a protagonist that they would otherwise be certain to despise. Also utilising unusual sequence (currently an interest of mine, with which I am experimenting in my next novel) is Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, while John Updike's Gertrude and Claudius provides fans of Shakespeare new stimulation by presenting a prosaic prequel to Hamlet.

Finally, at the risk of out-geeking myself, I have to mention a graphic novel that I just finished. J. Michael Straczynski's Superman: Earth One is a humanization of a character familiar to everyone, and a textbook example of how the voices of narrators and characters can be crafted to rewrite established history without dismissing it.

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Keith! Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?

Keith:  Enter now and enter compulsively. Enter the stories you know are great, and enter those that you wish you'd never written. Use a pseudonym, if you are embarrassed. Refine stories that are knocked out, then enter them again: my own winning entry did not even make it past the first reading in a previous competition. It is thanks to Angela's encouragement that I was motivated to give Ease another chance to earn readers, and I now have a new network of professionals I can read, and who may read the online sample of my novel or other work.

Of course, out of respect for the hardworking organizers and editors, you do want to research which competitions are best suited to the genre, style and length of each story you have written. Respecting that, though, give everyone a chance; if you are lucky enough to win some prize money, use that to pay the fee for even more entries. As your stories are celebrated and rejected, you will be left with a clearer sense of the genres and styles that different readers prefer.

The unique thing about this craft, whether profession or obsession, is that writers can measure their success through readership.

A well run competition performs the miracle of giving writers an interactive sense of audience, because we know that, victorious or otherwise, members of the industry will actually read our stories. Any writer should see that, alone, as an achievement. You cannot lose.

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1 comment Contestant interview, Fall 2015 Flash Fiction contest, first place winner, Flash Fiction Contest, flash fiction winner, Keith Leitch