It's a Wrap!

What a week! Though the Muse Online Writers Conference is over and done with, I've kept busy with a few of the goals I established during organizational forums with Cheryl Malandrinos and Susanne Rose.

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One goal for this week was to enter TWRP's Mini Halloween Romance contest. My goal was to submit an excerpt of Walks with the Moon. A piece I titled: Undeclared Love. Earlier this week I reworked another scene to submit in its stead. Yesterday I submitted Surrender. The winner will be announced on October 31st. If I don't win, I'll post it here and give you a little taste of the storyline.

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Another goal between now and November first is to get everything organized for NaNoWriMo. To help with that I'm going to read through Devon Ellington's 30 Tips for 30 Days. [Look the link on the side bar~after Writing Tip of the Day] I've read through Part One ~ Preparation. I like the idea of a creativity alter, and have the perfect spot in the far corner of my studio. One tip served to remind me of the music and CDs that I need to get in order. It's not just notes and files. There's an atomsphere that needs to be set as well.

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I also need to get another update posted to my Quill of the Heart blog, i.e., How Would You Live. That's a goal I committed to accomplishing this week. But, I have several entries sitting either in the blogspot draft folder, or hibernating in a Word.doc file. Not doing a bit of good sitting in either place. I need to get them moving. That's a goal for next year; regular updates.

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Claudia Suzanne's Before Copyediting forum truly opened my eyes. I will never look at editing the same way again. Charting the structure of a piece, whether fiction or non-fiction, was new ground for me. Before I take on the next major editing session I need to switch over, completely, to left brain logic. Editing is not necessarily a right brain function. Her sessions gave new meaning to the old addage, 'put it away for a few days to a month and look at it with fresh eyes.'

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Devon Ellington's lessons in Dialogue were invaluable, and Lea Schzias Short Story forum -- well, though I got a considerable amount of work done on my Beginning, Middle, and Ending [for Walks with the Moon], let's just say I came away with only half a hook! Not her fault. I believe I struggle most with what not to relay. Needless to say--it's just one more writing goal for 2009. I was in and out of many more forums, all of which I will talk about at later dates. But-- I already registered for Muse 2009. Lots to do between now and then.

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Oh! Here's the banner I did for NaNoWriMo:

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That's it for now. More soon,

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A Must Read Draw

Writing Tip of the Day, August 9, 2008

Pour thoughtful work and energy into a "must-read"

title which draws readers (and editors).

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I love this tip!

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There's a little titty I want to update to Quill of the Heart, but I haven't worked out a better title than: The Power of that Little Button Labeled "Mute." Oooo! How about: The Power of Mute? Yes! I LIKE it. Look for the reasoning behind that revelation soon.

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In the meantime, though I equate this tip largely to Journalism and today's bloggers, I am likely to pass up what might be a good, or even great, informative read if the heading doesn't grab my attention. But, the right title can stir one's imagination and have the power to draw us into any given Chapter One or The Best Short Story You're Ever Likely to Read.

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There's an almost unexplainable satisfaction when those few select words come to the forefront and are ready to be delivered upon the masses. Is anyone curious enough to find out why I've recently considered the Mute button so important? Or, for that matter, the reason behind what drove me to write about it in the first place? Well, that's another post for another blog.

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The NaNoWriMo!

Because of all the pc troubles of 2007 I missed NaNoWriMo last year; due specifically to my monitor's decision (back in June) to give up its ghost. Only with the passage of time can I now say, fair enough! It had, after all, served me quite well. I cannot begrudge its passing. A time comes for all things. But! It's 2008 and I've a new monitor, not quite a year old, and I'm ready for this year's challenge. And, I'm not without a fair amount of storyline.

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The most horrendous loss of 2007, what with all the techno woes earlier in the year, I lost all that I keyed of book one, Caged Heart ~ The Last Heartbound. So. That is my focus in November. Re-entering all that hand-typed Forbidden World Chronicles text into Word, and hopefully along the way, I'll remember all those new scenes I'd formulated throughout NaNo2006. There's a post somewhere below where I uploaded the book jacket I created that year.

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During all those said woes I concede to being down; all physically, emotionally, and technologically speaking. But, I was most definitely not out. The Writing Exercise Board (WEB) posted a contest-- something about a thatched roof cottage, an old world garden gate, and time travel. Well, needless to say it missed the deadline. But! I drafted out a substantial amount of handwritten notes and viola? I had, Vortex. Another storyline I really like but tucked it away inside a folder because I'm a tad rather inexperienced as regards ancient Scottish history. Yes, that's where my character traveled back to, and where the present day lord of the manor (For Rent) disappeared. My remedy? There's a forum next week (for Muse2008) that I believe may help in quelling my fear.

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Then there's plenty of writing yet to do for Walks with the Moon. Especially since I'd like to see a completed first draft before the end of 2008. So, as long as my ailing body holds out, I'm at no loss for achieving 50K words in 30 days. But before all of this, there's that mountain of handouts to get through for next week's conference.

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All of this though, depends entirely on how my body holds out. And right now, I'm not long for this chair today. I need to take a break after spending all evening reading through and responding to message board threads in the Muse forums. It looks to be an exciting and wonderfully exhausting week. One that will more than likely have me on the couch in recovery mode the following week.

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Oh! There's also the fact I'm late getting out my Fall update for Pearls of Wisdom. I've promised Calendar of Events updates and need to do that before the end of this week. They're coming people! I promise.

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That's it for now.

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Gearing Up

I've been in recovery mode of recent; due to both my degenerating discs and fibromyalgia. Keeping frustration at bay is an ongoing battle. But enough of that. I don't want to give either condition anymore power over me than they already generate.

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This coming week I'm spending what time I am able to maintain on reading through the mountain of handouts I've downloaded for the upcoming 2008 Muse Online Writer's Conference.

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I've lost count of the number of online forums/workshops, and live Chats available. I signed up for more than I'll likely be able to handle, physically, but-- what with my sleep patterns all amuk, I do tend to have many up-all-night-into-the-wee-hour occasions to log in to any given forum and pick up on what I can.

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I hope to take advantage of Organize Your Writing Life (Cheryl Malandrinos), Query Letters! Editing them perfectly for a great first impression (Carolyn Howard-Johnson), Seek Your Bliss (Pat Harrington), Red Hot Internet Publicity (Penny Sansevieri), Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma'am: Cutting to the Chase and Writing First Chapters That HOOK (Sara Reinke), What Aspiring Writers Need to Know (Marie Delgado Travis), A Blueprint for Your Creative Space through the Power of Feng Shui (Anna Maria Prezio), On Becoming a Professional Amateur (Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff), BEFORE COPY EDITING (Claudia Suzanne), along with a Dialogue Workshop (Devon Ellington), just to name a few.

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Several publishers and editors (e and POD) are also promised to be on hand, i.e., Niteblade Magazine (Rhonda Parrish), Double Dragon Publishing (Deron Douglas), and Red Rose Publishing (publisher & editors).

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There appears to be a fair amount of homework involved so I'm readying, Walks With the Moon, as regards dialog, plot, critique, and the like. Especially since I just fleshed out a new scene of dialog a few days ago, this would be my work of choice. It's going on 10K words and I want to see it through as I desperately want to get back to my Forbidden World Chronicles. (I'd post a link to the site, but ad banners are currently overriding access to my site. I have a trouble-shooting ticket in to Lycos.com Helpdesk, and hope to see this remedied soon.)

[LINK ADDED 10-6, PROBLIMO SOLVED. I'm leaving the parenthetical info in case
anyone experiences this. I know I didn't like seeing my site high-jacked!]

I also need to address the matter of getting my desk and workspace cleaned up and better organized. There are notebooks, questions, and homework in order.

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That's it for now. I'll let you know how the Conference progresses.

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Shooting for the Moon

Got Wolf?
Black Rose Writing Contest
If you've got a hot hero/heroine that also happens to

turn furry at least once a month,

then Black Rose is looking for your story.

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I bowed out of this initially; even while the makings of a storyline swirled and began to pique my interest. With much grace and honesty, though, I responded [to Faith's post] that I just didn't believe I could get that kind of word count to a presentable stage by August 30th. To which she promptly replied with a rudimentary 'thanks for stopping by' that left me properly dejected. I felt I'd just delivered an excuse she hadn't expected.

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That same day, I read the VW#7 Writing Life, post found at Paperback Writer. First off, I couldn't believe she wasn't talking directed to me [This I intend to make clearer in an upcoming post.]; and second, about midway through, I shamefully realized I'd quit before even starting. Yes! It stung. And after a much needed moment of reflection, I returned to the Writing Exercise Board to share my epiphany. Faith explained that a recent publishing contract came to her via a contest where, though she did not win, was invited to rework and submit it again. I appreciated her confidence and direction and didn't want to dissappoint her. So, I sucked it up and went for it.

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Enter Conall Rheese Fergus and Sophie Lahey, in the work titled: Walks With The Moon. The story just poured out, and I discovered Conall's grandfather, Calvin. I had Radio Rivendell playing in the background, but foucsed on Loreena McKinnett for certain scenes. For one toward the end I had Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata set to play in a loop.

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And no. My entry did not make the August 30 deadline. I got stuck on a plot point and simply couldn't figure it out in time. I also failed to include another pertinent contest rule: "All stories must have at least one HOT consummated love scene..." Fair enough. It was, after all, an exercise in Romance.

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Unfortunately, [though not intentionally] I skipped out on that one lock, stock and barrel. Because of how one of my rules played out there wasn't going to be a consummation. This and any emotion of love has been long repressed. And since my revisit of said contest rules happened at the eleventh hour, I had no time for the rewrite of such an integral point in the story. Sorry Faith! I had hoped to make you proud.

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But. I'm rather heavily invested in this piece now and want to see it through. I really like the characters and one particular twist I'm sure will surprise a few readers. Potential though they may be. So, since I registered for the 2008 Muse Online Writer's Confernence, I'm shooting for October in hopes of having something ready to submit.

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That's it for now.

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2008 Muse Online Writer's Conference

This is going to be a quick update.

Life has a way of interrupting one's best intentions. I've missed posting here and hope to do a better job of keeping up with things. BUT! Yesterday's visit to the Writing Exercise Board, provided me with some inspiration come October.

Along with a comprehensive list of online writing classes, of which I hope to take advantage of one day soon, I found the following conference in a subsequent reply post.

I registered this morning. You can look for me there.

I'm also working on a story tentatively titled: Walks With The Moon. It's a contest entry. This one's for you, Faith, and that fast-approaching August 30th, deadline. I was kind of dead in the water for a few days, trying to figure out the overall storyline. I think I've got it now!

And-- I need also mention Interviewing Authors's interview with Devon Ellington. This particular interview was also a contest to win a CD copy of Devon's new release Hex Breaker. As of today I've not found it in the mailbox--[Carly Simon & An-ti-ci-pa-tion!]--but am looking forward to a most interesting read. There's an eclectic cast of characters, and I'm rather interested in seeing how they all interconnect. Thank you, again, for the winning copy! My first website contest win.

More soon!

Back Into The Swing

Query Letters and Hype

Writing Tip of the Day: April 15, 2008

Remove any hype from your query letter or book proposal.

Hype will always shine through to the experienced editor.

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This one couldn't be more timely! I just finished writing a query letter and submitted it to a leading publication. I wanted to include one of my blogs, as part of my resume, so I hopped over here, scrolled down, and read today's tip. Timely indeed.

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As I read, the very notion of hype forced me to reread my query. Immediately upon re-entering Word and my document, I looked especially to the second paragraph.

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I suppose, depending on the editor, that paragraph might come across as hype. I'm not 100% sure, but hoping not. I left it in because it validates how someone else viewed a part of my past, and how she took and incorporated it into her own celebration. So, I believe I'll leave it for now; in the subsequent, simultaneous submissions.

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This is my first query and possible submission in many years. If there are no takers, I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. But, as I stated in the sports analogy post, I really don't want to give an editor any undue excuse to sack me.

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I do have one other option, though, and the deadline is fast approaching.

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Undulating Lawn Ornaments

The Writing Exercise Board's Quickie of the Week: April 4, 2008

The prompt is … use a pink flamingo in a poem, story, essay, or scene.

Serious or silly, it just has to have a pink flamingo somewhere.

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When I read this post, the first thing that ran through my mind-- I've seen flamingos doing that little dance they do when they feed. Though I've never seen them up close and personal, I've seen it a number of times on TV. All those thousands of pairs of legs, stepping, stepping, up and down. Up and down; marching along. Thousands of heads bobbing and looking about; left, right, back, front. And always with some peppy musical score.

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So, immediately I saw those pink plastic lawn ornaments undulating across someone's yard. But, whose yard? And how did they all get there?

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I had fun with this and reworked it a little, so-- Enjoy!

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Most couldn't say exactly when it started. It's simply one of those things that was part of the landscape. But everyone knew the day Mildred Pinkton became known as the Crazy Pink Flamingo Lady. That's the day the Pine Hollar Gazette made her front page news.

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Mildred lived on the last parcel of untilled land, eastward bound out of the city proper. A few townsfolk remember when the first one appeared. The hardcore council members took pride in the fact there were no plastic daisies or whirly-gig birds in anyone's front yard. Nothing that outsiders could accuse of being kitch. At least not until a single pink flamingo appeared on Mildred's front lawn one unsuspecting hot summer day.

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A week or so later, another one appeared on the opposite side of the lawn; facing the first arrived. No one knew how long it was before they crept across the distance and stood finally, beak to beak. Her neighbor across the street remembered seeing they'd been moved, at different points, but paid it no real attention. When a smaller one appeared a few weeks later, he laughed out loud and gave Mildred an approving thumbs up.

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Throughout the following months and subsequent years, another plastic bird would appear, regularly until the crazy lady's herd would be found undulating in one direction one day, then heading opposite come the next brisk morn. That's only after they'd made their way entirely across the yard. No one ever saw her move them or put one out-- They just appeared.

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Though there were numerous attempts made buy neighbors and nosey kids, no one ever found her out. Not until the Gazette gave the job to their ace reporter, Wallace Fowning. He snooped around the post office; no special deliveries were made. Ever. And the lawn and garden center twenty miles south, didn't even carry them.

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Though his editor suggested a stake out, in due course, Wallace decided to take the more direct approach. He knocked on Mildred's door, introduced himself, and sat with her to tea. When he asked, Wallace found her actually amazed no one really ever made the connection. She explained that everyone knew her son trucked produce. They just never saw a relationship between his regular visits and a new member of her droll little flock.

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"But tried as they may, no one's ever seen you, or him for that matter, put one out or move them around. When do you do it all?" Wallace asked.

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"Oh! People don't always see a thing right under their noses." Wallace noted her sly smile. "When it all started, I did it at night; when most folk sleep. You know how early even us citified bed down. I just thought it would be funny. Once the herd grew, people rarely noticed when I moved one; even in broad daylight." He also noted her delight. "But no one ever sees me trim around them. Movin' them around just made it easier to cut the grass."

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"You know they think you're a little crazy?" Wallace asked.

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"No they don't." Mildred smiled. "They drive back 'n forth every day, and narry a one that I see drives off but with a smile on their face."

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It just made it easier to cut the grass. Wallace focused his article around that one innocent line. That and the simple want of making someone else smile.

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The Writing Exercise Board

The Vision of the Author

Writing Tip of the Day: April 6, 2008

As a book author, it's your responsibility to cast a vision for your book

about the length and the appearance before you pitch the idea to a publisher.

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Vision. Oh! I've always known how my Chronicles should look. Getting it all down in words has been the struggle. For me, The Forbidden World Chronicles is easy to envision. I see an old world bound cover, with parchment or handmade paper with torn edges. I see blocked scroll work calligraphic design, lettering and archaic fonts used in the title pages.

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I have synopses for a three book series, and have several short story ideas that would fall nicely into an anthology format, called Puzzle Pieces. I started a website to help introduce The Forbidden World Chronicles. There is also the companion weblog, Diary of a Prisoner, in Dellasseea N'Syis' own voice; written as an open letter to a once future-born son.

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Since the subject matter lends itself well to special effects, I see a movie being made. The storyline is other-worldly and multi dimensional. It would make seen, the Crystallines, the Creator Race. The children of the First Ones. Inter-dimensional beings unseeable to the third dimension physical, human eyes.

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Yes. I know my project. I have the vision. I just need to right agent to see it as well.

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