Fiction Scribe

But everybody is doing it…

Yes, even I am doing a list of the top ten posts on Fiction Scribe in 2007. These posts are not the most viewed, the most dugg/netscaped, the most anything other than the most memorable to me.

I have put up a lot of posts this year, so there are probably a lot of posts people like that I’m not going to mention. If you have a favourite, feel free to mention it in the comments. Also feel free to link to your top ten post lists for your site.

(Listed in no particular order.)

1. Eight Ways to Kill Your Characters - This is definitely one of my favourite posts because it was one of the most fun!
2. Sandi Kahn Shelton Interview - Sandi is a lovely lady and was a pleasure to work with. She’s a great writer and I’ll always remember her book as my introduction to women’s fiction.
3. Pet Peeve #44 - Anti-”said” Writers
4. Book Burning - I am still outraged that this happened. Thankfully, my sweet, sweet husband bought me a new copy.
5. FanFiction
6. Creative Spaces - This is actually the whole category. I love seeing what other people’s writing spaces are like.
7. Pet Peeve #16 Discussion - There is a great discussion in the comments section about making money, traditional publishing, and more.
8. Making An Honest Blogger’s Dollar - This led to the above post.
9. Take Your Prozac - An important post about writers and depression.
10. Clippy Knows All - Just hilarious.

Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have a favourite post I missed? Let me know.

Hello once again everyone, and happy New Year’s Eve.

I hope you are having a fabulous day so far and have a bunch of fun (safe) things planned for tonight.

Today I have a few announcements about what is happening here on site and on my other sites.

Scribes Blog Carnival

My heartfelt apologies for not updating the Scribes page. To be honest, I completely forgot about updating the page. But, I have done so now and everything is correct.

So yes, there will be a January Scribes carnival along with the Soup to Nuts carnival that’s going up later this month. (Two carnivals in one month? Oh, the madness!)

The submission deadline for this edition of Scribes is January 4th and it will be posted the 7th.

You can go here to submit your blog posts. (There is a limit of two posts per blog.)

Author EBook

I’ve gathered most of what I need for this and am working on putting it together. It should be ready to give out in January, just as planned.

Categories

I’ve made the first of the changes I have planned for the categories. There is now only one contests category where all contests will go from now on – no matter where they are featured.

Also, Saturday Night Exercises and Weekly Writing Challenges have been combined into Writing Exercises. It’s easiest to have all these sorts of things in one category.

The Book Stacks

If you would like an Australian postcard, head over to The Book Stacks and play The Monday Game.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Memorable ::
2. Resolution ::
3. Goal ::
4. 2008 ::
5. Sensational ::
6. Popular demand ::
7. Old ::
8. Music ::
9. Intense ::
10. 2007 ::

Idea courtesy of Luna Nina

As an international business leader and entrepreneur, Judi Moreo knows first hand what it takes to be successful especially amidst political, social and cultural differences. In 1991, she became a senior executive in one of South Africa’s most prestigious corporations.

In 2003, Judi was named Nevada Business Person of the Year by the U. S. Business Advisory Council. She is currently President of Turning Point International, Inc., an international performance improvement consulting firm in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce honored her with the Woman of Achievement – Entrepreneur Award.

This year Ms. Moreo received the Diamond Star Las Vegas Visionary Award.

Join motivational speaker Judi Moreo, author of the self-help and motivational book YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH ACHIEVEMENT JOURNAL, as she virtually tours the blogosphere in January on her second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotions!

You can visit her website at JudiMoreo.com!

This journal is a tool for your journey to achievement. It has been designed to assist you in achieving your goals. It is a fast, easy, convenient way to record your wants, hopes, goals and dreams, to write down your ideas, and to create the life that you’ve dreamed of.

Don’t wait for the “right” time or “next month” or “in the morning.” Now is the right time to begin. Every twenty-one days you will have the opportunity to reflect on your accomplishments and plan the next step in your journey. This is your journey. It’s ok not to write every day. It’s ok not to fill each page. Its ok to write more than will fit on just one day. If you skip a day, simply pick up where you left off in the next available space. If you date your entries, you will have a way to track your personal time table against the calendar. We all march to a different beat. Every day, week, month and year that you keep your journal becomes easier and more fulfilling.

It will provide you with a record of your strengths and successes as well as an acknowledgement of the characteristics, values, talents, people and things for which you are grateful.

When you finish a project, reach a goal, or stay on your diet just one more day, there are, included in your journal, two pages of peel and stick gold stars to reward yourself immediately for your success.

If you would like to tell us how you achieved your dreams or are working toward your dreams, blog about it, send us the link and we will put it on Judi’s personal tour page PLUS promote your stop in our daily promotions in which we reach thousands of potential visitors!

If you have watched the movie, “The Secret,” then you understand the power of affirmative thinking = affirmative action. Are you taking those steps in the right direction to enjoy life at its fullest – whether it’s through financial success, relationship bliss or perfect health?

On January 1, 2008, Judi Moreo, author of You Are More Than Enough Achievement Journal (Stephens Press, Dec. ‘07), will embark on a virtual book tour throughout the blogosphere, but it will involve YOU. She wants YOU to be the star in a campaign to let the world know how you are taking those steps in realizing your dreams.

If you would like to become involved in her ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ’08, here is how it works:

1. Repeat this passage from her book: “Every step I take brings me closer to the realization of my dreams” until you understand its powerful message.

2. Think about what steps you are taking to achieve your dreams and write about it. Your entry can be as long or as short as you’d like.

3. Post your message on your blog and give us the link so that we can post it on Judi’s tour page. The email address to send your entry is thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com.

4. When we receive your link, we will put it on our daily rounds of promotions, thus bringing you instant traffic, so get those links to us soon!

5. We only ask that you include the passage above before your blog post so that people will understand what you are doing.

6. We also ask that you include a jpeg copy of Judi’s book, You Are More Than Enough Achievement Journal, in your blog post. You can find her book cover here and link it to here.

7. All participants will be listed here so that everyone can find out how YOU achieve your dreams!

That’s all there is to it! Hurry before time runs out. Become involved in a nationwide campaign to bring in 2008 with a bang and help others realize that dreams are not something that happens; dreams are something that YOU make happen. Let’s make 2008 the year when you realize your dreams and make them happen. Share your stories and become involved in Judi Moreo’s “Achieving Your Dreams Virtual Book Tour ‘08″ where YOU are the star! Judi’s virtual book tour will be highly publicized including press releases and other promotions. Let us know what steps you are taking to achieve success and be read by thousands of Internet users!

Click here to find out how you can win FREE incentives by buying Judi’s book anywhere online!

Click here to find out how you can receive a FREE bracelet from Judi just by buying her book at her website at JudiMoreo.com!

Judi’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours. If you are an author and you would like us to set up a virtual book tour for you, click here for more information!

Hello everyone!

My spam filter has been eating all comments lately, so if you make a comment and it doesn’t show up, please let me know. (You can use the ‘contact me’ button on the right under the site description.)

I’ll try to keep a close eye on the spam trap until this sorts out, but I would greatly appreciate your help in this.

Thanks!

JM

Hello Fiction Scribe readers and happy last Friday of 2007!

It is my immense pleasure to bring you the last author interview of 2007, an interview with the funny and straightforward fantasy author Jim Melvin. He’s the author of The Death Wizard Chronicles, which he is going to talk about today. Please join me in welcoming him to Fiction Scribe.

Hello and thank you for stopping at Fiction Scribe, Mr. Melvin. Tell the readers a bit about yourself.

It would be my pleasure. I was born in Poughkeepsie , N.Y. , but spent more than forty years of my life in St. Petersburg , Fla. I now am 50 years old and live in Clemson , S.C. I graduated from the University of South Florida ( Tampa ) with a B.A. in Journalism in 1979. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and retired in 2004 to become a full-time novelist. At the Times, I specialized in science, nature, health and fitness, and I wrote about everything from childhood drowning to erupting volcanoes.

I am a student of Eastern philosophy and mindfulness meditation, the latter of which helps to clear my mind for long bouts of writing. I am married and have five daughters. The Death Wizard Chronicles, a six-book epic fantasy series, marks my debut as a novelist.

What brought you into the world of writing? When did you start?

When I was a junior in high school, I boldly decided that I wanted to become a best-selling novelist, and I went around telling everyone I knew that I was going to make $75-million. Keep in mind this was the mid-1970s, so that’s probably around $300-million if you figure in 21st-century inflation. When I was 20 years old, I wrote a horror novel entitled Sarah’s Curse, believing then that my dream was under way. An agent who was a family friend shopped it around a little, and though it received some nice responses, it never found a publisher. But I wasn’t overly concerned because I believed my second novel would be the one to hit it big. In the meantime, I started my career as a journalist at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. For me, the rat race officially began. Soon I was working 50-hour weeks and raising a family – and there never was a second book. Twenty-five years later, I was fortunate enough to be able to semi-retire. In September 2004, I wrote the first word of Book One of The Death Wizard Chronicles. Seven-hundred-thousand words later, I’m in the final revision process of Book Six.

You’re currently on virtual tour for your novel The Death Wizard Chronicles: The Pit. Could you tell us a bit about the book?

I describe my series as a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King – (more…)

I’m hosting part of a progressive dinner blog carnival! (No, I’m not talking about the Scribes carnival.)

Have you ever been to a progressive dinner? You start out at one house or restaurant to have hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, then move on to a different one for appetizers, and continue moving from place to place all the way through dessert.

That’s the idea behind the new Progressive Dinner Blog Carnival…

Soup To Nuts is ONE BLOG CARNIVAL presented in five “courses”, each with a different host.

Entries are being accepted NOW.
Dinner will be served on Wednesday, January 30th.

{You can submit one post, per blog, on any subject - please do not use any post more than once}

You can participate in 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 courses

The Hors d’oeuvres & Cocktails course…
will be served at Fear and Loathing - The Gonzo Papers.
Email your entry for the hors d’oeuvres & cocktails course
to Kilroy_60 {subject line Progressive Dinner} at: kilroy60@gmail.com

The Appetizer course…
will be served at Change Therapy.
Email your entry for the appetizer course
to Isabella {subject line - Progressive Dinner} at: moritherapy@shaw.ca

The First Course…
has not been assigned to a host yet.
Email your entry for the first course
to Kilroy_60 {subject line - First Course} at: kilroy60@gmail.com

The Main Course…
will be served at Anja Merret - Chatting To My Generation.
Email your entry for the main course
to Anja {subject line - Progressive Dinner} at: anja@hqlondon.net

The Dessert Course…
will be served at Fiction Scribe.
Email your entry for the dessert course
to JM {subject line - Progressive Dinner} at: sylver1@tpg.com.au

Your entry should include…

—(-)-> Your name as you want it to appear
—(-)-> The name(s) of your blog(s)
—(-)-> The corresponding URL(s)
—(-)-> The title of your post(s)
—(-)-> The corresponding URL(s)

The Rules are simple…

1. Only English language posts will be accepted.
2. No posts with titles that include profanity or pictures of a sexual nature.

This is a one-of-a-kind blog carnival. The hosts would appreciate your help to promote the event. Let us know if you publish a post promoting the progressive dinner, your effort will be recognized. To make things as easy as possible for all involved, I ask the post more or less follow the structure of this one.

2008 is coming! Yes, even though I know that most new year resolutions are broken, I still make them like most everyone else. It gets me to concentrate on my goals, at least for a little while. Hah! What are your resolutions?

Thirteen Goals for Next Year

1. Finish the first draft of my work in progress.
2. Finish the first edit of my work in progress.
3. Pay off my hospital bill.
4. Still be writing for this site at this time next year.
5. Submit a story (or more) to Women’s Weekly magazine.
6. Go to Conflux 5.
7. Collect at least three more cool and/or weird pens.
8. Submit at least one short story…somewhere.
9. Start on writing another novel.
10. Keep my husband working on his novel.
11. Learn to make a fabulous lemon meringue pie.
12. Also learn to make lovely pumpkin risotto and turn that into my writing food.
13. Have a more functional and organized work space.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens on Long Relationships, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

On Write Anyway, I had readers write about Christmas (or other recent holiday experiences if they didn’t celebrate Christmas) yesterday. I didn’t want them to write about ones from years past; I wanted them to write about yesterday while it was still fresh in their minds.

I was reminded of something Mr. Scribe reminds me of all the time – and is completely justified in doing so because I have a thick head sometimes – and that is the value of writing down experiences while they are fresh.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about she is like the crazy old cat lady except with note cards. She has stacks of them all over the place with memorable moments on them.

I have the name thing with ideas on random pieces of paper all over my desk and tucked away in various places.

What am I getting at?

The reason these ideas and memories are written down on various scraps and sheets is because they were written while the information is fresh. Perfect situations don’t always give you perfect writing conditions.

It’s good to get things written down when they are fresh, though, because time muddles memories. Will you remember the snap of twigs and brush on the mountain climb if you wait to write about it until you get home from your vacation? Will you remember how wonderful the random cool breeze felt so incredibly refreshing that you closed your eyes and savoured it each time it happened?

You might remember a few details, but probably not all of them.

Remember to write down memories when they are as fresh as possible. This will help you tap into them easier when you come back to use the experience in your writing.

Merry Christmas Fiction Scribe readers!

I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas. May you achieve all you dream of, value the time you have with loved ones, and get all kinds of wonderful presents this year.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas, you have my good wishes to follow you in to the new year. I hope the best of everything for you as well and a life filled with happiness in love.

Hello and welcome to another edition of Little Reminders.

I don’t honestly expect many of you to be trolling around the internet on Christmas Eve, but in case any of you are (or in case any of you has me on a feed reader so you know exactly how many entries have been posted since you’ve been gone) here are just a few reminders for today.

The Book Stacks
Last week everyone pulled together on The Book Stacks and won a round of the Monday book game. Because they won, I had to forfeit what I said I would: a story I wrote in second grade (all errors included) and a poem I wrote called Coffee Shop Poet Wannabe.

Author Interview EBook
I’m a little behind schedule, but I will have this ready to go out to everyone who wants one sometime in January.

Long Relationships
If you are in a long relationship (no, marriage isn’t the determining factor) and would like to talk about any aspect of your relationship (how you met, the day you got married, your first date, or even a love letter to your special someone) then please contact me either here or on Long Relationships using the contact me button on the right under the site description. I’d love to put up your story.

2008
As usual, I have great plans and just have to kick my own arse to get them going. If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see on this site, feel free to let me know.

Have a great Christmas/holiday break everyone.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Health ::
2. Tacky ::
3. Heels ::
4. Yay! ::
5. Model ::
6. Gather ::
7. Best gift ever ::
8. Clients ::
9. Stomp ::
10. Clothing ::

Idea courtesy of Luna Nina

Hello everyone! Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Leslie Oren’s online dating guide. I am very pleased to say Ms. Oren was willing to do an interview with me!

Please join me in welcoming her to Fiction Scribe.

Hello and thank you for stopping at Fiction Scribe, Ms. Oren. Tell us a bit about yourself.

• I’m originally from New York, but have lived in Los Angeles for the last 18 years. I actually started out in the music business, then segued into PR – working for national agencies at first, and then for the Hollywood studios. I’m currently senior vice president, publicity, for Fox Television Studios, one of several studios at Fox that develops and produces television shows.

You’ve written the book Fine, I’ll Go Online! The Hollywood Publicist’s Guide to Successful Internet Dating. Did you ever think that you would someday be giving women all over the world dating advice?

• No, I can’t say that I saw that one coming!

What or who caused you to take that final leap and turn all the advice you’d been giving into a book?

• It actually happened quite organically. I started dating online about six years ago and had a lot of success doing it – meaning that I consistently met quality men with whom I had fun dates. Some were just basic first or second dates – nothing to write home about, but still perfectly pleasant – but some turned into more substantial relationships. As I talked about these experiences with friends, I started to realize that the nuts and bolts that seem necessary for successful online dating were things I did automatically by virtue of my job as an entertainment publicist. For example, I knew how to “pitch,” which means I knew how to write those first “grabby” emails and responses to potential dates.

(more…)

Happy Friday everyone!

Today I have a treat for you. The murder mystery author Roberta Isleib has been lovely enough to grant me an interview with her. Please join me in welcoming her to Fiction Scribe.

Hello and thank you for stopping at Fiction Scribe, Ms. Isleib. Tell the readers a bit about yourself.

Hello and thanks for having me in! I’m a clinical psychologist and the author of seven mysteries, the latest just out this month: PREACHING TO THE CORPSE. The first five books starred a neurotic lady golfer. The new series features a psychologist living in Connecticut who writes an advice column–not that she’s an expert on her own life!

What brought you into the world of writing? When did you start?

Writing is a mid-life crisis for me. After years and years of school and a career as a therapist, I began to write articles about the psychology of golf. Gradually my ambitions expanded and I started working on a mystery novel–the kind of book I’d always loved to read.

You’re currently on virtual tour for your mystery novel Preaching to the Corpse. Could you tell us a bit about the book?

Of course! The holidays have arrived in postcard-perfect Guilford, CT, but someone’s taking the joy out of the season…

Psychologist/advice columnist Dr. Rebecca Butterman gets a call in the middle of night from the minister at her church. He’s in custody after going to a fellow parishioner’s home and finding her dead. The murdered matron was the leader of a search committee charged with finding a new assistant pastor after the previous assistant left in a rush. Rebecca learns that the committee was divided–has someone tried to eliminate the competition? Rebecca puts her analytical skills to work to do her own Search–for a killer. All while resisting the urge to break the seventh commandment with a very married detective, and praying she’s not the next victim.

What inspired you to write Preaching to the Corpse? Where did the idea begin?

Honestly I think I must have been sitting in some meeting at church. Either I was “bored to death” or annoyed to death. I started daydreaming, as writers do: What if someone in a meeting like this one was murdered? It seemed as though it would be especially frightening to have the crime committed by someone you think you know, in a place where most people expect nothing but good…

(more…)

Thirteen Things Your Hero Needs to Succeed

…because even heroes in badly written, predictable novels need help sometimes.

1. Mysterious birth or mysterious circumstances surrounding birth
2. A weapon of some sort…in disguise as something else sometimes
3. A method of transportation
4. A maiden or princess to rescue
5. An opponent (or two)
6. A sidekick (or two)
7. Fabulous hair (the kind that never gets washed but somehow still looks utterly fantastic)
8. An old wizard or old witch who gives often obscure advice
9. A mentor (which may or may not be the old wizard or witch of often gives obscure advice…or the hero’s father!)
10. A quest (the princess, the love interest, the great treasure, knowledge, balls…)
11. A great treasure
12. A love interest (which may or may not be the maiden or princess to rescue previously mentioned)
13. A competitor who isn’t the antagonist (oh drama!)

Feel free to add to this list in the comments below! What do your heroes need to succeed?

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens on The Book Stacks, Write Anyway, and Long Relationships