Fiction Scribe

Hello, Ms. Wada. Welcome to Fiction Scribe.

By way of introduction, what are the five words that best describe you as a person?

“Kid-sized adult with kid-sized dreams.” I didn’t make it to five feet (or 100 lbs.), and my imagination hasn’t shrunk much as I’ve aged.

You’re currently on virtual tour with your book For Cory’s Sake. Can you tell us briefly about the book?

Cory is a planet. Its native inhabitants have been enslaved by Fear, in the form of a Bomb that can end their world. A group of caring outsiders have formed a coalition to save Cory; they call themselves “the pre-invasion conspiracy.” For Cory’s Sake focuses on a single family within the conspiracy.

William Bentler is a single father, and a criminal rebel. He is devoted to his children and to the struggle for Cory’s freedom. His love for his children and planet is deep and sometimes conflicted.

William’s compassion and quiet courage eventually attract an important and unexpected ally. The family and their valuable friend struggle onward; making choices and sacrifices, taking risks and accepting hard consequences. In the end, they learn how to gain freedom by conquering fear—for Cory’s sake.

By the synopsis alone, your book sounds amazing. Who is your intended audience and what do you hope your readers take away from reading your book?

As with all books (I suppose), some have loved it and others not so much. I will tell what actual readers have said about For Cory’s Sake, and let the visitor decide if she or he’s in the market for this read. My story has been called unique, original and different; enough so that it can be hard to wrap the mind around at first.

It is not a fluffy read, but is meaningful and worthwhile in its (moderate) heaviness. Thematically, it focuses on fear and on freedom; and on the desires, choices and sacrifices that move a people from one state to the other. The story’s thread of corporal violence is executed in a more subtle than graphic manner (and, I will add, is absolutely necessary to the story I decided to tell).

I would definitely like readers to take some thing or things away, from their reading of For Cory’s Sake; but I will leave it to the individual reader, to come away with whatever she or he wants.

How has this story changed from its original conception to published book?

As I was revising For Cory’s Sake, I deliberately strengthened a lot of themes. In particular, “the thread of corporal violence” and important contrasts between the two main father characters became stronger and more meaningful. As a result, the story became more cohesive and clear as to what it was “about.”

From the description – I haven’t yet had the opportunity to read the book itself – it sounds like For Cory’s Sake could easily go into commentary about the current state of our actual world. Do you wander into the realm of that sort of commentary in this book? Do you think/wish this book encourages people to take a closer look at the world around them?

I did write symbolically about realities in this world. In For Cory’s Sake, threats, fear, violence and the fear of violence are all used as means of control. The voice of an entire group of people is suppressed, necessitating outside champions to speak in their behalf.

A father has perfect physical control over his son, but can he keep his soul? And can a father with children moving in multiple different directions still keep all of their loyalties tethered to himself—simply with love? Finally and most importantly, the main plot twist of For Cory’s Sake (which I’ve been told is good), deals with the ultimate freeing power of certain specific, essential pieces of Knowledge.

I will tell you that as I was revising For Cory’s Sake, I was also obsessing over the problem of millions of current human lives who have been affected in profound ways by what we term “child abuse.” This knowledge should give ample context to the themes of For Cory’s Sake!

What are you working on now?

For now I am working on getting the word out about For Cory’s Sake’s existence and nature; and I also started something called “Bentler Universe” on my blog. This latter project is a chance to get to know/follow my family characters as they interact with each other on a “Facebook”-ish type “wall.” I (they?) post frequently, and most of it is light-hearted stuff about tomato wars, teasing and other family memories and dynamics.

What is your writing routine like?

When I write, I write for 2-8 hours a day, total, before and/or after my bill-paying job.

I am going to give you an exclusive, now, since I very recently came up with a yearly schedule. My bill-paying job is in retail, in a sector of retail in which “holiday season” lasts about 6 months, and holiday season is very, um, taxing.

I have decided that to be a responsible employee, and to prevent excessive stress and burnout for myself, I will write like crazy during the “off-season” (approx. February through July), and just catch up with my reading, and work on staying balanced and sane, during holiday season!

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

To aspiring writers: If you aspire to write, you should write. Other than that, I’m still a rookie. If I were in baseball I’d be keeping my mouth shut and my ears open and lugging others’ equipment around in a Hello Kitty(TM) bag.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

My blog has become a good jumping-off point for learning more about my book (and, if you’d like, myself). It has a widget that will let you read a 5-page excerpt of For Cory’s Sake (with “flipping pages”!); and links to my Twitter page and child abuse website. And, of course, the Bentler family is interacting on its “wall” into infinity . . . http://www.forcoryssake.blogspot.com

Thank you for your time. I wish you great success with For Cory’s Sake.

***
Carolyn Wada is the oldest of seven children raised by two wonderful, supportive parents. She has a deep interest in children’s issues. In particular, she is interested in supporting organizations that help child survivors of abuse.

Royalties from For Cory’s Sake will be donated to organizations that provide services to abused, neglected or exploited children.

More information about this aspect can be found via www.outskirtspress.com/ForCorysSake.

Not every writer likes to edit and vice versa is obviously true as well. But there are those people out there who walk both those paths. They like to write and to edit.

Wondering whether you are ‘truly meant to be’ just one or the other is a perplexing question that arises every now and then for these people.

I have been writing since I was a young girl, weaving stories about gigantic snow mountains and my brother’s farts that ended up destroying the world. Writing has always been a part of my life and always will be.

Yet, even though I haven’t been doing it for as long, editing is also a true passion of mine. Some days there is nothing I like better than sitting down with a manuscript, destroying it like a building blocks tower, and then helping to rebuild it into something even grander. I love seeing scribbles on a page. I love wide margins because it gives me more room to write notes.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a major overhaul of a friend’s ebook. Last night I finished with the ‘tearing it apart’ phase. Now we’re finally ready to move on to the rebuilding process.

Having spent such a significant amount of time (willingly and happily so) on editing something, I am once again beginning to wonder if editing is the stronger call now. I wonder if I would be better off focusing on an editing career instead of straddling both sides of the line.

I can’t help but wonder: Who am I? The writer or the editor?

Don’t forget to submit your posts to the August edition of the Scribes Blog Carnival.

Click here for the carnival page.

Hello, Mr. Weston. Welcome to Fiction Scribe.

By way of introduction, what are five words that you feel describe you the best?

Eclectic, inquisitive, serene, smitten, happy

You are currently on virtual tour with your book First Night. Will you tell us briefly about the book?

First Night is a ghost story for the holidays.

It is set in Boston on New Years Eve, during the First Night Festival. It is about the ghost of a 17th century Puritan girl, Sarah Pemberton, who meets two teenage sisters from San Diego, Alex and Jackie, and enlists their help in fighting the charge of witchcraft that has been brought against her.

Along the way, the book delves into Boston history and landmarks; one critic dubbed it a history mystery, which I think has a nice ring to it.

You mention on your website that you have lived in many places. What draws you about Boston?

I arrived in Boston after enjoying the warmer climates of Dallas and Phoenix for a while, so it was a shock to the system. Coupled with the traffic, it didn’t endear itself to me at first, and I only expected to be here for a couple of years. That was 25 years ago. But I had an epiphany of sorts (one New Years Eve, actually), and realized that Boston was the embodiment of everything that had drawn me to America in the first place: the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the American Dream, etc. I’ve loved the place ever since.

How much has your travel influenced your writing?

Well, it had a direct influence on First Night (and its follow up), because the book is half mystery, half travelogue. My goal in the Alex and Jackie series (as well as telling a good yarn) is to pay homage to these wonderful places that I’ve been lucky enough to spend time in. So, without the travel there would be no book.

Beyond that, it was the accident of travel that spurred me into writing fiction in the first place: I was running a consulting company (hence the travel), and had done some business writing, but when I had the opportunity to live in Luxembourg for a while, I decided to take a sabbatical from the company. I love what I’m doing so much that my sabbatical has now morphed into a new career.

If your life were a young adult novel, what kind of character would you play?

As a child I wanted to be Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island. Not that I’m a match for swash-buckling pirates, but I love discovery, puzzles and mysteries. I think it was the first of those, discovery, which has been the driving force behind everything I’ve done, including my writing.

What are you working on now?

The sequel to First Night:

Prior to First Night, I had an idea for a story set in Luxembourg, but I didn’t have all the characters finalized. When Alex and Jackie appeared in First Night, I knew that they were perfect for this other story, so I resurrected it. It is called the Elf of Luxembourg. In this one, Alex and Jackie get mixed up with some vampires and the search for El Dorado, as well as the Elf of the title. The girls also get to roam the street of Luxembourg, which is a beautiful city in a beautiful (if tiny) country. If all goes well, I expect it to be published before the end of the year.

Do you have any advice for aspiring YA writers?

As Polonius said to his son, Laertes, ‘to thine own self be true’: Write from the heart about what you believe in, because if you’re not passionate about your work, you can’t expect your readers to be either.

Secondly, tell people about your writing: This is not boasting – it’s time management. For example, I’ve told so many people that my next novel will be published by the autumn that I’ll look foolish if I now miss that deadline. So the more people I tell the more incentive I have to keep writing.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

First Night, the novel, would not exist if not for Boston and the First Night Festival, and I must thank them for supplying me with such wonderful material to work with. For those that do not know, the heart of the Festival is the First Night Inc., a non-profit Organization that works year round so that our year end party is a success. I would encourage everyone to visit Boston, especially for New Years Eve.

But in the meantime, I’d equally like to encourage every to visit the good people at First Night, at their web site: http://www.firstnight.org.

Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Weston. I wish you the best of luck with your book First Night.

Thank you for inviting me.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings
101 Stories of Gratitude, Fortitude, and Silver Linings

This follow-on book to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People continues Chicken Soup for the Soul’s focus on inspiration and hope in these difficult times. These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for — whether it is having the sun shine or having food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial insecurities, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining. The simple pleasures of family, home, health, and inexpensive good times are described.

We are looking for true stories and poems written in the first person of no more than 1,200 words. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. They should not have been previously published by Chicken Soup for the Soul or other major publications.

Here are a few suggested topics:

This book is in the process of being completed and will go to the printer in September for publication in October! It is a featured Chicken Soup for the Soul title for Christmas 2009. The deadline for submissions is soon, so if you can submit quickly you have a better chance than normal of being chosen.

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoupforthesoul.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story.

DEADLINE IS MONDAY AUGUST 3rd. THANK YOU!

Recent discussions I’ve had with one of the LB&LI winners as well as things I’ve been pondering and reading have inspired me to write about writing versus editing.

While I have always loved creative writing, my inner editor has forever been right there on the journey, too. I even got my start in ‘freelance’ (if it could be called that) editing in high school.

Editing has always been my fallback mechanism. If I don’t want to write – as it’s always a matter of want rather than ability – then I’ve always gravitated towards editing. While that is a good thing in one view, it’s actually a procrastination technique that many new writers use to avoid writing.

With editing, you’re not putting your heart on the line. When you’re writing, you are.

That’s not to say you don’t take risks with editing. There is always the risk that you could edit the wrong person’s manuscript and get an earful (or worse) because of it. Or, when editing your own work, you run the risk of getting caught in perpetual revisions that ‘protect’ you from taking the risk of moving on with your own work.

Pay attention to when the editor comes calling.

Does s/he attack you most viciously when you’re just starting? Then ask yourself what about starting a new story is scary. Are you afraid to fail? Do you compare yourself to other authors in your genre?

My editor rears her head when I’m in the middle. She tells me about how boring my writing is. Sometimes it’s more just questions about how I think I’m going to resolve all the messes I have been creating.

Or perhaps it’s the end. Does the thought of wrapping everything up together intimidate you? Do you think you can’t do it? Or is it just hard to bring everything you have created to a close and you’re not ready to let things go?

The thing to remember about your editor intruding on your writing space is that your editor is not a bad thing; s/he just needs to learn that there is a time and place. The time and place for your editor is not while you are writing.

This week I gave up writing for editing.

I know I shouldn’t edit while I’m in the midst of writing. Not only does it break the creative flow, it gives me too easy an out when I don’t ‘feel like’ facing that blank page. Editing is just plain easier and more comforting because I am dealing with words that are already there instead of having to create them on my own.

Thankfully, the editing helped me feel more confident in writing for my characters and I wrote about 1500 words yesterday. Whether I can continue on with the writing is an entirely different matter. The nagging feeling that something is missing in my work is distracting to say the least.

Just writing, however, has been causing me to reexamine everything I have going on in my life with work and otherwise. I am wondering if it is time for me to step back from some of my obligations so I can dedicate more time to my writing.

The decision is a tough one, but we do what we must, yes?

*****
Also, in case you missed it, there is a Yahoo group for motivation and all sorts of stuff in regards to this challenge. Author Deanna Carlyle has seen the need for a group to help 500 Words Daily Challenge participants keep motivated, and she has created a 500 Words Challenge Yahoo Group.

If you have started a similar group on a different network (some people don’t care for Yahoo message boards and prefer Ning, etc), please let me know and I’ll post about it.

There is nothing quite like having no internet connection for a day to make me realize just how much I depend on and do on the internet every day. Saying “I work on the internet” has sort of numbed me to it, so having the internet go down is like a slap in the face.

Like most Mondays, my mind is fuddling around with everything I have to do for the week, everything I want to do, as well as anything else randomly floating around. So we have a starred list of things I’m reading as well as things I’ve been thinking about.

*I have been a virtual book coordinator for well over a year now, but that’s not something I talk about a lot here. I find myself at a crossroads of sticking to ‘just writing’ things or going more in the direction of marketing and other things beyond publication. What are you more interested in?

*I miss 100 Words. I might just take up the torch and breathe life into Mr. Frank Talbert once more…

*Submit your work to the August ‘09 edition of Scribes Blog Carnival. Click this link to go to the website and submit your blog posts. The usual rules (two posts per blog, not per person) apply.

I’ve been reading some interesting posts from two blogs you should check out:

*Redlines and Deadlines talks about How Not to Write a Cover Letter, Tips on Writing Sex Scenes and Editing Reminders.

*The Rejecter answers some Formatting Questions and talks about The Infamous Synopsis . The comment section of the latter has some good questions answered as well.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my first ever virtual workshop, not to mention my first ever Left Behind and Loving It virtual workshop. I hope you enjoyed it because I certainly did, and I hope to hold more workshops in the future.

Now for the winners of the giveaway!

The first is: Mallika!

“The one that I most identify with is the Overzealous Editor. Mine has been getting harsher and harsher these days, perhaps because I’m stressed out in other areas and feel … well, a little sad. My editor’s comments used to be strict, but fair, critiques, but now all I can hear are sarcastic remarks belittling everything. It’s incredibly disheartening sometimes, because I cannot seem to shut the voice off!

I’m going to try the solutions you’ve given, and perhaps I’ll be able to continue without feeling so small.”

The second winner is: Cheryl Malandrinos!

“Nice job. My biggest hurdle is time, but I can’t say that I mismanage mine. I’m very organized and have very productive weeks, but planning book tours takes most of the time I have and with summer I can’t accomplish as much as I used to.

When September comes, I’ll be able to get into a more regular writing schedule and making time for my own writing is top priority.”

A huge congratulations to both of you. I’ll be sending you both emails within the next ten minutes. If you don’t respond within a decent amount of time, I will pick new winners.

Again, thank you all for participating. Feel free to suggest subjects for future virtual workshops.

Have a great weekend.

*JM says: I love this book cover.

Hello and welcome to Fiction Scribe, Christian!

Great to be here, thanks.

List five words that define you as a person.

Consistent.
Contradictory.
Random.
Giraffe.
Sarcastic.
Rebel.

Tell us about your collection of short stories, Empty Rooms Lonely Countries.

Empty Rooms Lonely Countries collects a sampling of my short stories from the last ten years. They are autobiographical, but please don’t let the word turn you off. The stories move from Tampa, Florida to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to London, England to Paris, France and eventually end up in Wroclaw, Poland, with plenty of places in between.

Find out how I ended up wandering the streets of Krakow with the United States Secret Service. Discover how I officiated a wedding with an army of lesbians. Wonder how I accidentally drove to a wrong state. Gasp at the monster which lives in the basement on Geneva Street. The stories jump genres, from horror to humor to romance to drama. Individually, the stories explore love, loss and redemption, and collectively, they combine to tell a larger story about someone who lost his way and eventually comes in from the cold.

Garrison Keillor wrote that “love has brought a great many people to safety”, and if that’s true, this is one man’s journey to safety.

What inspired the title of your book?

The title is the name of the jam my grandmother used to make. No, that’s not right! Actually, it’s from a more recent piece I’ve been working on. It’s meant to reflect people, what we are and what we become. When we are born, we are an empty room. When we die, we are a lonely country. Out of context, it sounds pretentious and slightly morbid.

Do you have a favourite short story out of the twenty-seven included in the book?

That’s tough. On my website, I’ve been doing commentaries to the stories from the book in the order they appear, and I’ve been horrified to discover how some of the stories don’t hold up for me or aren’t as economical as I’d like them to be, and because the stories are so personal, I can recognize mistakes that the reader might not. Because of this, my favorite story keeps changing.

I have love for “Geneva Street” for a variety of reasons. I love how it works as a horror story – monster and all – without ever reverting to fiction. I love how personal the story is with the family history and childhood details. And most of all, I love how everyone keeps coming back to the ending, trying to figure it out. So, my favorite story today is “Geneva Street”.

What or who started you on the path to becoming an author?

At the risk of repeating myself, a lot of it had to do with my mother, who let me stay up late on weekends to work on my writing, and who was both kind and strict enough to give me my first deadline. At the time, I really wanted to be a comic book artist.

On top of my art classes in school, I even had three hours of private art lessons a week to achieve this goal. I wrote and drew my first comic book, and when it was over, I realized that I loved the writing more than the art. From then on, my interest was in writing, specifically short stories.

What would you say is the most difficult thing about being a writer?

The most difficult thing about being a writer is finding the time to actually do it. Life has a wonderful way of distracting you with obstacles. But it gets done one way or another. And to be honest, if that’s the most difficult thing about being a writer, then I should consider myself lucky.

If you could do it all again, what – if anything – would you do differently?

I’m not that kind of person. Because my stories are based on my own experiences, it was important for me to have had the life I’ve lived in order to be where I am now.

What/where is your ideal writing environment?

A lot of you are going to cringe at this, but it’s Starbucks. I’ve written about this on my website because a Starbucks has finally opened up where I live (Wroclaw, Poland). Before then, I had to go to Berlin or Vienna to do some quality writing, which really isn’t financially viable.

When I lived in the States, I was at a Starbucks daily, and I could sit in a corner for hours writing. Most of Empty Rooms Lonely Countries was written in a Starbucks. There is something about the environment and the frappuccinos that works for me like a highly caffeinated muse. In fact, I’m answering these questions at a Starbucks right now.

I should start asking people where they are when they are answering my questions.

When you’re not writing, what are you doing?

On a given week, I’m teaching seventeen 90-minute lectures at two different universities and a high school, which does wonders for my voice. So, it’s safe to say if I’m not writing, I’m probably teaching. If I’m not writing or teaching then I’m spending time with my lovely wife, walking my awesome dog, riding my nerdy bike, or baking sweet delicious pies.

Sweet delicious pies? Mmmmm… Where were we?

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

That will make me 45 years old. I imagine when I’m not in a fetal position and crying at this realization, I will still happily be living in Europe and hopefully promoting another book that no one will read.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

I would like to thank everyone who has bought the book. I can’t properly communicate how thrilled I am every time I see a copy sold. And for those who are still debating whether to buy the book or not, I’m having a contest to give away $1000 if I manage to sell 1000 copies of Empty Rooms Lonely Countries by the end of this year. I have a long way to reaching the goal, but I believe I can do this with your support.

And don’t forget to check out my website (www.emptyroomslonelycountries.com) where you can read more stories, commentaries, and comics, as well as get information on how to enter the contest.

Thank you very much for coming by this blog. I wish you great success.

Thank you. This has been a lot of fun.

Part of Paperback Writer’s - Lynn Viehl - Left Behind and Loving It virtual workshops.

Writing blocks come in as many shapes and sizes as writers and authors do. Whether you are facing a fear or a time constraint, blocks seem to always have a way of popping up and interrupting our writing/creative lives.

There is certainly a good amount of prestige that comes with powering through whatever comes your way, but the better way to deal with blocks is addressing them in a way that will make it so they don’t pop up again. Recognizing the cause of a problem is a much better path to solving it than just banging things with your wrench and hoping for the best.

Writing blocks can happen at any time during the writing process. I have a series of posts that address blocks that happen at different times. I definitely can’t talk about each and every block out there, but I think these posts can help.

*Time (Mis)Management - “If you asked a group of aspiring writers what their biggest hurdle is when it comes to writing, I would be willing to bet at least a third of the group – if not half of them – would say that it’s time.”
*Stopping Before You Start - The best time for the anti-muses to attack is before you have put a single word on the page.
*Confidence Complex - In many ways, for many reasons, nearly every author has to deal with wondering what possessed them to think they could ever write novels.
*Word Count Envy - One author’s bad 500 word day is another author’s 500 word day of success.
*Environmental Perfectionism - Are you getting a little too obsessed with your surroundings when (if) you write?
*The Fear of Only One – Are you afraid that this one is the only one?
*Worldbuilding Overload – When the role of god becomes too much in the face of a world’s complexity.
*Out of Control Plot – Too many plot lines that you feel don’t have any directions? Not to mention characters doing what they want instead of what you want…
*Mind on Failure – The inner voices of doubt start harassing you just as you’re hitting your stride.
*Boredom – The writing block that is the nemesis of initial inspiration.
*Repeating Revisions – Letting your need for scene perfection keep you from moving on to the next scene.
*Overzealous Editor – When your editor moves in to work while you’re still trying to create.
*Tongue Tied – What is the word I’m trying to think of?
*Lecture Mode – The writing block that involves writing…
*Too Many Stories – So many ideas, so little time…

In each of the posts linked to above, there are suggestions for how to get past the block talked about in each post. However, I would like to add on to that.

Identifying why you’re not writing is the key to getting past it. Maybe you’re feeling fear, maybe you’d do well to switch to another genre. No matter what the reason is you aren’t writing, trying to fight the block without knowing why it’s there is like trying to fight a ninja with a blindfold on. You might hit on it if you get lucky, but you’re more likely just going to end up exhausted and frustrated.

Take some time to identify how you’re really feeling and where it’s stemming from. Then you can start doing something about it.

* “The first draft is you telling yourself the story.” - Terry Prachett
* “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” - Joseph Chilton Pearce
* “The good news is that you just have to sit down and write it. The bad news is that you just have to sit down and write it.” - Maxine McArthur
* “You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” – Charles Buxton

Comfort Reading by Toni McGee Causey

Yep! This workshop comes with a giveaway! Two people will have their choice of one of these three titles:

*Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
*Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
*On Writing by Stephen King

To get an entry to win, leave a comment telling me which writing block you most identify with and why.

If you already have all three of these books - like me - just let me know when you comment. There are other options.

Comment between now and 11.59 PM Friday for your chance to win. Winners will be announced on Saturday AM.

E-publishing: From Query to Final Edits and Beyond — Authors Madison Blake, Paris Brandon, Cerise Deland, Fran Lee, Afton Locke and Nina Pierce provide helpful insights and tips on e-publishing. Today’s author: Afton Locke

Writing Transformative Sex - Part One by Joely Sue Burkhart — Any writer who has studied much of the craft at all knows that if a scene doesn’t move the story forward, it should be cut. But have you really thought about what that means for a sex scene?

Birds and Language by Suelder — second in a series of workshops on birds that will focus on the science as well as how to adapt this information to writing.

How-To Books that Saved My Life by Alison Kent — a look at the three how-to books the author can’t write without, and why.

Break through your fears and write! by Tamlyn Leigh — One of the biggest obstacles on a writer’s path is their fear. It can be for anything: fear people won’t like their stories, fear they aren’t good enough. In my workshop I want to offer tools to break through that fear, and get everyone writing!

Writing Prompt Series - Where? by Rosina Lippi — Pick from the images supplied by Rosina and give your characters a context. You might have to rewrite What? to make it work.

Writing in the Labyrinth by Marjorie M. Liu — first in a series of workshops about different aspects of writing and publishing.

From Pantser To Plotter: How I Joined The Dark Side by Kait Nolan — Thursday’s topic: What I’ve Used In My Conversion (Part B)

What eBook publishers look for: Loose Id by Midnight Spencer –- About Books, Accepted Genre’s, Sending a Proposal, Formatting your Submission, FAQ, and Contract Terms.

Epubs-wondering where to start? by Shiloh Walker — Info for those curious about epubs and where to start.

Killer Campaigns: Podcasts by Maria Zannini – Podcast an interview

Yes, my friends, it is with disappointment and a touch of envy (for those who are) that I confess to you:

I am not an erotica writer.

While I have had large chunks of my life dedicated to reading specific genres – horror, historical romance, fantasy, women’s fiction – that doesn’t mean that I can automatically write in those genres.

Reading what you write is an important component to becoming a successful writer. There is a rare chance that you could have a go at writing something unfamiliar to you and have it be wonderful, but you are a lot more likely to write something that is stereotypical and bland.

A few years ago, a friend of mine challenged me to write a piece of short erotica. There wasn’t anything riding on it other than she wanted to see if I could do it. After I wrote the piece and she said it certainly did the job for her, I got it stuck into my head that writing erotica would be a great idea.

I gifted my then boyfriend, now husband, with some interesting short stories to read, I never tried to get any of those pieces published. I can’t tell you exactly why I didn’t because I don’t recall, but it seems odd to me now given I had this vision of myself as a published erotica writer.

I will continue to write erotica short stories as I care to, but I don’t think I will be pursuing it so much as a career goal anymore. With so many of my stories meant to be erotica coming out as softer romance, I think my creative self is giving me a gentle push in the right direction.

Have you ever tried writing in a genre and found out you’re not suited for it?

Is it that time again already? Sheesh.

I haven’t made as much progress as I would have like to have made over the past week, but I did some writing at least. Three authors on virtual tour this month and three going out next month have me a bit stressed in combination with my usual work load. I can’t help but envy them sometimes, but that is just further motivation to work harder at making time for writing.

The doubt monsters are trying again with my writing by claiming my story is just a big bore. That may be so, but I am still enjoying writing it. I’ll figure out if it’s too boring when I put my editor hat on.

I mentioned last week that I was able to write an outline for a nonfiction ebook I have been planning and how it came out to over five hundred words. However, I have wondered about including that in the total words written in the day. The thought comes not from the fact that it’s nonfiction but rather from the fact it’s the first thing I have worked on besides the romance novella since I started the challenge.

Do you count only words you put into one work in progress or do you count the words you put into any/all of the works in progress you have right now?

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Also, in case you missed it, there is a Yahoo group for motivation and all sorts of stuff in regards to this challenge. Author Deanna Carlyle has seen the need for a group to help 500 Words Daily Challenge participants keep motivated, and she has created a 500 Words Challenge Yahoo Group.

If you have started a similar group on a different network (some people don’t care for Yahoo message boards and prefer Ning, etc), please let me know and I’ll post about it.