A favorite story and a guest post

28
Mar

I was just going to say that I couldn’t undress because I hadn’t any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that’s what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.

Thus begins the passage from C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader that has stayed with me and resurfaced many times over again since I read it as a child.

Today I am guest posting on the Story Sessions website. Story Sessions is a group organized by Elora Nicole that challenges people to write the hard things, be brave, and push our writing to be its best. It is open to anyone who wants to subscribe and become a better writer. I had no idea what a great thing I had stumbled upon when I signed up. I am so honored to be included on their site today, and I’d love to have you come read the rest of my post.

Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/1myIEqT and thank you for coming by today!

March Pitch Madness

16
Mar

SPOILER ALERT AND UPDATE:

Email notifications were sent out Monday, March 18th, 2013, to let people know they’d made it to the next round. Even though I checked my spam folder about four times (every hour), I didn’t receive an email. Congratulations to all who moved forward and best of luck as you pursue your dreams.

This week I did something super scary. I submitted a query to a Twitter event called Pitch Madness.

I hardly know what it is, but I saw it happen earlier in the year and missed my opportunity. I tend to think that it can’t hurt to get feedback on your material, particularly if it comes from a knowledgeable source. I kept track of the site and when Pitch Madness came around again, I was waiting for it.

The rules are pretty simple. They pick a bunch of agents to look over the pitches people send in, and the agents can pick the queries they want to pursue. There are strict instructions about how to format entries and what to include. I’m going to include my submission/query for you to read below. Does this scare the living buhjeebers out of me? Absolutely. 100%. Ya you betcha.

Why am I going on about this?

Because many of the readers here (I say ‘many’ as if there are hordes of people lining up to read this blog! Funny!) are interested in writing in one way or another, and if my fumbling around can help someone else, I’m glad for it. If anyone else has participated in Pitch Madness, I’d love to hear about your experience!

[One last stalling tactic note: The beginning of my manuscript is a prologue. I’m worried about it being an information-dump, but it reflects the reality of the situation the character is in. Oh, and here’s the link to the website: http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/2013/03/announcing-pitch-madness-submission.html ]

Name: Nita Holiday

Title: FROSH

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Word Count: 119,000

Pitch (must be only 35 words):

HANNAH ANDERSON, a freshman at LAKEVIEW COLLEGE in Minnesota, lives the dichotomy of thrilling newfound independence and weighty, life-directing decisions. Trying to learn forgiveness on top of her class-load may be way too many credits.

EXCERPT (Must be 250 words. If 250 ends in middle of a sentence you may finish that sentence.):

When I first met her during Freshman move-in, I pegged her as one of the popular cheerleader types, definitely from a wealthy family. She wore a flippy floral skirt with flip-flops that were just white enough to leave your eyesight intact, but you knew they hadn’t walked many miles. Not like my ratty flip-flops, which had started to pull apart around the edges. She had wavy white-blond hair, a strong jawline with a subtle dimple in her chin and the longest eyelashes I had ever seen. Were those fake? She began to answer, and I could hardly believe the velocity of her mouth, that she could actually form words at that speed. She slowed for breath occasionally, but most of her words blended together. My brain had to work to keep up.

“I’m Kenzie,” she said. “It’sshortforMackenzie. MylastnameisRandolph. Mackenzie’swhat myparents callme andyoucancallmethatifyouwant, but backathome everyonestucktoKenzie. Ithinkit’seasier, shorterthanthefullMackenzie. ButI’llletyoudecide. Anyway, what’syourname?”

She bounced over and plopped down on my twin bed, her fluttery skirt circling her as though she’d orchestrated it. Too perfect. I blinked.

“Um..hi. I’m Hannah. Anderson. Yes, like the kids clothes but no relation. I’m not the heiress of a clothing empire.” I wanted to ask ‘Are you an heiress?’ but stopped myself.

“Got it. Hannah. Anyconnection to AndersonHall overthere?” She beckoned to one of the other two dorms that contained all incoming freshmen.

“Nope, not that either,” I answered.

“Oh. Okay.”

I couldn’t help but think she seemed slightly disappointed.

“Haveyoumetyourroommateandstuff?” She looked around my room, like she wanted to make sure there wasn’t someone else who might need her introduction.

Where’d It Go? Keeping Up with the Blog-Swap

25
Feb

Writing (Photo credit: Pascal Maramis)

This is getting confusing! Here’s a summary of what’s going on:

1. I created this blog dedicated solely to all things writing.

2. It was great to connect with other people interested in writing and creativity.

3. It occurred to me that a blog about writing written by someone who is walking through the process as a novice might be pretentious.

4. Since I already had another blog as well, I decided to make one multi-purpose blog, hoping to connect with others who might be women or parents with children who might also have an interest in writing/creative activities.

5. New posts have been concentrated on the new blog.

There, I think that covers everything. So let’s make a deal. If there’s any spectacular news on the writing front, any fantastic breakthroughs that would be beneficial for all aspiring writers, I’ll post them here. But in the meantime, you will find a lot of fun activity going on at http://loveandlaundryblog.wordpress.com

P.S. The only news on my creative endeavors is rejection. Which makes me an official member of the society of aspiring writers, doesn’t it? Yes. Yes it does.

How Did I Miss This?!: Writer’s Market

23
Jan

In college, my profs had plenty of reading for us to do. Lots of research. Oodles of papers due. But as an English major at that time (graduated 1997, oh so long ago) there was very little conversation about the business end of a writing/reading/publishing/English-y career.

It is possible that I wasn’t listening.

Listening skills aside, not once did I visit the Career Services office or ask my profs for job direction. Somehow I assumed, and they didn’t dispell the assumption, that a degree would magically open doors for me and I wouldn’t have to do a whole lot of work to make it happen.

Granted that was a different time and the economy was in a different spot. This isn’t a post about economics or the job market, though. This is about a basic tool that should have been a required textbook, like Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. And I didn’t find out about it until I’d been out of college a long time. You can get it here: http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Writers-Market-Guide-2012/dp/1414363478

Super helpful book

Obviously there are other versions of this book which are more all-inclusive. The Writer’s Market is easily available at the library and even if you can’t get the most current copy, last year’s will still be relevant.

2013 Writer's Market

Maybe I’m the last one in any writing circle to find out about these resources; that’s pretty likely. But because I’m trying to make this blog all about finding your way as a writer, from the early stages and forward, I’m putting aside my pride and admitting that I wish I would have known about this many many years ago.

The nice thing about Christian Writer’s Market is that it narrows down the overwhelming amount of information provided. I don’t write erotica. I don’t intend to write erotica. So I don’t need to have the listings of publishers who specialize in erotica. See what I mean? But if you do write erotica or horror or fantasy (or anything else), Writer’s Market is a fantastic place to get all kinds of contact information about your area of specialty.

Another nice thing is that it also provides information about agents, periodicals, contests and more. It can be a huge time saver. I know some people like to do all their research online, but I’m too easily distracted and follow too many bunny trails. These books have the information I need without the extras. I find more details online once I figure out what I’m after.

William Faulkner’s Underwood Universal Portable sits in his office at Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I hope this is helpful to other new-ish writers out there. Go find one and pick out those markets that fit your writing best. For those of you who have been doing this a while, are there other resources that you reference regularly? Don’t keep it to yourself — let us in on it. Sometimes when you’re starting out, it is hard to even know the questions you ought to ask!

My challenge to you is to find one new spot you can submit your writing this week. It makes sense to submit your work somewhere it stands a chance. If you’re writing about parakeets you don’t submit it to a magazine that specializes in horses! These resources can ensure that you have the best chance of success.

I’m working on the same goal and submitting/sending a query to a new publication. Let’s check in next week and see what progress we’ve made. Good luck!

We Have a Winner: I Finished My First NaNoWriMo

30
Nov

Winner badge 180x180

Boom. Booya. Kachow. Kazaam. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

50,000 words in 30 days (or just under 30 days). Right now the novel stands at roughly 180 pages. The story is not quite done, but I passed the 50K mark late last night.

It. Was. Fabulous.

I’ve tried to explain to people about what I’ve been working on this month, and I admit that before this year, I would not have understood the appeal. When you inflict an arbitrary deadline on yourself, it is hard to help people understand how compelling this deadline pressure feels. I tried to explain that if you make it to 50K words you “win” but when they ask what you win and I say, somewhat sheepishly that you don’t actually win anything, their expression of confusion is understandable. Until a person feels that irrespresible urge to write, how could they empathize?

I’d love to hear from any fellow Nano-ers out there. You get what I mean about it. How did it end up for you? Are you going to finish? Scratch that — of course you’re going to finish! You can do it! Don’t give up, crank it out, let your fingers fly with no pause for correct spelling or fixing ANY mistakes. Let me know how you feel when you finish. (It is still sinking in for me, and because I have a couple more chapters I want to write, the novel doesn’t feel done yet, but it is close.) I commend anyone who sets a goal for themselves and achieves it. It is no small feat. Go go Na-No!

Chicken Dinner! A NaNo Update (butterfliesanddragons.wordpress.com)
YES YES YES we have a winner 🙂 (susanneahlenius.com)

Your Work Reviewed: Fresh Eyes

31
Oct

Sometimes when you’ve been working hard on a piece, no matter how long or short, it is easy to lose perspective. It all looks fantastic…or it all stinks. You are just too close to be a fair judge of the material. This may mean you should set down the pen and slowly back away, or it may mean it’s time to invite someone else to offer their view of your work.

Scary!

This sounds like a terrible idea, and depending on WHO you invite, it might be a terrible idea. Not terrible in that you’ll hear what someone else thinks, but less than helpful if the person you invite has to ever see you again.

This rules out some of the people closest to you.

Your friends and family want the best for you. They like you. They think you’re fun. They’d like nothing more than to see you get published. They’d like you to remember to pickup bread on the way home. This is why they aren’t the most impartial bunch to ask.

It is time to find some other pals, writing pals, people who are connected to you because of a mutual interest in writing, not a connection through blood or housing situation.

I’m telling myself this same thing.

I am working hard to get connected with other writers in my area. I’m trying to find writing friends online. Maybe you will want to be join a writing critique group. Maybe you’ll find someone else who needs an impartial review and you can swap reads. People are out there, you just have to do the work to find them, and that takes away from writing time. But I think it is worth it in the end to get that unbiased opinion.

Here’s another resource that I just happened across. American Christian Fiction Writers are having a contest where you can win a professional review of the first five pages of your unpublished manuscript. Sounds great to me, and although there is a entry fee, it could be worth it if you want to get connected through their organization. Check it out! http://www.acfw.com/first_impressions/

That’s all for now. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the Writing Tips. One is on the way in the next day or so. Until then, happy writing!