Writing for the Love

The Running Girls Cover Update A feel-good, inspirational novelette about two girls with nothing in common except the 500-mile summer of '89 challenge. New Cover, Same Great Story BUY EBOOK NOW The Running Girls is currently a Finalist in the 2017 Royal Palm Literary Awards. At the FWA Conference in October, I'll find out if the book wins a top prize (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in the Published Novella category. It's a tough category with lots of entrants, but even being a Finalist is an honor. Coming Soon: Print Edition I'm currently creating the print edition of The Running Girls , which will likely be released in September. Stay tuned for more details!

As this is a review about a running book, I thought it fitting to include on both my writing blog and my running blog . I’m actively submitting my novel, Sprinter , to agents and publishers. In the meantime, besides working on other writing, I’m searching for books similar to mine because that is a question often asked in the submission guidelines: which books are similar to yours? When I found The Lola Papers , I thought it might be somewhat similar to my book. In some ways it is, as both main characters are female, runners, and pursuing running goals while taking note of how much running parallels life. In other ways, not so much. My book is fiction, Lola is non-fiction. But I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. Lola is a runner’s journey from sporadic and half-hearted running to serious racing. Her coach, Mr. Speedy Pants, provides the wisdom and insight of a seasoned and studly runner who isn’t ashamed of his own awesomeness. Following our main character throu...

I'm happy to announce that my short story, "The Wheels Must Turn," made it into this year's FWA Collection #4- My Wheels . Praise the Lord! This is the third year in a row that I've gotten a story into the colletion and I'm still excited about it. Publication doesn't really get old. The sci-fi story is about a young narrator coming to grips with the death of her father. On to other topics that have been on my mind. For some reason, I can't seem to write about my writing more than once a month. I'm not sure if it matters or not. I write on my running blog, The Anti-Running Runner , more. I write on my fiction novels and short stories WAY more. Which is probably the reason why. I listen to podcasts a lot (another reason why?), and I was introduced to The Roundtable Podcast from the guys over at The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine . If you are a writer, published or not, I highly recommend adding Roundtable to your iTunes subscriptions (it...

I created a blog the other day specifically for running. I talk to so many people about running, and I have so much to say about it, that I decided to devote an entire blog to it. The Anti-Running Runner is surprisingly pro-running when you really take a look. At least, I hope it will come out that I really, passionately love running, even when I hate it. I hope you'll check it out, and feel free to comment. I love talking about running, and I love to hear people's stories about how they got started or how they plan to do an ultra marathon someday (my cousin) or how they just turned 60 and plan to qualify for the Boston Marathon this year (my dad) or how they did their first marathon a week before their wedding (me).

I’m pleased to write that I’ve been a poor blogger lately because I’ve been more diligent on my novel, Sprinter (minus a two-week period where family members were visiting). When I hit a minor block in chapter four, it took a few months for me to realize I needed to change chapter two in regard to Riley’s (main character) attitude toward counseling. Her sessions become the major catalyst for her healing years after her mother’s death at the Athens’ Marathon in 1986. Once I made the necessary change—removing some of her negativity toward counseling—the next few chapters started flowing and I’m up to chapter eleven! I’m eager to get back to writing more this weekend. On a slightly different topic, does anyone else enjoy Instant Netflix as much as me? If you have a streaming device (we have a Roku box), it’s such a treat to watch instant movies on your TV straight from your computer. I recently watched a documentary called Spirit of the Marathon . I believe it just came off the i...

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,  they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV   This verse became a source of strength while my cousin, Alyssa, and I ran 26.2 miles on Sunday. It was tough, to say the least, but we reached our goal—the finish line.  I like to think of this second marathon as research for my novel, Sprinter . Granted, I am nothing like the main character, Riley, who actually pursues winning marathons. During the race, though I pass the walkers, I am not much faster. Alyssa and I finished in about 6 hours. She was gracious enough to slow her pace way down again to stay with me. We took off 13 minutes from my first marathon at Disney World last year. It was somewhere between mile 22 and 23 that I hit THE WALL. If you are a runner, you may know what I mean. The fatigu...

Have you ever been convinced that an idea you came up with wasn’t actually yours? In my case, I believe that God provided the idea for a novel that I intend to complete. As I said in my very first blog, I have been writing on the fantasy novel I entitled Livinity for eight years. In the meantime, other story ideas have to come to mind, but beyond writing brief descriptions, I virtually ignored those ideas. I felt that if I didn’t focus on Livinity alone, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish my goal of publication. Although determination and discipline are factors that can aid my goal, there are other factors as well. For example, marketability. While at the FWA conference, I learned that in this difficult economic time, fantasy and other genre novels by new authors are not necessarily in a good position to be published. Not impossible, but also not likely. After the conference, I was encouraged to do something I had planned not to do: work on another story while simultaneously...