Writing for the Love

One of my first short stories, "The Mute Girl," was published in eFantasy March 2013 issue. This is my first e-mag short story publication. About four years ago, I wrote the story and decided that I wanted to have it published. I'd been working on my novel, Livinity , epic fantasy, for quite a while. Publishing a fantasy short story seemed like a good idea to get my name out there. I had no idea it would take this long, and even now I praise God that it wasn't published any sooner. Since that time, I've learned a lot in the submission process. Perseverance. Thankfulness to Jesus even in the disappointment of repeated rejection. I lost count of how many the piece received. I learned not to take rejection to heart. If I received feedback, I tried it out. Maybe not following exact recommendations, but I played around with whatever issues the person had with the story. The last piece of valuable advice I received was an editor disappointed in the ending. T...

Now that I've self-published my first e-book, I'm learning quite a bit. In my opinion, the technical side of uploading an e-book is not terribly difficult. A little time-cosuming, yes. I'm exclusively using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Perhaps that contributes to the ease of the tech stuff for me. Reading is required, but the instructions are clear and thorough. There are several places on the site to find answers to questions. I found their guide very helpful. I chose KDP in order to enroll  O Brother, What Art Thou? in KDP Select. The program requires the e-book to be available through KDP exclusively for ninety days. Then the e-book can be borrowed for free by Amazon Prime members. I still earn money from each borrow. I really liked that option. There is a catch. My best friend attempted to borrow the book, but she does not have a Kindle device. I assumed a Kindle app would be sufficient because anyone can read a Kindle b...

Please note: Info about the e-book is at the end of this post. I may have mentioned this several times now, but I'll go ahead and repeat myself. One message I have consistently received from the Lord for over a year now is humble thyself. How have I gotten the message? Via his Word, messages at church, worship songs, Bible studies, friends, and even in my prayer times. Not necessarily his audible voice, but the repetition certainly grabs my attention every time. The funny thing about attempting publication as a writer...there's a conflicting message to humility. A writer who wants to be published, and especially one who is already, has to sound their own horn. Or bang their own gong. Or use all the instruments in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas if they want to get attention for their book. How effective is that in the rest of life? The people I've been around who sing their own praises are often obnoxious, appear to be unaware of their own self-center...

My writing weekend was a great success. Saturday, I dedicated to Livinity edits. Sunday, to completing the first draft of Lance & Ringo Tails: O Brother, What Art Thou?  I also outlined the next story and began writing that first draft. Then I returned to Livinity edits, which continued into Monday. I probably got through about eight chapters instead of ten, but that's okay. I still feel great about how far the story has come. The hard part was stopping at 11:30pm on Monday night to get enough sleep for work in the morning. I did allow myself one break to watch Downton Abbey with my best friend, but other than that, all writing. Not only did I meet the majority of my goals, I received an email acceptance on a short story reprint. Thank you, Lord! It uplifted and encouraged me so much. FICTION on the WEB accepted "This Is Hollywood" for online publication. The short story reprint will appear on their website Jan 27, 2013, and it's free to read. ht...

For the upcoming long weekend, I realized that I made NO plans. Hubby works, and I get Monday off for MLK day. Therefore, I am creating a dedicated Writing Weekend. This means no cleaning, no cooking, no laundry, no phone calls, no hanging out, no couch potatoing, and only a little running (if at all). I will make sure the animals get fed. I’m sure hubby will call to make sure I’m eating. I’m very excited about the opportunity. I don’t get many three-day weekends, and we usually use them to visit family or hang out with friends or do house projects. Like most writers with a day job, life is soooo busy. ALL-THE-TIME. Weekends often become dedicated to cleaning, cooking, laundry, and long runs. It’s just dirt, I’m sure I’ll tell myself when Lance comes in from the back yard (which no longer has grass). And it will be there for me to clean up on Tuesday. To set all those things aside, I felt the need to generate some accountability by announcing the plan. Saying it aloud ...

Happy New Year! I don't intend to review 2012. I'm ready to move forward, and focus on the goals for 2013. I will mention what God put on my heart all of last year: humility. The message of being humble resounded almost everywhere I went. I hope to continue to strive for humility this year. The get-a-novel-published goal remains, and will remain, until it happens. I have hopes for trying to get more short stories published. My first paid short story comes out in March. Although it has been some time in coming, I'm glad it's coming up soon. I've also decided to test the self-publishing waters with something completely different. A fellow FWA member has an e-book series (self-pubbed through Smashwords) about zombies in St. Pete. They are comical, somewhat gruesome, and definitely entertaining short stories. Visit http://www.jgerardmichaels.com/  for more info. The e-books are available on Amazon. After seeing how he made his stories available, I go...

At the moment, life, in a word, is insanity. Yet I'm determined to talk about the FWA Conference, however briefly. It was over a month ago now, and I'll probably start to forget some of the great details if I wait much longer. This was my fourth time attending, first time staying at the hotel. I was so happy to be sharing a room with my dear friend and fellow critique group member, Rachel. No driving back and forth. The sessions were awesome. The ones that stood out: Backstory led by Julie Compton and Jamie Morris. Julie was a keynote speaker for the conference. POV Part II led by Rebecca Melvin. I had done Part I two years ago when I first met Rebecca. Side note: she's a publisher with Double Edge Press who is currently reviewing Sprinter ! Agents/Publishers Panel facilitated by Vic DiGenti. This open mic Q & A is excellent every year. They revealed many current trends of publishing and what agents/publishers look for. The highlight was Benjami...