Novel Writing Program - Modules And Consults

This special edition of our holiday gift guide is sponsored by AdamandEve.com and they’ve offered us a coupon code for your holiday shopping! Here is the most important information: AdamandEve.com is offering Smart Bitches readers 50% off a single item plus free standard shipping in the US and Canada with code SMART. Please note: certain exclusions apply, but the coupon covers most of the store. If you’d like to see some of the toys we’ve featured in previous posts, check out our Adam & Eve tag! It’s getting cold and the sun sets earlier and earlier this time of year – a perfect opportunity to gift yourself with some lovely accessories for pleasure and joy! Here are some suggestions and reader favorites! This post is rather NSFW! Eve’s Clit Tickling Rabbit – $39.98 with SMART code: A really charming color, stylish design, and clitoral stimulation, and 50% off, too! It has multiple motors, and 10 different vibration and stimulation styles. And again, the color is gorgeous! http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ClitTicking-300x300.jpg … Revitalize Pocket Vibrator Kit – $12.48 with SMART code: This pocket vibrator comes in baby blue and pastel pink. It’s waterproof and features three different silicone attachments. So it’s pretty much like putting a costume on your vibrator. It only takes one AA battery and is waterproof, which is something Amanda has said she considers a “must have” when it comes to sex toys. http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Revitalize-Pocket-Vibrator-Kit-.jpg … The Adam & Eve Thruster – $74.98 with SMART code: This is a USB rechargeable rabbit vibrator that actually self-thrusts. THE FUTURE IS NOW! The “thrust” has 3 different speeds, while the rabbit stimulation part of the vibrator has 7 different vibrations! http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Adam-Eve-thruster.jpg … Glas 2 Piece Glass Dildo Set – $29.98 with SMART code: We’ve featured reader recommendations from Jaymzangel in 2017, and there were many, many reasons why glass is worth a try, especially if you’re new to sex toys: “Don’t be afraid of the glass, once you try it you’ll never go back. Super easy to clean & you can heat it with warm water or put it in the fridge for a different sensation.” This 2 piece set features two different styles and colors, and is one of their bestselling items! http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2PieceGlassSet.jpg … Naughty Bits Lit Clit Teenie Weenie Wand – $29.98 with SMART code: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Screen-Shot-2021-12-02-at-4.08.56-PM-224x300.png This gorgeous tiny wand vibrator is 50% with the SMART coupon, which isn’t always true of the Naughty Bits line. Their products are gorgeous, and Amanda also loves them: “I’m a huge fan of the Naughty Bits brand and find their toys to be visually appealing, which yes, definitely influences my buying habits.” The Teenie Weenie Wand looks so stylish, you can just leave it on the side table and see if anyone asks what it is! … Hemp Seed Play and Pleasure Gift Set – $15.00 with SMART code: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/HempSeedSet.jpg This three piece set includes Hemp Seed Oil Massage Candle, Waterslide personal moisturizer, and Earthly Body Toy Cleaner. It’s vegan and cruelty-free, and are available in Strawberry and Vanilla flavor. This would make such a fun and thoughtful gift. … Eve’s Twirling Rabbit Vibrator – $39.98 with SMART code: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TwirlingRabbit.jpg Wow, isn’t that gorgeous? This vibrator has six speeds, and 13 functions with different patterns, and it’s rechargeable, running 50+ minutes on a charge. Plus, it’s waterproof and submersible, and did you see how stunning it is? Sex toy designers are incredibly talented. … There are so many other options: Romance Kits! Lingerie in a terrific range of sizes and types! Bondage and restraint systems and toys There’s also a quiz to help you find a vibrator. Adam & Eve has 24/7 customer service, 90-day no hassle returns, and 20% of their profits goes to fight the spread of HIV around the world. Plus, 2021 is their 50th Anniversary (congrats, y’all!). Happy holidays and happy shopping! If you have other recommendations from Adam & Eve, please leave them in the comments below. View the full article

Angie D Greenwyn adgreenwyn@gmail.com Fantasy/Horror The Lost Blade: Book One The horrifying love child of The Sandman Comics and Netflix’s Dark Crystal series; other comparable titles are: Ciannon Smart’s Witches Steeped in Gold and Hafsah Faizal’s We Hunt the Flame. Naïve small-town girl, Remeus Blakesley is given the chance of a lifetime, when invaders ransack her hometown and kidnap her best friend. But upon leaving her home her plans are quickly changed when a divine messenger entrusts her, to deliver an important parcel on his death bedfile:///C:/Users/thete/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.pngthe only caveat? She must promise not to look inside, for if she does, she will undoubtedly be pulled into a god’s sordid plot for power. And once caught inside, she may never be able to pull herself out. Inside this parcel is a piece of an ancient weapon, a fragment of the lost blade and it speaks; calling out to her like a siren’s song, and it’s telling her it needs her. And her’s isn’t the only one, all around the realm there are other fragments like hers, each one crying out to be whole once more. Whoever completes the blade, will have the power of the gods in their hands; and there are a lot of men who are hungry for that kind of power: from ambitious men seeking to make themselves kings, to followers of the red god, and even to one of Remeus’ travel companions a young man named Thaige, who is unknowingly carrying a fragment of this blade around his neck. Whether she likes it or not Remeus has become entangled in the call for the blade and unwittingly has gained the attention of the very god who has thrown the hunt into motion. Morgrul, the god of war, hiding in the flesh of others will do anything to have his plans realized, even if that means pretending to be her ally. Remeus is trapped, she can either save her friends or take a stand against a god. Prose Sample Night came at a snail's pace, but soon darkness draped over the camp like a sheet; Thaige sat up, carefully, slowly, before slipping out of the tent. He snuck around the back, keeping low to the ground, slipping behind one tent to another. The earth beneath him was cold and hard, and small part of him thought of it as an omen. Ierin, was sitting outside of his tent, with some others, nursing a drinking horn of ale as he warmed himself by the fire while others around him sang and told vulgar jokes. Thaige gave himself a moment, waiting until he was certain Ierin wouldn't have noticed him. Ierin took a deep drink from his drinking horn; against the light of the campfire, he looked like a cutout patch of the night sky dressed in mortal clothes. Thaige watched him, frowning deeply. “Has he told you where it is?” asked one of the men sitting with Ierin, Ierin snorted. “No, still nothing,” said Ierin stiffly. "But he will, soon. He will." "They always do," said the man speaking to Ierin, Thaige couldn't help but notice that the two men were smiling. The lead snake in Thaige's stomach twisted again and he couldn't help but wonder if something awful was prepared for him in the moons. "That they do." As he waited Thaige found himself wondering what they could have possibly been looking for or what Ierin thought he would find in Silverside. And then Thaige thought about Silverside, tiny little Silverside, the sort of town people only visited by accident. Nothing of interest ever happened in Silverside. And yet, they kidnapped his father's bar hand; he couldn't help but puzzle over all of the reasons why anyone would bother going through all the trouble of kidnapping the poor bar hand. Thaige swallowed; the answer he realized was in the tent ahead of him. Moving quickly, he made his way behind the tent ahead of him and slipped in through the back. The lune elf they brought in was standing tied to the center pole of the tent. His silver skin was covered in large splotchy black bruises, he was missing large patches of hair, and dark stains and smears of blue covered him head to toe. Thaige swallowed hard, the air thick with elven blood, and looking at the ground, he found it was wet and sticky with thick bluish-green. Again, he swallowed, moving in front of the elf who cringed as if he expected Thaige to hurt him. “I'm not here to hurt you,” Thaige whispered, trying his best not to stare at the boy's swollen purple eyes or at his bruised and broken nose. The boy whimpered out a ragged breath, his once dry, cracked lips now wet with his own blood. Thaige felt himself grimace. “By the fingers,” said the elf. His voice was small, and strained. His little chest heaved, and Thaige guessed he was probably no older than fifty. Thaige shook his head and frowned. “You're from Silverside, right?” Thaige asked; the rat had told him before, but he just needed to hear him say it, to tell him that he wasn't, that he was really from Ipsich or Ebonshire or anywhere else. He wanted to hear a lie; a lie would have made him feel better. It would have made the knot in his stomach unravel; he would have liked a lie, but instead, he got the truth. “Muh-my name's Sam... I’m the bar hand at the Silver Maid...was, I mean,” corrected the elf through a wet cough. Thaige grimaced, he would have screamed, but he forced himself not to. He bit his lip and ignored his trembling hands. “No,” Thaige said, his voice a low rasp. “No, that can't be true.” “Wuh-why would I... why would I lie?” the look on Sam's broken face was mortified to say the least. Thaige looked at Sam, pushing tears from his eyes. “Because you have to be,” said Thaige shaking his head, his voice was low, lower than it ever had been, and there was a tremble in his voice. Sam was silent, and that's how Thaige knew. “My father owned the Silver Maid...” he whispered. “I know,” whispered Sam softly. “I worked for him,” something about those words broke Thaige; his knees felt suddenly weak, his eyes stung, and his face became hot. Thaige supposed it was the way Sam had said “worked,” it was so finite, he wasn't ready for it. Thaige took a slow deep breath, trying to calm himself. “I'm sorry,” Sam offered weakly after a moment of quiet and raspy breaths. “How?” Thaige let the words fall out of his mouth in choppy pieces. “A daeva....and a man came...they were looking for suh-something,” Sam spoke slowly and softly; Thaige hung onto his every word. “A daeva,” repeated Thaige in a weak voice. “What were they looking for?” “I don't know...but they seemed serious. They...tuh-tore the entire town apart luh-looking, Eh-everyone’s gone.” Thaige was silent for a long while, letting the words digest. Finally, after a moment, he asked, “Did they find it?” “Nuh-no... I don't think so.” A strange sense of calm rushed through Thaige. Good, he thought. He hoped they would never find what it was they were looking for. “Did they take you from town?” asked Thaige rather suddenly. Sam made a face, or at least tried to, his lips twitched strangely, and he let out another wet cough. “Nuh-no,” he said at first. He gave himself a moment before speaking up again, taking slow, shallow breaths as he did. “They took me...on my way tuh-to find you.” Thaige felt the blood freeze in his veins. “Find me?” he repeated, his voice strained but low. Sam nodded his head. “Your father.” Thaige felt that frozen feeling in his gut and his legs trembled horribly beneath them. He stumbled forward and seized Sam by the shoulders. Sam's body trembled beneath his grasp, and he whined out weakly. “My father, what about my father? Did he send you to look for me?” he asked, his voice trembling. Sam's head lolled to the left before falling to rest on one of Thaige’s hands. He let out a soft groan before speaking up again. “He said to mail it...and to fuh-find you.” “Mail it? Find me? Why and Mail what?” The silver-skinned lune elf’s face wrinkled as if he were trying to find the words; he was paler now and weaker. The large blue stain in the center of his torn tunic was wetter and larger and deeper shade of blue. He didn't have much longer, Thaige realized. “Why? What did he make you send?” there was a new urgency in Thaige’s voice. Sam was quiet a moment; his eyes swam in their sockets before he squeezed them closed and shook his head; Thaige could tell he was looking for the right words. “You have to go back.” “Back?” repeated Thaige, Sam was quite a long while, summoning the energy to speak. “Home… tuh-to Suh-silver suh-side,” he said softly, his voice trembling. Thaige watched Sam's expression; waves of pain etched across Sam’s pale grey skin, followed by a wash of calm, and then nothing at all. Sam's body went slack, and he was silent. Thaige could see it written plainly that Sam was gone now. His story had been finished. The sisters ended his tale with the final period, and that was all. He sucked down a breath and shivered, reaching over to close Sam's eyes; Thaige couldn't help but think about how much he looked like he was sleeping. But Thaige knew better than that. He was gone, it was over. “Thydall keep you.”

Photo: Emily Stokes Rose Wylie, whose watercolor Two Red Cherries appears on the cover of the Review’s Winter issue, lives in a cottage in Kent, England, that smells of firewood. A treacherous, narrow staircase leads up to a small studio. (“Hold the rail!” Wylie warned me.) Her large, funny, vibrant figurative paintings—made on unprimed, unstretched canvas—cover the walls and floor. When I visited on a recent Saturday afternoon, as Storm Arwen brewed outside, she told me she had spent the first years of her life in India, where her father worked as an engineer. The family moved back to England during the Second World War. Wylie studied at an art school in Kent and then a teacher-training program at Goldsmiths where, at nineteen, she met her husband, the painter Roy Oxlade. She put her own professional ambitions aside to raise their children, channeling her artistic energies, she said, into “soups, jam, clothes, curtains, and Christmas cards.” In her forties, she completed a degree at the Royal College of Art, and worked in relative obscurity until eventually, in her late seventies, her career started to take off, with solo exhibitions at Tate Britain and elsewhere. We talked at her kitchen table, drinking Lapsang tea. The mince pies I’d brought from London had crumbled on the journey, which seemed to delight her. INTERVIEWER How did people respond to your work in the early years? WYLIE I got very little response. I was considered a mother and a wife, married to an artist who was more prominent, and so whatever I did didn’t get a lot of recognition. That made me want to do it more, and more defiantly. I just thought, Bugger this! It was an impetus. INTERVIEWER How did you develop your style? WYLIE Look at that painting behind the dining table. That was one of my early ones, and it could just as well have been done yesterday. It’s peculiar to me when critics say that my paintings are naive or childish. I choose to work in a way I find exciting. “Naive” would be making unformed judgements, with no intellectual framework. Why is it childish, just because it doesn’t happen to look like a da Vinci or a Rembrandt? INTERVIEWER Why did you choose to make such big paintings? WYLIE I think it was a reaction against having learned to paint on a small easel—or perhaps against the idea that, unlike a male artist, a woman should be happy to do a little picture on the kitchen table. It was a sign of belief in what I did. Sometimes an artist will invent a constraint or difficulty to make his work less slick or more powerful, more grounded in reality—I didn’t have to do that. The difficulty was already there. I’d be in the shed in the winter, in a howling gale, wearing a big coat, sizing up these huge canvases, trying to staple them to the walls. Sometimes the canvases would blow off and wrap themselves around me. INTERVIEWER Where do you think your self-belief came from? WYLIE My mother was born in 1885, and esteem was allocated to the sons, and after that it was given by age. I was the youngest of seven, and a girl, so I had no position. Some people are born with prime time. I didn’t have that. I made my own games. I didn’t expect to be taken to places for amusement, or given treats. That was a great freedom. I just thought, Well, if I don’t do things my own way, then there’s no hope. INTERVIEWER Was it difficult to be married to a painter in the years when you weren’t painting yourself? WYLIE It was okay because I read all the time—Dostoyevsky and Chekhov, Mallarmé, Proust, Flaubert, Stendhal, Balzac. Roy and I would go to see shows, and artists would come to visit us. I wasn’t actually putting the brush on the canvas, but I’ve always done a bit of drawing, and I would draw and paint with the children. And I thought my husband was great. We were huge mates. He was dynamic, moody, attractive, funny. I’d do the meals—Roy liked small quantities of food, beautifully presented—but I would also make my own arrangements. I’m used to doing my own thing as well as the other person’s. When I was little, four or five, I learned to read upside down from looking at the book my brother was holding. He always had the book the right way up, so he could only read that way. I could do both. INTERVIEWER Did you and your husband have very different ways of working? WYLIE Roy was very ordered. I called him a good Bauhaus boy—he was all about form following function. His driving force was rationality whereas mine was a more female intelligence. I sometimes think of that artist who made casts from piss holes in the snow—Helen Chadwick. The man’s is a deep hole, very focused; the woman’s is more scattered and covers more ground. That was like us. Roy was Plato and I was Aristotle. He didn’t like imperfection. I don’t mind imperfection at all, only I don’t call it imperfection—I call it “wearing out” or “it’s got a stain on it” or “it’s falling apart.” Like your mince pie. Roy was always trying to find the ideal subject. I saw subjects everywhere. You use what you’ve got. It could be a crack in the floor, a fingernail, a gooseberry cutting. You know when you clip the tops off, and you have a little pile of tops and tails? I used to think they were stunning. Photo: Emily Stokes INTERVIEWER Have you always made work from observation? WYLIE Yes. I maintain that figuration is more difficult than abstraction. People tell me I’m just being controversial, but figuration can be so bad and so distorted, so simpering or too elegant. With abstraction you haven’t quite got those problems. Maybe that is the problem of abstraction—that you haven’t got the problems. You see these twigs out here? I’ve drawn little birds that sit on those twigs, from underneath. That’s a japonica. It’s related to the quince. The fruit are coral-colored, and there were thirty-seven of them on the ground this year. Never before have I had any. They were like golden apples, Aphrodite stuff. When I make a painting, I observe, but I also transform. You’re observing that they are this color, this shape, this size. They look like this, they feel like this, they smell like this. And then you try to put those things together in a painting. Recently I’ve been painting a woman I saw running down the hill with her dog on a leash behind her. She was running with her knees right up, and leaning back because of the hill, and she formed such a strong image in my mind. She reminded me of an Assyrian sculpture. The first painting I did of her, I didn’t have the leg right, so I did another one. Photo: Emily Stokes INTERVIEWER What are you thinking about while you paint? WYLIE Not much. Sometimes I speak to myself. I say, “Get it off, get it off.” Or “Scrape it off, get rid of it.” Or “Put it back.” I swear quite a bit. INTERVIEWER What kind of swearing? WYLIE I usually say “Fuck!”—because something has gone wrong, and I think, Now it’s horrible, I hate it! It was alright before, why didn’t I fucking leave it alone? INTERVIEWER How long is a painting session? WYLIE It’s so variable. Sometimes I’ll go up to my studio and do something in ten minutes and come down again. On other days I’ll go into the studio at about ten or half-past ten, and then miss lunch and go on till three, maybe have a late lunch and go on straight through the evening. Or I’ll have some supper and a glass of wine and then go back to the studio and think, Shit, it’s not right, I can’t leave it like that! And then I’ll try to get it right, and work until three in the morning, and it’ll go even more wrong. Some people say, “You must be having a whale of a time doing just what you want to do,” but it’s not like that. You’re always frightened to start—you don’t want to because it’s too difficult. It’s much easier to look out of the window or read a book. But then, when you’re actually in it, you escape from everything. You escape from climate change, people dying of famine, cows dropping dead. I hate the whole business of what’s happening in the world. My politics are green. We should eat local stuff, carrots and swedes. Not cherries from Washington—how obscene. INTERVIEWER Tell me about the cherries in the painting we used on the cover of the Winter issue. Where did they come from? WYLIE There were a lot of wild cherries growing at the top of the garden, very dark red. I think they’re completely beautiful, cherries. They made me think of those sixteenth-century Spanish still life paintings. I like the way they hang in doubles. If you look at the painting, it’s like two breasts with large nipples. INTERVIEWER I saw that you had recently painted your cat, Pete. Did the pandemic affect what you painted or how you worked? WYLIE This is a highly intelligent cat. Watch him. Do you want supper, Pete? Did you see? He understands the word. Sometimes he jumps up onto my shoulder, and he puts one paw on one side and another paw on the other side, and he puts his arms around me. I know cats are affectionate, but this one is extraordinary. As to the pandemic, I’m often here by myself so in fact there was very little difference. The only problem was that at one point my assistants couldn’t come to collect my paintings, so I would just staple one canvas on top of another on the wall. Having a piece of work superimposed onto another unrelated one like that led to something new, where I started to make paintings that had abrupt changes of image on the same canvas. Eventually my assistants came over wearing gloves and masks to collect the canvases. I left them little diagrams to show them what to do with each one. I actually liked those drawings. They were part of the pandemic and they became part of the work. INTERVIEWER How do you feel when a painting leaves your studio? WYLIE I think, Well, thank heavens that’s done. I always want my paintings to go into a museum. That is what all artists want. Although private collections are good, too. That gives you money. Fuck it, my paint bills are huge. Photo: Emily Stokes Emily Stokes is the editor of The Paris Review. View the full article

Introduction to Pre-event Assignments The below seven assignments are vital to reaching an understanding of specific and critical core elements that go into the creation of a commercially viable genre novel or narrative non-fiction. Of course, there is more to it than this, as you will see, but here we have a good primer that assures we're literally all on the same page before the event begins. You may return here as many times as you need to edit your topic post (login and click "edit"). Pay special attention to antagonists, setting, conflict and core wound hooks. And btw, quiet novels do not sell. Keep that in mind. Be aggressive with your work. Michael Neff Algonkian Conference Director ____________ After you've registered and logged in, create your reply to this topic (button top right). Please utilize only one reply for all of your responses so the forum topic will not become cluttered. Also, strongly suggest typing up your "reply" in a separate file then copying it over to your post before submitting. Not a good idea to lose what you've done! __________________________________________________________ THE ACT OF STORY STATEMENT Before you begin to consider or rewrite your story premise, you must develop a simple "story statement." In other words, what's the mission of your protagonist? The goal? What must be done? What must this person create? Save? Restore? Accomplish? Defeat?... Defy the dictator of the city and her bury brother’s body (ANTIGONE)? Struggle for control over the asylum (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST)? Do whatever it takes to recover lost love (THE GREAT GATSBY)? Save the farm and live to tell the story (COLD MOUNTAIN)? Find the wizard and a way home to Kansas (WIZARD OF OZ)? Note that all of these are books with strong antagonists who drive the plot line (see also "Core Wounds and Conflict Lines" below). FIRST ASSIGNMENT: write your story statement. ___________________________________________________ THE ANTAGONIST PLOTS THE POINT (Photo : Javert from "Les Misérables") What are the odds of you having your manuscript published if the overall story and narrative fail to meet publisher demands for sufficient suspense, character concern, and conflict? Answer: none. You might therefore ask, what major factor makes for a quiet and dull manuscript brimming with insipid characters and a story that cascades from chapter to chapter with tens of thousands of words, all of them combining irresistibly to produce an audible thudding sound in the mind like a mallet hitting a side of cold beef? Answer: the unwillingness or inability of the writer to create a suitable antagonist who stirs and spices the plot hash. Let's make it clear what we're talking about. By "antagonist" we specifically refer to an actual fictional character, an embodiment of certain traits and motivations who plays a significant role in catalyzing and energizing plot line(s), or at bare minimum, in assisting to evolve the protagonist's character arc (and by default the story itself) by igniting complication(s) the protagonist, and possibly other characters, must face and solve (or fail to solve). CONTINUE READING ENTIRE ARTICLE AT NWOE THEN RETURN HERE. SECOND ASSIGNMENT: in 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story. Keep in mind their goals, their background, and the ways they react to the world about them. ___________________________________________________ CONJURING YOUR BREAKOUT TITLE What is your breakout title? How important is a great title before you even become published? Very important! Quite often, agents and editors will get a feel for a work and even sense the marketing potential just from a title. A title has the ability to attract and condition the reader's attention. It can be magical or thud like a bag of wet chalk, so choose carefully. A poor title sends the clear message that what comes after will also be of poor quality. Go to Amazon.Com and research a good share of titles in your genre, come up with options, write them down and let them simmer for at least 24 hours. Consider character or place names, settings, or a "label" that describes a major character, like THE ENGLISH PATIENT or THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. Consider also images, objects, or metaphors in the novel that might help create a title, or perhaps a quotation from another source (poetry, the Bible, etc.) that thematically represents your story. Or how about a title that summarizes the whole story: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, etc. Keep in mind that the difference between a mediocre title and a great title is the difference between THE DEAD GIRL'S SKELETON and THE LOVELY BONES, between TIME TO LOVE THAT CHOLERA and LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA between STRANGERS FROM WITHIN (Golding's original title) and LORD OF THE FLIES, between BEING LIGHT AND UNBEARABLE and THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. THIRD ASSIGNMENT: create a breakout title (list several options, not more than three, and revisit to edit as needed). ___________________________________________________ DECIDING YOUR GENRE AND APPROACHING COMPARABLES Did you know that a high percentage of new novel writers don't fully understand their genre, much less comprehend comparables? When informing professionals about the nuances of your novel, whether by query letter or oral pitch, you must know your genre first, and provide smart comparables second. In other words, you need to transcend just a simple statement of genre (literary, mystery, thriller, romance, science fiction, etc.) by identifying and relating your novel more specifically to each publisher's or agent's area of expertise, and you accomplish this by wisely comparing your novel to contemporary published novels they will most likely recognize and appreciate--and it usually doesn't take more than two good comps to make your point. Agents and publishing house editors always want to know the comps. There is more than one reason for this. First, it helps them understand your readership, and thus how to position your work for the market. Secondly, it demonstrates up front that you are a professional who understands your contemporary market, not just the classics. Very important! And finally, it serves as a tool to enable them to pitch your novel to the decision-makers in the business. Most likely you will need to research your comps. If you're not sure how to begin, go to Amazon.Com, type in the title of a novel you believe very similar to yours, choose it, then scroll down the page to see Amazon's list of "Readers Also Bought This" and begin your search that way. Keep in mind that before you begin, you should know enough about your own novel to make the comparison in the first place! By the way, beware of using comparables by overly popular and classic authors. If you compare your work to classic authors like H.G. Wells and Gabriel Marquez in the same breath you will risk being declared insane. If you compare your work to huge contemporary authors like Nick Hornby or Jodi Picoult or Nora Ephron or Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling, and so forth, you will not be laughed at, but you will also not be taken seriously since thousands of others compare their work to the same writers. Best to use two rising stars in your genre. If you can't do this, use only one classic or popular author and combine with a rising star. Choose carefully! FOURTH ASSIGNMENT: - Read this NWOE article on comparables then return here. - Develop two smart comparables for your novel. This is a good opportunity to immerse yourself in your chosen genre. Who compares to you? And why? ____________________________________________________ CORE WOUND AND THE PRIMARY CONFLICT Conflict, tension, complication, drama--all basically related, and all going a long way to keeping the reader's eyes fixated on your story. These days, serving up a big manuscript of quiet is a sure path to damnation. You need tension on the page at all times, and the best way to accomplish this is to create conflict and complications in the plot and narrative. Consider "conflict" divided into three parts, all of which you MUST have present in the novel. First part, the primary dramatic conflict which drives through the work from beginning to end, from first major plot point to final reversal, and finally resolving with an important climax. Next, secondary conflicts or complications that take various social forms - anything from a vigorous love subplot to family issues to turmoil with fellow characters. Finally, those various inner conflicts and core wounds all important characters must endure and resolve as the story moves forward. But now, back to the PRIMARY DRAMATIC CONFLICT. If you've taken care to consider your story description and your hook line, you should be able to identify your main conflict(s). Let's look at some basic information regarding the history of conflict in storytelling. Conflict was first described in ancient Greek literature as the agon, or central contest in tragedy. According to Aristotle, in order to hold the interest, the hero must have a single conflict. The agon, or act of conflict, involves the protagonist (the "first fighter" or "hero") and the antagonist corresponding to the villain (whatever form that takes). The outcome of the contest cannot be known in advance, and, according to later drama critics such as Plutarch, the hero's struggle should be ennobling. Is that always true these days? Not always, but let's move on. Even in contemporary, non-dramatic literature, critics have observed that the agon is the central unit of the plot. The easier it is for the protagonist to triumph, the less value there is in the drama. In internal and external conflict alike, the antagonist must act upon the protagonist and must seem at first to overmatch him or her. The above defines classic drama that creates conflict with real stakes. You see it everywhere, to one degree or another, from classic contemporary westerns like THE SAVAGE BREED to a time-tested novel as literary as THE GREAT GATSBY. And of course, you need to have conflict or complications in nonfiction also, in some form, or you have a story that is too quiet. For examples let's return to the story descriptions and create some HOOK LINES. Let's don't forget to consider the "core wound" of the protagonist. Please read this article at NWOE then return here. The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones A young Moor torn between Islam and Christianity, scorned and tormented by both, struggles to bridge the two faiths by seeking common ground in the very nature of God. Summer's Sisters by Judy Blume After sharing a magical summer with a friend, a young woman must confront her friend's betrayal of her with the man she loved. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud As an apprentice mage seeks revenge on an elder magician who humiliated him, he unleashes a powerful Djinn who joins the mage to confront a danger that threatens their entire world. Note that it is fairly easy to ascertain the stakes in each case above: a young woman's love and friendship, the entire world, and harmony between opposed religions. If you cannot make the stakes clear, the odds are you don't have any. Also, is the core wound obvious or implied? FIFTH ASSIGNMENT: write your own hook line (logline) with conflict and core wound following the format above. Though you may not have one now, keep in mind this is a great developmental tool. In other words, you best begin focusing on this if you're serious about commercial publication. ______________________________________________________ OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT: TWO MORE LEVELS As noted above, consider "conflict" divided into three parts, all of which you should ideally have present. First, the primary conflict which drives through the core of the work from beginning to end and which zeniths with an important climax (falling action and denouement to follow). Next, secondary conflicts or complications which can take various social forms (anything from a vigorous love subplot to family issues to turmoil with fellow characters). Finally, those inner conflicts the major characters must endure and resolve. You must note the inner personal conflicts elsewhere in this profile, but make certain to note any important interpersonal conflicts within this particular category." SIXTH ASSIGNMENT: sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Why will they feel in turmoil? Conflicted? Anxious? Sketch out one hypothetical scenario in the story wherein this would be the case--consider the trigger and the reaction. Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it? ______________________________________________________ THE INCREDIBLE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING When considering your novel, whether taking place in a contemporary urban world or on a distant magical planet in Andromeda, you must first sketch the best overall setting and sub-settings for your story. Consider: the more unique and intriguing (or quirky) your setting, the more easily you're able to create energetic scenes, narrative, and overall story. A great setting maximizes opportunities for interesting characters, circumstances, and complications, and therefore makes your writing life so much easier. Imagination is truly your best friend when it comes to writing competitive fiction, and nothing provides a stronger foundation than a great setting. One of the best selling contemporary novels, THE HUNGER GAMES, is driven by the circumstances of the setting, and the characters are a product of that unique environment, the plot also. But even if you're not writing SF/F, the choice of setting is just as important, perhaps even more so. If you must place your upmarket story in a sleepy little town in Maine winter, then choose a setting within that town that maximizes opportunities for verve and conflict, for example, a bed and breakfast stocked to the ceiling with odd characters who combine to create comical, suspenseful, dangerous or difficult complications or subplot reversals that the bewildered and sympathetic protagonist must endure and resolve while he or she is perhaps engaged in a bigger plot line: restarting an old love affair, reuniting with a family member, starting a new business, etc. And don't forget that non-gratuitous sex goes a long way, especially for American readers. CONTINUE TO READ THIS ARTICLE THEN RETURN. FINAL ASSIGNMENT: sketch out your setting in detail. What makes it interesting enough, scene by scene, to allow for uniqueness and cinema in your narrative and story? Please don't simply repeat what you already have which may well be too quiet. You can change it. That's why you're here! Start now. Imagination is your best friend, and be aggressive with it. ________________________ Below are several links to part of an article or whole articles that we feel are the most valuable for memoir writers. We have reviewed these and agree 110%. MEMOIR WRITING - CHOOSE A SPECIFIC EVENT (good general primer) How to Write a Memoir That People Care About | NY Book Editors NYBOOKEDITORS.COM Are you thinking of writing a memoir but you're stuck? We've got the remedy. Check out our beginner's guide on writing an epic and engaging memoir. MEMOIR MUST INCLUDE TRANSCENDENCE Writing Memoir? Include Transcendence - Memoir coach and author Marion Roach MARIONROACH.COM MEMOIR REQUIRES TRANSCENDENCE. Something has to happen. Or shift. Someone has to change a little. Or grow. It’s the bare hack minimum of memoir. WRITE IT LIKE A NOVEL How to Write a Powerful Memoir in 5 Simple Steps JERRYJENKINS.COM When it comes to writing a memoir, there are 5 things you need to focus on. If you do, your powerful story will have the best chance of impacting others. MEMOIR ANECDOTES - HOW TO MAKE THEM SHINE How to Write an Anecdote That Makes Your Nonfiction Come Alive JERRYJENKINS.COM Knowing how to write an anecdote lets you utilize the power of story with your nonfiction and engage your reader from the first page.

The Princess Knight The Princess Knight by G.A. Aiken is $2.99 and it’s also part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals, which feature a ton of romance! This is book two in the Scarred Earth Saga. I loved and reviewed the first book and Lara reviewed this one, giving it a B: The cast of characters EXPLODES in this book. Pay attention to each and every new character; they are all important. We pop into a lot of different POVs which can be a little dizzying, but adds beautifully to the immersive world building of it all. In New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken’s gripping new fantasy romance series, the Blacksmith Queen must confront armies and pretenders desperate to take her new-won crown. But with the Princess Knight at her side and a centaur warrior clan at her back, she’ll risk everything for victory . . . LONG LIVE THE QUEEN Gemma Smythe dedicated her life to the glory of battle. With her fellow War Monks, she worshipped the war gods, rained destruction on her enemies, and raised the dead when the fancy took her. Until her sister Keeley became the prophesied Blacksmith Queen, and Gemma broke faith with her order to journey to the Amichai Mountain and fight by Keeley’s side. The Amichai warriors are an unruly, never-to-be-tamed lot, especially their leader-in-waiting, Quinn. But when the War Monks declare support for Gemma’s ruthless younger sister Beatrix, the immaturity of her key ally is the least of Gemma’s problems. She has to get to the grand masters, dispel their grudge against her, and persuade them to fight for Keeley and justice. If her conviction can’t sway them, perhaps Quinn’s irritating, irreverent, clearly unhinged, ferocity will win the day . . . Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Vagina Bible RECOMMENDED: The Vagina Bible by Dr. Jen Gunter is $2.99! This is part of today’s KDDs. We had Dr. Gunter on her own episode and we had her on a previous podcast briefly to talk about COVID updates. Does eating sugar cause yeast infections? Does pubic hair have a function? Should you have a vulvovaginal care regimen? Will your vagina shrivel up if you go without sex? What’s the truth about the HPV vaccine? So many important questions, so much convincing, confusing, contradictory misinformation! In this age of click bait, pseudoscience, and celebrity-endorsed products, it’s easy to be overwhelmed–whether it’s websites, advice from well-meaning friends, uneducated partners, and even healthcare providers. So how do you separate facts from fiction? OB-GYN Jen Gunter, an expert on women’s health–and the internet’s most popular go-to doc—comes to the rescue with a book that debunks the myths and educates and empowers women. From reproductive health to the impact of antibiotics and probiotics, and the latest trends, including vaginal steaming, vaginal marijuana products, and jade eggs, Gunter takes us on a factual, fun-filled journey. Discover the truth about: – The vaginal microbiome – Genital hygiene, lubricants, and hormone myths and fallacies – How diet impacts vaginal health – Stem cells and the vagina – Cosmetic vaginal surgery – What changes to expect during pregnancy, after childbirth, and through menopause – How medicine fails women by dismissing symptoms Plus: – Thongs vs. lace: the best underwear for vaginal health – How to select a tampon – The full glory of the clitoris and the myth of the G Spot …And so much more. Whether you’re a twenty-six-year-old worried that her labia are “uncool” or a sixty-six-year-old dealing with painful sex, this comprehensive guide is sure to become a lifelong trusted resource. Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Jade Temptress The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin is $1.99! This is an opposites attract historical romance with some mystery elements. Readers loved the setting, while others mentioned it didn’t capture their excitement as well as the first book. Readers, what are your opinions? Welcome to the infamous Pingkang Li—home of the celebrated Lotus Palace courtesans, and a place of beauty and treachery… Charming and seductive, Mingyu is the most sought-after hostess in the pleasure quarter. She has all men wrapped around her finger—except Constable Wu Kaifeng, the one man she can’t resist, the only man to have placed her in chains. Wu Kaifeng’s outwardly intimidating demeanor hides a reluctant, fierce attraction to beautiful Mingyu. But the passionate temptation she presents threatens to destroy them both when a powerful official is murdered and they find themselves on a deadly trail. Amid the chaos, a forbidden affair could change Mingyu’s fate forever, for following her heart is bound to have consequences… Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. Merry Inkmas Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert is $2.99 at Amazon! I believe it’s still full price at $3.99 elsewhere. This is a holiday novella, though I know Hibbert is an auto-buy for some readers. Enjoy another Dirty British Romance by Talia Hibbert, author of Bad for the Boss. Christmas just got sexy… “There’s a beast inside of me. I keep it caged. You drive it wild.” Cash Evans has come a long way since his troubled childhood, but all the wealth he’s earned as a tattoo artist can’t fix the hole in his heart. He knows that the sweet barista who haunts his dreams is off-limits… But life doesn’t always go to plan. ”There isn’t a man on earth who could ruin me.” Bailey Cooper is determined to learn from her mother’s mistakes. She’s seen how cruel love can be, and she’s not about to sacrifice her self-respect for a relationship. But when a bad boy with a heart of gold comes to her rescue, she finds herself wondering if this beast might just be her Prince Charming. Will these two lost souls find a happy ending under the tree this Christmas? Or is their love doomed to wither with the mistletoe? Merry Inkmas is a steamy Christmas romance starring a brooding, bad boy hero and a Black, BBW heroine. Be warned: this love is hot enough to melt any winter frost! Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. View the full article

This HaBO comes from Caitlin, who is looking for a contemporary romance: I think I read it a year or so ago & it was fairly new. This is probably a long shot but I read this book, I’m not sure what it’s called or who wrote it but I vaguely remember what happened. So I think it’s like a second chance romance – this girl is an interior designer/decorator and her ex comes into the firm & will only work with her. They start working together and he finds out she had a kid (it is his ). I’m not sure if it’s a boy or girl, but I know it’s a toddler. She brings the baby into work the one day for some reason and the baby likes phones. The hero has a brother that works at this company in IT, I think. The brother is friends with the heroine and his name is Jax or Jace something like that. I also remember they decided to go with white for something she was decorating I feel like it was the reception area? I know that’s not really much to go on sorry about that but if any of you know or have some idea of what it could be I’d really appreciate it. Can we HaBO? View the full article

The Tide Child series was a pretty damn emotional ride and this final book was definitely the hardest to get through. Rest easy the writing is as spectacular as always, cutting right to the bone when it needs to, but the content is a little harder to stomach. Meas has been captured and is being pointlessly tortured for information she has already given up. The Gullaime is still being hassled by the fanatical religious nut job who controls almost his every move. Joron has a death sentence on top of a death sentence as the rot slowly consumes him and is desperate to find his shipwife, so desperate that he will burn, pillage and plunder anyone who stands in his way without a shred of mercy. All the people Joron counted as allies are treating him like an 80’s Joe Pesci who you don’t want to piss off but at the same time you don’t really want to be friends with, let alone being entangled in whatever fate has in store for him. There is something of an addled drug addict in the way he conducts himself in this book. He is strung out and needs his Lucky Meas and as a result his demeanor shifts from rational and considerate to entirely myopic as his desires and the needs of his crew become the only star by which he guides his moral compass. It’s sad to see him this way but considering the absolute force of nature that is Lucky Meas entirely understandable. I tell you halfway through this book I felt like I was the one that was keelhauled. Things are about as grim as could be for the Tide Child and it’s crew. Then something happens. Joron actually starts asking the right questions of the right people and, like an open festering wound that has been cleaned for the first time, things start to smell better. We’re reminded by the characters themselves that every one of them is already dead and this boat is their sentence and in that recognition of loss there is a huge sense of gain. Every day is a gift, every sacrifice is a release and every act of defiance is a big old eat me to the fickle gods and their strings of fate. The Bone Ship’s Wake is phenomenal and a smashing way to finish the series and it answers an absolute ship load of questions abou Meas, Joron, the Gullaime and the fate of the Tide Child, the pluckiest and most murderous boat on the ocean. The cast of characters, the changes in their roles and motivations, the development over the course of the series, was done so bloody well. The fighting is superb, gliding between tense drawn out chases scenes and brutal, close quarters, spine crushing, boat on boat hardcore action. Sometimes it’s even boat on boat on boat. All in all this is a fantastic book and a perfect way to end the series. Goodbye Joron, goodbye Meas and goodbye Ms Gullaime. The post THE BONE SHIP’S WAKE by RJ Barker (BOOK REVIEW) appeared first on The Fantasy Hive. View the full article

Please join us in welcoming new contributor Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai to Writer Unboxed! Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer and journalist. She is the author of eleven books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. Her books in Vietnamese have received the 2010 Poetry of the Year Award from the Hanoi Writers Association, the Capital’s Literature & Arts Award, and First Prize in the Poetry Competition celebrating 1,000 Years of Hanoi. Her debut novel and first book in English, THE MOUNTAINS SING, is an International Bestseller, Finalist of the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, Winner of the Blogger’s Book Prize 2021, Winner of the 2021 International Book Awards, Winner of the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and Winner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for “a work of exceptional quality” and for “contribution to peace and reconciliation.” For her first post with us, Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai shares the personal stories that inspired THE MOUNTAINS SING, illuminating the power and majesty of culture and context. In 1983, when I was ten years old, I went secretly to the post office in my hometown to mail a letter to Hà Nội. The letter contained my entry for a writing competition. When a notice arrived announcing that I had won a prize, my parents were shocked. Due to the long history of Vietnamese writers’ experiences in my country, my parents reminded me of their wish that their only daughter would not become a writer. I had to put aside my dreams of writing to do a variety of jobs to earn a living and help support my family. But the writer in me always listened to other people, always asked questions about their experiences during the war, and memorized their stories. In my teenage years, I began to travel to my parents’ villages to talk with our elder relatives and family friends so I could imagine how life had been for my grandparents, who had either died or been killed before I was born. Gradually, the more I began to understand Việt Nam’s painful past, the more people shared with me the events of their lives. Unbeknownst to me, at that young age I was already carrying out the research for The Mountains Sing. It was only with time and distance and my ongoing academic research that I could comprehend the complexity of Việt Nam’s history and its relation to other nations. My extensive exchanges with Vietnamese and American combat veterans, as well as volunteer work with victims of the war, has expanded this understanding. The Mountains Sing embodies my yearning to know my grandmothers, and to bring to life the underrepresented women and children who often suffer the consequences of wars the most but must hide their sorrows to become pillars of strength and comfort for returning soldiers. Through Grandma Diệu Lan and her granddaughter Hương in the novel, I could talk to them, trace their footsteps, and imagine their dreams and hopes. It may seem ironic that I have chosen to write this novel, by far my most personal work to date, in English, which is also the language of invasive military powers and cultures. But this language has given me a new voice and a way to fictionalize the turbulent events of my country’s past, including those that have not yet been sufficiently documented in Vietnamese fiction, such as the Great Hunger or the Land Reform. I am also responding to Hollywood movies and novels written by those Westerners who continue to see our country only as a place of war and the Vietnamese as people who don’t need to speak—or, when we do, sound simple, naïve, cruel, or opportunistic. The canon of Việt Nam war and post-war literature in English is vast, but there is a lack of voices from inside Việt Nam. When I first learned English in eighth grade, I didn’t know that one day it would be the language that would save The Mountains Sing. Khương Dụ, the small northern village where I was born, did not have an English teacher. Bạc Liêu, the southern town where I grew up, didn’t have many people who could speak English. For me, a student who also worked as a rice farmer and street vendor, the Western world was mysterious, existing only in the black-and-white movies I would occasionally catch a glimpse of while selling cigarettes in the town’s cemetery, which also served as our only open-air movie theater. I didn’t know any English words until well into secondary school, when one afternoon my eldest brother brought home a notebook. He told me he had just learned English from someone and would teach me. I was so excited I could barely swallow my dinner. That night, after I had lit the oil lamp (we had electricity only occasionally) and put on long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to ward off the zillions of mosquitoes, my brother solemnly brought out his notebook. He opened the first page and pointed at a strange-looking word. “Sờ cu lờ,” he said, and then looked at me, expecting me to repeat after him. “Sờ . . . sờ . . .” I said, and brought my hand to my mouth. “Sờ cu lờ,” he said again. “Sờ . . . sờ cu . . .” I repeated and burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it! The words that had just escaped my mouth sounded like the Vietnamese phrase for “to touch a male’s genitals.” So ended my first English lesson. Because I hadn’t been able to stop laughing, my brother slapped his notebook shut and stormed out of the room. His face was as red as a gấc fruit. “Brother! Teach me, please,” I called after him, but he didn’t turn back. Later, much later, I found out my brother was trying to teach me a very important word: “school.” I didn’t dare ask him to teach me again, but occasionally I would steal his notebook when he was gone, hide under the mango and coconut trees that circled our fish pond, and stare at the English words. I sensed that behind those strange-looking words existed some magic doors, and if I managed to push them open, I would be able to enter the big, wide world. And now, with The Mountains Sing, I am taking my baby steps into that world. It took me seven years to write and edit, hundreds of revisions, many sleepless nights, tears, and countless moments of doubt. I doubted that I was a good-enough storyteller. I doubted my ability to express complicated thoughts and emotions in English. But I never doubted my decision in 2006 at the age of thirty-three to return to my dream of becoming a writer. By turning to the first page of The Mountains Sing, you will open the door into an authentic Việt Nam where proverbs are sprinkled throughout daily conversations, where lullabies and poems are sung. You will experience the colors, richness, and complexity of our culture, beginning with our Vietnamese names and language, which appear in full diacritical marks. Those marks might look strange at first, but they are as important as the roof of a home. The word “ma,” for example, can be written as ma, má, mà, mả, mạ, mã; each meaning very different things: ghost, mother, but, grave, young rice plant, horse. The word “bo” can become bó, bỏ, bọ, bơ, bở, bờ, bô, bố, bồ, bổ (bunch, abandon, insect, butter, mushy, shore, chamber pot, father, mistress, nutritious). Just like Hương in The Mountains Sing, for several of my childhood years, books were my only friends; they allowed me to escape from desperation and poverty. My family had moved from the north to the south of Việt Nam; it was just a few years after the war, and despite the country’s unification, the north-south tension ran strong. While living amidst this tension I understood the deep wounds that divided our country and families. Many of these wounds have still not healed, even though nearly forty-five years have passed since the war’s ending on April 30, 1975. Tremendous progress has been made in terms of reconciliation between Việt Nam and the United States, but the wounds that divided our country and families, both at home and in the diaspora, remain profound and painful. For that reason, The Mountains Sing places our people at the center of the Việt Nam War in the hopes that we will be open to difficult but necessary conversations that can help one another heal. And at the same time, I hope the story of Hương and Diệu Lan helps international readers discover our common humanity, as in the words of Hương: “Somehow I was sure that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth.” About Phan Quế Mai NguyễnDr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer and journalist. She is the author of eleven books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. Her books in Vietnamese has received the 2010 Poetry of the Year Award from the Hanoi Writers Association, the Capital’s Literature & Arts Award, and First Prize in the Poetry Competition celebrating 1,000 Years of Hanoi. Her debut novel and first book in English, THE MOUNTAINS SING, is an International Bestseller, Finalist of the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Winner of the 2020 BookBrowse Best Debut Award, Winner of the Blogger’s Book Prize 2021, Winner of the 2021 International Book Awards, Winner of the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, and Winner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for “a work of exceptional quality” and for “contribution to peace and reconciliation.” Web | Twitter | More Posts http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=CmDLx1QNv6k:5rpwIwuZPEg:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=CmDLx1QNv6k:5rpwIwuZPEg:D7DqB2pKExk [url={url}]View the full article[/url]

Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody. This holiday season, give yourself the gift of lowered expectations by making some Old Year’s resolutions. What are Old Year’s resolutions? Let’s start by talking about what they’re not. I’m not suggesting you scramble to finish the New Year’s resolutions before December ends, nor am I asking that you go back in time to cross them off your list. Instead, all you have to do is resolve to do things you’ve already done. For instance, I resolved to finish this very column before the end of the year, and here I am keeping that resolution. A champagne toast to me! What if I’ve already told people about my resolutions? Many writers make the rookie mistake of sharing their resolutions with others in the name of transparency and accountability (commendable but foolish), or perhaps to try and impress someone at a NYE party by talking about finishing your book in an effort to get their phone number (totally worth it). Whatever the reason, you most likely have several personal enemies and professional rivals who would cackle with glee to see you fail in public, and Old Year’s resolutions help you find some plausible conditions to declare victory. First, find your old list of New Year’s resolutions. You may have wrote them on a napkin, typed them into a neat list and posted it above your computer monitor so you could see it every day, or worst of all, posted it on your social media in the hope that you could shame yourself into productivity. Well, good news, nobody’s reading your blog anyway, so they won’t notice if you tweak your resolutions just a bit. Instead, you take your New Year’s Resolutions that you made at the beginning of the year and amend them slightly, like how the Bill of Rights modified the U.S. Constitution. And these Old Year’s Resolutions could end up being just as—if not more!—important. Let’s look at some examples: photo by Mike Behnken “I resolve to attend a writers conference!”: This is tough in the age of COVID, so you should make your Old Year’s resolution be “I resolve to confer with writers,” which can be easily done at your local bar, and you’ve barely changed the words. You can use your little conference as an excuse to toast your successful resolution! “I resolve to publish at least one short story!”: With how slow the publishing industry moves, it’s unrealistic to think you can write, submit, get an acceptance letter, and see your story in print all in one year, right? If you submit a story to a market in 2021, but they don’t publish until 2022, that’s hardly your fault, is it? It’s like in basketball, where as long as you shoot before the buzzer, it still counts if it goes in. That’s why you should simultaneously submitting every story you have to several dozen markets by the end of the year. One of them is bound to publish your story. Or they’ll publish a notice about how you shouldn’t spam their submissions like that, which you should definitely count as a publication. “I resolve to finish my novel!”: This is the big one. For this resolution, it’s all about how you define “finish.” Take the NaNoWriMo approach and declare victory after you hit an arbitrary word count. “I resolve to write 50,000 words!” you might say. That’s basically the same thing! I myself am revising a novel with 80,000 words in it. No one in a position to publish this book would call it done, per se, but 80,000 is a novel’s worth of writing, right? I’ve got all the words in there, pretty much, they’re just not in the right order yet. (Hot tip: agents and editors love when you use this trick.) So you see, by lowering the bar to the point where you can easily step over it, you’ll the old year on a high note, and set yourself up for success in 2022. And if you don’t succeed next year, just redefine success until you get there. What Old Year’s resolutions are you making for 2021? Share them in the comments! Wish you could buy this author a cup of joe? Now, thanks to tinyCoffee and PayPal, you can! About Bill FerrisAfter college, Bill Ferris (he/him) left Nebraska for Florida to become a rich and famous rock star. Failing that, he picked up the pen to become a rich and famous novelist. He now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and looks forward to a life of poverty and ridicule. Web | Twitter | More Posts http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=XgpXI25_YNQ:PfN7fzHuQm4:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=XgpXI25_YNQ:PfN7fzHuQm4:D7DqB2pKExk [url={url}]View the full article[/url]

B+ A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli October 5, 2021 · Berkley Contemporary Romance http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/posts/lightning-reviews3.jpg A Holly, Jolly Diwali is a contemporary romance and a story about finding a place in one’s community. I really enjoyed it, but I can also see where some readers may feel the romance elements took second place to the main character’s journey of self discovery. Niki Randhawa is a first generation Punjabi-American. She’s done everything to be the perfect daughter. She stayed out of trouble as a kid, got a degree in tech, and joined a startup that would offer her the most opportunity for advancement. At twenty-nine she’s still living at home so she can save her money to buy a place of her own one day. The problem is, Niki isn’t happy; she’s lonely and finds her job unfulfilling. When she’s downsized, Niki decides to do something spontaneous for the first time. She books a flight to Mumbai to attend a friend’s wedding and then plans on an extended vacation to get in touch with her roots. At the wedding Niki meets Sam Mukherji, a London based bassist in a rock band. He’s not the type of guy safe-playing Niki would normally go for, but he gives her butterflies in the best way. Niki agrees to spend time with Sam and their mutual friends in Goa, prolonging their vacation romance. There’s not much conflict to the Niki/ Sam relationship other than they live very far apart and are both figuring out what exactly they want to do with their lives. Sam knows his parents are disappointed in his career choice and Niki realizes she’s not fulfilled by the career path she chose. They’re both in a rut, which isn’t necessarily the best place to start a new relationship. That said, there’s really nothing keeping them apart other than logistics. The novel spends as much time focusing on Niki figuring out her identity as it does with her romance. She feels too Indian in America, and too American in India, never quite fitting in in either place. We see her encounter classism and colorism during her time in India, further alienating her from her parents’ birthplace. Even as Niki struggles to reconcile her identity as a first-generation American, she also struggles to find her place in her own family. Niki’s sister was the wild child, causing her family grief and anxiety, so Niki made sure to compensate by always doing the “right” thing and never really expressing her own needs. As a result she’s not good at identifying what kind of support she needs emotionally or asking for it, something she has to learn along the way. There’s a lot packed into this book; a holiday romance, a struggle with cultural identity, and a need to reframe Niki’s place in her own immediate family. It’s a lot to juggle, but the novel pulls it off. The only potential issue is that the romance only takes up about half of the book, interspersed between Niki’s journey (literal and figurative) as she uses her time in India to figure herself out. Readers looking just for that romance will likely feel that the book is slow. I was so engaged with Niki as a character, and identified with her feeling unheard in her own family so much, that it wasn’t an issue for me. View the full article

Some people in the publishing community will tell you that the only way to be a successful writer is to specialize. If you are a poet, you need to focus on poetry. If you are an essayist, do not tinker with novel writing! Write essays. Picture book writers should write picture books and so on. The benefit of this is that focusing can help you build a platform. You will be known for doing that one thing and doing it well. And it is easier to hone a skill when it is well-defined. The drawback is that by focusing on one and only one type of writing, you miss opportunities. Call yourself a picture book author and you may pass up the opportunity to write for magazines or young adult nonfiction. Other publishing professionals will recommend that you generalize, creating more than one type of work. One writer I knew early in my career would research some topic and then write both a historical fiction novel and a nonfiction book on the same topic. I write nonfiction books for the school library market as well as blog posts. I have also reviewed, written magazine articles and written for various publishing publications. The benefit of a generalist approach is that you can take advantage of a wide variety of opportunities. I started out as a picture book author. I still don’t have a picture book, and maybe if I specialized I would have one by now. But I wouldn’t have my reviews, articles and nonfiction books for teens. Another benefit is staying sharp. I’ll be the first to admit that I bore easily. By writing several different types of material, I am more completely engaged. Yes, I have to put more thought into what I’m doing but that’s okay. It helps me focus. But the drawback is that you can spread yourself too thin. One day you’re working on your novel. The next you do a bit of research for an article. But you don’t return to your novel on day 3 because you’ve had a great idea for a how-to. The possibilities are endless! So which is best for you? It depends. If you are a tightly focused author who is working on a novel but hasn’t made any progress in months, try something new. It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment. Try writing something short like a guest post for the Muffin or a how-to or a poem. If you are, like me, a writer who works on many different things, but you aren’t getting anything done, narrow your focus. It doesn’t have to be forever, but for the next week, focus on one project and only one project. See how much you can get done in a week and build some momentum. You don’t have to be a specialist. No one is forcing you to be a generalist. There is no one way to be a successful writer. The key is to find what works for you right now and do it. What works may change, but when it does you’ll have made some progress on one thing or many. --SueBE Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 30 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey. The next session of her new course, Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work will begin on January 2, 2022). Coping with rejection is one of the topics she will cover in this course. Sue is also the instructor for Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins January 2, 2022) and Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins January 2, 2022). (C) Copyright wow-womenonwriting.com Visit WOW! Women On Writing for lively interviews and how-tos. Check out WOW!'s Classroom and learn something new. Enter the Quarterly Writing Contests. Open Now![url={url}]View the full article[/url]

Love at First Love at First by Kate Clayborn is $2.99! Clayborn is an autobuy author for some of the Bitchery. Catherine gave this one a B: Love at First is a beautiful book and worth the painful beginnings – but if you’re feeling fragile, too, maybe proceed with caution. A sparkling and tender novel from the acclaimed author of Love Lettering, full of bickering neighbors, surprise reunions, and the mysterious power of love that fans of Christina Lauren, Sarah Hogle, and Emily Henry will adore. Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw—or rather, heard—the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It’s a memory that’s never faded, though he’s put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar . . . No matter how surprised Nora Clarke is by her reaction to handsome, curious Will, or the whispered pre-dawn conversations they share, she won’t let his plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, she sets out to foil his efforts with a little light sabotage. But beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection. A balcony, a star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting—maybe it’s the kind of story that can’t work out in the end. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance . . . Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. Loud is How I Love You Loud is How I Love You by Mercy Brown is $2.99! This is a musician romance set in the 90s and I feel like a lot of authors I follow loved this one. Christina Lauren immediately comes to mind. However, I’m not big on romances featuring musicians. Have you read this one? One girl’s heart gets rocked to the core in the first novel in this sexy New Adult series. Twenty-one-year-old front girl Emmylou knows that getting her band noticed in the ‘90s indie rock scene will be no easy task. She definitely knows better than to break the number one rule of the band: Don’t sleep with your bandmates! But after she ends up having the best sex of her life with her guitarist, Travis, she finds following that rule is a lot harder than it sounds. When the band gets the gig of their dreams, making it big seems just within reach. But Emmy’s inability to keep her hands off Travis threatens everything they’ve worked for. Can Emmy find a way to break the rules and not blow the chance of a lifetime? Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. Good Guy Good Guy by Kate Meader is FREE! This is book one in her Rookie Rebels hockey series and a few are on sale at $3 or less. The hero is a veteran and hockey player (I’m getting Sandra Hill Viking vampire angel vibes). The heroine is the widow of his best friend. LOTS OF PINING! He’s a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She’s a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She’s also his best friend’s widow… Fans can’t get enough of Levi Hunt, the Special Forces veteran who put his NHL career on hold to serve his country and fight the bad guys. So when his new Chicago Rebels bosses tell him to cooperate with the press on a profile, he’s ready to do his duty. Until he finds out who he has to work with: flame-haired, freckle-splashed, impossibly perky Jordan Cooke. The woman he should not have kissed the night she buried her husband, Levi’s best friend in the service. Hockey-stick-up-his-butt-serious Levi Hunt might despise Jordan for reasons she can’t fathom—okay, it’s to do with kissing—but her future in the cutthroat world of sports reporting hangs on delivering the goods on the league’s hottest, grumpiest rookie. So what if he’s not interested in having his life plated up for public consumption. Too bad. Jordan will have to play dirty to get her scoop and even dirtier to get her man. Only in winning the story, she might just lose her heart… Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. The Dark Protectors Boxed Set The Dark Protectors Boxed Set by Rebecca Zanetti is $2.99! If you’ve ever been tempted to try this series, this is a pretty good deal that includes three full-length books and a novella. Are there any fans of the series in the Bitchery? Every time we feature one of the books on sale, I’m always really curious about them. Don’t miss the first four volumes of the unforgettable Dark Protectors series: Fated, Claimed, Tempted, Hunted Driven by prophecy, the Dark Protectors are male vampires, fearless and born to mate with human females—for eternity. Talen Kayrs is on a mission, and once Cara Paulsen takes him as her mate, nothing can stop the force of his desire… Vampire king Dage Kayrs knows that when he encounters the brilliant geneticist Emma Paulsen, the power of their coming together will never be decoded… When bodyguard Max Petrovsky is sent to rescue Sarah Pringle from the evil Kurjans chasing her, he’s willing to go far beyond the call of duty… It’s taken over a century for ultimate soldier Connor Kayrs to consummate his union with the powerful witch Moira Dunne, but the time has come… Add to Goodreads To-Read List → You can find ordering info for this book here. View the full article

Any book with this much buzz deserves your attention! Love her or hate her, Sally Rooney is one of the most famous authors of our time. Hailing from Ireland, she came out of nowhere in 2017 with her surprise hit, Conversations With Friends. Blending elements of literary and women's fiction, the book was well-received and widely read, leading a splashy deal for her next book. Which was Normal People. You'd have to be living under a boulder in Croatia to have missed the massive media storm that was Normal People. It spawned a BBC adaptation, sold literally millions of copies, won tons of awards, and probably showed up in your mom's book group. Everyone was reading it. Everyone was talking about it. Which is exactly why we should here. On its surface, Normal People is a pretty straightforward story. It's the painful and frustrating tale of two people who seem well-suited for each other but, for a variety of reasons, keep crossing signals romantically. Marianne and Connell are from different economic strata, which creates tension in their ongoing relationship/friendship. But really, they're both flawed and selfish and tragically bad at communication. But also deeply, deeply compelling. When I first started Normal People I didn't think I was going to finish. The writing was simple to the point of boring, the formatting odd, and the dialogue cringe-worthy (I still go back and forth on whether or not Rooney intended it that way). However, the more I read the more I realized that these two fully-realized characters were getting under my skin. I found myself caring about the self-hating Marianne and the socially awkward Connell. They were almost too real, devoid of the shiny polish that most modern entertainment gives its characters. They were people you might meet at parties, friends you might complain about because they were so stupid. But that was what made them addictive. It was the romance trope of miscommunication done in a hyper-realist way that slipped under my skin and stayed with me, even a year after reading it. I'm not sure I'll read Rooney's next book, but I think the appeal of her writing is the raw humanity that she never shies away from, no matter how uncomfortable. She's unflinching in her portrayal of people as disastrous messes, ever wounding each other because of the issues they can't escape. It might not exactly be pleasant to read about, but it's real and believable and you find yourself praying the whole time that these two unlikable, compelling people can find happiness that, in the real world, they likely wouldn't. So think about your story. How can you bring more authentic honesty into your characters? How can you make them feel so real that the reader can't look away? It doesn't matter what genre you're writing in; every story must have a person at its heart, and the more real you can make them, the more real their story (and the drama by extension) will feel. If you can make them as evocative as the main duo of Normal People, then even the most mundane story can become a page-turner.

Happy Monday to everyone! I’m D.P. Woolliscroft (or just Dave to most folks) and I’m really excited to be here today to reveal the cover for Volume 3 of the Wildfire Cycle, Ajiwiak, and to share some other goodies from inside the book. The Wildfire Cycle For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Wildfire Cycle, it begins with Kingshold (a SPFBO semi-finalist) and is the focused story of a realm transitioning from a monarchy to a proto-democracy via a magically enabled election. A down on his luck bard, the daughter of the ancient wizard who founded the country, a high-end thief and a palace servant girl eventually come together to try to sway the election to an outcome that would be good for the common people. But of course, there are assassins, pirates, immense magical creatures and their own naivety as obstacles along the way. What starts out as a small contained story based in one city, expands in Book 2, Ioth, of which I will say little for fear of spoiling it if you haven’t read it (though if you have, then you probably have some scars). There is a book of short stories, or Tales, that follows each of my novels, now lovingly combined with the novels into individual, gorgeous volumes (which were revealed at Fantasy Book Critic last week) Ajiwiak Now we’re onto book 3, and before I reveal the cover, how about I show you the blurb, though I have redacted one sentence for spoilers. ALL IT TAKES, IS A SINGLE SPARK Llewdon, ageless elf and Emperor of Pyrfew, has his sights set on becoming a god, and only the collective sacrifice of thousands of Alfjarun from Alfaria, the Wild Continent, can carry him there. Kingshold is —– and Ioth —–; his plans are proceeding exactly as intended. But Neenahwi and Motega of the decimated Wolfclaw clan have returned to Alfaria with the heroes of Kingshold as their companions. Can they navigate a homeland that has changed much since they were children to bring the clans together to resist Pyrfew? And what role will the fabled city of Ajiwiak, home of the first of their people have to play in their liberation? Continuing the acclaimed Wildfire Cycle, this third volume includes Ajiwiak, The Mother Tree (Book 3) and Tales of Ajiwiak (Book 3.5). And now here is the cover… I’m super happy with how Jeff Brown has captured my vision for Ajiwiak, and it may be my favorite cover so far. By the way, Ajiwiak is the name to both the city built in the mountain and the name of the Mother Tree that perches atop it. Brag Bergman has done the design for the cover and I love how the detail around the title of Ajiwiak captures the feel of the people of the city. As usual for the the Wildfire Cycle, the cover image is but one part of a greater landscape image that was done by Jeff. Two of my favorite things from this image; the landship sailing through the farmland in the valley at the foot of the mountain range and a little surprise peaking out from the branches of the Tree. I hope you love the covers as much as I do. Ajiwiak is released on December 17th and pre-orders are live HERE. Bonus Content! Ajiwiak is set in a place referred to as the Wild Continent and there is an in-story reference to a book called “Flora and Fauna of the Wild Continent”, written by an explorer. I have included some excerpts from that fictional book in the Tales of Ajiwiak portion of Ajiwiak which I would like to give you a little sneak peek. But first, a little context as to what was the inspiration. At the Morgan Library in New York, there are a series of painting and descriptions of the plant, animal and human life of the Caribbean late in the sixteenth century collectively known as Histoire Naturelle des Indes or the Drake Manuscripts (as they were created during Sir Francis Drake’s expeditions to the region). They are definitely somewhat of a colonialist relic, but if you would like to check them out then you can see them here. It was really fun for me to draw pictures of a similar style for the wildlife of the Wild Continent, or Alfaria as it should actually be known. Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks again to the Fantasy Hive for having me here today. If you’d like to catch up on the Wildfire Cycle then the boxset of the first half of the series is available HERE. Born in Derby in England, on the day before mid-summers day, David Peter Woolliscroft was very nearly magical. If only his dear old mum could have held on for another day. But magic called out to him over the years, with a many a book being devoured for its arcane properties. David studied Accounting at Cardiff University where numbers weaved their own kind of magic and he has since been a successful business leader in the intervening twenty years. Adventures have been had. More books devoured and then one day, David had read enough where the ideas he had kept bottled up needed a release valve. And thus, rising out of the self doubt like a phoenix at a clicky keyboard, a writer was born. Kingshold is David’s debut novel and Tales of Kingshold, companion short stories to the novel, are flooding onto the page as fast as David can write them. He is married to his wife Haneen and has a daughter Liberty, who all live with their mini golden doodle Rosie in Princeton NJ. David is one of the few crabs to escape the crab pot. The post AJIWIAK by D. P. Woolliscroft (COVER REVEAL) appeared first on The Fantasy Hive. View the full article

image by Anders Ljungberg ‘Tis the time of year when gift guides abound. And while the writer in your life might well be jonesing for a Moleskine notebook or a fancy pen, there are lots of other gifts that are both harder and easier to come by. The gifts on the list below are mostly light on the wallet, but at the same time, they’re priceless. Without further ado: Give your writer the gift of time. If you’re co-parenting with a writer, for example, this one’s a biggie. And it may or may not have financial value assigned. But one of the things writers struggle with, especially if we have full-time jobs or parenting responsibilities or both, is setting aside time to dedicate to our writing. Some writers can function well grabbing 10 or 20 minutes at a time, but most of us prefer chunks of time upwards of an hour — which, again, are harder to find the more other responsibilities we have piled on our plates. So help your writer set aside times, either on a recurring or one-off basis, where everything else is swept off their plates and they can focus 100% on the writing they want to do. Give your writer the gift of support. Again, this could be financial, but it doesn’t have to be. Whether the writer in question is your romantic partner, best friend, co-worker, or just an acquaintance, we could all use more support in our writing careers. People who aren’t writers themselves often have very little knowledge about writing and publishing, and that leads to questions that writers might struggle with answering or don’t want to answer, like “How many books have you sold?” or “Didn’t you sell that book months ago, why isn’t it published yet?” Whether or not their personal level of achievement squares with what you think the best yardsticks are for commercial success, the writer in your life probably wants and needs your emotional support. If they tell you things aren’t going well, you can sympathize; if they have a great achievement they want to share with you, you can help them celebrate. Which leads to… Give your writer the gift of listening. By “listening,” I don’t mean that you should give your writer free rein to talk your ear off for hours about every single detail of their work. You can do that if you want to, of course, but it’s not the only form of listening that writers find helpful. I mean that in conversations with your writer about their writing, meet them where they are. Don’t tell a writer who has decided to self-publish all the reasons that traditional publishing is a better choice; don’t tell a writer of Westerns all the reasons you think Westerns as a genre are trash. Get to know what your writer’s goals are for their writing. The more you know, the more helpful you can be as a source of emotional support, and the closer you’ll get to a true understanding of your writer’s writing life. I promise you, that’s a gift. Q: As writers, what other gifts would you enjoy getting from friends and family, this holiday season and beyond? About Greer MacallisterRaised in the Midwest, Greer Macallister earned her MFA in creative writing from American University. Her historical novels have been named Book of the Month, Indie Next, LibraryReads, Target Book Club, and Amazon Best Book of the Month picks and optioned for film and television. Her upcoming book, SCORPICA (as G.R. Macallister), is the first in the Five Queendoms series and her epic fantasy debut. A regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and the Chicago Review of Books, she lives with her family in Washington, DC. www.greermacallister.com Web | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | More Posts http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=1YOn-2Hl3zI:TQ_IpxDt43o:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/WriterUnboxed?i=1YOn-2Hl3zI:TQ_IpxDt43o:D7DqB2pKExk [url={url}]View the full article[/url]