Women on Writing - WOW and WOW!
Women On Writing is an online magazine and community for women writers. Among major topics are novel writing, indie publishing, author platform, blogging, screenwriting, and more. Lots of contests and general jocularity sans frittering on the part of Earth's most powerful humans.
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I'm so excited to launch the blog tour of Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez. This book is perfect for anyone – young and not-so-young – who has ever felt sad, lost, or in need of advice or messages about empowerment and self-discovery. Continue on to find out more about this amazing book and read an interview with the author. But first, here's more about the book: Hope and Fortune is a modern-day fairytale, featuring multicultural, multiracial (e.g., Filipina, African-American, Latina, Asian, Muslim, etc.), multigenerational, and multigender (including a boy) fairies of different shapes and sizes who help a sad little child who has lost her way to find her path. Each fai…
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November is National Novel Writing Month, and I usually like to plan a project since I’m a writer who needs accountability. I saw a graphic created by NaNoWriMo on Instagram with a challenge for the month of October and decided to participate. Each day during October writers are given a prompt and encouraged to share a photo inspired by the prompt, along with the hashtag #instawrimo2022. While there have been some days I had no idea what the prompt meant or what I should share by way of a graphic, I came to the realization that the challenge has helped me as I’m working on revisions for my young novel adult novel that will tentatively be released early next year. One of …
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By Loretta Martin “Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.” ~ Julia Cameron I think of cozy mysteries, a subgenre of crime writing, as felonies for fun. A mini cozy, then, is like flash fiction—short yet completely satisfying. Years ago, I edited drafts for a romance author whose work appeared in Woman’s World (WW), a weekly national magazine (readership: 5.5 million). I bought issues to see the final version of her stories. Later, I bought them for the solve-it-yourself cozy mini mysteries. As a diversion from my own writing, I began submitting stories to WW. In February 2019, they accepted “Deadly Misstep,” followed a month later by “Mother’s Da…
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In an age where the push for side hustle turned into a no-hustle movement, which then morphed into this necessity to take on more work to make ends meet despite what "movement" is happening, it seems impossible to balance things. As a writer, I struggle with saying no to projects and freelance opportunities. However, I know I need to remember: everyone has a stress limit. The last thing you want to experience is burnout. So, as we embark on another NaNoWriMo, and a push to meet our yearly goals by the end of the year, alongside the financial stress that comes with the holiday season, I thought I'd share a few ways for you to avoid burnout: Put off accepting new projects…
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By Bobbie Christmas Q: After five years I have completed my autobiography. After submitting many query letters with the word count of 777,568 I have been informed that as a new author no one is going to take a chance and publish me, because the cost would be great. I am told the book should not be more than 90,000 words. How can you help me to condense my book, and what would the cost be? A: The advice you received is correct, that publishers prefer most first-time authors to keep their books at or under 100,000 words. Because the length of a manuscript affects the cost to produce it as a book, publishers rarely accept manuscripts of 500,000 words or more, unless the au…
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Pexels.com I always enjoy checking out the blogs of other writers, and I think they are a great way to show off your creativity while helping build a platform. When I interview contestants in the writing contests for WOW!, I always make sure to visit their blog or website, as I can get some great ideas for interview questions there. I understand that sometimes coming up with the content for your blog can leave you drawing a blank, though, so I’ve come up with a few ideas to help get your juices flowing. Writing clips. Have you had an article or essay published recently? Share a link to it or the full text entirely, along with the story of how you landed the assignment…
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By Barbara Noe Kennedy You don’t need to jet-set around the world to come up with a good travel story—as nice as that may be. Remember that old adage about writing what you know? Maybe you live in an under-the-radar small town, a hidden gem of Khmer culture, a wilderness/camping/trail haven, or home to the best small museum/cooking school/monument you’ve never heard of. The possibilities are endless! It’s just a matter of viewing a place that you know inside-out through visitors’ eyes. What would a visitor want to know? Honestly, as a travel writer who covers destinations around the world, I often find myself writing about my hometown—Washington DC. By virtue of li…
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We are excited to be back with Hugh Fritz and announce the blog tour of Book #2 in the Mystic Rampage Series, Public Display of Aggression. Join us as we interview the author, highlight upcoming spots on the blog tour, and give away a copy of his book. First, here is a little bit about Public Display of Aggression: Soleil and Flarence are immortal Genies who can bend the fundamental forces of the universe through willpower alone. For centuries, they have considered themselves the most formidable beings in the world, but some newcomers just might give them a run for their money. Magic has always been limited to living things. Throughout his life, Soleil has never come…
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On New Year’s Eve of 2020, I bought a new car. This was a momentous event because I’d been driving the same car for over 15 years. I LOVED my red CRV and it was in great shape but yeah, it was a bit basic; instead of all the bells and whistles, it had a bell and a wheeze or two. So the new car, an HRV (a wee bit smaller than a CRV), arrived in my driveway and I literally had to have a lesson in how to start it (A button? What fresh hell is this? as Dorothy Parker would say). I must have called the salesperson a dozen times to ask questions about bells and whistles and I don't know what all. And then this year, I started getting emails about changing my oil. So I made an …
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Remember those t-shirts that our grandparents and parents used to buy us when they left us at home and went on an adult vacation--the slogan said something like, "My grandma went to Hawaii, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." Apparently, this "lousy t-shirt" saying is something a lot of people write about--I'll let you do your own Google search. But I bring it up today because I just returned from a retreat/vacation in Memphis with my daughter...and came back with a new t-shirt--not a lousy one! We booked an extra big hotel room, brought a lot of snacks, and spent a good deal of time lounging around, reading, and relaxing while she played games on her tablet and made v…
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The Proclaimer's song, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), gets me bouncing in the car seat every time I hear it on the car radio. I sing aloud loudly (and off-key). If you're unfortunate enough to never have heard it, I've included it at the end. The number 500 hit me hard as I floundered for a way to get out of my rut. A friend asked me the other night, "What's going on with your new book?" I was lucky enough to get Greenwood Gone: Henry's Story published last spring, and am halfway through writing the first draft of a screenplay version, but before that--about five years ago--I started another manuscript. It began as a story about a young man (a student of mine) who was a guit…
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Like a half-eaten sandwich, half-finished stories used to pose as a problem. Much like the sandwich that slowly goes soggy thanks to a generous amount of mustard and mayo, I wonder to myself if I really want to keep around a half-finished story. It wasn't until this past year that I came to embrace the idea of accepting a story that didn't have an ending. It all started thanks to this one mannequin story that I wrote without an ending. It had been years since I had worked on it, and suddenly, this fresh perspective came in. I discovered my ending, and I never thought I'd get to that point with this story. Prior to this experience, I used to feel bad for not finishing. I …
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My last post was about Setting Goals in 2022, and one of the things that I wrote about was the Storystorm idea generation challenge. I have since had a question about how Storystorm works. Are the ideas fairly complete? Or are they something I will have to flesh out later? In all reality, I try not to set too many rules. I look for challenges like Storystorm that are fairly open to interpretation. Some of my ideas are outlines with a character, setting, story problem, and multiple attempts to solve that problem. The science fiction novel for which I am currently writing Act 3 came to me that way. I knew how the story opened. I had my setting and my story problem. …
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In case you missed it, Twitter has had a hectic couple of weeks (or months, really). From Elon Musk's takeover to the layoffs and departure of many of its core employees to rumors of the platform's eventual demise, it begs the question: what will happen when Twitter is gone? Personally speaking, I use Twitter far more passively than I ever did in the past. There once was a time I was so active on the site, I considered myself an expert on building a community there, but with minimal effort. Now, I use the site to keep track of breaking news and apply for writing jobs. But even that limited use of the social media platform will be difficult to replace elsewhere. I don't f…
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If You're Going To Do It, Do It Right! My dad would tell me all the time "If you're going to do it, do it right!" He also shared other pearls of wisdom about doing it right the first time, believing in myself, and so on. I share these ideals with my children quite often and could give a million examples of how it's important to do things right. I'm sure you can think of your own examples as well. For example, a book that is expertly written and edited but the cover was thrown together and isn't at all eye catching. A story that starts out strong but the end is rushed and feels incomplete, etc... You're thinking of a scenario, right? Now doesn't it make you wonder why? Wh…
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By Bobbie Christmas Q: Are author photos and biographies essential to have on your books? Would I be making a mistake if my back cover had only my blurb? A: The back cover is the strongest sales piece for a book. Everything on the back cover should make people want to buy the book. The back cover should contain a powerful, interesting blurb regarding the content of the book or novel. Your bio, however, is important only if your book is nonfiction and you are an expert in your subject. Your bio may be insignificant on novels unless you become famous and people want to know more about you. A snapshot, however, may have significance in a few cases. For example if the book …
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By Dawn Carrington Rejection is a word all writers know. It’s rare to have that first novel or first article accepted, especially if you’re a brand-new writer. More than likely, you’ll receive a “sorry, this isn’t for us” response that will feel like you’ve been kicked in the stomach. If you want to stay in this business, though, you’re going to have to learn how to take it without taking to your bed for days on end or sending a scathing email in response to the editor who didn’t see why your tome should be bought immediately. Handling rejection can be tricky, especially if you’re still trying to get that first novel published. Maybe you’ve sent it to dozens of publishe…
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Abbie Barker is a creative writing instructor living with her husband and two kids in New Hampshire. Her flash fiction is featured or forthcoming in several publications including, Berkeley Fiction Review, Cutbank, Cincinnati Review, Superstition Review, Pithead Chapel, Atlas and Alice, and Best Microfiction 2022. She earned a degree in fiction from the Mountainview MFA and an MA in literature from Fordham University. She loves the ocean, large dogs, and coffee shops. Read more of her work at abbiebarker.com or connect with her on Twitter. ----------Interview by Renee Roberson Read Abbie's winning story here and then return for an interview with the author. WO…
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Adele’s Bio: Adele Evershed is a teacher. She was born in Wales and has lived in Hong Kong and Singapore before settling in Connecticut. She started her writing journey by producing scripts for a British ex-pat theatre group’s annual Panto. She was encouraged to continue when she was a semi-finalist in the London Independent Story Prize competition. Previous publishing credits include Every Day Fiction, Ab Terra Flash Fiction Magazine, Grey Sparrow Journal, Prose Online, High Shelf, bee house Journal, Shot Glass Journal, Tofu Ink Arts Press, The Fib Review, Sad Girls Club, and Green Ink Poetry. Visit her website at thelithag.com. If you haven't done so already, check out…
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Today I'm excited to interview Ainhoa Palacios, runner up in our Summer 2021 Flash Fiction Contest. Make sure you read her story Chola and then come on back to read the interview. First, let me tell you more about Ainhoa: Ainhoa Palacios was born in Lima, Peru, and moved to the US at the age of six where she was raised by her mother, Abue, and sister. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in journalism but soon after remembered it was a different kind of storytelling she loved. Since, her work has been long-listed in Fish Publishing’s Short Memoir contest, come as a finalist in Sunspot Literary Journal’s Rigel 2021 competition, and appeared in pub…
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Alaina Grimm began writing as a child. Her first full length story (Historical YA) never made it beyond a laptop and a large three ring binder. However, she still keeps a copy of it and the plethora of fractured fairy tales she wrote as a teenager in one of her many bookcases. She has written two other unpublished fantasy novels and is working on outlining her third. She works for a software development company by day and delves into writing stories in her fantasy worlds at night. Alaina and her husband have 2 wonderfully spoiled rescue dogs. She can be found on Twitter @alainagrimm or learn more at alainagrimm.com. Read Alaina's award winning story here and the…
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Alexandra's Bio: Alexandra Otto writes stories and short screenplays. She just completed her first novel, a middle grade fantasy. When Alex isn’t writing or teaching, she is outsmarting the largest bears in the world in Southcentral Alaska. She is represented by Rena Rossner. You can connect with her on Twitter @alexottowrites and don't forget to read her story, “The Dreamkeeper” and then come back here for her interview. "The Dreamkeeper" originally appeared in Enchanted Conversations: A Fairy Tale Magazine. ----------interview with Sue Bradford Edwards---------- WOW: The Dreamkeeper pulled me in and hasn’t left my mind since I read it. What was the inspiration beh…
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I'm excited to interview Andra Loy, one of the runner-ups in the Fall 2021 Flash Fiction contest. Before you read our interview, make sure you check out her story Bare Walls. Then come on back! First, find out more information about Andra: After growing up in Oklahoma, Andra moved to Europe, where she found herself locked on an empty, abandoned train, lost in a forest with just a compass, and falling in love with the only American man in her town—all fodder for her grounded speculative fiction writing. She believes that at the heart of every amazing story lies the elemental truth that what’s lost can be found, what’s broken can be healed, and what’s fallen can be redeemed…
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