July 31, 2012 - Guest Blogger Kristiana Gregory

Hello Writers and Friends,

After 30 children’s books with traditional publishers (Harcourt, Holiday House and Scholastic), I’ve jumped off an emotional cliff and have self-published a YA thriller. The free-fall is exhilarating & swift, also terrifying. I miss the friendships with my editors, their reassurances, and the teamwork. Now out on my own there are no fact-checkers, copy editors, publicists or sales reps, and no monetary advance. I spent two years writing and editing STALKED, with my artist son doing the cover and interior drawings. The upside here is that instead of waiting & waiting for a contract then waiting & waiting to finally see the novel in print--a process that often takes another two years--it took two days. With a click from my laptop the manuscript was uploaded, sent to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) then made available to e-readers via Amazon. Here is the book itself, and here is a review of the book written by Elisabeth McKetta. STALKED is also now in paperback! 

-- Kristiana Gregory

PROCESS: USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PUBLICIZE YOUR WRITING

I’m still trying to figure this out. My daily anxiety is whether to isolate myself and write or to blog about writing.

Try this: For one week keep track of how much time you spend on the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, reading blogs or whatever, versus actually creating something original.

FEATURED VENUE: KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING

Amazon makes it super easy to self-publish your writing and sell through the Kindle store. The process is free and fast, and authors can opt for the 70% royalty program. It’s an exciting alternative to getting your stories in print, with some pros and cons mentioned above.

Submission guidelines here: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

PROMPT

“I have been following _________’s posts on Facebook/Twitter/whatever and found out that s/he is actually my _____________.” (5min)

July 24, 2012 - Guest Blogger Lynn C. Miller

Hi friends & writers,

I’ve been reading the mysteries of Susan Hill lately, a British writer who mixes psychological nuances with contemporary social controversies. She excels at parallel plots that deepen both the central situation as well as enhance the world of the novel. The result is that the landscape and cultural context of the book work in service to plot and character.

PROCESS:  CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY

As you develop your story or novel, open yourself to creating details of each character’s history that reveal or reinforce or connect to the core themes in your narrative.

Try this: Imagine what story each of your central characters would tell about themselves in a social situation. Then, write down a story about their past they hope to keep secret. In what situation might they reveal their secret story?

FEATURED VENUE: ALASKA QUARTERLY REVIEW

The journal accepts fiction, poetry, short plays, photo essays and creative nonfiction, both traditional and experimental. They also accept longer works (up to 50 pages). Their next submission period is August 15-May 15, snail mail only.

Submission guidelines:  http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/aqr/guidelines.cfm

PROMPT

“I have a secret to tell you.”  (10 min)

GUEST BLOGGER BIO: Lynn C. Miller is a novelist and playwright (www.lynncmiller.com). Her book “Find Your Story, Write Your Memoir” (co-authored with Lisa Lenard-Cook) comes out in Spring 2013 from the University of Wisconsin Press.  Email her at: lynn@lynncmiller.com

July 17, 2012- Guest Blogger Michelle Lee

Hi friends & writers,

I’m Michelle Lee, bosom buddy of Elisabeth McKetta and writer of short stories, poems, plays, as well as writer of academic whatsit as a professor of English at Daytona State College. When teaching writing classes and mentoring writers, I usually only suggest things I actually do myself as a writer, and this summer, I have been wading into dark water. I have been going into places that might be taboo, places that might spark my friends into thinking, “Could this be true?” even when it is not.

It’s difficult to wade into murk, where you call on emotions, ideas, or even experiences that are purposefully hidden, restrained, and/or painful – or even those that might seem dangerously shocking to admit (for you and for the reader). So my task for you, dear writers, is for you to wade with me. Write about something you dare not write about. You choose whether to fictionalize it or remain true.

Tread water, writers. See what keeps you afloat and makes you sink.

Michelle

PROCESS: EXPLORING THE CATALYST

As writers, we have the opportunity to counsel and heal ourselves through language. We can spill our hurt onto a page and, afterward, look at it from a distance. We have the opportunity to exorcise demons through imagery, then thumb our noses at them when they become nothing more than black letters in a file that we can easily close. But the key is the catalyst.

Try this: Write the name of something (a person, an object, a wish, a feeling, or a desire) that you cannot or should not have. Then, make a list of 5-10 reasons why. Then, next to those reasons, just down the way that makes you feel. If you are a poet, shape that list into a poem. If you are a fiction writer, shape that list into a rough idea for a short story. A non-fiction writer? Shape that list into a piece that reaches out to readers and says, It’s OK to feel this way.

FEATURED VENUE: SCYTHE LITERARY JOURNAL

Send Scythe 3 – 5 of your best poems, the ones that haunt you and stand by you and impel you to thrive. Send the poems that burn a hole in your hand when you cannot write them down fast enough. Send these poems in the body of an email to chenelle23@gmail.com. Online submission deadline: July 21, 2012

Submission guidelines here: http://scytheliteraryjournal.com/

PROMPT

“Taboo means ….” (2 min)

GUEST BLOGGER BIO: Michelle S. Lee is an assistant professor of composition, literature, and creative writing at Daytona State College.  She earned both her M.A. in Creative Writing and her Ph.D. in English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work, both poetry and fiction, has been featured in Tattoo Highway, Bateau Press, pacificReview, 580 Split, and Fickle Muses as well as other publications, but most recently has appeared in the journals, Sliver of Stone and Psychic Meatloaf.  Another poem is forthcoming this summer with Northwind magazine. You may contact her at leem@daytonastate.edu.

July 10, 2012 - Guest Blogger Nancy Napier

Hi friends & writers,

I was an Army Brat growing up so moving was just part of life. To remember the places I was leaving, I became good at taking “mind photos.” I still use the technique today (see below), especially when I write about a place.

I just returned from two weeks in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the morning I left I took a mind photo of the mannequins in shops selling skinny faded jeans or ethnic shirts or polyester business suits. The male torsos are big and square and the heads look like praying mantis heads without eyes, pointy and far too small in proportion to the torsos. They are shiny like black lacquer and since every store on Hang Gai uses them, the mannequin supplier in Vietnam must do a bang up business. The female mannequins are shiny white, with helmet hair heads and, if they are lucky, hands with long fingers. Too many, though, are handless, chopped off like thieves. 

~ Nancy Napier

PROCESS: MIND PHOTOS

A mind photo is simply that – a snapshot, usually small, that’s in your mind, not on a camera. Nothing big, nothing flashy, just a quick snapshot, tucked away for possible future viewing. For me, it was the narrow stone garage under our house at 15A Forsyth Avenue in Fort Riley, Kansas, made for an old car or horse carriage, not for a Chevy Impala.  Or, it was the school bus rocking back and forth in the morning when the older kids sang, “Under the Boardwalk.”  I imagined the bus step rocking away from me as I tried to step up.

Try this: Take a mind photo of something you see today and file it away for later use.

FEATURED VENUE: BREVITY

Brevity is an online journal that looks for short snappy nonfiction pieces, 750 words or less.  Good for reading, good in a classroom, and good examples for many of us.  

Submission guidelines here: http://brevitymag.com/submissions/

PROMPT

Take a mind photo of your desk and then write about one item on it that you forgot you had. (8 min)

GUEST BLOGGER BIO: I’m Nancy Napier, professor at Boise State University.  I study creativity a particular Gang…not your normal gang, but rather one of high performing, highly creative organizations that happen to be based in Boise, Idaho…..learn more from my books and blog:

My latest books....

 The Creative Discipline: The Art and Science of Innovation (2008)

 Insight: Encouraging Aha Moments for Organizational Success (2010)

My blog....
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativity-without-borders

July 3, 2012 - Guest Blogger Stacy Muszynski

Hi Tuesday Writers,

It's 93 degrees F in Austin, Texas. Not surprising. But the flowers outside my window here are standing tall and vibrant -- mainly because we had a quick, drenching surprise rain a few days ago. The flash lasted just long enough to make the sidewalks mirror-bright in the sun's reflection for about half and hour. Then it dried up, disappeared and was back to the mid-90s as if it never happened. Except for these gorgeous flowers.

People are like the weather. Complicated and surprising, much more moving invisibly beneath the surface of things than we realize. Whenever I'm surprised by people's behavior -- including my own -- I think to what an amazing writer and one of my favorite writing teachers told me: "People are never all just one way. Not even Hitler." I was reminded of this very thought a few hours ago when a friend sent me an email from that website cracked.com. In the email was a black and white photo of Hitler himself, moustached and winter booted, straddling a toboggan, in the snow, smiling his head off. If I didn't know better, he could have been anybody having some wintry fun and a really bad (facial) hair day. I never imagined him this way.

PROCESS: CUT THROUGH THE FACADE

When it comes to building realistic characters in our writing, having compassion for them is key, just as it is in our own human relationships. Nobody is all one way. Not even Hitler.

Try this: Consider a character or a person -- yourself, for example -- someone you know well. Jot down one or more ways what that character or person desires or wants in a situation conflicts with her/his actions or behaviors. How is what s/he says at odds with or opposite her/his behavior -- or how s/he wants the world to perceive her/him.

FEATURED VENUE: POST SECRET

Not all secrets direct a life of camouflaging behavior to distract from the secret, but a secret often remains a secret because, in hiding it, we act in ways to not be associated with that behavior. PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. Submissions are open 24/7. It's also an excellent source for generating thoughts.

Submission guidelines here: http://www.postsecretcommunity.com/news-faq/mail-secrets

PROMPT

“Nobody knows I _____” (5min)

GUEST WRITER BIO: Stacy Muszynski is a writer and editor. You can find her in Huffington Post, The Rumpus and elsewhere.