Writer's Relief: "Mine Your Dreams For Writing Ideas"

Some fun idea-generating ideas ... check it out!
The book referenced in the article is available at:

http://amzn.to/waSlsr 

ARTICLE LINK-> http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2012/01/creative-writing-dreams/

BOOK LINK-> http://amzn.to/waSlsr 

The Great Gatsby

"All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Just finished re-reading "The Great Gatsby" for the ??? time. This time for an upcoming "Writing the Contemporary Novel" course that begins tomorrow.

Post Your Writing Online: 3 Mistakes and 4 Tips (Writer's Relief)

Great article addressing the often preached, and seldom observed (at least by brand new authors who assume they know better than their mentors) advice & caution regarding posting pre-published work online. Check it out (click WR logo below) - it could save you from making some big mistakes!

First Things Last?

"The last thing we decide in writing a book is what to put first."  Blaise Pascal

An appropriate quote for the morning writing session. With two short fiction pieces revised & edited to a point that I am relatively happy with, it is time to jump back into the YA novel. This first chapter gave me a LOT of opportunities to grow and learn last fall. It underwent several complete re-writes, and that was after completely scrapping my initial project ("Lil' Ninja Adventures!") -- for now -- and starting work on this one ("Unconditional Betrayal" - working title).


The first couple chapters' revisions will be a bit time consuming, because of my decision to change our POV from 1st person to 3rd person narrative, which happened around chapter 6. Still stand behind that decision in spite of the extra work it created. Workshop feedback unanimously agreed and supported that call as well.

Another Productive Evening Session

‎"I make no complaint. I am a writer. I do not accept my condition; I will strive to change it; but I inhabit it, I am trying to learn from it." ~Salman Rushdie


Another productive evening, editing and revising until 1:30am. Completed the final revisions of a slightly longer short story (2375 words) that I wrote last fall ["Shadow Man" vs "The Black Folder" - both still working titles]. Hope to begin submitting it for publication consideration later this week ... wish me luck!

Late Night Editing

Well, I'm not crazy about the hours, but I must say that I LOVE how productive these late-night writing session are! Silent house, fresh coffee, quiet hum of the baby monitor ... priceless!


Just finished some final editing on a short story I wrote last fall [Working Title: Shadow Man]. Should be ready for submission tomorrow night! The flash fiction piece [Matchbox Tears] received a final "Thumbs-Up" from my Ideal Reader (IR) and is being "flung to the public" tomorrow ... thanks HLH :-) Should have a copy posted here around the same time period. Wish me luck!

Let the Rejection Letters Begin!!!

Finishing-up a 1am revision session on a flash-fiction piece that is "ready" to be submitted for publication this week. Let the rejection letters begin! :-)
All part of the process ... a 1% acceptance rate = 1 story submitted to 100 different markets OR 100 stories submitted to 1 publication. Either way - GOTTA DO THE WORK! There are no short-cuts in life.

Hoping to post a copy of the piece here to the blog this week and would LOVE your feedback/comments. Heads-up, if things go well, I may have to pull it from the blog temporarily when/if it gets published, at least during the publication period. Wish me luck!!!

Photo by Heather Hayduk @ Oriani Photography 

Flash Fiction from 1st Time Published Author- Kelly Wright

Stumbled across a nicely done piece of Flash Fiction from first-time published author Kelly Wright - check it out if you have a minute. I don't know her personally, but I would hope that she would do the same for me. Up-and-coming authors supporting up-and-coming authors!

All Mimsy

It was published by "Flash Fiction Online" in October 2011 - CONGRATS Kelly!

New Book from My Former YA Professor!

Check-out the latest title from an amazing children's author and my former YA Lit professor - Phyllis Shalant