Hannah In Hand!!!!

Yahoo! I received my FIRST print copy of 'Hannah' today!!!! It looks great. But, wouldn't you know, I've already spotted some typos we missed. Jeez, so many of us looked at it and still the little devils get through. Still, it was so exciting to see my words in print. Folks are being great about posting reviews! I wish more would, but those that did make me blush.

Getting some nice comments on my latest post to my FlashXer writer's group. Not with with the one I posted to Flasher's Dozen. But both sites gave me good reasons as to why my story worked or why it didn't. It all helps me toward being a better writer.

I've been doing a lot of blog radio interviews over the last few months. Some better than others depending on the interviewer. One interview was with a Newoka LaShelle of Dream Play Productions, LLC out of Atlanta, GA. After our first interview, she invited me back to discuss the writing of a novel process. They were great interviews in that she let me talk about the FUN of writing. Check out my website if you'd like to listen to some of the interviews, or search for Sharon Poppen at blogtalkradio.com .

I just finished reading 'Apple' by JOan Hobernicht. One of the most fast paced novels I've ever read. It is definitely a page turn. Do yourself a favor and check it out at Amazon.com, then buy it. You won't be sorry. Before 'Apple', I read 'Private Eyes' by Jonathon Kellerman. My only comment is to do yourself another favor. Avoid this boring read at all costs! Right now I'm reading 'Ida' by Carol Crawford McManus. I'm only into the first few pages, but it seems to be a fiction-based-on-fact telling of the story of one of McManus' ancestors. It was recommended to me by my dear friend Ann. She has recommended several books to me and they've all been excellent reads, so I'm looking forward to this one. Oh, and I just finished reading an on-line only collection of short stores, 'Revealing Moments' by Wayne Scheer at issuu.com/pearnoir/docs/revealing_moments . Here's the review I wrote for the piece. 'A wonderfully bittersweet read that can be appreciated by all ages - children relating to parents, aging spouses and survivors. The detail this author displays in his ability to show versus tell a story brings the reader right into the scene. He'll make you laugh, giggle and cry along with his rich, vivid characters. Do yourself a favor. Get a glass of wine and a box of tissues and settle in for a trip through family and self experiences.'

I'll leave you tonight with this, "My first book was rejected nine times. It turned out to be a best seller in 1953, Battle Cry" Leon Uris

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Lots going on! Where do I start??? First of all good news about some things getting published.

My ebook 'Hannah' is now available in print. Check it out either at virtualtales.com or at amazon.com. Folks have posted some great reviews!

Then my Irish tale, 'Finding More Than Gold', about a young lass going to find her gold in Alaska was picked up for publication by Awe-Struck Publishing. They have it on schedule for Jan. 2010! I've already had a preview of the potential book cover and they have done a great job of zeroing in on the two main characters, Abby and Tommy.

My local writer's group, Lake Havasu City Writers Group, puts out an anthology every two years. The next one is due out in 2010. I'm on the committee to make it happen. Jim, our new president, has set up a great website where all the submissions have been posted. Each member is allowed and encouraged to submit three pieces. We, on the committee, will read them and rank them as 1, 2 or 3, with #1 being the one we liked best. Every member will get at least one of their submissions published. Every year the anthology is a wonderful combination of fiction, memoirs, essays and poetry and every year the quality gets better and better!

I've been very lax with my on-line writing groups, but managed to crit and sub some pieces on each group over the last couple of days. Some amazing writers out there!!!

I hope to stay current with these blogs, but I'm in Calif. right now for the summer taking care of grandkids while they are on school break. I miss my desert hot weather, but being so far away from them most of the year, I really cherish these two months we spend together.

My quote for my life these days is "Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life." Dr. David M. Burns

Contract & Profanity

March 22, 2009

Had an eye opening meeting the other day with several members of my Four Goddesses crit. group. JOan is publishing her second book with Publish America (PA), while Lois and Cindie have just received their first contracts from them. I'm considering it for my gay/sci-fi epic. Joining us were Dave, who is considering publication of his anthropomorphic desert tale or a book of poetry, and Anne, who has a dramatic novel centered around Australia.

We discussed copyright in detail. Who applies for it and do we get/need a copy of it in our files? Who gets the rights to the submitted piece and for how long? What about foreign rights? What about distribution to the author and on-line sellers like Amazon and such? What about the cover art? Cost? Willingness to use the author's own artwork? Author cost for each book and of course the royalty percentage. What are the writer's expectations as to editing and marketing? Advantages/disadvantages of companies that charge for publishing like Xlibris versus no upfront charges as offered by PA.

Depending on trust levels, reality levels and frustration levels with going through traditional agents/publishers, many concerns were put to rest or highlighted. JOan's information and experience with PA certainly convinced me that they were a respectable venue for me to consider. Damn! I do so hate the administrative part of the writing process. Anyone out there willing to give me an hour or hour and half five days a week to do my submitting for me? I'll pay all postage and printing. Granted while I write and they submit our income is zilch, but should we 'hit' it. I'd be willing to give that person 50% of all earnings from the book they get sold to a traditional 'big time' publisher.

Anyway, it was a great meeting with such an enthusiastic and supportive bunch of friends.

Saturday was the bi-monthly meeting of the Lake Havasu City Writers Group LHCWG. Big turnout. Jim took over as chairperson. I was supposed to get outgoing presents for those leaving office, but I had a senior moment or two and let him down. He finessed it beautifully. He got the members to agree to pay for the gifts! I had submitted an excerpt from my novel 'The Woman Between'. Overall, I got good feedback. Did have one person who is having trouble with my use of four letter words in the dialog as spoken by cowboys around the turn of the century. They didn't sign their name, but if I could talk with them, I would explain like this. I try to stay with the technology/dress of the period. Like I'd never have my cowboys mount a Ford Bronco in 1901 and ride off into the sunset. Obviously, he mount his horse. Also, my citified brother would not be wearing a Brooks Brothers suit. He sports a frock coat. But, when it comes to language, I want the current day reader to get into the moment, the temper, the mood of the speakers. I checked and found the word f--- has been used since the 16th century. Did the western cowboy use this word? I don't know, for sure. But, I do know that my reader needs to get put into the scene by dialog that they understand. Look at Shakespeare. I used to hate it because the words made no sense to me. I took a class and a professor helped clarify meanings until I had studied it enough to see the meanings for myself. I don't write at the Shakespeare level, nor do I attract that reader. My reader lives and thinks in the 21st century and I need to use words of the 21st century. So, I'm sorry if my dialog offends some, I will continue to use it as necessary. Besides, as a woman, I have enough trouble trying to create believable male dialog for my characters, so as to limit myself to the propriety or the 1930s writings of Gray or L'Amour. Enough said.

After the meeting we gathered at Denny's. Fun and Informative. Oh, had a fun moment when Donna, a new LHCWG member, showed us her Kindle. While we talked over our coffee, she bought 'Hannah', my western novel, and downloaded it for all to see. EXCITING!!! It may not be the NY Times list, but it was such a kick to see Hannah on her electronic reader!

On Friday, after the contract meeting, Cindie and I went to see 'Duplicity'. We left the theatre dizzy. Talk about plot twists. The actors were good, the dialog snappy and overall it was the type of movie you need to see twice to pick up all the twists and turns you missed the first time around.

Today, I'm heading over to Laughlin, NV. The country group Confederate Railroad is going to be at the Edgewater Casino on April 4th. Love that group, so we are going to get some tickets. Darn casino won't let you order them. Guess they want you to have to walk past all those slot machines to get to the order booth. Good marketing on their part, pain in the neck for the customer.

So, hope your Sunday is going well. In line with my discussion about contracts, I leave you with this bit of advice from Frank Crane. "You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough."

Fiction verson Non-Fiction

March 19, 2009

Lots going on around here. Keeping me busy, but providing lots of fun. There was a problem with this blog feeding into my website for awhile, but I believe that's been fixed, so we're all back on board for now. But, with these computers, one never know.

So, what's been happening since the end of Feb. Lots! On the 28th, I made a trip up to Laughlin with friends. We stopped on the way to visit my mother's grave. Her birthday was the 29th. The visit got me to thinking about writing fiction versus non-fiction. Non-fiction is so darn hard for me. Over eleven years ago, I started a memoir about the women in my family. Because I knew my great grandmother quite well, I thought it would be interesting for my newly born granddaughter to learn about the women in her ancestry from a first person point of view. It's pretty much completed and contains stats and memories of great grandma, grandma, mom, me, my daughter and my granddaughter. But, it was a labor. Not fun. Oh, the women are all great and writing about them brought good memories, but dealing with truth is not near as much fun as my fiction characters. I've made a goal for myself to get it done and have to them for Christmas. Well, at least it's a goal.

On March 10th I did another blog radio interview. This time is was with Destiny Debbie who originates in England. It was great! It started at 6:00 a.m. Ariz. time and lasted two hours. And, we had call ins! One in Florida, one in Pennsylvania and a guy from Canada who only wanted to know if we believed in Jesus. But, the others all had interesting questions regarding copyright and publishing. It went by so fast! And, I've been invited to do it again in July.

On the 12th, the local college had a short program on Irish songs and humor. Prof. Dr. Montbriand, who teaches English/Shakespeare at the college played the ukulele, guitar and sang. Quite a few of my local writer's group attended.

Then, that night my Four Goddesses book club met for our monthly crit session. I had submitted an excerpt from my novel in progress 'The Woman Between'. Got some great positives and some very helpful negatives on it. By the way, I wrote 'The End' to the novel on Sunday.

'The End'. For me, it's the hardest part of the whole process. Does it settle everything? Or, do I leave the reader hanging. I had intended to have a reunion of the two main characters after a number of years had passed, but when the heroine accepts a certain responsibility and then is given blessing by those who had held back any friendship, warmth or acceptance, it seemed the perfect place to stop. I also ended it so that the first word of the novel has her saying 'yes' and the last word of the novel is 'yes'. Dave is critting it, so I'll know if it worked or not in a couple of days.

But, now with 'The End' written, I'm left feeling at odds. I love novels/sagas, so I need to start again. Soon. I did manage to write a short story 'Pastrami versus Tuna Salad' for my on-line groups and I'm getting great feedback. One man said he was reading Robert B. Parker and he thought mine writing was a good. I liked hearing that.

Coincidentally, on the 14th, my book club met and we discussed Robert B. Parker. It was lively. The biggest complaint was his over tell of descriptions of how people were dressed. Also, his relationships with women made his seem sleazy to me. The dialog was top notch. One of the last questions I ask is whether they would read him again. The yes votes outnumbered the no votes by only one.

On the personal side, I've been having dinner out a lot. Went to see 'Slumdog Millionaire'. It was alright, but didn't measure up to 'Gran Torino' in any way. Then we went to see 'The Reader'. Very deep, very good. I agree that Kate Winslet deserved an oscar. Still it didn't measure up to 'Gran Torino', in my opinion. Saw 'Taken' with Liam Neeson. Other than enjoying his looks, the picture was a bore of over killing and unbelievable plot. Although, the one scene where he's talking to his daughter on a cell phone when she's abducted, brought a chilling memory of the time my daughter Kim called me from a phone booth in London. It was like four in the a.m. there and dark outside. A man tried to break into the booth. She was screaming and I had visions of hearing my daughter killed 5000 miles away from me. That part of the movie was pretty effective. Although, he was far more focused than I was.

Adios for now with my opening remarks on memoirs, I'll leave you with this quote that is so true of my of my feelings about my female ancestors. "The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds." Tyron Edward

Blog Radio-Readings-UFOs

February 27, 2009

Yesterday was my blog radio interview with DJ Knightman who broadcasts out of Shepherdsville, Kentucky. You can listen to it at http://knightriderradio.ning.com/ . It was a blast. He is primarily a music DJ and usually showcases musicians and music writers, but occasionally he invites authors. He allowed me to talk in-depth about my books and classes. We touched a little on my personal life and how I got started with this writing thing. I thought it was going to be an hour, but it ran almost an hour and a half. He played some great country music to break up the dialog, but overall it was talk about my books. I'm sending him a copy of After the War, Before the Peace.

He had some interesting ideas about reading our books on line, like audio books. One could log onto their computer and 'listen' to a novel, a chapter at a time, over a period of a couple of days. He also talked about having all his authors back on line at the end of the year for a recap of the type of year we've had. He also mentioned booksignings in his area. It's definitely something to think about.

Then, after the interview, it was off to our local Hastings Book Store for our local writer's club night of readings. About a dozen folks showed up. The stories/poems were top quality. One even brought the reader/author to tears with a story about the loss of his dog. I did a St. Patrick's story about drinking and leprechauns. Of course, half of us stayed on after the readings for some good chit chat. Then, Dave and I went to Denny's for a late night supper. He is just on the edge of self-publishing either his desert tortoise story or a collection of his poems. Either way, they're good, but I keep stressing that he do it for himself, not the money. That might come, but the satisfaction of seeing your work in print is the real advantage of self-publishing.

Today, Dave and I met for our regular crit session of my The Woman Between and his poetry. He says he's getting into my story and now likes the women and can accept the fact that Stephen's first and second wives are developing a friendship. The healing of bad blood between the brothers still eludes him, but he feels it will make sense and satisfy my type of reader. I hope he's right. As to his poetry, it is hard for me to be honest because his work is all so personal. I have trouble with him using foreign phrases and terms. It takes me out of the mood of the poem. I tell him that when I read poetry, or fiction for that matter, I don't want education, I want feeling. If I want to know about the terms of castes or religious persons in India, I'll read a non-fiction book. When I come upon a foreign word, I'm out of the scene/mood and it ruins the read for me. I hope I don't hurt his feelings.

I received my copy of the movie God's Little Acre. It kept to the book fairly close. Lots of well-known actors and actresses. It was depressing and funny all at the same time.

Tomorrow, I'm off to visit my mom's grave over in Needles. Her birthday is Feb. 29th. I bring flowers to her grave on Christmas and her birthday each year. I have three friends going with me, so after the visit we'll travel to the casinos for grub and gold, don't I wish!

I love Sci-Fi and especially, Arthur C. Clarke. So, when I came upon this quote it made me laugh with its probability to be true. Enjoy and ponder. "Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it."

Characters - Gaining Control

February 25, 2009

Again, another week gone by. It was a fun busy week of friends, clubs and best of all writing.

Managed to move The Woman Between forward every day. I'm so close to the end, but the characters are still giving me trouble. It's almost like having kids with minds of their own. And, the problem is that sometimes when they fight me on how I think they should act, they turn out to be right. I'll miss them when I write The End.

Also, I finished all the editing and printing on Deborah's Story. I gave the book to Bobbi, a gal who had just finished After the War, Before the Peace. She really hates Deborah, so I wanted her to read this and see if it's a believable turn in Deborah's character. Bobbi says she just reads for content and won't see any typos, but I feel she'll still do me a favor if she gives me her take on the plot and character evolution. Then, she said she'd give it to another friend, Wanda. Wanda is good at catching typos. Once I get it back, I'll send it to that publisher recommended by Anne.

The TelecomPioneer garage sale went well. We were busy, had a good turn out and made over $700 dollars. The folks were great with donating goods to sell and with all the work involved in set-up, sell and clean up. I had a writer's meeting on Saturday, so we closed shop at 11:10 a.m. and by 11:40 the group had boxed up our left overs and loaded them into a truck for a guy who came to haul off our stuff for a garage sale of his own. I'm just glad it's over for another year!

Saturday was the Lake Havasu City Writer's Group meeting. BIG attendance. Almost too many folks. We got bogged down in procedure again, but overall it went well. I got good feedback on my Freedom submission. This time we were to submit our 250 word assignment for the prompt 'A Stranger in a Foreign Land'. I revamped my old story The Move about a woman with macular degeneration being put in an assisted living home by her son. Looking forward to their comments.

Sunday, Karen and I went to see Taken with Liam Neeson. Too much shoot 'em up and not enough plot. I know with those types of movies, you often have to let things pass that seem obviously over done, but this was so extreme in some scenes that I found it hard to swallow. I really like Neeson, but this wasn't one of his best. Can't compare to his role in Michael Collins.

Monday, I had lunch with Donna. We like that we've set up the last Monday of the month as our lunch date. Otherwise, we let too much time go by.

Tuesday, the TelecomPioneers met to choose what Lake Havasu City high schoolers would be receiving our scholarships. We picked a girl and a boy. Nice kids. Seem like they have their heads on straight. We got into a discussion on writing recommendations because so many of the teachers used plastic phrases over and over again, like 'excellent student', 'star of my class', 'outstanding', 'extraordinary' and such. The recommendations became useless because of the pat phrases that really said nothing. Specifics would have helped. So, looks to me like the rules of fiction would have helped these teachers help their students more effectively with things like - John is a pleasure to have in my class (hook). He is first to raise his hand to start discussions and always listens to an opposing opinion with respect before debating the issue (conflict/action). As a result, his peers value his opinions and look to him for leadership (conclusion).

This morning was a TelecomPioneer Hug-A-Bear assembling session. Made some cute St. Patrick ones. I could just see some little kid afraid and crying in an emergency room and he's handed one of the little bears to hug. I just know it will help him through his trauma.

Lunch today with fellow writer, Gina, down by the London Bridge Village. Good food and good company. We talked about writing, of course. She was an English teacher and gives such good feedback at our meetings.

Guess I'm caught up now. Oh, got a rejection from Bewildering Stories ezine on my Careful What You Feed submission. The editor said it was strong writing, but the plot had holes that made it unbelievable. Really nice crit instead of a form letter rejection. They did say they'd like to see more of my writing, so I take that as a good sign.

So my quote for today, is from Leon Uris. It capsulizes why he is probably one of my favorite writers. "Writing, basically breaks down to relationships between people and that is what you write about."

Respect for the Reader

February 18, 2009

A busy day getting ready for our Telephone Pioneers garage sale this week-end, but managed to make the afternoon mine as to writing. So, was able to move The Woman Between forward. It's getting harder everyday. As 'The End' draws closer, I'm seeing different endings and the characters are being stubborn as to how they are being portrayed. Their actions must ring true and make sense to a reader who has invested time in reading the book. Authors need to be true to their writer's voice, but I feel we owe our readers respect in what we expect them to buy in the way of story line and character resolution.

Also, worked on Deborah's Story. Only two chapters left to go, then I can turn it over to a couple of folks for editing opinions, then it's off to some publishers.

Managed to send a short story Be Careful What You Feed off to an ezine. I used a made-up word 'phot' to describe an alien life form from the planet Mars that feeds on humans. Their guidelines say no gratuitous violence, but I think this the violence in this one really completes the story. Time will tell if the ezine agrees. They promise to respond in three days and have an accept/reject back within five weeks.

That's it for today except for this quote from Dorothy Fields that is so true of what I'm experiencing right now with my ending to The Woman Between.

"I don't care how good a song is - if it holds back the storyline, stalls the plot, your audience will reject it."

Feb. 17, 2009

Moved The Woman Between along today. Actually, I'm rather sad as it is coming to a conclusion and in order to keep all the characters likable, I'm having some closure problems. Lots of scenarios rolling around in my head as this could go so many ways. What fun.

Then, I worked for awhile in getting Deborah's Story cleaned up for a final edit by a couple of friends. I want to send it out to a publishing company over in Australia that Anne Connors recommended to me.

I'm getting some good feedback on my interview with Rebekkah White. I listened to it again and I didn't like it as much this time. I guess I'll just chalk it up to a learning experience and try to do better with the interview on the 26th.

One of my on-line writing groups is going through a dilemma right now as to whether political based stories, essays or poems are appropriate to this particular writing group. Lots of good arguments both for and against. The moderator referred the group to the overall rules for participation which state that any topic can be addressed, but the subject line must include a warning as to political, sexual or religious content, so reader beware. I think it's a good policy. I'd hate to think any form of writing in almost any venue being limited. That's the beauty of freedom. And, the way things are going, freedoms are eroding far too fast. I think back to the freedoms I grew up with that are no longer available - you could ride your bike without a helmet, parents could spank their children, seat belts were optional, prayers were acceptable in schools, Christmas creches could be displayed in public buildings, guns weren't registered with government and your backyard was your own and you could smoke there if you wanted to. These are just a few of the freedoms lost during my lifetime. I hate to think what my grandchildren will yet lose. So, lets don't limit opinions be they yours or someone else. Just agree to disagree in some cases, but don't turn it over to the 'wisdom' of government.

Okay, I'm stepping down from the soap box now, but let me leave you with some good advise from Ray Bradbury.

"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way." Juan Ramon Jimenez, quoted at the start of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Rain? Again?

Feb. 16, 2009

A quiet day around here. Moved my 'Between Two Women' forward. I'm nearly to the conclusion and I find that it one of the hardest part of the book to write. Hopefully, I've hooked the reader with the premise and have engaged them in the characters. Now, I owe them a reasonable conclusion that justifies their time in reading the book. My goal with this book is to take my reader through the emotional ties of brotherhood and the importance of finding and keeping someone who brings the same kind of deep ties as does brotherhood, but at an even more intimate level. I will miss these characters when its over.

I reviewed the most clever piece from Anne Connors. It was a tongue in cheek story about the yearly clashes of our Havasu locals with the visiting snowbirds. Very well written and a joy to review.

Cindie Miller has sent me the opening pages of her book to review. It's a sad story. I'm looking forward to the read as Cindie gets into the depth of her characters quite nicely and I know that the plot/message of this piece is timely and interesting.

I feel bad that I'm slighting my on-line writing groups, but what with the book fair and all the book signings, I'm not able to devote the time to the crits that their subs deserve. Oh, well, there's always tomorrow.

It's raining right now. For God's sake, don't the Gods know it isn't supposed to rain in the desert. This is the third or fourth rain storm since the first of the year. What gives? And it is the coldest winter I can remember in the 15 years I've lived here. Thank goodness for global warming or I'd be freezing to death. :-) This dreariness needs to pass and allow sushine and blue skies to fill the desert landscape and allow a creative warmth to cheer up my darkened mood. I'm reminded of a quote by D. H. Lawrence.

"And what's romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like It, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose and it's always daisy-time. " D. H. Lawrence

Time-Writing-Books-Movies-Publishing

February 15, 2009

Time, time, time! Where does it go? I remember distinctly when time moved along like a snail, now it roars on like a greyhound. So much has happened since the first of February that I scarcely know where to begin.

I guess it's best to begin with my Spring Frenzy classes. They were wonderful again this year. I'm so glad they see fit to ask me back year after year. I've had a spurt in book sales these past couple of weeks and I think it has to do with getting out to meet the public more. My Journaling class was well received, more than 30 attendees and many of them had attended my Short Story class the day before. On Thursday I attended Pat Agnew's class on 'How to Talk to Your Doctor'. She drew a nice crowd and they received some great info. JOan and Vivien were there, too.

Friday, I met with Dave for our exchange of crits. He is having a problem liking Stephen and I'm not happy to hear about that. My goal is to make the reader like all three main characters. Also, he didn't care for the new woman in Stephen's life. I'll really have to review his notes. In order for the conclusion to work, they have to be likable characters. I'm glad to get his take on them. The story is not his cup of tea, so I feel like I'm getting honest feedback.

Had our local writer's group meeting on the 7th and got feed back on my 'Reunion' piece. Mostly good, but some punctuation and dangling participle problems, but overall they liked the characters. Who could ask for more.

Two of the gals in my morning exercise class just got through reading my 'After the War, Before the Peace.' They really liked the characters. One wants more info on the family and is willing to read one of the sequels. I'm trying to get it ready for her. Oh, I heard from the publisher I sent 'Regardless' to. They turned it down. No feedback, just a form letter. Grrrrrr. I'm going to send it out again, and again, and again. It's a darn good book!

On Feb. 10th, authors, Joan Hobernicht and Tom Novak, drove down to Quartzsite with me for another booksigning. They both sold one copy of their books, but I only sold two to the bookstore owner who likes to keep some books of anyone who signs books at his place. He says folks often come back later and want to buy a book they talked to the author about, but didn't buy it right then. Oh well, it was a nice day. Visited with Debbie Hilbish again. She's a sweetie. Her husband brought me a cup of coffee and I ended up spilling it all over my table and ruining three books.

When I got home from Quartzsite, I found a letter from Triple Tree Publishing in my mailbox and they have accepted my short story 'The Gift' for publication in their MOTA 9 anthology. I get a complimentary copy of the book and they are paying me .05 a word and it's around a 5,000 word story. Yahoo!!!

On Wednesday, I had an appointment with my hair dresser Liz. She has been encouraging me to read 'The Shack'. I did not like it at all. In fact, there was a line where 'God' told the bereft man that he had been with the man's six year old daughter the whole time she was abused and murdered and that she had been so brave. It made me sick to my stomach. And what I didn't understand was how the readers could accept and like a 'God' who could not stop the brutal murder of a child, but can spend a week-end with a man to absolve his 'great sadness' over the loss of the child. Well, Liz said that she had seen some seminars by the author and the book was all symbolism and that the shack was actually his soul. I told her he missed the point, badly. I've spoken to several folks who've read the book and didn't like it at all. Yet, it has sold millions. Several of us writers have decided that we need to write a book about 'God' and will make millions. People are searching, so if you can offer a limb that promised the tree of eternity, they'll grab for it. Oh, and by the way, Liz didn't take my dismissal of the book personal. I got a great color and cut, like always!

Thursday was an exciting day! I had a Blog Talk Radio interview with Rebekkah White. I was a little nervous about it, but it went well. She gave me a great intro for both me and for 'After the War, Before the Peace'. We discussed the strong women in my book and how it is often the women who hold families together. She let me advertise my class on Long Story Short and 'Hannah'. It turned out to be a lot of fun! I listened to it later and actually liked it.

Then that night was our Four Goddesses regular Denny's meeting. Got feedback on 'Connections'. All agreed it was creepy and a good reversal of the old getting ahead in entertainment via the couch story.

Friday, we had our book club and reviewed the works of Erskine Caldwell. Overall, most wouldn't read him again. But several of us liked his work. He was able to combine great sadness with some smart humor and that it is hard to do. I read 'God's Little Acre' and really enjoyed it, despite it's sad message. I tried to rent the video, but Blockbuster didn't have it. I found it on Ebay and bought it for $1.00. The actor Aldo Ray is in it and I do like him.

Then yesterday was the Lake Havasu City Writers Group Book Fair. It was fun! Met lots of really nice folks and sold all but two of my books, including the coffee stained ones! I didn't get to attend the workshops, but I did get to talk about my books and introduce Peter Brookhousen of Hastings Books, Music and Videos. He's so good to us local authors! Debbie Hilbish was there and sat right next to me. She and her mom are huggers, warm and friendly folks. Debbie's husband seems like a real good guy and they obviously adore each other. After the fair ended, a bunch of us headed to Denny's for another hour. I do enjoy their company!

Today was a take it easy day. I stayed in my sweats all day. Wrote some more on 'The Woman Between', answered email and just vegged out. I watched two movies. 'The Happening' - I love Mark Wahlberg, but the movie was a big dud, too bloody and too illusive. 'Finding Forester' - just okay, very cliched story only in reverse. Underprivileged, young, black saves privileged, old, white recluse.

Now, I think I'll watch a Law & Order episode and maybe do some more writing. And, in the future, I'll try to remember and adhere to the advise of the following quote.

"Nothing is as far away as one minute ago." Jim Bishop

February 2, 2009

Other than my daily doses of 'The Woman Between', not much writing going on between Monday and Thursday. Lots of time spent with friends outside my writer's world, except for one lunch with Vern. Always an interesting person to chat with. He has had a varied life with his hand in many pies. He's an excellent writer, but hasn't been doing much writing lately. I hope that changes, and soon. He and I disagree totally when it comes to politics. He frequently tells me, 'You are one of the most intelligent women I know, so how can you be a Republican?' I always laugh and return the comment except to ask how he cannot be a Republican. He claims to have read and enjoyed 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. Just goes to show how complicated a mind can be!

On Friday, Pat Agnew, Vern and I drove to Quartzsite, AZ for a booksigning. It was held at the Reader's Oasis Bookstore. The Quartzsite annual gem show is in progress, so the town is packed. If you've never been to their gem show, you have missed an 'experience'. Well, back to the booksigning. The owner of the bookstore is Paul Winer. Here is a picture of him in his store.

He is a poet, a former dancer and a very interesting conversationalist. Operates a well stocked, varied store, too. He draws a big crowd, but they are most Looky Lous. Didn't sell any books, but met several other writers and some interesting visitors to Quartzsite.

The week-end was spent getting ready for my classes for Spring Frenzy. Today I had 37 attendees at my 'So You Want to Write Short Stories' class. They were a very attentive class, with great comments and questions. Tomorrow is my 'Journaling' class. It's always a fun one and now I include blogging.

I finally finished my Alan Dean Foster book, 'Cachalot'. I do love his books, usually. But, this one left me cold. I'm glad it's over. Talking whales was too much of a stretch for me and his characters lacked the depth I've come to expect in his books. I have to reread 'God's Little Acre' for my Feb. 13 book club, but the next book I'll be reading is 'The Shack' by Wm. Paul Young. My hairdresser has recommended it to me. She was raised by missionaries and we often talk about my concerns about the existence of a God and if there is one, what should we expect from such a God. I hope this book answers my concerns, but I have my doubts.

Time to get some rest so I'll be bright and erudite for my journaling class for tomorrow, so adios.

"This is pretty much what journals are all about, at least to me. I knew as I wrote them that even though they provided an excellent place for brain and heart and psyche dump, they were mainly a map of me." Colleen Wainwright

To Detail or Not To Detail

January 26, 2009

Had a quiet week-end with no meetings. I spent Saturday working with my on-line writing groups playing catch-up. I reworked an old story to meet the prompt of one group and using the new prompt actually made the story better. Then, I combined the prompts from two others and wrote a new story about an abused wife who has had enough and puts a permanent stop to it. The feedback has been interesting. The story focuses on what she does. Only hints of the why are given - black eyes, cheating, on-going treatment and an abusive father. One of the groups liked it very much and felt it hit the mark without getting caught up in maudlin details. The other group felt it was almost an outline. They didn't feel her pain or understand what got her to that point. I just love it when my stories can be read so many different ways.

Last Thursday night was our monthly Hastings meeting. Good crowd showed up. The readings were good, as always, and the conversation very stimulating. Got lots of good reviews of 'The Shack'. I must start reading it so I can discuss it with Liz when I see her in the next few weeks.

Friday I met with Dave for our crits. He's giving me good feedback on 'The Woman Between'. I try to give him good feedback on his poetry, but I have two problems. One, his work is so good that it's hard to find fault and second, I don't know poetry rules, so I can only tell him how it makes me feel. I suppose that's helpful, but he really needs to work with another poet.

Speaking of my 'The Woman Between', the brothers rumble worked out well. The stronger brother actually ended up with a broken nose. Now I'm heading into the end of the story and it is sad for one brother and a new start for the other brother. I just hope it's working. Dave tells me he is liking the wild brother better, which is probably a good thing.

Half the time when brothers wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other." James Patterson

slan agat (goodbye)

Regardless in the Mail

January 21, 2009

'Regardless' is in the mail. I can only hope the editor Gods find favor with the story and I get a positive response. But, at least it's out there to be judged. Did I mention that I hate the administrative side of this lovely writing experience. I once told Shirley Wolford, a widely published friend of mine who passed away last fall, that I was looking for someone who would give me an hour a day to work on the administrative necessity to sell/publish what I've written. I told her that I would pay for all the copying and postage. Then, should we hook up with a publisher and make money, I would be willing to share any profits 50/50. She looked at me like I was crazy. "50%," she yelled. "Are you crazy?" I laughed and told her that, in my opinion, 50% of something was a whole lot better than the 100% I get when I don't do any submitting. She just laughed and said she had to agree.

I also found time to send off a short story to The Chick Lit Review and am now working on sending something out to Bent Pin, an ezine. But, that takes away from my time with my writing. I'm still managing to move 'The Woman Between' ahead each day. Today was fun. The brothers are about to rumble. I love working with the dialog that will lead to a few punches.

Had our local writer's meeting on Saturday. Lots of good subs, lots of good crits. I had submitted an excerpt from 'The Woman Between' and it went over well. Most commented that they could 'smell' the cigar smoke. I appreciated hearing that!

We had a lot of discussion at the meeting about doing research. Yep, you don't want a guy in 1860 driving a Ford. But, how much 'fact/teaching' should be included in a ficion novel? I know how annoyed I was in reading 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown. I was bored to death with his 'number of steps', 'bolts in the frame' and such. I only finished it because he was the author of the month in my book club. When I read fiction, I want characters working their way through a story. So, in my opinion, research, but don't insert an educational book into my fiction novel. JMHO.

Heard from Anne Conners today. She's back in town. She says she hasn't been doing much writing, so she's eager to work with the local group. She is such a talented writer in both prose and poetry. I was glad to hear that she is thinking about self-publishing her novel. We talked about Xlibris, which has done well by me. But, Publish America has been very good to JOan Hobernicht, so I told her to check it out.

Tomorrow is our reading night at Hastings. I always look forward to that and to the discussions we get into after the readings are over.

This is not a political sight, but I must mention yesterday. I didn't always agree with George W. Bush, but I respect the sincerity of the man and his duty to country. There was some booing yesterday and it made me sick. Of course, the group I saw booing looked like prison retreads so I guess they wouldn't recognize a good man. I hope that President Obama turns out to be one of our great presidents and that he uses his time in office to help keep America the great country of insured freedoms that we all cherish and want to continue. I want him to protect our borders and keep terrorists from our land. But, I desperately hope that we Americans keep our free choice in medicine, guns, relationships and state's rights. Protect our borders, but leave us our freedoms in our daily lives.

So, I agree with Mark Twain who said, "Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it."

dóchas and saoirse!

Manuscript Prep - Grrrrrrr

Jan. 16, 2008

What a week. I received a call from Lois who said she found a publisher that might be interested in my Romance/Sci Fi 'Regardless'. It has a gay situation and my problem when I was sending it out a couple years ago was, that the gay publishers didn't like the sci-fi aspect and the sci-fi publishers didn't want gay issues. I checked out the site she suggested and she could be right, this publisher might be interested. But, they only take hard copy, snail mail subs. So, I've spent the last four days working on it. I've had a couple folks read it, so I had so great upgrades to work with.

When I originally wrote it, I put each chapter in a separate file. I always print out a hard copy of my work and copy it to a disc. When I initially wrote 'Regardless', I saved it on floppy discs (remember them?). Each time I upgraded computers, there have been three, I copied 'Regardless' to the new computer. Up until now, I've not lost a file. I could always use my backup. So, much to my dismay, when I got to Chapter 7, it was missing. So, to the floppy I went. It refused to open Chapter 7, said it was corrupted. One of my computers takes the floppy and and the CD discs, so I tried to copy the floppy to a CD, but no go. As a result, I had 25 pages to type. But, the upside to that was, that I really got to visit with my characters, who I dearly love.

So, between retyping some of it, I've been cut and pasting all 14 chapters into on long file, which how I do my novels now. I've now got it all formatted, with page breaks and all. Now, I wonder if I should reread it one more time before I print it and send it out. I believe that if a publisher takes your manuscript, you have another shot at editing before it goes to print. Grrrr, how I hate the administrative part of writing. But I did enjoy spending this week with Tom and Michael.

I am making time (about 30 minutes) each day to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm at an awkward segment where I'm trying to bond Stephens ex-wife and current wife in friendship. It's driving their men crazy and so much fun to work with these women.

Oh, I did take time out to go see Gran Torino again. Wow! The man I saw it with is a veteran, though not of Korean. He was so moved by the movie, he could hardly talk afterwards. Lots to think about and the ending is ..., I'm at a loss for words.

Tomorrow is my local writer's group meeting. I missed the last one, so I don't have subs to crit. Feels strange. I always look forward to the stimulation that the group engenders.

I've been lax on all my on-line groups due to 'Regardless'. I miss them.

And so I leave you with - '"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." E.L. Doctorow

slan a fhagail ag duine (goodbye)

He'd or He did - What to do!

January 2, 2009

Had an interesting discussion recently on the use of 'd in narrative. Feedback that I received from one of my on-line groups said that in dialogue the use of she'd or he'd and such is acceptable. But, in the narrative, you must spell out 'did'. A couple of writer friends say that's not a rule. It's just someone's preference. I can't find that rule anywhere, so I'm just going to look for it in the novels that I'm reading.

A wonderful day of writing. Added more to 'The Woman Between' and I'm happy with the way the story plot is allowing an odd friendship to blossom. Then, I received a call from Lois who is going to submit a manuscript to Gray Wolf Press. In reading their submission requirements, I find that they will accept stories about gays. I would so much like for my 'Regardless' to make it to print. I checked out the site. They don't want sci-fi or romance, but I think 'Regardless' rises about that. So, I decided to get it ready to send out. I have it written in fourteen different word documents, a chapter in each one. Today, I put the first four chapters together and did a lot of editing. Hopefully, I can have it ready to mail out by this weekend. What the heck, all they can say is 'no thanks'.

Denise sent more info about this 30 second blog 'commercial'. I've never done anything like that, so I'm a little nervous. I'm going to listen to blog radio and see how the ones already on line sound and maybe then I'll feel more relaxed about it. I'm not sure about my voice. I think in some ways its raspy deepness is effective, but in other ways I think it can be annoying. But, this whole experience sounds exciting.

Oh, got word that 'Hannah' probably won't be available in print until the end of February. I did so want to have it for sale at my Spring Frenzy classes. They are coming up on Feb. 2nd, Short Story Writing, and Feb. 3rd, Journaling. I know I already have some attendees signed up. I just love doing it. I meet the most interesting people.

I need to call my writer/artist friend Jean over in Oxnard. I didn't hear from her at Christmas, so it worries me. She sure could write the mysteries and her navy memories from when she was a Wave in WWII were so interesting.

Well it's back to work on 'Regardless' for awhile, so I'll leave you with this thought. "Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it's just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it." David Sedaris

A New Year, A New Start

January 11, 2009

Ahhh, so little time so much life to live. I don't make New Year's resolution, as a rule. But, I am promising myself to do a better job of blogging in 2009. For one thing, it helps me keep my writing as a top priority in my life. I'm home from California and while I had a great holiday with the family, I'm a firm advocate of Dorothy's sentiment - "There's no place like home!"

Let's see, what have I been doing since my last post. In early December, I attended Shakespeare's 'A Midsummers Night's Dream' as presented by my friend Cindie's students at Parker High School. It was a darling presentation. Her students put their heart and soul into the scenery, music and acting. Cindie did a wonderful job bringing everything together for the standing room only audience the play drew.

My book club had its annual Christmas story meeting. I brought a book on Ireland that told of their traditions between Christmas Eve and January 6th. It also contained a how-to for decorations and a lovely Irish fairy tale about a poor Irish lass who appears only on Christmas Eve, each year, to feed the poor and homeless. It was an interesting book. I gave it to my daughter for her book collection.

Had my crit meeting for my 'The Woman Between' with Dave. He is pointing out ways to improve the story/writing, but I'm really pleased about is that he is liking the three main characters, which is what I'm trying to accomplish. He said some nice things about my creating scenes that bring the reader into the moment and asked if I 'live' the scene. And, I do.

Had our Havasu writer's meeting where my 'Not Accused, Found Guilty' was critted. Lots of good feedback. It's not one of my favorite stories, but the feedback has me reevaluating it and I may send it out to a couple of places.

Our Lake Havasu City Writers Group ( havasuwriters.com ) had its annual Christmas party on Dce. 20th. What a fun party. Veronica outdid herself in opening her gaily decorated home to the group. Lots of good food, lots of good desserts, lots of good wine and a fun filled gift exchange. I came home with a talking Christmas tree!

I drove to Calif. on Dec. 22 and stayed there until Jan. 5th. Had a wonderful Christmas with the kids and grandkids. Oh, there was some excitement. My dog Twinkle bit my niece. It was a small nip, so I hope it won't leave any scaring. But, despite the fact that the dog had all her shots, I had to keep her quarantined at my daughter's house for ten days. Grrrrr. Why do we have to get the dog shots?????

Had our Four Goddesses writer's meeting at Denny's on the 8th. It was great getting back with Cindie, JOan and Lois. They critted my story, 'Old Friends and Revelations'. Good feed back from one, but lots of upgrades from another. I love it when readers see, or miss, different aspects of my stories.

Dave and I met again on the 9th for more feedback on 'The Woman Between'. He is still liking it, but while he still likes all three characters, he is getting a little frustrated with Stephen. As to where I'm leading the story, I think his observation is right on. He is only submitting poetry to me to crit. I'm not sure I'm helping him much, because poetry is just the opposite from novel writing. In poetry, one word must often convey paragraphs, while novels need depth through the weaving of facts from chapter to chapter. Totally different techniques and I'm no poet.

On Jan. 10th, the book club discussed the books of Jacqueline Sussan. Surprisingly, many of the club members had trouble finding one of her books. Our local bookstore doesn't carry her books and the used book store doesn't buy her books because they don't sell. Wow! In the sixties, she was one of the hot sellers. While many of the group said they'd read another one her books, we all felt that she did a lot of 'biography' writing of famous people, just changing the names and places to be able to claim that it is fiction. All did agree that she did know how to tell a story and was great at characterization.

Saw lots of movies over the holidays - Grand Torino, best picture of 2008! - ...Benjamin Bottoms, boring and disturbing in some scenes. - Seven Pounds, disoriented despite Will's Smith great performance - Australia, beautiful scenery, but just a very long western. - Day the Earth Stood Still, I'd say horrible, but that's being too nice - Transporter 3, a fun, fast paced action flick and good eye candy with Jason Stratham.

It's good to be home! So today I'll leave you with this lovely thought - "Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Hazel Rochman

Quotes - Words of Wisdom, Truth and Nostalgia

December 9, 2009

No matter how I try, life takes control and I find I've been lax with my blog! Alas. I think Robert Burns may have had me in mind when he wrote, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'

Let's see now, what has happened since my last blog. Gosh that statement brings another quote to mind. My old confession lead in, 'Bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been ages since my last confession.' LOL That does, indeed, bring back a myriad of memories of the old days in Chicago and all the friends of my childhood. Life is just going to dang fast!

I've been working on 'The Woman Between' every day and the plot is in an interesting segment right now with Stephen saying 'enough' and moving on with his life. I'm still hoping that I'm managing to keep him a sympathetic, not pathetic, character. Manipulating characters is so much fun and requires so many writing techniques. Dave and I haven't been able to do our one-on-one crits for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how I'm doing. We meet on Friday, so I'll find out if I'm on the right track then.

I attended a women's network meeting last Thursday. What a dynamic bunch of women who have made it almost an art to showcase their 'product'. I met Realtors, on-line retailers, mortgage brokers, website specialists and so on. I was encouraged to talk about my books and I sold three! I can ask to be the speaker at one of their meetings after the first of the year, so that will be a big opportunity when 'Hannah' becomes available in print.

Had our first bi-monthly meeting of my local writer's group on Saturday. It was short for some reason. Lots of absent members and little feedback on our submissions. In fact, my sub of 'She, Not He' didn't receive a single verbal comment. Some folks wrote things when they handed my story back to me, but overall it was disappointing that mine wasn't discussed. I think the problem with the subs of this past week was the topic. It was very complicated and involved using a deck of 'prompt' cards that were picked at random. There were several characters, a genre and a plot to be dealt with in 250 words or less. My story started out at over 600 words, but by the time I cut it back to 250, there were some holes. I do think the 250 word exercise is worthwhile, but it must be a simple topic. President Do has provided a list of all the topics for 2009 and we're back to basics with just a word or two.

I finally gave up trying to make my own business cards. Went to Staples and, within 30 minutes, they had them designed, printed, cut up and delivered to me. The orangy-tan colored cards, kind of like the color on my website, have a brief picture of both books, my website, my blogsite and tele. nbr. I decided that since I'm really getting some good internet coverage, almost daily, the cards will come in handy. I'll be interested to see if all this marketing will bring in more book sales.

I came across a quote the other day that says so much about what we writers face with the criticism of our work. 'If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.' - Henry David Thoreau. Our own 'drummer' may or not get us published, but it sure gives us a sense of satisfaction. Now go write something and have a great day!

One Down, Two to Go

Thanksgiving has come and gone. My house was full of kids, grandkids, siblings and friends. The food was great, the turkey juicy, the wine excellent and the pies coated in lush whip cream! And, no dishes to do. You see, my kitchen sink decided to clog up late Wednesday night. Bless my son-in-law Gary's heart, he tried his best, but no luck. I called the plumber early Thursday a.m., but they were off line for the holiday. My daughter Kim and I cleaned the turkey in the shower before we buttered and stuffed it. We kept big bowls in both sinks and my desert plants had a great Thanksgiving enjoying the lots of water poured on them during the day. Then, we stacked the dishes and spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games. The next day, I had an early a.m. appointment and while I was gone, my daughter-in-law Leslie organized a 'wash the dishes' brigade. She had the grandkids, my son Rob and Gary haul the dishes outside, then she 'campground' cleaned them and had the gang tote them back inside. Yahoo! A Thanksgiving with no dishes! The plumber didn't call back until this morning, Monday. So, by early this afternoon, I'll have use of my sink again. Everyone has a Thanksgiving story or two to tell, so now I have another to add to my memory pages.

So Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books, now on to Christmas and New Year's.

Now, back to writing items. I haven't had much chance to work on 'The Woman Between'. Pulled it out last night and added another 700 some words. Felt good. I have a meeting with Dave tomorrow, but I won't have much to give him to crit.

As for my on-line groups, I think they were enjoying the holiday too, as there weren't many entries. Until, yesterday. My DD site took off like crazy with many subs and crits. Many of the DDers were involved with the NaNoWriMo project to write a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November. I've never tried. For me, Novembers are way to busy to make such a commitment.

Went to see 'Bolt'. Cute movie. The hampster Rhino was the star of the picture! Loved his 'can do' attitude.

Let me sign off today with a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald - "There was never a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn't be. He (or she) is too many people if he's (she's) any good." AMEN!!

This and That

November 22, 2008

Thursday was our local writer's group meeting at Hastings. About ten folks showed and we heard poetry, fiction, a memoir, an essay and a couple of jokes. I, who almost never write poems, updated my Thanksgiving poem and read it. Odd that I'm the only one who brought something that had to do with the holiday. Some our regulars, Anne, Gina and Cindie, weren't there and they were missed.

Had lots of free time on both Thursday and Friday so was able to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm walking the fine line between making Stephen look wimpy versus an emotionally wounded man who needs closure. I had my one-on-one with Dave and he says it's working. He still thinks my characters have believable depth and that he still likes Stephen, but he likes John better. That's okay.

Received a nice email from Portia Allen thanking me for being on her Lady Rerun show. She finished 'Hannah' and just raved about it. She said, "I have finished "Hannah" and I was very moved by the ending! The book is in your face, very well written, and have characters that you want to never leave!" She couldn't have said anything to please this character driver writer happier.

I'm receiving some comments on my blog from folks I don't know, but they sound interesting and they all mention writing in some genre or another. I'm going to try and communicate with them. I hear from a fellow on-line writer, Sandra. She's a great writer and frequently brings up topics that get a writer to thinking about why we write, the perils of submitting and other topics that writers need to ponder from time to time. So, I'm so glad she drops by from time to time.


No too much going on with my writer groups, both on-line and local. I reckon we are all busy prepping for the big bird dinner next Thursday. I'm spending a lot of time getting the house ready for my Thanksgiving Day guests. You know, I sure like writing a LOT better than dusting, vacuuming and washing windows!

Time to close. My thought for the day is from Samuel Johnson who said, 'I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.' Amen and Goodnight.

November 19, 2008

Today was a busy day doing things in the community and the nice thing about that is that I get to visit with some really nice folks, but normally it takes away from my writing. Today, that didn't happen. I had all afternoon to myself and my writing. What could be better.

As to that rejection/acceptance I mentioned yesterday, still no word from the editor. Oh well, their loss if they truly did reject the piece, she said with false bravado. Sniff, sniff!

Worked on 'The Woman Between'. Poor Stephen just can't get any sympathy. I mean just because he wants to kill his brother is no reason for the family to go off on him. I'm giving him all the emotional baggage of a middle child and he is just now, at age 24, beginning to find his own self-value. Lord, it's fun making these characters dance to my drumbeat.

I found time to work with my FlashXer writer's group. Did about six critiques, then submitted a story that I had written awhile back and just updated it to fit today's prompt. It's an interesting story that I've never submitted anywhere, so I'm looking forward to the feedback. I've received one and she like it a lot.

I'm getting some feedback on my website and so far, it's all been positive. Oh, and Jim, a local author, answered my question of the month, so I have to come up with a new one. He mentioned 'Hop-Frog, a humorous Poe story that I hadn't heard of, so he gets a book. He already has an 'Oasis', so I'll get one of my 'Skive' anthologies. What fun!

Received an email from Denise who said she listened to the interview with Lady Rerun and was pleased with how it turned out. So was I. I hope Portia and I manage to stay in touch.

I received my weekly email copy of Virtual Tales Serial Scoop and there is an article about 'Hannah and it looks like this -

Pre-orders
Hannah — Sharon Poppen
HANNAH (Expected Release — Winter 2008/2009) Genre: Westerns Author: Sharon Poppen Rated: R
Hannah and Caleb are young newlyweds on the plains of Texas in the late nineteenth century. They’ve staked their claim and have built a new home and a new life as cattle ranchers. But a cloud of dust in the...

And, it has a picture of the book. Looks good and I hope it means the print release is coming soon. People are asking when they can buy it, so that's a good sign!

Tomorrow is our monthly writer's group meeting at Hastings Book & Music Store. We gather there in the evening and each writer is given five minutes to read an original piece of their writing. Always a good time and always some great stories, not to mention the great coffee from their coffee bar.

Finally, our local newspaper ran a half-page article on my friend Shirley Wolford who passed away on Nov. 9th. Lots of good info on her life and a really good picture of her. I'm really going to miss her.

Time to sign off for now. Keep on writing, but if you don't write, then read, read, read!