My Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge Entry

 Chicago, Crusade, Dreams, Fun, Writing  12 Responses »
Apr 182011
 

The last Crusader challenge has fallen upon us and here it is:

Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge: In 300 words or less, write a passage (it can be an excerpt from your WIP, flash fiction, a poem, or any other writing) that shows (rather than tells) the following:

  • you’re scared and hungry
  • it’s dusk
  • you think someone is following you
  • and just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: shimmer, saccadic, substance, and salt.

Here is my entry:

Her eyes grew wide, her face hot, her heart pounding. A growl roared from her stomach. Shut up, shut up. She darted forward and stepped ever so carefully on the cracked floor. Reaching an icy brick wall, she placed her cheek next to it letting the cold sink in before licking. She cringed at the saltiness and wiped the disgusting taste from her tongue.

A boom shook the place; the vibrations ran through her body like a subwoofer. Did somebody push over a dumpster? She spun around, her foot caught. She pulled on her ankle. Rubber soles slapped the floor. She yanked it out and ran.

“Who’s there?” she screeched.

The hairs on her forearms stood up as the edge of the doorway made its way under her fingertips. She reached down. A cold, metal knob saluted her. She twisted. The door flew open. Darkness dripped from the hallway. She sprinted down the corridor; her hands shaking, her eyes saccadic. She grabbed her chest and felt around the pockets of her pants. Her inhaler was gone. There was a wheeze, a misstep, a fall. Get up dammit!

A light shimmered in the shadows. She used her last bit of energy to pounce like a panther and push.

It was dusk, but the streetlamps illuminated the downtown sky. A congested sidewalk filled with laughing tourists passed. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she rushed across the street, bumping into people along the way.

“Watch where you’re going moron.”

A smile crawled on her face. She was alive and still in Chicago. She took a deep breath. It smelled like rain on top of hot concrete.

It was the substance crazy dreams were made of.

***

The end for now.  To learn more about the Crusade, please visit: Rach Writes.

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From Zero to 103

 Connecting, Crusade, Life, Motivation, Sales, Writing, Writing Conferences  15 Responses »
Mar 102011
 

A month is all it took to get 103 followers. That’s it – one month. I now know the secret to getting blog readers. All it takes is, wait for it, wait for it, PARTICIPATION. I believe that joining online events, commenting on other people’s blogs and re-posting your blog links on Twitter and Facebook increases your readership. And as much as I like to pretend that I don’t care who is reading, the truth is that I do. I want readers and I want people to comment.  So, I want thank all of my followers to date. Thank you, thank you!

This week I’ve been thinking about self-belief and how so many people are scared to take the next step. Well, I say don’t let fear halt your life.

I have fallen victim to the fear monster as recently as last year when I started doubting myself and my writing. I was in a funk and I needed to get out of it quick if I was ever going to create again. And then one day I had an epiphany. I know who I am and I know what I need to do. Two weeks before the New Year, I took action and made a list. Here’s what was on it:

Join writing societies or associations
Meet more writers
Attend writing conferences
Find a mentor
Get my short stories published
Go to more Chicago literary events
Publish my collaborative children’s book
Finish my middle grade novel

I’m happy to say that I’ve already completed some of these goals including joining the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Through the SCBWI Illinois Chapter, I was able to attend a writing conference/workshop in mid January. It was all about creating your own marketing plan. There was a lot of pertinent information, but one of the most important things I learned was how to generate potential sales for your children’s book. I wanted to share some of these with you. Please note that I have not tried these, but I believe they are useful for any writer.

Here are some ways to generate sales for your book:

  • Network at events, through writing groups and conferences and through social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
  • Create relationships/connections through your personal website or blog and get blurbs written about your book.
  • Ask blog owners and other authors if they are interested in interviewing you about your book and offer to do the same for them.
  • Call bookstores and schedule readings and book signings.
  • Be there for the book sellers as much as possible.
  • Join professional or trade associations.
  • Go to American Library Association (ALA) Conferences.
  • Guerilla market through t-shirts, postcards, bookmarks, etc.
  • Use word of mouth to promote your book.
  • Talk about your book to librarians and teachers and see if they’d be open to you scheduling a reading.
  • Schedule 30-40 school visits per year.
  • Create a swag bag for school librarians and teachers. Include a copy of your signed book and postcards of your fellow author friends that are also doing the library/school visit rounds. Think about karma and the idea of what comes around, goes around.
  • Find connections. Can you co-market your book with another product?
  • Try to get your book on Tag.
  • Put your book on amazon and have it formatted for the Nook and Kindle. Your publisher may already do this.
  • Use keywords on your web site and blog to help promote your work.
  • Send info to local chapters (Mondo Times).
  • Follow up with people constantly.
  • Write a press release about your book and submit it.
  • Contact children’s indoor playrooms and schedule a book reading/signing.
  • Think about promoting through: http://www.authorbuzz.com/kids/
  • Promote your book on home schooling and mommy web sites by purchasing ad space.

What are some other ways you can think of to generate sales for your books?

I’m also attending another conference/workshop this month and I can’t wait.

As far finding a mentor goes, earlier this year, I contacted an old professor of mine, Mark Costello. He is somebody I respect and one of the best teachers at the University of Illinois. He is a great writer and gives excellent writing advice. Most importantly, he believes in the craft.

Through our letter writing exchange, (who does that anymore?!) he reminded me that you can’t let anybody dampen your writing spirit, you need to self-teach and you need to go forward. It reignited the fire in me and for that I will forever be grateful.

I realized that although it would be nice to have a mentor, I can be my own and so can you. You just need to believe in yourself and your work. You need to keep reading, writing and submitting and you can’t stop. If you get the opportunity to mentor another writer and you have the time, I say do it. It’s always good to pay it forward.

You can check out Mark Costello’s work here:

The Murphy Stories

Middle Murphy

In other news, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, writing and submitting. I have a series of short stories that I am editing and two are out and about looking for homes. I have also found a trustworthy and incredible editor for my work, which will help me to complete the rest of my short stories in a timely manner.

Here’s what I’ve accomplished so far:

Join writing societies or associations
Meet more writers
Attend writing conferences
Find a mentor
Get my short stories published
Go to more Chicago literary events
Finish and submit my collaborative children’s book
Finish my middle grade novel

That leaves me with half of the things to complete by the end of this year. Will I do it? I can’t say, but I’ll try.

I wanted to leave all of my readers with a few words – make a plan, take action and keep on truckin’ no matter what. Like Mae West said, “you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

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You are what you do, you are what you think

 Connecting, Crusade, Fun, Writers Quiz  8 Responses »
Feb 232011
 

Hello all,

In light of going through every crusader’s blog and following them through Google and Twitter, I thought I needed a break. Something tells me you need one too. This is why I took a few minutes to create a Writer’s Quiz called You Are What You Think. It’s a celebration of how much alike we all are as writers. It’s all for fun though, so don’t take it too seriously. You can check out the quiz here: The You Are What You Think Writer’s Quiz.

This year is going much differently than last year. It’s as if the universe opened up and is showering me with gifts or maybe my outlook on life has changed. Whatever it is, I’m grateful. I asked for support and I got support. Lots of it came through the crusade, which has been a blessing for me. So, kudos to you R. Harrie for recognizing that we all needed that writer connection.

I’m sorry crusaders, but I haven’t had a chance to buckle down and read more than one or two of the posts on any given blog. Adding everybody has been intense and taken quite some time. It has been my life for the past four days. I will eventually make the rounds again to read and comment on some of your posts.

Thank you to everybody that is following my blog or following me on twitter. I wish you all well with your writing endeavors.

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First Crusader Challenge

 Crusade  24 Responses »
Feb 212011
 

The first challenge was posted on Rachael Harrie’s Blog. Here’s what it entailed:

The Challenge
In 300 words or less, tell us:

· one secret
· one lie
· one interesting quirk
· one annoying habit
· one of your best character traits, and
· one of your favourite things in the whole world.

The post can be in any format, including poetry (for those poets among us), but must include the random words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade” (tee hee).

Finish your post with something along the lines of, “I may have revealed something about me that isn’t strictly true, can you guess what it is?” (this last bit isn’t included in the word count). And don’t forget to tell us the answer in your next post!

So here is mine:

Some days I feel like a fuliguline, swimming around the sea of life, darting from one edge to the next, unable to stop and enjoy the sunset. There are so many things to read and write and so many projects to take on, but not enough time to do it. I wish there were more like forty hours in a day. Those extra hours could make a huge difference. Though I wonder, where does the time go?

A few minutes here and there adds up quickly. Fortunately, I have great organizational skills and a knack for multi-tasking. I’m not trying to bloviate, but I am quite good. You will never find multiple piles of paper or magazine stacks in my abode. I can’t work if my house is a mess, so I am crazy about organization. It’s that whole clear house, clear mind thing.

Some days, I take a seat at my desk and ponder about life. If I’m lucky, my muse will come out to play. Speaking of muses, I think mine is a stylish rabbit that wears a tuxedo because he doesn’t believe in saving his good clothes for special occasions. He drinks out of a flute and collects peculiar accessories like vintage letter blade openers and old typewriters. He also has a collection of monocles for editing purposes. I’m not sure where I’d be without him.

Now some facts about me, I love candy. It is one of my most favorite things in the world. I also love talking, but often times I ramble. As you might expect, this can be rather annoying. But I’m working on just simmering down and listening. As with most things, it’s a work in progress.

And by the way, I may have revealed something about myself that isn’t true; can you guess what it is?

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Writers Link Together on Rach Writes

 Connecting, Crusade, Motivation, Writing, Writing Tools  25 Responses »
Feb 122011
 

Check out and join the: Second Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade.

Here is more about Rachael Harrie’s Crusade:

“There are so many of us out there. Aspiring authors, bloggers (whether established or beginning), industry peeps, even published authors, all of whom want to build their online platforms. We write insightful posts and articles, actively blog within the blogosphere, take part in challenges, competitions, and contests galore.

We have the passion and the drive to make it, but…we could all do with a bit of support.

So I started thinking. What if we link all these people together? What if we create a way to meet people in a similar position, people who genuinely want to help build our online platform while at the same time building theirs? People who want to pay it forward in the spirit of writerly writerness and blogging beautificity (and see it come back to them in turn).

And so my Writers’ Platform-Building Crusade was born.”

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