Blue Keltic Moon Cover

Available September 2009
http://www.wings-press.com/



This cover was lovingly created by JinGraphix. She's the best!

A PICTURE OF ORGANIZATION

 Here’s a quick tip to help save time on the mundane things of life – to free up your schedule for writing.

One of my pet peeves is having to tear through storage containers to find something. That’s one of the reasons a label-maker is a professional organizer’s best friend.

But what about when a label like ”Christmas Decorations” is too generic?

I’ve found that taking a quick photo of the contents – and attaching it to the outside of the container – is a simple and effective solution. This is also an easy way to help children who can’t read learn to put away their toys.

An added benefit is that you’ll have a record of the contents of those containers in case of a fire or flood. Just be sure to back up your photos and keep the files in a safe place.

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Friday Nite Critique

Bernadette is in town this weekend, so our Friday night critique group was at full capacity. We celebrated a new sale with chocolate, shared heart-felt discussions, critiqued each others pages and did a lot of laughing. A great time was had by all. (That sentence is, of course, passive and should read: All had a good time. lol )



back - left to right: Jenn, Donna, Barb, lizzie
front: Sherri, Cheryl, Bernadette

Creativity

Not everyone is creative. Not everyone is able to create. Not everyone is able to understand those who can. But those who love you, try to understand but love us anyway.

Its the difference between making one dimensional stick men, or the flamboyance Liberace character traveling from dimension to dimension. You are a writer. Your brain isn't wired the same as the rest of the world. Relish and grow in that. Have confidence in yourself and your God given talent. Set your butt in the chair, turn off the internal editor and get the words in your head on paper. You, the keyboard and the computer. Let it flow like a Colorado river in springtime!
You might just surprise yourself!

barb

Ideas! What do we do with them all?

Plodding along with a work in progress...

Bammo! From out of the mists of somewhere (for me that might be the world between worlds)-A NEW IDEA.

It could be a brilliant title. A character who leans insolently against a door frame insisting you tell HIS story. A line from a song that sparks a plot point. An overheard bit of dialog that would fit in great with that guy in the doorway.

Writing is hard work. Often getting the story right can seem like pure drudgery. Like vacuuming. So it's easy to become distracted.

New ideas are fun, exciting, alluring. Like a secret affair. For a short while you can leave the hard work and escape. Capture the excitement--see the possibilities.

Your languishing work in progress is relegated to the back of your mind and although the regret makes you pause. Ohhh, how you want that new idea in your life.

Never fear--there is a place for your new ideas. You just have to figure out how to deal with them and put them in their places, waiting until they can be your main focus. Resist the urge to set aside your WIP to fall completely into the temptation of a new idea. Jot down your thoughts in a notebook. Or start a file on your computer. Record as much as you need to remember your idea and excitement then return to your WIP. Remember that it's easy to start--but it takes work and determination to finish.

Most of my new ideas tend to end up on slips of paper or written in the margins of a notebook or manuscript pages. Periodically, I glean all those ideas, thoughts, snippits and put them in folders or notebooks designated for each idea. Stuff I don't know too much about yet, has its own place. And boy, is it fun to read through all those old ideas. Sometimes they stand as they did when first thought about. Other times a brand new idea forms. And the process begins again.

Share your idea saving strategies here... You never know when what you say may become a flash of inspiration for another writer!

The past meeting

Last Saturday was, of course, our meeting day! And boy, did we have a great time or what?

Cheryl led a fantastic pre-meeting workshop to help us identify passive writing and change those words to passages filled with active, exciting prose. Then Jenn and *lizzie focused our program on showing not telling. Excellent chances to practice and learn.

One low spot was the finger-shaking admonishment by the goals guru. Seems that only seven people answered her call for page counts. However, thanks to the double week Book In A Week, enough pages were reported to fill two lines on the Book Growth Chart. That's 800 pages, kids.

Also added to the chart were three new releases by HWG authors: Montana Rose by Mary Connealy, Your Ranch or Mine by Cindy Kirk and Hannah's Beau by Renee Ryan. The chart's filling up thanks to ALL our authors (especially those who report pages!) Don't forget, the guru still has her flying monkey!!!

In our time of introductions, everyone stated something that they'd always wanted to learn or to do... so from learning to play the piano, to sky diving, to learning patience, we're headed for some exciting times!

Not at the meeting? Post what you've always wanted to learn or to do here!

(Photo by John Shaver--This is Noid, the inspiration for a canine character in *lizzie starr's Keltic books)

MIDWEEK MOTIVATION

“Dwell in possibility.” - Emily Dickinson

Saturday Morning Basic Training

This Saturday July 11th at 8:30 am will be the first class for all of you who expressed an interest in learning basic writing techniques and principles. This month's early class is Active Vivid Writing, and it will cover passive vs. active voice construction, active verbs and words that slow down your writing.

We're going to launch this early workshop on a trial basis and see how many are serious about attending. Please let me know if you'll be there, so I can have enough handouts.

I suggest you start a binder or a notebook if you don't already have one, so that you have your material at hand for review and study. I encourage you to send me five manuscript formatted pages from your current project in the next day or two. (Double spaced, 25 lines per page.) Send to: SaintJohn@aol.com

If you're just learning the craft, one important thing to remember is that we were all starting out once, and we've all been where you are right now.

*lizzie and Jenn will focus on Showing Vs. Telling for the program, so you will be getting double the education this month! Remember to bring pages for that, as well.

See you Saturday!
Cher :-)

Hope for a Cleaner World

A few days ago a friend passed me a YouTube video explaining the massive garbage clean up that took place in the forests of Estonia. The event was an awesome experience for the people of that country. I was astounded by the level of leadership and responsibility that came from the movement.

I did find I had a few questions after viewing the video. Did the Estonia group limit cleanup to government owned land? Was there private land involved in the cleanup efforts? How did the leadership surface and how did they get enough initial momentum? With all the bureaucracy in the U.S., I wonder if such a project would be possible. Most of all, I began to wonder if public lands in the U.S. contained garbage like what is seen in the Estonia video.

I know there are public parks around my neighborhood that could use a good clean up and certainly vacant lots in various parts of the city. These types of projects are easily remedied by approaching some of the student organizations around the city. The bottom line is each human being must take responsibility for his/her carbon footprint. I'm a firm believer that change happens first in your own backyard. What could you do to improve the natural environment where you live?

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Brains

Saturday was the 4th of July, a time of great fun, family and way to much food. It's also a time to be reminded of our freedoms and be thankful to those who have and are guaranteeing we keep them.It is also the time when the phenomenon of Missing Brains afflicts millions of Americans. How can you spot someone who is suffering from this incurable disease? There are very distinct signs.
1. Scorched eyebrows
2. No hair on shins or forearms
3. Blisters on either or both thumbs and index fingers.
The most severe symptom? Loss of common sense.
Case in point: Normally you would place the artillery shells in the tube that comes with them, light the fuse, get a way, and the little ball of gunpowder and color travels high in the air and explodes in a breathtaking display.So we, I mean my nephew Dan thought it would be neat to put one of those shells under a plastic bucket and light it. Now any rational person would have said no way, by those of us suffering from missing brain all shouted "Go for it."So we, I mean he did. needless to say the bucket, buckets( we destroyed 5 before the night was over) flew high in the air and the ground level explosion of color was unbelievable. The entire neighborhood were watching by this time. I have also discovered the disease travels at a high rate of speed and is capable of afflicting many people at once, because the crowd was on there feet before the first bucket hit the ground screaming for more. Wehad a great time. No serious injuries. Laughed non stop, and yes I have to admit, I loved it!
We've started to collect buckets for next year.
Must be the inhalation of gunpowder or something.