Will you look at that?

This month for the IWSG, I'm taking a break from worrying and doing a little celebrating! I hope the good vibes from this post will follow you around and holly jolly you out of any funk you might be stuck in!! Get some cheer, cheery, cheer over here!

First, the Insecure Writer's Support Group has published a collection of sage publishing advice! And I'm so excited to be a part of it! And it's FREE right now!

Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.

Amazon, 

Barnes and Noble, 

Kobo, Smashwords, Goodreads.

Plus, I know some of you have been looking for a good critique partner - well, you're not alone. Check this out - it's another awesome something I've been wanting to share from the super supportive IWSG organization...

the IWSG Critique Circle.

Next...
I'm very excited to be close to handing over SIMULATION to my editor! And to give you all a taste of it, Chrys Fey tagged me in the 777 challenge - perfect timing!

In your current WIP, go to the 7th page, 7 lines down, and share 7 lines or so... Here I give you Colonel Crews Hamilton, the conniving, old villain from SIMULATION:

     Crews wanted an electrogun to zap the boy's head off.
     "Pull over."
     "But Crews…."
     "Pull. Over." The Colonel's glare, the original intimidator, beat Jonas' ten to one and took no arguments.
     "Are you sure? We're still downtown."
     The Colonel responded in a low, guttural voice, growling from his clenched teeth like a mean, junkyard dog. "I know where we are and I know where I'm going. Pull over the confounded car, right now."
     The fear that jumped into the young man's eyes comforted Crews. Jonas had crossed the wrong old man.

Thanks again, Chrys! And I will tag... Sarah Foster, Susan Gourley/Kelley, Angela Brown, Heather Gardner, Carrie Anne Brownian, Medeia Sharif, Vikki Biram

And lastly,

I took advantage of the lovely Elizabeth Arundel's offer to post about my newest release, BROKEN BRANCH FALLS, over at Unicorn Bell - another wonderful site for writing advice and encouragement and contests and more! If you've never stopped by, I suggest you do so!

Hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays! And staying warm!

My advice this month: Smile through it!

support fest!

New year, new releases, new fests!
Here are some fun, educational, and profitable for you blogfests coming up!

First, there's an awesome event coming up on Monday 1/20

What Works - Online Marketing Symposium

A blogfest with information you can use! Hosted by Arlee Bird, Yolanda Renee, Jeremy Hawkins, and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

In this fest, authors will share what has worked and what hasn't to help us all get better at promoting our books, and ourselves. Join in, even if you haven't tried anything, you might have an idea to share! And it's not just for books - it can be anything, like business, or non-profit events, too. It's tough getting the word out! I hope to see you at the first ever Online Marketing Symposium – sign up here!



In honor of the quickly approaching Valentine's day, Unicorn Bell, a fantastic writer's critique site, is sponsoring a Meet n' Greet Blogfest called Love Is In The Air, January 20 -24th. Hosted by Charity Bradford, published author and UB moderator.

It's a celebration of that little thing called love. Be it steamy or sweet, puppy, kitty, teen, aggravating, first kiss or final goodbye, let your scene tug at our heartstrings. Share your lovey dovey moment on January 20th!





Friend and fellow CQer, Jamie Ayres 2nd book, 18 TRUTHS, releases January 28th. She's having a blogtour and blog hop titled What's Your Truths? from Jan. 21st-March 4th. There will be tons of giveaways! It's a fabulous YA series and I'm happy to offer prizes and host her as part of her blog tour later this month (1/31)!





Crystal Collier is another friend with a release about to pop! MOONLESS is coming out February 10. It's a YA historical paranormal. And on that special day, she is hosting a Moonless Release Blogfest along with PK Hrezo, Tammy Theriault and Michael Di Gesu.

Their blog hop question for you is this: If you lived in a society where arranged marriages were a la mode, who would you beg your parents to set you up with? (Literary characters and celebrities welcomed.) Who and why? 

Writing a Book - Buying a Book

I haven't done this series in a while, especially with the holidays. Now they're over! They were fun, but hallelujah! I've got a smidge more time to write!

And I really appreciate all the comments and positivity from yesterday, THANKS! I'm still trying to go visit the IWSG posts. There's just so many of them!

Anyway,
As a writer, our first goal is to finish the book, eh? Then we want to get published. Which some of you are, yay you! So then we get to the next goal of actually selling the book. Now I am past Step 1 and working on Step 2 by editing and querying agents. But I think after the rejoicing of getting an agent is over, Step 3 will be the most intimidating. So,

Today  I have a question for you:

What makes you BUY a book?

Here is a list of possible answers I came up with, but there are probably more,

1. Genre
2. Cover
3. Title
4. Author
5. Back cover blurb
6. First page
7. Recommendation
8. Reviews
9. A movie is based on it
10. Dumb luck

I'm sure there are many, more professional surveys, but this is more personal. It will show what our peers are interested in. I am dying to know, and I think it will give us goals to work on. You can respond in the comments and/or in the survey question on the side bar. I will post results at the end of the month.

My response - First, I go by recommendations, which I get a ton through blogging so I've been reading a lot more. Thanks! But if I just go into a bookstore (or am looking online, which isn't as fun) I look at genre, author and/or cover, then I read the blurb (price is also a factor, but if it's too expensive it goes on my bday or xmas list =). My son has taught me that if I read the first page, I will get a good gist of the writing, too. But I usually forget to do that until I get home.

< = = = >

PS - On a side note, even though the holidays are over, my personal responsibilities have increased. I had to chose something to let go of. I tend to take on more than I should, thinking I can handle it all and spread myself thin and that makes everything come out in poorer quality. I chose to bow out of writing for Unicorn Bell. I always felt like I was asking for advice rather than giving it anyway. I will still continue to be a regular commenter and contributor of work for critique, but that's all I can handle. I hope you will check them out if you haven't because they are great! And I am very sad to leave them =(

ranDOM thursDAY

You guys are the best! Have I said that lately? Probably. Well I'm saying it again anyway! I've had significantly less down days since joining blogfests and making bloggy friends! And thanks again to Rachael for putting together the campaign where I'm meeting so many fabulous writers!

Next I want to say special thanks to Beckah for the Blog on Fire award and Dana for tagging me =) (and now Mish for Versatizing me again!) I think everyone has heard enough about me lately so I will skip the fun facts and go right to passing these on to newer bloggers I've found. (give us 7-10 fun facts about you when you pass it on, if you like! you know what to do =)

Blogs I'm tagging!
Rance at the Action P(r)ose
Christine Murray
Sharon at Random Thoughts
Laila at the Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight
Jess at Write.Skate. Dream.

Blogs on Fire!
Julie at Gypsy in my Soul
Liz Fichera
Peggy Eddleman
Alex J. Cavannaugh
Maeve at lolliPop's Cottage

But here is what I will tell you:
I am flabbergasted!
Marcy, Charity and Huntress, my friends who started the online crit blog, Unicorn Bell have invited me to help moderate it. Daunting! I will see if I can serve up some worthwhile posts! This site is for anyone who wants to put up a bit of their writing and have others give helpful advice, no bad reviews. And it's a two way deal. Anyone who wants comments on their stuff is expected to comment on others. Stop by, you may want to join!

Random Thursday - honorable mention & a logline

Honorable mention is better than no mention!

My submission to Rachelle Gardner's Bad News Poetry contest received honorable mention (ie she made up an award for me =)

In other writing news, I recently joined a great new critique blog/forum, Unicorn Bell It looks promising and helpful, I just hope it doesn't get too big because it is a great idea that I'm sure will grow a large following quickly!

We just started and are in "meet & greet" phase. This first assignment is to put up a blurb summary (logline) about our WIP. This was harder than I thought. Here is mine:

Pop Travel
(techno thriller)

In 2080, pop travel, laser teleportation, has a deadly flaw discovered by reclusive PI, J. L. Cooper who teams up with undercover agent Geri Harper to confront its Creator and expose it.