Guest Bloggers

A Business Model to Avoid

Guest Blogger Sandy Baker talks about first time publishing. The thrill of publishing one’s first book is joyful, a dream come true, right? Oh, the anticipation of getting my children’s picture book into print and out there in the marketplace! I attended lectures, workshops, and conferences to acquire the information I needed to become an indie publisher. I’d heard horror stories from authors who’d been scammed by vanity presses, paid too much for a web design, or didn’t know an ISBN from the BOE or a DBA, POD or LCCN. That would not be me. I bought a block of ten ISBN numbers. After all, if one costs $125, ten at $250 is more than a bargain. I set up my own Butterfly Books imprint and obtained a resale license from the state Franchise Tax Board. I was now a sole proprietor ready to do business and offer the world…

Prompts

Spoof a book . . . Prompt #215

Writing Prompt: Choose a book, write a spoof and submit to Writer’s Digest Reject a Hit. “In each issue of Writer’s Digest magazine, we ask one reader to step into the role of the unconvinced, perhaps even curmudgeonly or fool-hearted editor. . . If you’d like to be the one doing the rebuffing, channel the most clueless of editors by humorously rejecting a hit in 300 words. . . Reject a Hit is humorous, but not mean-spirited. It is not the place to list all the reasons you hate a particular book. To help you understand the spirit of Reject a Hit, browse through the archives of published rejections.” Books that have been spoofed in the Writer’s Digest Magazine, Reject a Hit column (last page of the magazine): Note: Amy Marincik (March/April 2013) and Daniel Ari (July/Aug. 2014) are Sonoma County writers (home of The Write Spot Blog). Amy has participated…

Quotes

A fresh start.

The following excerpt is from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. New Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams give birth to change. What are your hopes for the future as you reflect on the years that have passed? Gradually, as you become curator of your own contentment, you will learn to embrace the gentle yearnings of your heart. But this year instead of resolutions, write down your most private aspirations. Those longings you have kept tucked away until the time seems right. Trust that now is the time. . . Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by…

Just Write

How many povs can be in one scene?

The question often pops up: How many points of view can be in one scene? The easy answer: One point of view per paragraph. The expanded answer: “If you have more than one character within a scene whose points of view are relevant, then you’ll need to use the omniscient pov.” Jordan E. Rosenfeld, Make A Scene. The omniscient narrator is all-knowing, able to move in and out of the thoughts of all the characters and to comment on events before and after the scene has happened. Jordan, an authority on writing,  expands upon the idea of changing pov within a scene: “. . . you must make omniscient clear right away from the first paragraph in the scene. If the readers believes that he has only been able to see inside character A’s head, and then you suddenly leap into character B’s head, the reader will feel confused and…

Book Reviews

Fifty Shades of Grammar by Arlene Miller

Fifty Shades of Grammar: Scintillating and Saucy Sentences, Syntax, and Semantics from The Grammar Diva, Reviewed by Sheri Graves The Grammar Diva has done it again! Arlene Miller’s Fifty Shades of Grammar is one of the most easy to understand of all grammar books ever published. Subtitled, “Scintillating and Saucy Sentences, Syntax and Semantics from the Grammar Diva,” this book may be Miller’s crowning achievement, yet it certainly is not her last book on the subject. Fifty Shades of Grammar is Miller’s sixth book on grammar, and I suspect she’s working on a seventh even now. What Arlene Miller does in her books is simplify the rules. She gives advice on grammar problems that have confounded writers of the English language since, well, forever. And she does so in a way that makes sense. Take, for example, the problem of whether to use who or whom. Her advice: Substitute the…

Places to submit

The Sun Magazine

“The Sun is an independent, ad-free magazine that for more than forty years has used words and photographs to evoke the splendor and heartache of being human. Each monthly issue celebrates life, but not in a way that ignores its complexity. The personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs that appear in The Sun’s pages explore the challenges we face and the moments when we rise to meet them.” “We publish essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry. We tend to favor personal writing, but we’re also looking for provocative pieces on political and cultural issues. And we’re open to just about anything. Surprise us; we often don’t know what we’ll like until we read it. We pay from $300 to $2,000 for essays and interviews, $300 to $1,500 for fiction, and $100 to $200 for poetry. We also give contributors a complimentary one-year subscription to The Sun. We purchase one-time rights. All other…

Prompts

Yes, Virginia . . . Prompt #214

The Sun New York, New York DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA O’HANLON. 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as…

Guest Bloggers

Santa’s Secret Wish

It’s the time of year when gifts are exchanged. Bell ringers thank strangers as they put coins in red kettles. Stores beckon shoppers promising warmth and great sales. Friends gather, sip good cheer. And if you’re lucky, you’ll receive a holiday card or two. It’s also the time of year for solicitations . . .  in the mail, on the internet, over the phone. . . “Our need is great. Won’t you give?” We can’t possibly share our money with everyone who asks. But we can share kindness, broad smiles and stories that invite us to pause, and reflect the meaning of the season. ‘Twas the night before Christmas here and there, someone is reading, reflecting and nodding.                                                         Santa’s Secret Wish by Betty Werth On Christmas Eve, a young boy with light in his eyes Looked deep into Santa’s, to Santa’s surprise. And said as he nestled on Santa’s…

Prompts

Homonyms – Just for fun. Prompt #213

Homonyms (also called homophones) are words that sound like one another but have different meanings. Some homonyms are spelled the same, like bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the outer layer of a tree trunk). Enchanted Learning Freewrites mean writing freely. You are free to write whatever you want. Use any or all of the following words in a freewrite: Flower – Flour                    Beach – Beech                    Bough – Bow Fur – Fir                              Morning – Mourning            Birth – Berth Red – Read                          Time – Thyme                    Eye – Aye New – Gnu                           You – Ewe                           You’ll – Yule If ewe are knew too freewwrites oar kneed eh refresher . . . If you are new to freewrites or need a refresher: Freewrites . . . What Do You Call Them? What is a freewrite and what is a writing prompt? Lose Control and Just Write Writing Is Like Excavating If yule cast yer…

Quotes

Missed my deadline

Missing a deadline . . . Not a good thing, right? One might agonize about missing a deadline to the point of being incapacitated. Not my author friend, Sandy Baker. Sandy recently sent an email with updates about all her books. She had high hopes of Adventures Of The Hotel Sisters being published in time for Christmas presents. When that didn’t happen, she simply said, “Missed my deadline! Hotel Sisters is going to be late–always good for a New Year’s, after-the-holidays late gift!” I love her easy-breezy attitude. It’s good to know what you can and what you can’t do . . . What you have control over and what you have no or little control over. And if you make a mistake, take ownership. You don’t have to be dramatic nor overly explanatory, just a simple statement of facts. I missed my deadline. And then get on with the…