Archives: January 2010

16 Jan 2010, Comments (4)

The Joy of Leaping Off “The Edge”

Author: Richard D. Nielsen

Writing anything, a short story, blog, magazine article, book, is so cerebral. You watch the words appear on the screen in your own private little world. But to have something appear in tangable print, something tactile that has weight, scent (I love the aroma of new books), can be held, stimulates all the senses.

To see your name on the cover of your creation is like being handed a newborn which, for us guys, has been mostly hidden inside our dear ones. The only real connection we experience before the birth is feeling the kicks on her tummy. At the time of birth, everything gets charged and changed.

The excitement of opening the package addressed to you from the publisher, seeing those white pages within, withdrawing the book, the book you’ve toiled so long on writing and editing, editing, editing, editing, (did I mention editing?) and at last, there it is, RIGHT IN YOUR HANDS! (more…)

Popularity: 59% [?]

Categories:
Author,First Book
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Richard D. Nielson

11 Jan 2010, Comments (2)

Book Review: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

Author: Elizabeth Varadan

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan (movie poster)

Gods and goddesses of ancient Greece have long been discounted as myth, right? In the fast-paced fantasy, The Lightning Thief, these “immortals” still live. Their half-mortal offspring walk among us, pursued by monsters.

Percy Jackson is in trouble again at his new boarding school. He’s dyslexic and he suffers from ADHD, and he assumes that’s why he has the kinds of mess-ups that get him regularly expelled from schools. What Percy doesn’t realize is that he is one of the demi-gods. Monsters find him; after a narrow escape, still unaware of his identity, Percy heads home to his mother. New developments cause her to take him to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demi-gods. (more…)

Popularity: 56% [?]

Categories:
Author,Book Review,SPOTLIGHT ON...
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Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

7 Jan 2010, Comments (2)

A lovely rejection letter

Author: John Rea-Hedrick

Let’s face it, for any writer submitting their work for publication rejection letters are inevitable. However, it’s best to think of these letters in terms of what they really are – a part of the journey, not the end of the road. With that in mind, I’d like to share an experience of my own I recently had along the way.

Back in July of 2009 I entered one of my poems, Shizaru Undone, in the New Millennium Writings summer poetry contest. (Incidentally, NMW runs simultaneous contests for Fiction, Short Fiction and Non Fiction as well). Like many contest entrants I checked their website periodically (sometimes a bit obsessively) and eagerly watched my email for the contest results.

The following October I received the email from NMW indicating the poetry winner had been named. To my great disappointment, it wasn’t me. With hopes still high, I quickly scrolled down through the email to the Honorable Mentions to see if I’d made that list. Nope. Still not there. (more…)

Popularity: 53% [?]

Categories:
Rejection,WRITING CRAFT
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Rejection

5 Jan 2010, Comments (4)

Writing for Publication > Writing for Self?

Author: Michael L. Martin Jr.

If the music industry has taught us anything it’s that artists should be artists and the CEO’s should stick to CEO’ing. But, these days everybody and their grandmother must be a better marketer than their own marketing team. That’s fair. (sarcasm) But really, no one is going to be as passionate for the success of your product than you. It’s your baby. To most everyone else it’s just some smelly kid with cheese doodle fingers.

Yeah. Cute. Just don’t touch me.

If the business minded truly knew what customers wanted, every product would sell like cotton socks. Mainstream blockbusters wouldn’t exist because everything would be a blockbuster. And if the creative minded knew exactly what their audience wanted then they would have some kind of an audience, big or small, once they put themselves out into the ether.
(more…)

Popularity: 31% [?]