Hannah Rowen Fry is our Women on Writing book tour guest today. Her book is The Way of Gratitude with reflections on the Scriptures. Hannah has also written a guest post for us - something I'm sure we'll all benefit from - How to publish on a budget. Here's Hannah. Publishing on a Budget by Hannah Rowen Fry As a new writer I underestimated how much I would spend to be a writer. After all, writing is free, right? Well… There’s the cost of the writing itself - equipment like a laptop, journal and pen, note-keeping software, and the endless cups of coffee that fuel you. This doesn’t include the time it takes to write, edit, rewrite, and submit works for publication, most of which is unpaid labor until well after the fact. Beyond the writing process, once you’ve gotten a book written and ready to be published, marketing is an entirely additional cost! Email services, Amazon ads, website costs… These expenses and more threaten … [Read more...]
Sheila Olson is back and giving great writing tips
We're pleased to have another guest post from Sheila Olson who wrote some months ago about the importance of getting enough "beauty" sleep. Today her post is about the steps to take to become a successful writer. Writing Success Means Promoting Yourself by Sheila Olson As an up-and-coming author, whether you write short stories, poetry, or something else, your success depends on your exposure. Fortunately, there are many inexpensive ways to promote your writings that might just thrust you into the spotlight you desire. Today, I share tips for new writers on how to get discovered doing what you love. Launch a website. The first and ostensibly most important thing you can do as a new writer is to create a website. You can do this yourself with the website builder; the Website Planet blog explains that you may be able to find a free trial until you narrow down what you like. Having a website gives you somewhere to share your words and collect the email addresses of … [Read more...]
Children’s poet Raven Howell is with us today!
Thank you for joining Raven Howell's WOW! Women of Writing tour of Santa’s Slip Up about when Santa shows up on Halloween on accident. In addition Ravel has written us a special essay on how to write rhyming poetry. As a poet who never writes in rhyme, this Choices author needs this lesson in rhyme very badly. Here's Raven: Tricks of the Trade to Writing Rhyme By Raven Howell So how about that iambic tetrameter? Ha! Nothing like scaring off a prospective poet or young author who is trying to learn the ins and outs of rhyming. Writing rhyme should be fun and you don’t want to start off intimidated. There are many ways to accomplish good rhyme. I recited rhyme before I learned to write it, and remember being surrounded by word books and rhyming stories during my childhood years. When I learned to write, my favorite thing to do was to make up my own poems, stories, rhymes, and plays. I’ve been writing professionally full time for the … [Read more...]
Want to write a book? Read this!
Please welcome, Naomi Nakashima, our WOW! Women On Writing guest today. She is the author of Write Out Loud, a way to gain enough confidence in our writing to enable us to write a book. She has also written us a wonderful guest post on this same subject, ways to get over our writing fears, complete with some amazing writing prompts. Unleashing Your Inner Wordsmith: Unconventional Writing Hacks and Tips That Actually Work by Naomi Nakashima Writing a book is equal parts exciting and exhausting, creative and challenging. When the words are flowing, we live on cloud 9. But when the words stop, or when we start struggling to find the time to write, or feeling stuck in our creative process, writing a book becomes a source of anxiety and self-doubt. When you need that extra boost of inspiration to get you started, writing hacks and tips can help. These unconventional approaches can help you get past writer's block, ignite your creativity, and ultimately write the novel that’s … [Read more...]
14 books in 13 years! WOW!
Welcome to the Hope Always Rises blog tour, sponsored by WOW! Women on Writing! This book by Kathie Giorgio is perfect for anyone who has ever known someone who wanted to end their life, or anyone who has ever felt that way themselves. Kathie has also been generous enough to write her story of how to publish 14 books in 13 years. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating and will want to take her advice in publishing your own books. Here's Kathie: 14 BOOKS IN 13 YEARS By Kathie Giorgio I’m one of those writers, the ones who know from an early age what they want to do, and then they do it. I’m told I was telling stories before I could actually write, and then once I could write, that was all I wanted to do. I sold my first short story at the age of 15. I’d written out the story of Christ in 1970’s slang (it was 1975). The only place I could think of to send it to was the Catholic Herald Citizen, who promptly divided it into four pieces and published it as a serial. I was … [Read more...]
Writing life woes
I feel like I'm not putting in enough writing time these days. I still write my short - ten-minute - poem every morning and a journal entry every night before I go to bed, but I have three started memoirs that I need to work on and finish once and for all. But all is not grim. I still attend my memoir class every week and read a piece there at least twice a month. I also still write in my writing group the first and third Tuesdays of the month. At the start we're given a prompt, write for about forty-five minutes, and then read what we've written in real time to the group. I have that opportunity this afternoon. As always, it's very nerve racking. Here are four recent poems I wrote lately about my current writing life. Why do I keep at it? Why am I so obsessed? I don’t have to write A poem a day I don’t have to write A journal entry every day. But still I sit down here And open my computer, pull Up my ten-minute poem doc And scroll down To the end, Three hundred and Thirty-two … [Read more...]
A little reminder
I think it's time to remind my readers that I have written a few books besides all this blog stuff. Here's some information about a couple of them: Papa's Shoes: A Polish shoemaker and his family settle in small-town America - an award winning historical novel published in April 2019. Here's a few comments about this five-star rated book. "From an insightful storyteller, Papa's Shoes, is a heartwarming story of courage and love. Author Madeline Sharples has created an epic journey with intriguing twists and surprises along the way. From days of old in Poland to cultural and economic realities in America, this is an awe-inspiring novel about families, generational history, and the incredible power of change. You truly won't want to put it down!" --D.A. Hickman, author of Ancients of the Earth: Poems of Time "Author Madeline Sharples tells the intimate story of an American family, of immigration, tragedy, renewal, and love with grace and the delicate touch of a poet. There's a raw … [Read more...]
Still here, still writing
One of my favorite activities these days is meeting twice a month with my writing group. Before COVID we met monthly at either of the two leader's houses. Since we stopped gathering in person and now use Zoom to get together we meet on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Meeting more often a a great way to keep in touch as well as write more. Our last meeting's prompt was: Shoes – symbol of life, a way of being I immediately connected because I was a true shoe person from the time I was a little girl. Here's my writing group piece: When I was in fourth or fifth grade, I used to walk to grade school with a girl named Phyllis. We would pretend we were grownups walking on tippy toes as if we were wearing high heeled shoes. We’d also carry a handbag to match. And after school we’d go to one of our houses and spend the rest of the afternoon drawing shoes. Very high heeled shoes in all colors and styles. Except that not a one of them was suitable for walking and … [Read more...]
Three new published poems!
I'm very proud to let you know I have three poems in this new anthology that just came out from the Story Circle Network. Living on COVID Time: Sharing Stories, Sharing Lives in Prose and Poetry from Story Circle Network (Real Women Write) Paperback - January 3, 2021 by Story Circle Network(Author), Susan F. Schoch(Editor), Brooke Warner(Foreword) As its Amazon page says: Real Women Write: Living on COVID Time is Volume 19 of this annual anthology of prose and poetry by members of Story Circle Network, an organization supporting women writers and asserting the importance of women’s stories. But it is a volume unlike any other. The 52 authors of the 80 pieces in this collection were writing in response to an unprecedented global pandemic. The virus spread through a year filled with many other profound challenges and changes, while these women were writing about their lives, engaging with experiences and emotions that were uniquely their own. These selections capture … [Read more...]
Thinking about becoming a ghostwriter?
Our Choices guest today is Jann Baylon. She writes about ways to make money as a writer by being a ghostwriter - a very inspiring occupation. I worked as a technical writer and editor for most of my writing life. That is another fine source of income for a writer. Now let's read what Jann has to say about ghostwriting. Becoming a Successful Ghostwriter by Jann Baylon Image Credit: Pixabay Once upon a time, there was a common narrative that writers couldn’t easily make a living. The idea was that an audience was simply too hard to come by for all but the most successful writers — those with major book deals, or notable columns in newspapers and magazines. It’s still true today that writing is only lucrative for a small percentage of highly successful (and often lucky) individuals. But this is true in many lines of work. And looking past the idea of significant wealth, it is now the case that plenty of writers find ways to make good money. This is largely thanks … [Read more...]
A terrific voting poem
I took writing classes from Jack Grapes for many years. I wrote much of my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On there. And still I go to an occasional workshop or poetry refresher. Jack has always been my favorite writing instructor. And he is a wonderful writer and actor as well. I received the following poem in an email the other day and feel it's very much worth sharing with my readers here. It validates the importance of voting and now that we finally know the results, it confirms how voting is a power we must not throw away. I voted. I hope all of you did too. Hopefully you feel as happy with the presidential election results as I do. Here's Jack. Lori and I voted yesterday. We got to our local polling place at 9am, an hour before they opened. That great art-deco building, the Saban Theater, on Wilshire Blvd. Got a parking spot directly in FRONT of the place. Sacre Bleau! We expected long lines. Except for the guy taping up voting directions and an American flag, … [Read more...]
A writer’s home office
I firmly believe that a writer should have a special and private place to write. And in fact I've written about that subject many times - quoting Virginia Woolf and her adage that a writer have "a room of one's own." See my previous post on this subject posted on February 4, 2018 here: A room of my own – revisited, which is heavy on the personal touches as described below. This post will walk you through what such a room needs in order to make your space usable, comfortable, and necessary to further your writing career. A Room of One’s Own: The Value of a Writer’s Home Office Writing is possibly the most flexible of professions. One only needs to tap into their creativity, and, of course, break out their writing toolkit — which in this day and age mostly consists of a computer. You can be anywhere in the world tapping away on your keyboard in the early hours of the morning. But if you’re serious about turning writing into a viable career, discipline is a must. What can … [Read more...]
Writing advice from the experts
Some great quotes to get your started on your writing journey. … [Read more...]
What do I see for the future
This is another possible chapter that I’ve written for my new memoir about aging successfully. Again, I’d love to know what you think. Would a memoir with these kinds of thoughts and information interest you? I’m optimistic. I think Bob is caring about his body more. He’s gotten himself some pills which he thinks will help him get stronger and more in balance. I think his willingness to do something about his state of health is a good thing. I just wish he’d eliminate sugar and cut down on his alcohol intake. But I wouldn’t say that to him. Also, he’s committed to personal training once a week, spending another hour or so at the gym on another day of the week, and walking several times a week. That’s all good. We walked the other day and he’s definitely moving better and seems less wobbly. I think the illnesses of some of our friends have gotten his attention. They’ve certainly gotten my attention. I used to say I’d probably be ready to give up my health program as I got … [Read more...]
Today Sarah Dickinson tells us how to be self-aware in our writing
Today at Choices our WOW! Women On Writing book tour guest is Sarah Dickinson, author of Silver Spoons: One's Journey Through Addiction. Her book, told through letters, is an intimate and raw look at the current face of addiction and recovery. We're pleased to have Sarah here: Being Self-aware in Your Writing by Sarah Dickinson Every year there is anywhere from 600,000 to one million books published in the U.S. alone. While those numbers are indeed impressive it’s overwhelming when you consider the work and passion that goes into creating each one. Indeed, writers everywhere have an endless list of factors to consider before they can even begin their own “Once upon a time.” We could talk writing styles, technique, point of view, plot development or even character creation. Sadly, we do have to save those topics for another day. Because today, we are going to talk about being self- aware in your writing. You may ask why is being self-aware so important in writing. It … [Read more...]
Company is coming
Ever since my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, has been in print I’ve been a huge advocate of WOW! Women On Writing – a global magazine that promotes the communication between women writers, authors, editors, agents, publishers and readers. WOW organized my memoir book tour in 2011 and my historical novel, Papa's Shoes', tour in June 2019. In exchange I host on my website Choices many of the other writers that WOW! organizes tours for. Hosting is a great way for my blog to welcome new voices and new books – other than my own. And in keeping with that, in the next two months I’ll welcome five authors while on their WOW! Women On Writing virtual book tours. Each of them has written a guest post related to the substance of their book and writing. On February 10, Jackie Rodriquez, author of Georgia Stories on My Mind, an anthology of heartwarming stories shaped by local traditions and legends. In her guest post she’ll give us advice on how to market our writing on social … [Read more...]
How I spend my time
I’ve been working on a new memoir for the past year or so about aging successfully. One chapter is like this one about how I spend my time. So I’d like to try my thoughts out on you. Would you be interested in a memoir with information like this? I spend a lot of my time at my desk in my writing room. I d write a lot but I must make a true confession – I also spend a lot of time on the internet and on social media because I have a great relationship with my Facebook community. This morning I got out of bed at five forty-five, went off to the bathroom, got on the scale after shedding my pajamas, and then I dressed in my leggings and shirt to go to the gym. Once there, I vary my workouts. Lately I stay on the elliptical for about thirty-five minutes and then walk on the treadmill for twenty-five to give me a full hour of cardio and about nine-five hundred steps. I am truly obsessed, probably motivated by my Fitbit, with getting at least twelve thousand steps every day. After … [Read more...]
Writing in the Dominican Republic revisited
Instead of just referring to my post about Lindsay de Feliz, I've decided to copy and paste it here. That is because I learned yesterday that Lindsay was brutally attacked and murdered in her home country, the Dominican Republic. I am so saddened and shocked by this news, I just feel I have to share about the wonderful work she was doing when she was alive. I loved her memoir, What About Your Saucepans? and recommend you all read it. Plus she was such a great supporter of the work of her fellow memoir writers. Rest in peace, Lindsay. I will miss you very much. I send much love and condolences to your family. Writing in the Dominican Republic MARCH 25, 2018 BY MADELINE SHARPLES 6 COMMENTS (EDIT) I met Lindsay de Feliz, author of What About Your Saucepans? and Life After My Saucepans, through a wonderful Facebook group called We Love Memoirs, and it was instant admiration. Her story is gutsy, heroic, and so, so different from my own that I had to share it with you. When I asked … [Read more...]
