First Official #ExcerptWeek of 2016!

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Well, that’s it for another year. Christmas is safely back in the boxes and tucked in the attic. My 300+ Santas have been put to rest, alongside various shiny baubles and strings of now-darkened lights. One spray of evergreen boughs are still in the wall vase by the kitchen entryway, where they’ll stay until they are replaced by new greenery next year, and thus will keep Christmas in my house throughout 2016.

I hope your holidays were everything you love and cherish, and you are each ready to see what the New Year will bring. I know I am.

Here on The Write Stuff, I have ideas for some new features that I hope will be both entertaining and inspiring, and I’m eagerly waiting to see what each of you might contribute, as well. To start things off, I hereby proclaim that this is Excerpt Week, and I’ll be sharing one with you shortly. You are all invited to share excerpts of your own between now and Sunday night. Of course, you can always share excerpts, any time you wish, but during this week, I hope we’ll see bunches of folks taking the time to contribute, and lots of stuff coming through.

You may share excerpts from published work, or a Work In Progress, whatever you’d enjoy having us read and comment on. Please feel free to include your Buy Links for your books, as well as a bio to let new followers know a bit about you. And EVERYONE can participate. If you are already set up to publish new posts here, have at it whenever you like. If not, and you’d like to be, just email me and I’ll explain your options.  mmeara@cfl.rr.com 

My only restrictions on subject matter are these: Nothing political, and nothing erotic. Sexy is okay, and I trust you to know where to draw the line. Other than that, feel free to share what you’d like, and we’ll pass it along on Facebook, Twitter, or by reblogging. Hopefully, you’ll find some new readers that way. Most of all, have fun sharing!

 I wish you all a happy and fulfilling 2016! Now let the fun begin.

The Ugly Truth of Publishing & How BEST to Support Writers

This is a long post, but it is VERY informative, and well worth the read. You owe it to yourself to check it out, I think, and to reblog, tweet, and forward by mail to everyone you think will take the time to read. We writers need to understand this, and help educate readers who don’t realize it.

Author Kristen Lamb's avatarKristen Lamb's Blog

Original Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Anurag Agnihotri Original Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Anurag Agnihotri

Well, I figure I have one more day to drunkenly torch my platform. Sad thing is I don’t drink. I am apparently this stupid when sober 😛 . Actually I am writing this as a follow up for my rant from the day before yesterday, because knowledge is power.

Writers need this. Your friends and families need this. Readers need this. The more people get how this industry works, the more everyone can start working together for everyone’s benefit.

In my book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World, I go into a LOT more detail and I highly recommend you get a copy if you don’t have one. I spend the first chapters of the book explaining how the various forms of publishing work so you can make an educated decision.

All types of publishing have corresponding…

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Happy New Year to Each of You!

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This year has been a great one for me, for the most part.  (Ignoring the long recovery from my foot surgery and a few other things, of course, because who needs to dwell on that stuff?) When I think back on 2015, I’ll remember the things that made me happy, including writing and publishing two more novels and enjoying them getting good reviews. I’ve also loved meeting lots and lots of new readers, and chatting books with each of them.

One of the biggest highlights of this past year was watching this blog grow, with new members, and more participation from fellow writers, and loads of sharing all around. I’m so happy to see this becoming exactly the kind of site I envisioned, where writers can meet other writers, promote their own work, as well as that of their new friends, and learn from each other every day.

I’m very excited about what’s coming up in 2016, and hope you’ll all enjoy the new features I’m planning to implement, along with getting back to our old ones, like #ExcerptWeek and #FabulousFridayGuestBloggers. #WodinsDaySmile will continue, as well, and several new weekly goodies will be unveiled. Hope you’ll enjoy all of them. 

First up will be our first 2016 #ExcerptWeek, starting on Monday, January 4 and running through Sunday, January 10. (There will be a heads up Monday morning, with reminders of how to share your work with us.)

For now,  I wish you a very happy and safe celebration tonight, as the countdown begins, and a Happy New Year’s Day tomorrow. And of course, the best of everything in 2016!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

A New Year’s Wish from my Favorite Editor! 🙂

Caitlin Stern's avatarcaitlinsternwrites

~~~~~***~~~~~***~~~~~Happy New Year for everyone who celebrates!~~~~~***~~~~~***~~~~~

What do you do for New Years? A party to watch the ball drop, or stay in and count down with family or friends? Do you make resolutions or let the year come how it may?

Image from WikiMedia by lkluft. Image from WikiMedia by lkluft.

New Year’s Eve

Today is no different from tomorrow

in truth

the year is only a number

but why not take the chance

to make changes?

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Hive Magazine Features My Review of Lee Child’s Make Me

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Dancin’ Like a  Bulldog Puppy, Here!

Last October, I was contacted by Vanessa Burton of the soon-to-be-launched eMag, Hive. She asked if I’d be interested in contributing my Bookin’ It review of Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher book, Make Me, saying she really loved my writing style. I was flattered, said sure, and just remembered today to go looking for it. And sure enough, there it was, on Hive’s Culture page. (Me? Culture? *Snort*)

Seeing my review in the mag was a bright spot on this gray morning, so I thought I’d share it with you.  Here’s a screen cap for a quick look, but you might also enjoy checking out the mag, too.  Hive

Ain’t Life surprising at times?

NOTE: In no way am I advocating writing magazine reviews/articles on a regular basis, without being paid for them. This was a one-time thing for me, and I enjoyed the “reprint” of something I’d already written, but I believe writers should be paid for their work, even their reviews, with only rare exceptions.

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Mylar Bows: A Poem About Holiday Memories

Christmas memories from my good friend and editor, Caitlin. Wishing you all many bows tomorrow! 🙂

Caitlin Stern's avatarcaitlinsternwrites

Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate! May your celebration be exactly what you want, and your traditions what you treasure!

Some family traditions of mine are more tolerated than enjoyed–like my family’s fondness for sticking bows to me. A few years ago, I ended up with a total of nine–nine!–bows stuck in a sort of necklace on my jacket.

christmas 1986

Mylar Bows

 *

When I was small

I ripped into presents, paper flying everywhere

green and red

the thrill of discovery

worth more than the gift.

And my mom stuck a bow—

shiny mylar crown—in my hair.

Now I unwrap neatly

folding the remnants responsibly

for recycling

focused on the company instead.

Despite my dodging, ending after all

with a bow on my head

because to parents, you never grow up no

matter how old you are.

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Flaws: A Poem About Personality

A lovely poem from Caitlin, today. Just had to share with you.

Caitlin Stern's avatarcaitlinsternwrites

A lot of my favorite gems have inclusions, flaws, etc. They catch the light from the inside instead of throwing out light like a faceted clear stone.

Image from WikiMedia by Mauro Cateb. Image from WikiMedia by Mauro Cateb.

Flaws

We’re all a little broken

precious stones whose fractures catch

the light

wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be

pure clear perfect

gems

and yet the flaws make us

and we’re beautiful

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Don’t Forget! #DeBaryHallHistoricSite #MeetTheFloridaAuthors

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DeBary Hall Historic Site will be hosting a “Meet The Author” event this Saturday, 12/12/15 from 10:30am – 2pm. The event will include local author Bill Belleville, an accomplished writer whose book The Peace of Blue, won a Florida Book Award; Roger Fulton, a naturalist and outdoor writer; Marcia Meara, the author of Swamp Ghosts and a number of other popular novels; Jim Robison, retired reporter and editor and author of 11 books about Central Florida history; and Ed Winn, author of a number of books about Central Florida’s history and folk stories, including his research and writing on the ancient tribes of Florida. ‪#‎MeetTheAuthor‬ ‪#‎FloridaAuthors‬ ‪#‎OrlandoAuthors‬ ‪#‎OrlandoEvents‬ ‪#‎DeBaryEvents‬ ‪#‎DeBaryHall‬ The authors will discuss, sign and sell their works in the site’s 19th century hunting lodge. The event is free.

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