Happy Moon’s Day, All!

October 6, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Hope you are all set for a new week. I’ve got lots going on around here, as I close in on the last 2 chapters of A Boy Named Rabbit. I’m already working with my editor on the first of the book, too, so things are happening fast. I just uploaded the Final Version of Rabbit’s prologue, if anyone is interested in reading it. It’s located in the Menu at the top of the page. Later today, I’ll be uploading some links and resources to the menu, as well.

What’s new with you? Writing today? Editing? Plotting?: Working on self-publishing, or trying to line up a traditional publisher? Hope you’ll stop by and share with us, so we can get to know you, and can pass along any news you might have.

In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful day, named for the Moon, but around here, at least, full of sunny blue skies.

Happy Writing!

Attention New Members

October 5, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Just wanted to welcome everyone who has joined us in the last day or two. So glad to have you here. I’d be happy to do an introduction post for you, so others can get to know you and your work. Just email me details, photos, and the like, and I’ll put a post up as soon as I can. We want to be able to tweet about your news, sales, promotions and release dates, too, so please let me know about anything you’d like to share. Email me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com, and I’ll get back to you, so we can set it up.

At some point, I hope to make the blog interactive so that you can each initiate posts here, as you would on a bulletin board, without having to go through me each time you want to share with us, have a question, or just something you’d like to chat about. For some reason, I’m having trouble setting up that option (which has never been a problem before), but I’ll get it figured out sooner or later, and will let you know when it’s available.

In the meantime, take a look around, comment anywhere you wish, and please be generous with your retweets, reblogs, and posts to Facebook. We’ll all do the same for you. Authors Helping Authors, and having some fun along the way. That’s our goal. Let me know if you have any questions.

My 4 Golden Rules of Writing

October 4, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Definitely food for thought, here. I saw this on Deborah Jay’s blog, but had to go to the original to reblog. Thank you for posting this, Deborah. .

Nicholas C. Rossis

Found on pieroblog-citta.blogspot.com

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now. The main reason is that I keep coming across several writing rules that make little sense to me. Then, I came across a gem of a post by Constance Hale, “When Shakespeare Committed Word Crimes” on TED.

Constance confirmed what I long suspected: when there is tension in a language between what comes naturally and the rules, it’s because someone has tried to shoehorn the language into their idea of conformity.

Does this mean there are no rules? Not at all. It just means that the ones we are taught in workshops and classrooms are not necessarily the ones that matter to actual readers – as opposed to teachers, agents and editors. So, here are my golden rules; the ones no fiction writer should ever break, in my view:

Rule #1: Don’t let your writing get in the way of your story.

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A Word On Tweeting

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Just went through and Tweeted everyone’s posts and promos, again, and I wanted to remind you to do the same, when you can. Remember, you can Tweet all of your posts here, especially your intros and/or promos, as often as you want. And when you’ve Tweeted yours, please remember to Tweet for some of our other authors, too. In addition to sharing resources and ideas, this is a great way to help each other get the word out. (You can also reblog, and post on FB or other social media, but Tweeting is the quickest and easiest, and I know you are all busy folks.)

Adding the hashtag #TheWriteStuff at the beginning or end of your Tweet would be lovely, but with or without it, the Tweets are a big help to our authors. So. Tweet your own posts, and then tweet a few others. You’ll be glad you did.

Authors Helping Authors. That’s what The Write Stuff is all about. You might say it’s our “AHA” moment. 😀

Got A New Book Coming Out or a Book Promotion Coming Up?

October 3, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Found this great offer for you guys.
And for me, when A Boy Named Rabbit comes out, or I run my next promo. It’s a pretty cool blog, too. Check it out!

Introducing Deborah Jay

October 3, 2014 / Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

So happy to have Deborah Jay joining our group. Deborah will have some updates around November 1, but for now, hope you’ll enjoy a quick introduction, and some info on her books, one of which is on sale through tomorrow, so act fast!

Fantasy Novelist Deborah Jay

Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already invested in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic, mystery-filled Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find the time. Her taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of keeping too many horses, and her complete inability to cook.

She has a dream of a day job riding, training and judging competition dressage horses and riders, and also writes books and magazine features on the subject under her professional name of Debby Lush.

A lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, she started writing her first novel aged eight, and has never stopped. Her debut novel, epic fantasy The Prince’s Man, first in a trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, is available from most ebook retailers.

Her eco-Urban Fantasy, Desprite Measures, (first in a projected 5 book series) is the tale of a Scottish water sprite trying to live as a human, and is currently available on Amazon.

Desprite Measures is currently on sale for 99 cents.
Sale ends tomorrow, so act fast.

On the surface she’s a cute and feisty blonde, a slender pocket rocket fitness coach. But Cassiopeia Lake has a secret; she’s really a force of nature – an elemental.

Water sprite, Cassie, has lived undisturbed in her native Scottish loch for eons. Now, one encounter too many with modern plumbing has driven her to live in human guise along with her selkie boyfriend, Euan. It’s all going fine – until a nerdy magician captures Cassie to be an unwilling component in his crazy dangerous experiment.

Escape is only Cassie’s first challenge.

She’s smitten by her fellow prisoner, the scorching hot fire elemental, Gloria. But how do you love someone you can never touch?

And what do you do when your boyfriend starts to hero-worship your persecutor? Not to mention that tricky situation of being the prize in a power contest between two rival covens of witches.

So when Gloria’s temper erupts and she sets out to murder the magician, can Cassie keep her loved ones safe from the cross-fire, or will she be sucked into the maelstrom of deadly desires and sink without trace?

Buy Deborah’s Books Here:

Desprite Measures
The Prince’s Man – Amazon
The Prince’s Man – B & N
The Prince’s Man – Apple
The Prince’s Man – KOBO

Find Deborah on Social Media Here:

Blog
Twitter
Facebook
GoodReadsPinterest

Social Media Links Here:

Book Signings? Love ’em? Hate ’em?

October 1, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 14 Comments

I’m planning to do my first book signing at a library in a little town south of Orlando, in January. I have no idea what to expect, but I wanted to get some experience with the idea, and thought it would be a good place to start. (Plus they invited me! 😀 ) Have any of you done signings? Can you share any of your experiences with us? I know Evelyn Cullet & Ned Hickson have, so I hope they’ll pop in here, but how about the rest of you? And if you haven’t done any yourself, have you gone to any for other authors you’d like to tell us about? Caitlin? Anyone? (Caitlin, I’d love to share your photo with Ilona Andrews, if you wouldn’t mind.)

Theme Song?

September 30, 2014 / Marcia Meara / 7 Comments

If The Write Stuff had a theme song, I’m thinking it would be the one from Cheers!

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

That’s exactly what I’d like to see evolve here. A group of friends who can talk about problems, ideas, marketing, or writing, and can promote their sales or releases (and promote those of other members), and laugh a bit along the way. Lift that metaphorical glass high, folks! Cheers!!