It All Starts With Writing

When I was a kid, I had to cross a busy downtown street to walk the two blocks to the public library. Mom would take me across that first street then let me walk the rest of the way to my favorite spot on earth; well, except for the high school gym on Friday night basketball game night.

I guess you’d call me a tomboy. I loved sports; playing and watching. Although, I still had fun cutting out paper dolls with my friend, Cynthia, and playing with her Easy Bake Oven (I was so jealous she had one and I didn’t!)

But, back to the library. I’ll never forget the summer I discovered the sports biographies. A whole set of them! Probably due to my yet-to-be-discovered OCD, I commenced reading them in order – A-Z.

I’ll never forget the thrill of learning all about Hank Aaron. I was a huge fan back then of the Milwaukee Braves outfielder. In 1957, as a 10-year-old, I would sit in front of the TV keeping stats during the Braves games. In a record-breaking year, he hit an 11th inning home run that propelled the Braves to the World Series, where he led underdog Milwaukee to an upset win over the New York Yankees in seven games. Yep, “Hammerin’ Hank” was my idol.

I tore through that series in record time. Patty Berg, Jim Brown, Althea Gibson, Pancho Gonzales, Byron Nelson, Warren Spahn. Then, the unbelievable happened. I finished Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Finished. Caput. A through Z. There were no more.

I was crushed.

Back to my reading boredom. Between my eight grade and freshman year, my beloved Aunt Gertrude, began setting books aside she thought I’d enjoy reading. To Kill a Mockingbird, of course, and anything by Steinbeck. I graduated to slightly steamier novels like Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, and later, in high school, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. She made me swear not to tell my mother she let me check that one out. I believe I hid the book under my mattress until I finished reading and returned it, safely, to the library.

I muddled along reading Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and then got interested in historical fiction. Then I got bored with the writing and storylines that were beneath my  reading level.
As luck would have it, my aunt replaced the ancient librarian who had been in her position for, oh, around 108 years. Or, at least it seemed like it. What a refreshing change! Nothing against Miss Georgia, but she single-handedly destroyed my older brother’s love of reading. It was the summer after the fourth-grade school year. He took “The Bears of Blue River” to the desk to check it out. Miss Georgia wouldn’t let him read it. “This is a Fifth Grade book. You’ll have to wait ‘til then.” Barely a month away. My brother, who had a bit of a stubborn streak, left the library and never
returned.

I’m sure, by now, you’re wondering, “What’s the point of this post?” I’m getting to that.
I now consider myself to be a pretty fair writer. My children’s book series, Cynthia’s Attic, has been well-received by readers of all ages. My new series, Andi Anna Jones Mysteries, is about to make its debut and am I ever excited! Writing these mysteries has given me a new perspective. While I love writing for middle-grade, it does keep the creative juices flowing when you change things up every now-and-then.

I wouldn’t be writing, however, if not for one important fact.
It all starts with reading!
Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder - Andi Anna Jones Mystery # 1 - Preorder, soon!

Book Review! The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing

Multi-genre author Mayra Calvani has been a reviewer for ten years. She’s the author of the supernatural thrillers, Embraced by the Shadows and Dark Lullaby. A regular contributor to Blogcritics Magazine, she’s also a member of Broad Universe, Authors Coalition, and The Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. Visit her website at: www.MayraCalvani.com. For her children’s books, visit www.MayrasSecretBookcase.com. Mayra also keeps a blog, The Dark Phantom Review, where she regularly posts reviews and author interviews. To learn more about The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, visit www.slipperybookreview.wordpress.com

Amazon Reviews… and Mothers-in-Law

By Mayra Calvani



You’ve published your book. You’ve sent it to many review sites and begun collecting rave quotes for promotional use. You check Amazon regularly to see whether any readers have written anything about your book. They have! Wonderful. The comments are positive. You keep checking almost everyday until—what’s this?!—suddenly you find a HORRIBLE review at the top of the list.


You’re aghast. Your face flushes as if a subterranean volcano exploded inside of you. How dare anybody say anything negative about your masterpiece creation? What an atrocity. This is sabotage!


After a few glasses of wine, you tell yourself you’re a reasonable person. You realize chances are not everybody can love your book.


But there are negative reviews and there are negative reviews… and this is book annihilation! This particular review seems to have been written by someone who not necessarily hates the book, but hates YOU.


This happened to a friend of mine recently. A few days after her book came out in Amazon, someone wrote a mean, nasty review.


The review in question was something along these lines: “This is the WORST book I’ve ever read in my entire life. It is filled with thousands of spelling, grammatical mistakes and clichés. Please don’t waste your book on this book. You’ll regret it for as long as you live…” etc, etc, etc… The review went on and on, its author clearly deranged or driven by sweet revenge.


Not surprisingly, my friend later found out that it had been written by her dear mother-in-law in reaction to how my friend depicted her in the novel (Lesson: DO NOT use your mother-in-law as one of your characters).


I know the lady in question, and while I think it’s true that she has “sagging cheeks like day-old pancakes” and clammy hands like “large wobbly maggots,” as my friend wrote in her novel, I believe she shouldn’t have gone so berserk. I mean, there’s something to be said for self control, right?


If any of you is the victim of such atrocity, there’s something you can do about it. Remember that Amazon wants you to sell your book almost as much as you do (they should—they take 55% off the retail price!), so all you have to do is contact them and explain them the situation. Most likely they’ll remove the review. Email them at: community-help@amazon.com.


But pleeeeeease don’t contact them for negative reviews that were clearly written by serious readers or reviewers, otherwise they’ll think we authors are egotistical maniacs who break at the slightest lashing … and we wouldn’t want that now, would we? (it’s important to keep our true nature low profiled).

Mayra Calvani

Congratulations, Mayra on being a USA Best Book Award Finalist!

Mayra Calvani Website

MEME! 6 Book Things About Me!

My childhood best friend, Cynthia and me, cruising down the Ohio River

Chris, at Candid Canine, tagged me with Today's Meme:

Name 6 Book Things About Yourself:

So, here goes:

1. My series, Cynthia's Attic was inspired by a recurring dream I'd had for over 20 years about a mysterious attic! Once determined that the attic was in the home of my childhood best friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped! Fortunately, the writing began!

2. I was also inspired by wanting to write stories about my ancestors. I so regret not talking more to my grandparents and finding out about their early years; What they did for fun; who was their best friend; stories about their parents and grandparents. So, I decided to write time-travel books that would let me go back in time and have adventures with my relatives.

3. My hometown library was within walking distance, just a couple of block from my house. My all-time favorite "reads" as a kid were sports biographies. A devoured the complete set from Hank Aaron to Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

4. Speaking of my hometown library...I have the honor of doing my first booksigning there on Nov. 22! Should be a lot of fun. I hope I get to see friends that I haven't seen for 20 + Years!

5. I'm busily writing Book Four in my series: Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle. I think this is going to be the best one, but I thought that about the last one, Curse of the Bayou, too. :-)

6. I'm also working on two adult mystery books. Some writers don't like to go back and forth between genres, but I find it a refreshing (and much-needed!) change.

** Your Turn: Share some book-related things about you. Be sure to comment here so we know to go visit your blog and see what you wrote.

Tag! You're It! Leave a comment that you've posted your 6 book things so we'll know to check them out!

Shannon Greenland
Janet Muirhead Hill
Anne Carter

Go! How To Start Your Career As A Children's Writer (Part Three)

Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Today is the final part in the series, READY, SET, GO! HOW TO CREATE A CAREER WRITING FOR CHILDREN

by
Suzanne Lieurance
The Working Writer's Coach
Working Writers Coach
Suzanne Lieurance website

GO - How to Start Your Career as a Children's Writer (Part Three)

Okay, so you’re ready to begin your career as a children's writer - you know the basics of writing for this market. You’re all set to get started - you have taken the time to create a professional resume and some writing samples to submit to publishers. Now, all that’s left is to GO and do it. Here’s how:

1. Submit your professional resume and writing samples to a few appropriate publishers (those who look for authors to assign them books to write). Be willing to write both nonfiction and fiction for children on both a royalty and a work-for-hire basis. Use a market guide to find these kinds of children’s publishers. Also, once you start networking with other children’s writers you’ll find more of these publishers.

2. Keep writing your own original fiction and nonfiction manuscripts be that for picture books, middle grade novels, YA novels, or anything in between. Also, study the markets and obtain submission guidelines for the publications you wish to write for. Today many publications have submission guidelines (and even current needs) available on their website, so search these websites first to save yourself time and postage.

3. Join a critique group, or start one, and subscribe to at least one publication for children’s writers.

4. In addition to your critique group, network with people who already do what you want to do - one way to do this is to join your local chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), or sign up for an online listserv of children’s writers. Go to www.yahoogroups.com and search for groups for children’s writers. You’ll find several.

5. Learn to write a great query letter and how to correctly format a manuscript. There are many good books available that explain (in detail) how to write an effective query and how to format a manuscript
for submission to a publisher. You can also google “writing a query letter” or “formatting a manuscript” to find various articles that should help you.

6. Once you’re comfortable with your skills as a children’s writer, spend at least one day a week on marketing – looking for new opportunities and writing assignments. You’ll find job ads for children’s
writers in those newsletters you start subscribing to and also at online job boards for writers.

7. You MUST learn to use the Internet effectively. Also, learn how to transfer your work electronically. And, if you don’t have one already, get an email account, start a blog and/or website for your writing and post to it on a regular basis to develop an online presence.

8. At least once a year, attend a children’s writer’s conference or workshop. This is will give you more networking opportunities, plus you’ll learn, firsthand, the current needs of many children’s magazine
and book publishers.

9. Be dependable and professional. Freelancing is a business. Learn the business. For example, don’t expect to submit a handwritten manuscript and have an editor read it. Also, don’t expect to ignore
submission guidelines and have an editor read your manuscript.

10. Give yourself time to succeed. This is one of the most important steps. As you learn more about the business of writing for children, and continue to improve your craft, more opportunities will become available to you. You should also realize that it will take more than writing magazine stories and articles to make a living as a freelance children’s writer, so you must actively seek work ALL the time.

Follow the steps outlined above, and your freelance writing career will be off to a good start.

Suzanne Lieurance.

Suzanne will have an interesting marketing seminar today with a surprise guest on Blog Talk Radio 3:00PM Eastern Time.

Thanks, Suzanne for being such an informative guest. Please come back, soon!

Get Set (Part Two)

Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

She continues her series, READY, SET, GO! HOW TO CREATE A CAREER WRITING FOR CHILDREN

by
Suzanne Lieurance
The Working Writer's Coach
Working Writers Coach
Suzanne Lieurance website

GET SET - How to Build Your Writing Resume Even BEFORE You Start Your Career (part 2)

Freelance writers are hired to write stories, articles, books, and other materials for children all the time. But to land these types of assignments, generally you need to submit a resume and/or writing samples to the publishers who are offering this kind of work.

So what can you do if you have no experience like this to include on your resume?

Well, you need to get some.

Here are some easy ways to do that.

Online article directories such as www.ezinearticles.com accept short articles from writers all over the planet. Start out by writing short non-fiction articles for children and submit them to these directories. You won’t get paid to write these articles. The payoff is that other people use your articles on their websites and blogs and in their ezines and newsletters and you get a byline (called a resource box) with each of your articles. Many times, popular websites for children and parents will pick up articles from these article directories. If they do pick YOUR articles and post them to their site, you can visit these sites and find your articles, then copy the URL for the page where one of your articles appeared and use this as a publication credit on your resume. You can also print out your articles from these websites and use them as clips to submit to publishers who require published writing samples along with your resume.

So how will you know when one of your articles is being used at a popular site for children or parents?

That’s easy.

You create a google alert using the title of your article. Then, whenever an article with that title appears anywhere on the Internet, you will receive an email alerting you of that. To set up a google alert go to http://www.google.com/alerts and follow the directions you will see there.

If you wish to acquire some children’s fiction publication credits, in addition to your nonfiction article credits, search for online magazines for children. Most of these publications will not pay for submissions but it is usually a bit easier to break in with these publications than it is the hardcopy editions.

Try these ideas if you’re short on publication credits for your resume, and it won’t be long before your freelance career is zooming along!

Suzanne Lieurance

Get Ready!

Beginning today through Friday, I'm thrilled to announce that Suzanne Lieurance will be a guest blogger!

Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Lieurance is the author of 20 published books and has written articles for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and ezines like Family-Fun, Kansas City Weddings, Instructor Magazine, New Moon for Girls, Children’s Writer, and many others. She hosts a talk show about children’s books, called Book Bites for Kids, every weekday afternoon on Blog Talk Radio: Book Bites For Kids.



GET READY
THE BASICS OF WRITING FOR CHILDREN:
WHAT YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

by
Suzanne Lieurance
The Working Writer's Coach
Working Writers Coach
Suzanne Lieurance website


If you want to write stories for children that will sell to today's magazine and book markets, you need to know the basics about writing for children before you get started. Here are a few tips for writing children's stories that will sell:

1) Tell the story from a single point of view. Children tend to relate to the POV character in a story. This is the person they will root for. Make it clear right from the start whose story is being told. Even if you have two main characters (twins, for example), you need to pick just one of these kids to be your POV character. And, it should go without saying, when writing for children, make sure your POV character IS a kid - even if Grandma has a big part in your story.

It isn't difficult to maintain a single point of view once you get the hang of it. Just remember - if you are showing everything from your main character's point of view, then he or she has to be present for everything that happens. I see stories all the time where the POV character suddenly leaves the room. Yikes! If your POV character wasn't there to see or hear what went on, then we can't see or hear it either.

2) Include plenty of conflict. Your POV character needs to face some big problem right at the start of the story. Then, he or she needs to struggle and struggle with this problem as he/she tries to solve it. That is, things need to keep getting worse and worse until finally the POV character is able to solve the problem (or at least resolve it) and change or grow somehow in the process. Without a story problem you have what editors like to call an incident and editors don't publish incidents. They publish stories.

3) Have the Main Character Solve The Story Problem Himself. I know what you're thinking. Parents and other well-meaning adults DO step in all the time to save the day for kids. So why can't they do it in stories for children? The answer to that is - because children don't want to read stories like that. Stories for children have strong children (or children who eventually become strong throughout the course of the story) as characters. This empowers the children who read these stories. They figure, if the POV character can solve his own problems then maybe they can too.

4) Write Dialogue That Sounds Real. Listen to any child or teenager and you'll find out that much of what kids and teens say (at least to each other) tends to sound like a series of grunts. So don't have the child or teen in your story use words like shall, or never use contractions. If you do, the dialogue will sound too formal and your work will not have a child's or teen's voice.

5) Include a Narrative hook for the Reader. I know what you're thinking, What is a narrative hook? Well, that's simple. It's just an opening sentence or two that hooks the reader and makes him or her want to continue reading to find out what happens.

6) Keep the Time frame Short. Yes, Harry Potter takes place over several years. But, the story also takes place through several books. Most children's writers start out writing stories for children's magazines or they want to write picture books for very young children. Either way, the timeframe in these stories should be rather short - a couple of hours or a day or two. If your story takes place over a couple of weeks or (gulp!) a couple of years, then you need to shorten the timeframe.

7) Punctuate Dialogue Properly. Get a grammar book to learn how to punctuate dialogue properly. But, most importantly, remember to change paragraphs each time the speaker changes. I read manuscripts all the time where three or four characters are speaking, yet the paragraph never changes. Just imagine how confusing that is to the child who is trying to read the story!

8) Cut Most of the Adjectives, Adverbs, and Other Unnecessary Words in Your Stories. Do you really need to say someone whispered quietly Or shouted loudly Or, my favorite - she nodded her head? What else could she nod? Or, she shrugged her shoulders - she certainly wouldn't shrug her foot!

9) Show, Don't Tell the Story. Read a good story and chances are there is a lot of action and dialogue (showing) with minimal stretches of straight narrative (telling). Too much narrative and the story sounds like a summary. Readers don't want a summary. They want scenes with action and dialogue that make them feel they are actually experiencing action and dialogue.

10) Research the markets BEFORE you submit your story. A story that is appropriate for one children's magazine might not be appropriate for another. You'll have the best chance of selling your stories if you send them to the appropriate publications. Read several back issues of any children's magazine that you wish to write for to get a feel for the types of stories they tend to publish. Also, follow the submission guidelines for these publications. You'll find submission guidelines on the publisher's website or in a market guide at your local book store.

If you take the time to learn the basics of writing for children, you'll be one step closer to become a published children's writer.

Tomorrow I'll write about GET SET - How to Build Your Writing Resume Even BEFORE You Start Your Career.

Suzanne Lieurance - Ready, set, go! How to create a career writing for children

Beginning June 25, I'm thrilled to announce that Suzanne Lieurance will be a guest blogger!

Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Lieurance is the author of 20 published books and has written articles for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and ezines like Family-Fun, Kansas City Weddings, Instructor Magazine, New Moon for Girls, Children’s Writer, and many others. She hosts a talk show about children’s books, called Book Bites for Kids, every weekday afternoon on blogtalkradio.com.

Her daily topics will be:

Part 1 - June 25

GET READY - The Basics of Writing for Children: What You MUST Know Before You Get Started

Part 2 - June 26th

GET SET - How to Build Your Writing Resume Even BEFORE You Start Your Career

Part 3 - June 27th -

GO - How to Start Your Career as a Children's Writer

So, join Suzanne June 25-27...and tell all your friends!



Mary Cunningham Books

Silvia Foti: Interview

Interview: Silvia Foti

Silvia Foti, is a freelancer and mystery novelist. Her first mystery novel, Skullduggery, became available as an e-book with Echelon Press in 2006. Her second mystery novel, The Diva's Fool, will be published by Echelon Press in 2007. She serves as president of Love Is Murder, an annual multi-genre conference for writers and readers held in Chicago. In the anti-competitive ladder of volunteer writing organizations, she was also voted president of Sisters in Crime in Chicago, a local group of mystery writers for the year 2006.

MC: Welcome, Silvia. You had a very interesting and diverse childhood, growing up as the child of Lithuanian political exiles. How has this experience shaped your writing?

SF: It had a profound influence, I always felt as an "other" as a child, living in two worlds, Lithuanian and American. My mind was always on Lithuania, as my parents thought they'd return some day. They never did, even when the country became free, but that longing for it still remains. I turned to books a lot and still do, and an avid reader probably thinks about writing some day. My protagonist is Lithuanian, so I bring much of myself into her.

MC: You have very broad experience in writing manuals on compliance for health journals, designing brochures, freelancing in Argentina for two newspapers and the Polo Magazine. When did your interest turn to mystery stories?

SF: I've always been reading mysteries, even as a child. I loved the suspense and thrill, the spying around. Growing up Lithuanian, my generation felt called to save the country, and in some small way, I always felt like a child-spy in America, looking for ways to free Lithuania from here. It's silly, but at the time I believed it.

MC: How does your business experience and your company, Lotus Ink help in promoting your own fiction writing career?

SF: I have the discipline to accomplish tasks I set out for myself. If something doesn't work as anticipated, I just try something else, and keep doing so without getting bogged down too much.

MC: Skullduggery and the upcoming Diva's Fool are set in Chicago. Are any of your characters or scenarios based on true life?

SF: The protagonist is a journalist on the Southwest Side of Chicago and is Lithuanian. This much is based on my own true life. The rest is imagined, particularly her skill with Tarot cards. For her, they really work.

MC: What is next? Another Chicago mystery?

SF: This is a series of twenty-two, based on the twenty-two Greater Secrets cards. The next will be based on The Magician card. This one begins in Bergamo, Italy, and ends in New York City.

MC: Can you share something funny about yourself for your readers and fans?

SF: I had a huge fear of public speaking. On a whim I answered an ad to teach public speaking at St. Xavier, my alma mater, believing that if God wanted me to improve as a public speaker, I'd get the job. I always put God in the picture with these sorts of things. To my shock, three days before classes began, I received a call to teach the class. The one they really wanted had gotten a better job, and a former professor of mine recommended me. They were desperate. The first day I was so nervous standing in front of the students speaking publicly about improving their own speech. After that experience, I knew I could do anything.

Thanks, so much, Silvia. Your personal story is as fascinating as your mystery books.

The Diva's Fool is available for purchase through Amazon.com. Skullduggery is available for purchase through Amazon or the publisher, Echelon

Read more about Silvia Foti on her website.

"I don't care..."

*Three words heard most often during 14-year-old granddaughters one-week visit.

"Where would you like to eat?" (I don't care) "Would you like to go swimming?" (I don't care) "What DVD would you like to watch?" (I don't care)

Don't get me wrong, the visit from our granddaughter, Brittany, was a total pleasure. She's funny, smart, personality-plus, and is very adaptable. She also has her grandmother's stubborn streak.

Menu-planning was a breeze...Where do we get our breaded chicken tenders and french fries? McDonalds? Arby's? Zaxby's? O'Charleys? Home? Doesn't matter as long as chicken tenders and french fries are on the menu, the location is irrelevant. I'm so loaded with salt, it'll take a year of water pills to get it out of my system. Oh, I know. I could've ordered salads...but those fries smelled great!

That said, I'm so proud of her, despite the seeming lack of culinary taste. Not only does she have the self-confidence I lacked as a 14-year-old (and as a 60-year-old!), she recently entered a Scary Story writing contest at school, winning first place with her short fiction entry, "Dreams." I'm hoping to post an excerpt, soon.

We put her on the plane last night for her trip back home. The ride to the airport was spend text-messaging her mom to see if she could go to Tennessee with a friend and her family for three days. They're leaving this morning.

How will I spend this holiday? Laundry, catching up on e-mails, blogging, NOT eating breaded chicken tenders and french fries.

Happy 4th!!

Mary

Get the latest on "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou," Book Three
www.marycunninghambooks.com