teacup
Five Links…4/26/19
Loleta Abi
Writing:
1. https://www.janefriedman.com/beyond-good-writing/ “Almost anyone who has spent time in the query trenches knows how challenging it is to capture the attention of a literary agent. Most agents, even new agents eager to build their client list, pass on over 90 percent of the queries they receive. In some cases, the reason is obvious: The agent doesn’t represent the writer’s genre; the writer has written a synopsis rather than a query letter; the agent isn’t accepting queries, at all.”
2. http://megdowell.com/2019/04/21/every-story-begins-with-a-blank-page/ “Every writer has their hangups. Usually it’s a part of the writing process they just can’t seem to get a good handle on no matter how hard they try.
For some people, for example, starting a book is the easy part. What they struggle with more than anything is actually following through and finishing that book.
Others struggle even to come up with an idea for a story, desperate to create something but unable to nail down exactly what they want to write about.” Mine is the follow through. Once I get that first word down, I kick off it and add word after word till I have a sentence and move on from there. Link by link, it adds up.
3. https://audreydriscoll.com/2019/04/21/retread-2-editors-and-credibility/ “Since joining LinkedIn’s Fiction Writers’ Guild last year, I’ve wasted — er, spent a lot of hours reading and occasionally commenting on several discussions. They are all about fiction writing and increasingly about self-published fiction. Inevitably, the topic of editing comes up. Someone opines that of course a self-published work must be substandard if the author has skipped the all-important step of having their work “professionally edited.” In the throes of one of these debates, someone said, “A writer who edits him- or herself has a fool for a client,” echoing a similar opinion about people who represent themselves in a court of law.”
4. https://nicholasrossis.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/punk-subgenres/ “One of my favorite writing resources, Mythic Scribes, recently published a great post exploring the world of -Punk subgenres: think Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Dieselpunk. The post, by Cathy, the Overprepared GM, PsychoJuliet, Jaren J. Petty, and Cryssalia Noire, was presented by Worldbuilding Magazine. The complete post is pretty detailed (I suggest you read it at your leisure) but here are the main genres mentioned:”
5. https://writersinthestormblog.com/2019/04/the-3-act-emotional-arc-for-showing-shame-in-fiction/ “Shame is one of the most powerful and underused emotions in a fiction-writer’s toolbox. Shame is pervasive and common, it’s ugly and hard to capture well. Readers cheer for characters who are relate-able. They cheer for characters who stand up to bullies, who stay and fight when they don’t have to. They relate to characters who have flaws!”
Research & Fun Tidbits:
1. https://somethingferal.com/2019/04/20/bardic-review/ “It has been our policy for some time now to ask Companions to bring readings for inclusion in our Landscape Weekends…”
2. https://blondewritemore.com/2019/04/21/job-description-the-writers-pet-writers-writingcommunity/ “On those gloomy writing days when it feels like the world has turned away from our stories, we can always rely on our pets to make us smile again.”
3. https://killzoneblog.com/2019/04/elvis-presley-what-really-killed-the-king-of-rock-n-roll.html “I invited my dear friend Garry Rodgers — retired homicide detective with a second career as a forensic coroner — to share a fascinating post about the real cause of Elvis Presley’s death. Prepare to be wowed. Welcome to TKZ, Garry!”
4. http://scvincent.com/2019/04/22/the-small-dog-and-the-gardener/ “The grass had grown, was far too long,
My mower wouldn’t cope.
What if I trimmed it down a bit?
That might work. I could hope.”
5. https://www.theresahuppauthor.com/blog/2019/04/22/more-on-slow-communications-in-the-frontier-days/ “As I work on my current novel, I am mired again in the vagaries of the mail system in 1850-51. I wrote a post on this topic when I was working on Now I’m Found, in which letters between the characters provided many of the plot’s turning points.
In my current novel, two sisters write letters to each other. One of these letters affects the plot, though the letters also provide my female protagonist with an opportunity to vent her feelings about the strange Oregon wilderness in which she finds herself.”
Some Things More Serious:
1. https://beckiesmentalmess.blog/2019/04/21/%F0%9F%98%81april-212019-quote-of-the-day-my-thoughts/
2. http://booksbywomen.org/a-roll-of-the-dice/ “A Roll of the Dice is about one woman’s wish to become a mother while knowing that she carries a gene that could seriously affect her unborn babies, particularly if they are boys. The memoir is a thrilling page-turner as well as a story of a haunting journey towards motherhood.”
3. https://kerrymckim.com/2019/04/24/since-ive-been-gone/ “Can I be totally honest for a minute?
I had to stop writing because I was just so sick of it.
I was sick of being a widow.
I was sick of feeling like I had to defend my feelings. It didn’t matter if those feelings were grief related or not.”
4. https://storyempire.com/2019/04/24/using-real-life-experiences-in-fiction/ “Probably everyone has heard this quote or some variation. If you google for who wrote it, you’re not likely to get a definitive answer. Some say it was Lord Byron, while others attribute the quote to Mark Twain.”
5. https://hughsviewsandnews.com/2019/04/23/school-days-reminiscences-of-hugh-roberts/
Teaser Fiction & Poetry:
1. https://syl65.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/divine-haiku-10/
2. https://erikakind.me/2019/04/22/daily-kind-quote-901/
4. https://teagansbooks.com/2019/04/24/jazz-age-wednesdays-1-million-years-b-lulu/
5. http://nicholasrossis.me/2019/04/23/free-story-whats-in-a-name/ “n April 2018, I posted my thousandth post on this blog. To celebrate, I started sharing here all my short stories. Every couple of weeks, I’ll be posting one story from my celebrated Exciting Destinies series for you to enjoy. With over 30 stories so far, I hope you’ll have lots of fun in the coming months!”
Book Reviews, Cover Reveals, & Author Interviews:
1. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2019/04/20/bookreview-understanding-compiled-by-stevie-turner/ “The following authors and bloggers kindly answered questions posed by Stevie Turner regarding significant life experiences they had undergone. These events include sexual abuse, a near death experience, alcoholism, being diagnosed with cancer, depression, losing weight, getting married, being a mother to many children, being the daughter of a narcissistic mother, and many more!
All proceeds will go to Cancer Research.”
2. https://4writersandreaders.com/2019/04/20/celebrate-earth-day-with-a-%C6%B9%CC%B5%CC%A1%D3%9D%CC%B5%CC%A8%CA%92-monarch-butterfly-ebook-only-99%C2%A2-limited-time/ ““Award-winning picture book adventure follows a monarch butterfly through her life cycle and teaches kids important life lessons along the way!”
3. https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2019/04/21/spellcheck-cannot-save-you-dialogue-tags-beats-single-quotes-by-karen-conlin/ “Last time, I talked about the basics of dialogue: when and how to use quotation marks, and how to show indirect dialogue and internal dialogue (what Benjamin Dreyer of Random House calls “articulated rumination,” a term I have adopted myself).
Now it’s time to look at how to use single quotation marks, dialogue tags and beats.”
4. https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2019/04/22/rosies-bookreview-team-rbrt-shortstory-collection-more-glimpses-by-hughroberts05/ “What an eclectic collection of short stories! There’s something for everyone – horror, comedy, science fiction, mystery, paranormal. Some are a scant few paragraphs, while others span several pages. My reactions to these stories ran the gamut – laughter, shock, sadness, surprise. The author has quite an imagination, and uses human nature and tendencies and our dependence on modern technology in clever ways.”
5. https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/2019/04/23/bookreview-body-wetlands/ “Ciao, amici! Happy Tuesday. I have another review for you. Not long ago, I read, thoroughly enjoyed, and reviewed Judi Lynn’s cozy mystery, The Body in the Attic. You can read that post here.
Today, I have the pleasure of discussing its sequel, The Body in the Wetlands.”
A Dash of Words with Loleta Abi Romance Author 
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