Casey Lawrence's Blog, page 26
July 2, 2023
Publishing My NaNoWriMo Novels
Writing 50K words during National Novel Writing Month helped me publish a YA trilogy
July 1, 2023
June 28, 2023
Reviewsday Tuesday Monthly Theme: July 2023
Photo by Laura Fuhrman on UnsplashGreetings reviewers! Welcome to Reviewsday Tuesday, the publication that posts reviews of all kinds. Books, movies, TV shows, people, places, things, even words in the English dictionary — you name it, you can review it.
In July 2023, there will be a small honorarium ($5USD) awarded for the best review submitted during the month based on the theme outline below.
Ground RulesYou must be a writer for Reviewsday Tuesday in order to participate. You can join by following the instructions in the Submission Guidelines. All entries must adhere to the rules outlined in the Guidelines, including formatting, tagging, and citation of images.All entries must be submitted before the final Tuesday of the month. Since all our stories are published on Tuesdays only, stories submitted too late will end up being posted the following month and will therefore be ineligible to win.Each entry must use the tag ‘Monthly Theme’ and identify itself as participating by linking back to this post at the bottom of the story.All entrants must be following Reviewsday Tuesday in order to be eligible for the prize. If you have Twitter, please also follow @Reviewsdays. The winner will be announced on Twitter and the Newsday newsletter.The PrizeThe best review submitted to Reviewsday Tuesday that follows the monthly theme will receive $5 USD. I know it isn’t much, but it’s the cost of one month on Medium! The prize will be paid via PayPal unless otherwise arranged.
If the contest is successful and helps Reviewsday Tuesday to grow, future prizes may increase in value.
Photo by James Besser on UnsplashMonthly Theme: FamilyWhen I was a kid, July was Family Reunion season. We would rent a pavilion and all the cousins would come out to barbeque, compete in races and games, have water balloon fights, and swap a year’s worth of family news and gossip.
Other than Christmas, midsummer is the time of the year when we are most likely to be surrounded by family. The kids are off school and it’s too hot and stuffy to be in an office, so July is when many families take their annual vacations. There are trips to the beach; picnics at the park; days spent lounging by the pool; family game nights. It’s the busiest time of the year for resorts and Disneyland.
Of course, the word “family” means different things to different people. Many people have fraught relationships with their biological families and have surrounded themselves instead with “found families,” the people they choose to love.
Whether your family is nuclear or explosive, large or small, near or distant, born or built, this month your contest entries should celebrate the various kinds of families, family events, holidays, and stories about families. Here are some prompts to get you going:
Review a family recipe or dish that holds special meaning for you.Review a book, TV show, or movie that is about a family or contains a unique family dynamic. Here are a few stories off the top of my head: Cheaper by the Dozen, Encanto, Roots, Little Fires Everywhere, My Sister’s Keeper, The Proud Family, Anne of Green Gables.Review your mom’s favourite book. Or your dad’s favourite movie. Or your brother’s favourite video game. Does it remind you of them? What is it like to look at it from their point of view?Review a family tradition or a holiday that you spend with your family. Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Family Day, Christmas; how do your family celebrate?Review a product or service that has influenced your family’s daily life, such as a meal delivery service, education app, or home organization tool.Review your family history, your family tree, or some other personal aspect of what you consider “family.” Review your pets; review an adoption agency, or your fertility journey, or your birth experience, or your parenting skills; review your parents; review your siblings.These are only prompts to get you started; other entries related to the monthly theme are very much welcome and encouraged! The topic is as wide open as you can make it.
Good luck to everyone who participates!
I will be announcing the winner of June’s monthly theme prize soon.
[image error]Reviewsday Tuesday Monthly Theme: July 2023 was originally published in Reviewsday Tuesday on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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Ammonite (2020), Queering History
Review of the 2020 film starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan
June 18, 2023
How to Write a Sequel
Things I wish I’d known before writing Order in the Court
June 17, 2023
June 16, 2023
Fresh Air
Photo by Filip Mroz on UnsplashThe rainforest breathed. She could feel its warm breath on the back of her neck. Drops of perspiration collected on her upper lip, in the well of her collar bone, sliding down her back. If Kevin were here, she’d have felt self-conscious about it. She’d have been wearing makeup and fanning herself.
She couldn’t imagine him in this place, although they’d chosen it together. In fact, it had been on his bucket list, not hers, to visit the rainforest.
“Zip-lining over the clouds in Costa Rica,” he’d said with finality when the topic of their honeymoon came up. “I don’t want to be one of those lazy couples who lie about on a beach for a week and then have nothing to talk about in thirty years.”
Of course, she’d done all the planning. She always had. But then again, didn’t that say something about their relationship? She’d planned her own proposal, picked out the ring. And now she was here alone in the rainforest on their — her — honeymoon. Because he’d gotten cold feet.
“Let’s postpone,” he said, puffing on one of those damned vapes of his. “It’s not the right time. We’ll still get married, someday.”
Fat chance, she thought. And then she left him, finally. But there was the matter of this trip. She’d already paid a deposit. But two economy tickets could be upgraded into one first-class seat.
So now she was here, in the forest, alone. The guide was some thirty feet ahead. Her backpack was heavy with bottles of water, bug spray, sunscreen, granola bars. She had always been practical. It had always been Kevin who wasn’t.
He would have hated it here. The heat. The bugs. The muggy air. The salty tang of sweat. The cawing of birds. The scuttle of little claws in the bush. Everything about this place would have him muttering under his breath about going back to the resort.
She’d go zip-lining tomorrow above the clouds, just as he’d wanted — without him. But this moment? This was for her.
Alone for the first time in three years, she breathed a sigh of relief.
This story was written during a ten-minute “word sprint” challenge as part of NaNoWriMo Writer Yoga. The sprint prompt was: “Your character changes up their routine to go on an adventure by themselves. Where do they go? What’s in their backpack?”
Writer Yoga (where we literally did 30 minutes of yoga followed by ten minutes of writing, then discussion) takes place on Zoom and is free to join from the NaNoWriMo website. I have discovered that a few cat-cows and downward dogs can be good for stimulating creativity!
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Buy My Book!My debut novel, Out of Order, is now available from JMS Books. The sequel, Order in the Court, is available for preorder for 20% off until June 24, 2023.
[image error]Fresh Air was originally published in Promptly Written on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
