Nicole Zoltack's Blog, page 71

More Blog Awards

I've received two blog awards (one awhile ago, I just never got around to posting it until now, whoops!)

The first:is the Sunshine Award from the lovely Shawna Williams, a fellow DBP author and author of No Other. This award is passed on to blogger's that inspire others and show positivity and creativity.

The rules for accepting the award are:
1) Put the logo within my blog or on my post
2) Pass the award onto 12 fellow bloggers
3) Link the nominees within my post
4) Let the nominees know they ...

Acceptance

I woke up this morning to a wonderful email - an acceptance from Pill Hill Press for a short (A New Magical Earth) in their Daily Flash anthology. It's a for the love of market but the exposure has to be good. Plus the flash piece only took me about a half hour to submit, edit down to under 500 words, and submit.

Other than that flash piece, my muse has been on vacation. Which is fine with me, after all I wrote 56k in 6 weeks to finish up Torn Between Murder and Love. But June it'll be back to...

Guest Blog: Jean Hart Stewart - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Blog readers, let me introduce Jean Hart Stewart, author of The Third Rose, the first book in a new historical series. Jean's going to talk today about decisions. Take it away, Jean!

Decisions, decisions, decisions !!

Do you remember the decisions that shaped your life? The decisions you yourself made, not the ones fate forced on you? Sometimes they stick in your memory forever, and often you don't even notice their importance at the time.

I made one when I was sixteen, in high school and...

More on Edits

Each writer has there own distinct style. I'm sure there are a few (whom I utterly despise) that can sell their first draft. Few and far between. Most authors have to revise and edit and polish their stories several times before they send their babies to editors at publishing houses and/or agents.

For me, my rough draft is the meat and potatoes of the story: the dialogue and the action. Some emotions. But I tend to gloss over the descriptive parts of the story, the garnishes, the loaded aspect...

Editing

I'm working hard on editing Torn Between Murder and Love.

It's amazing, I can type for hours and it doesn't bother me, but when I'm editing, I have to take breaks for my eyes and I almost always develop a headache. Maybe because I'm working too hard.

So far, I've cut out nearly 1K tightening up the story. There are parts, especially toward the end, where I'll need to add in more descriptions, so hopefully it'll round out to about 100K. It's at 96K right now.

What's your self-editing process? Hav...

Writing Update

Last night, I finished my assassin WIP. Woot! It's called Torn Between Murder and Love.

Lorna McCloud likes to think she's an assassin for the money and because she's good at it. But the real reason, because she was traumatized after witnessing her father's murder, is one she longs to keep buried. However a fresh lead in the cold case brings her closer to discovering her father's murderer.

Along the way, Lorna is captured by the Paranormal Intelligence Agency (PIA) and learns she is a paranorm ...

''Dear Lucky Agent'' Contest: Fantasy and Sci-Fi

''Dear Lucky Agent'' Contest: Fantasy and Sci-Fi
HOW TO SUBMITE-mail entries to fifthagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments. WHAT TO SUBMITThe first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of fantasy or science fiction (adult fiction and/or YA fiction; no MG please). You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your...

Guest Blog: Allie Boniface

Allie Boniface – Blog Tour – One Night in Memphis Audio Book Release 
I write "24-hour romance" which means my One Night books take place over a single day and night. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again and they decide they'd like to spend more than 24 hours getting to know one another. I'm often asked "why that city?" or "why 24 hours?" when people first find out about my books. And if you've been following my blog tour stops these last few days, you already know the...

Guest Blog from Steph Burkhart - "The Hungarian" Blog Tour

What was life like in 1901?

I'm excited to be here at Nicole's blog, the sixth and last stop on my blog tour for "The Hungarian." My thanks to Nicole for having me today.

"The Hungarian" is set in 1901 in England and Hungary. So, what was life like in 1901? It was an interesting blend of old and new and a time of quick change.

AUTOS

Motor cars, or autos, as I refer them to them in novel, were beginning to make an impact, but most of the transport on the roads were horse and buggy. Mercedes was a ...

Interview with the lovely Shawna Williams

I love Shawna, and I swear that has nothing to do with her (and her daughters and niece) loving my books. She a kind-hearted soul, and a wonderful person. I can't wait to read her new book, No Other, available today from Desert Breeze Publishing.

And now, onto the interview!


First, Shawna, could tell my blog readers a little about yourself?


I'm pretty ordinary. I'm a mom of three wonderful kids, and I've been married to their dad for 18 and a half yrs. We live on a ranch in Mena, AR, where...