B. Lynn Goodwin's Blog: Writer Advice's Flash MEMOIR Contest, page 24
November 2, 2016
Children’s Book Fair
November 5-6, 2016 Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Contemporary authors and illustrators from throughout Northern and Central California will be on hand t…
Source: Children’s Book Fair
October 27, 2016
What’s In Your First Chapter?
Have you written a manuscript? In any prose genre?
Have you started one?
Consider submitting the first 1500 words to Writer Advice’s Fifth Scintillating Starts Contest, http://www.writeradvice.com. Every submission receives specific, detailed feedback. Finalists receive additional feedback from judges Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Kevin O’Keefe, who were the winners of last year’s contest.
Get objective feedback before you submit.
Here’s the contest blurb:
Grab and hold us with your opening paragraphs. We’ll read from works in progress as well as finished manuscripts. Submit up to 1500 words of any unpublished memoir, novel, or creative nonfiction by 12-01-16 to Writer Advice’s Fifth SCINTILLATING STARTS Contest. Additional details, fee, and link to Submittable at www.writeradvice.com.
Questions (but not submissions) go to Lgood67334 at comcast dot net. We’d love to read your opening.
Feel free to share this opportunity with your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and with your writing groups, writing peers, and anyone else who might be interested. Questions? Use the e-mail address above.
Get objective feedback before you submit.
October 14, 2016
Good News about Talent
October 14, 2016
Here is a bit of good news about Talent. It was short-listed for a Literary Lightbox Award and won a bronze medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.Woo-hoo!
If you haven’t gotten a copy, I hope you will. Go to https://www.amazon.com/Talent-B-Lynn-.... (cut & paste)
If you are a writer, you should also take a look at Writer Advice, http://www.writeradvice.com.
And now a few notes from some of the characters in Talent:
A NOTE FROM SANDEE: It’s almost time for homecoming. I’m excited, but I am already home. Why do they call it homecoming.
A NOTE FROM ROB: It’s Friday and my mom has the late shift again. Party at my house.
A NOTE FROM TESSA: I sold a painting! Can you believe it?
A NOTE FROM JENN: I’m going to see out with Pete tonight. He’s new and he said I looked cute while I was eating my salad at lunch. I hope…
A NOTE FROM DIEGO: Downloading songs.
A NOTE FROM Mrs. G: Scenes are due Monday.
If you have any questions for these characters, and I’m sure you do, send them to Lgood67334 at comcast dot net.
September 19, 2016
Dear Sandee
Long ago you kept a diary. Do you remember? That’s how you first got noticed. It wound up being a series called “Dear Diary” which ran in Dramatics Magazine. It was probably a launching pad for Talent.
Now that you are more mature, I want to encourage you to keep a journal. I know your English teacher has suggested the same thing. Hers was for extra credit, I believe. This one can tag on to that. It’s for personal enlightenment. Write about what you are feeling and thinking. Write about what you believe. Write your wishes and hopes and even your fears if you want to.
Not sure how to start? Start with what happens today. Things come up. You might also start with this article full of suggestions for keeping a journal. I’ve shared it with the women on Story Circle Network, and I’d like you to have your own copy. So Many Benefits from Journaling That link should take you right to the article on Story Circle Network. Write back and let me know what you think, okay?
[contact-form]
August 14, 2016
What an Almost 16-Year-Old Thinks
Coming Out From Behind the CurtainDear Parents, Teachers, and Other Authorities,
The summer of 2016 has been something else. I like the movies and some of the music. I hate the news. I feel sorry for adults sometimes. You have so much to think about. So while I was practicing driving with Dad, I thought of a few hints that might help you get along with us. Many of you already do, of course. But not all. And not all the time. So read my list. It just might help.
Listen to us. You’re doing that right now. But listen even when you’re mad, okay? We know we’re not perfect (except for Rob) and we want you to understand why we do the things we do.
Don’t always play the teacher—even if you are the teacher. Sometimes we can teach you things.
Ask questions—but not too many—and if we don’t want to answer back off.
Respect our privacy. You wouldn’t want us diving into your drawers, your computer, your cell.
Respect our rights. Mom & Dad have gotten really good at this, because they’ve talked about rights. I have the right to talk, but not to talk back. They will let me keep going out as long as I respect curfew. Things like that.
Question: What advice would you give parents, teachers, and other authorities? Please write back and tell me, whether you are a teen, a tween, a parent, a teacher, an authority, or an interested adult.
Thanks for reading, responding, and sharing. =)
Sandee Mason
You can purchase TALENT on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Talent-B-Lynn-... (cut and paste)
You can forward this blog to friends, teachers, parents, and librarians.
Comments? Click on the link above to share them. =)
May 30, 2016
One of the Big Ones
The San Jose Mercury News is one of the big regional newspapers in California. I remember reading it when I was a little girl, before the term Silicon Valley was coined, back in the day when we had one TV with no remote, in a console, in the family room. The Mercury-News has endured, and I hope that TALENT, which was reviewed there last week, will also endure.
This review, by Joanna Kraus, appeared in a column entitled “Summer Reading is Fun for All.” Here is what she said:
“Talent” by B. Lynn Goodwin (Danville) (Eternal Press, $12.50, ages 13-16.) Sandee’s brother has been missing in Afghanistan for seven months. Yet she hears Bri’s voice encouraging her when she auditions for the school musical, advising her when she selects a possible boyfriend, and supporting her when she must disobey the law to rescue a friend. She discovers “real life doesn’t have a script” in this moving novel, set in the East Bay. Sandee shows initiative, responsibility and finally the will to live her own life.
I liked her accuracy, her originality, and her choices of what will appeal to teens. But this is not a book for teens only. Many adults (including my book club) have read and liked the book.
There are 46 other reviews at http://www.amazon.com/Talent-B-Lynn-G.... Sandee Mason and I hope you will add yours soon.
This summer is a perfect time to read TALENT. If you are a teen, encourage your teacher to have the whole class read it. If you are a parent, share it with your kids. Read it together. Discussion questions in the back will help you get conversations going… in case that has ever been a problem in your life.
Please write back and tell me what you think of the book. I can’t wait to hear from you.
May 13, 2016
Accountability
By B. Lynn Goodwin Writing is a lonely business. Sometimes. Other times it’s a joyous celebration with friends or a slog through one’s own unique valley of despair. Frankly, I’m glad I’m not on a w…
Source: Accountability
May 9, 2016
10 People/Groups to Share TALENT With
Have you read TALENT? Well, why not? It’s only a click away. Go to the Talent on Amazon link above.
Want to know what to do with it after you read it? I should tell you to buy a copy for everyone you know, but between you and me, you can pass yours along if you want to.
Give a copy to a teacher. What kind of teacher? A drama teacher, an English teacher, a teacher who loves kids. Give it to an art teacher, or a photography teacher. Any teacher.
Give it to a librarian. School and youth librarians are looking for teen-centered books. Some of them get tired of vampires, shape shifters, and those who live in a dystopian society. You’ll be giving the gift of contemporary fiction.
Give it to your favorite student—especially one grades 6-11. It’s really suitable for anyone above a fourth grade reading level. Some of its themes are universal while its scenes are immediate and real. Although the heroine is a girl, there are two strong male characters, Rob and Diego.
Give it to the parents of any teen or tween. It will help them to see themselves through teen eyes.
Give it to a bookseller. It’s the perfect non-dystopian addition to the YA shelves.
Give it to a church’s youth group leader. It’s worth reading and sharing. There are discussion questions in the back.
Give it to a Girl Scout leader. Sandee is a role model for girls who empower themselves.
Give it to the thespians and former thespians in your life. It will bring back memories.
Give it to sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and grandkids when they are in a show—whether it’s musical comedy, a concert, or even a Power Point presentation. Show them you understand what they’re going through and so does Sandee.
Give a copy to the juvenile hall library in your county. They need books that include positive role models.
Who have I forgotten? Write back and tell me who else needs a copy. There should be a contact button at the top.
May 3, 2016
Caliburn Press Blog Hop
TALENT Celebrates With Others
Today I have the privilege of being on the Caliburn Press Blog Hop, coordinated by The Vampire Queen, http://www.thevampirequeen1.blogspot.com.
Caliburn Press, https://sites.google.com/site/caliburnpressllc/, deals mostly with horror, the supernatural, and the paranormal, and there may be a bit of paranormal or supernatural phenomenon in TALENT.
There is, but Sandee isn’t sure about whether the supernatural is real or a trick—maybe done with mirrors or an imaginative medium. In her mind, maybe it’s real and maybe it’s not. I know the psychic she consults is real and knows her stuff.
Caliburn Press also publishes young adult romance. Fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Sandee Mason qualifies as a young adult. She’s mature one minute and child-like the next. She’s discovering romance, or maybe it’s finding her while she’s busy trying to find her talents.
Sandee is going to put up a post quoting from some of the reviews for her story, but first, I wanted to share information from some of my fellow Caliburn authors. Their web pages are listed at the bottom of the article.
One of the kindest ways you can support a writer is to buy her book and read it in a public place—in a coffee shop or on the train.
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Hi all!!
Welcome to the Caliburn Press Blog Hop!!! Below you will find some of our books by some great authors. Please check them out. Don’t forget to follow the blog links below for more blogs and giveaways.
JJ Fowler
The Longest Midnight
The Earth is dead, long ago ruined in the fires of the war – a war without end. Humanity now fights extinction from the legions of the ravenous dead. These dead warriors change, they adapt, they fight back with our weapons, mimic our tactics, and even speak in our tongue. In a sign of desperation, a small group of human soldiers sets off into the unknown for answers to the dead’s uncanny ability to learn and organize and kill. They hope to return with something that will turn the tide in humanity’s favor. But is there even a tide to turn? Most humans can only wait and look up into the blackened sky, a sky without sun, a sky they call The Longest Midnight.
Link: Coming Soon.
Barbara Custer
When Blood Reigns.
Marked for death, Alexis holes up in a safehouse with her lover Yeron and four survivors of a zombie invasion. She’s searching for the compound where Kryszka renegades are making a chemical to induce a zombie-like state. Despite frequent assaults by ravenous walkers, subtle dangers such as hidden cameras elude Alexis. She never realizes until too late that the renegade soldiers have been tracking her.
Link: Coming soon.
Marti Boshers
Sophie’s seemingly ordinary life is about to be replaced with one full of chaos when she travels to an immortal realm for protection. She discovers she is part faery and part witch, but she is more powerful than either. She soon realizes she will have to protect her family, friends, and this new world she has come to love. She will sacrifice everything and never give up hope. She finds family, love, and power, but she also finds betrayal and murder. Will she rise to the challenge set before her or fall beneath the ashes of what she is destined to save.
Link: Coming Soon
S.A. Hunter
Elanraigh: The Vow
Thera doesn’t know why the Elanraigh Forest-Mind chose her, of all the Allenholme folk, to hear its voice and to awaken her gifts of mind and spirit. The Elanraigh sends a warning dream—black sails swooping toward Allenholme from across the western sea—the Memteth, an ancient enemy, armed with blue fire that hungers to consume life.
Chuck Daukas: A Little Night Fishing
“Hidden by the sea and the fog, he watches. His lust for human flesh has sprouted and grown over a preternaturally long life. Now his hunger is insatiable and he will hide no longer.
On shore, a young, bumbling security guard barely escapes a mind-wrenching encounter, only to find himself all that stands between the thing and humanity – and a multiplying horror that is closer to us than we are to ourselves.”
Barbara Winkes
Amber Alert
When her two-year-old niece is kidnapped, Major Crimes Detective Ann McCoy uses every bit of leverage she has with Agent Cal Davis to stay on the case. The girl’s parents, Ann’s sister and her wife, are desperate for answers.
While the investigators look at the disturbing possibilities, a pattern emerges. They find an organization hidden in plain sight that has no boundaries when it comes to pushing their agenda-
even at the cost of harming families and children.
Julia French
Hill Magick
Seeking escape from her abusive husband, aspiring columnist Rachel Jeffries travels into the hill country of Massachusetts, where she is saved from certain death by self-taught folk healer True Gannett. Armed only with his great grandfather’s knowledge, can True protect himself and Rachel and stop the swath of destruction started by the powerful magician Joshua Lambrecht and his obnoxious familiar?
Frank Julius Palumbo:
The Enochian Wars: Armageddon Unleashed
Planet Nibiru has returned from its twelve thousand year orbit, and its inhabitants, a race of advanced winged gargoyles, will again rule Earth as Gods. Humanity’s harvest has begun.
Sandie Will
The Caging at Deadwater Manor
On a cold, January evening, fourteen-year-old Jeannie Kynde is told that her beloved mother drowned in the murky waters along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Her distraught father turns on Jeannie, no longer the caring father she once knew. Four years later, Jeannie is finally old enough to escape her father’s clutches, but he has different plans. He imprisons her at Deadwater Manor, a psychiatric hospital with an unscrupulous past. Will she be locked away forever?
B Lynn Goodwin
Talent
Fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Sandee Mason wants to find her talent, get her driver’s license, and stop living in the shadow of her big brother, who disappeared while serving in Afghanistan. She tries out for the school musical, but is assigned to a job that might be better than any role. Everything changes after her dad picks her up following a Saturday work day, and I can’t tell you the rest without spoilers. If you check the reviews on Amazon, you’ll see that it’s well worth your time.
Tina Amiri
Whatever the Impulse
When There’s Nowhere To Go But Too Far..
With his sole guardian turned stalker and the police on the wrong side, 19-year-old Night has little choice but to enter into an elaborate ruse in exchange for refuge. Despite his oppressive, isolated past, fulfilling his dying mentor’s grand expectations is achievable for prodigious Night, but threats and temptations abound. As Night’s power increases, will he be able to control his feral impulses, and more importantly, will he care?
Michael Penny
The nations of Daern are being torn apart. Old enemies are watching their borders, leering through a thin veneer of peace. The nobles search for weaknesses among their rivals, even as their castles crumble around them. And hungry spirits creep into the souls of mortals, whispering of more horrors still to come. At the edge of civilization, four lives collide in this world where mercy has become a luxury few can afford and life is often cheap. Can they survive under the pressure of forces they barely understand?
Jodie Pierce
The Vampire Queen (book 1 of 3-trilogy)
A young woman awakes to find out not only is she an important Countess but she is also the very first or ‘Ancient One’ as she is called by her subjects. Her memories of being a vampire or anyone are gone so she must relearn everything (from spells to flying) from the people around her, but can they be trusted? She also learns her main objective as the old Countess was purifying the vampire race and wishes to continue with that work. The ‘Others’, powerful and evil vampires, attempt to use her memory loss to their advantage. They had been trying to entice her to their side for centuries. Struggling to remember her past, battling the ‘Others’ and coping with her new life keep the Countess busy throughout this spellbinding and thrilling novel. Will she succeed in her goals or will the ‘Others’ win her over to their side this time around?
Angela Page
Matched in Heaven
Heaven may not be what you imagine.
Jake and Mimi are dead and riddled with guilt. They play matchmaker for their spouses on Earth with the help Marcel, a disgraced priest. A May/December romance blossoms for Samantha and Syd on Earth until fate steps in.
Thank you for visiting my blog and don’t forget to check out the other ones on this blog tour. You can find the links below:
5/1 www.itsanovelthing.blogspot.com
5/1 www.barkleysbaddogadventures.wordpress.com
5/1 http://www.matchedinheaven.net
5/1 www.jodiepierceauthor.blogspot.com
5/2 http://www.bloodredshadow.com
5/2 www.barbarawinkes.blogspot.ca
5/4 www.whatevertheimpulse.blogspot.ca
5/4 http://www.kissedbyliterature.blogspot.com
5/7 www.frankjuliuspalumbo.wordpress.com
5/7 www.storyinprogress.daem.tumblr.com
5/7 http://www.sandrahunter.blogspot.ca
5/7 http://www.juliafrenchbooks.wordpress.com
May 1, 2016
Permission Slips
What would you add?
Telling HerStories: The Broad View
by Jude Walsh Whelley
Every Sunday I meet with my tribe of four women writers for a morning of what Eric Maisel calls Deep Writing. It is a lovely, centering time where we sit side-by-side and write. During occasional breaks we share information on craft, submission, and building platform. The shared writing energy keeps us focused and productive. On my drive home, as I process what I wrote and what we shared, I am frequently inspired. At those moments, I use the voice memo function on my phone to record my thoughts. I may listen to that voice memo and tranfer it to written form immediately or, if life grabs me when I get home, the memo may sit for a while.
In a recent burst of decluttering energy, I decided to review those waiting memos. I found this gem and want to share. I was looking for ways to…
View original post 179 more words
Writer Advice's Flash MEMOIR Contest
- B. Lynn Goodwin's profile
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