Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 32

The North Coast Squid Celebration–December 7

On the evening of December 7, I’ll be doing a reading of “Dead Body” which is an excerpt from my memoir in progress, Kids in Orange: Voices from Juvenile Detention. The piece is being published in the third edition of the North Coast Squid literary magazine which will be released on Dec 7, 2013 at a special event held at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. The event begins at 7 p.m.  Admission is free.

Here’s a bit from the Hoffman Center blog about the North Coast Squid:

The Manzanita Writer’s Series coordinators are pleased to unveil the newly revamped magazine.  “We’re grateful to our many donors and business sponsors—especially to the Tillamook County Cultural Coalition for a grant—to help us redesign the publication,” said Vera Wildauer co-founder of the Manzanita Writers’ Series.  In previous years, the North Coast Citizen handled the printing.  “They helped us get the publication off the ground,” added Wildauer.

The North Coast Squid showcases work of writers and artists who live on the north coast or have a strong connection to the area.  Eighty-five writers and artists submitted nearly 200 works for consideration.  “There are so many talented people in our community and we are delighted to be able to offer this way to see their work in print,” said Kathie Hightower, co-founder of the Manzanita Writers’ Series.  Submissions were juried by authors outside the community. Brian Doyle, author of Mink River and editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, judged fiction.  Karen Karbo, author famous for her Kick Ass Women series, the latest of which is Julia Child Rules, judged nonfiction.  Stephanie Lenox, author of Congress of Strange People and creative writing teacher at Willamette University, judged poetry.

The release event will feature selected author readings from the North Coast Squid, as well as a gallery showing of some of the photography and art published in the magazine.  There will be refreshments—including cake!—and a drawing for door prizes at the end of the evening.  Prizes include tuition to a Hoffman Center workshop, tickets to a Manzanita Writers’ Series event and a Film Series showing, plus time in the popular Clay Studio.

The North Coast Squid will be available for purchase at the event, as well as at every Manzanita Writers’ Series event throughout 2014.  A number of retail outlets along the coast will also carry it. Proceeds of the $5 cover price will go to produce future editions of the magazine.

This is a great opportunity to come out and support the Northern Oregon coast literary community. The winter is beautiful on the coast and there are a lot of great places to stay at off season prices in both Manzanita and Cannon  Beach.  If you’re making a weekend of it, Saturday, December 7 in Cannon Beach there are plenty of Haystack Holiday activities to do including: wreath decorating, a tea at the library, and the lighting of the lamp in Sandpiper Square. You can find all the details from Haystack Holidays here.

See you at the coast!

Manuscript Critiques

A few weeks ago, I participated in Ellen Brock’s query contest on her blog. I submitted my query letter for my middle grade work-in-progress and she critiqued the query. I did not win the grand prize critique, but Ellen did give me a line edit critique on my first chapter which was very helpful. I plan on hiring her to critique my work-in-progress early in 2014.

I’m a big fan of hiring editors for manuscript critiques. I hired freelance editors for both my books, WEAVING MAGIC and STAINED GLASS SUMMER. I believe there is a point in writing a story when it’s important to get an outside professional viewpoint on how the story is working or not working before submitting the story to agents and editors. If you are self-publishing, then I would highly, highly recommend hiring an editor for both content and line editing before publishing.

There are two kinds of manuscript critiques. A developmental critique looks at the story, the character, the plot, the tension, the pacing, and how things are flowing together overall. This is usually provided as a four to six page editorial letter with a few notes in the margins of your manuscript.

The second kind of critique is a line edit. This manuscript critique looks more closely at the details of your story–editing for clarity and grammar rather than overall content.

There is a great article about hiring an editor on Ellen Brock’s website here.

She also has a great post about what to do with those edits once they come back here.

If you’re looking for a manuscript critique, here are a few names:

Sarah Cloots, freelance editor--Sarah is a former children’s book editor at Greenwillow. She did a content edit on my novel, STAINED GLASS SUMMER, and gave me one of the key’s to the story–change it to be middle grade instead of young adult. Sarah offers both line edits and developmental critiques and you can find out more here.

Bev Katz Rosenbaum-Bev is a former Harlequin editor and I hired her to critique WEAVING MAGIC. It was my first time writing a story with romantic elements and I wanted to know how the romance was working, or not working. Bev’s critique was  developmental and she sent me a detailed four page letter about the story.

Ellen Brock–Ellen was the former head YA editor at Musa Publishing. I did not work with her on STAINED GLASS SUMMER, but she was often spoken of highly by other authors. Ellen does both line edits and developmental critiques. She details her process here.

Miss Snark’s First Victim–If you are looking for a partial critique of your manuscript, here is the place to look. Miss Snark’s First Victim, otherwise know as Authoress, does partial manuscript critiques ranging from 30 pages to 75 pages. She also offers full manuscript critiques.

But maybe you don’t want to hire an editor. One way to sharpen your own editorial skills is to sign up for the Savvy Authors Editpoolaza taking place in January. This is a month long program where authors are grouped together with five other authors and one editor. The editor does not read your manuscript. Instead, all month, you get to learn how to edit your manuscript like an editor. You can find out all the details and register here.

Another way to sharpen your editorial skills is to sign up for the Author Editor workshops . If you can’t sign up for one of the classes, check out An Editor’s Guide to Working with Authors which is available in print or ebook.

Writing and drafting a story is only one part of the process. Editing is when the story begins to shine.

Let us know if there is anyone you have worked with and would recommend in the comment section.

NaNoWriMo Workshop–Murky Middles

I’ll be at the Mulkiteo library from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m on Thursday, November 14. I’m presenting a workshop and writing with a group of NaNoWriMo writers.  Most of the two hours will be spent writing–and yes, I’ll have my computer with me and will be working on editing the blurb  for my New Year’s Eve story, New Year Heart Song, which is the third and last story in the sweet, contemporary romance series about the Elmheart Hotel.

The first part of the NaNoWriMo workshop is about those murky middles. One of the hardest parts of drafting a story can be the middle. Most of us have a lot of excitement at the beginning of a story. And by the end of a draft, we’re pretty sure how to wrap things up. But things can lose momentum fast in the middle. So, I’ll be sharing tips about what to do with those murky middles.

You can download the Murky Middle NaNoWriMo Handout

I hope to see some of you at the library! (The workshop is open to both teens and adults)

Monday Marketing Links

After STAINED GLASS SUMMER and WEAVING MAGIC published and the first months of book launch promotion died down a bit, I began spending some time every Monday working on marketing for the books. What does this look like? I spend the first couple hours on Monday morning looking for upcoming blog hop sign-ups, opportunities to promote my sweet, contemporary romances on various yahoo discussion groups and scroll through various blogs linked to Facebook pages. This is also the time when I am looking for upcoming conferences to present, grants to apply for, and possible submission opportunities for some of my other stories.

Here are some recent marking opportunities for writers.

Middle Grade and Young Adult Holiday Blog Hop–Sign-ups are now open for this Holiday Blog hop for middle grade and young adult writers. The blog hop runs from December 1-15 and all you have to do is blog about a special holiday memory and offer a giveaway of a book, gift certificate, etc. Sign up here.

Magic Monday Tips from 30 Day Books: This is an easy one. All you do is sign up, and on Monday, an email with a tip for how to market your book shows up in your email. The latest was about creating an anniversary or birthday for your book to help give it some visibility. You can sign up for Magic Monday tips here.

Love Romances Cafe Facebook Page: If you write romance (any genre), Love Romances Cafe Facebook group is a good one to know about. They have opportunities for promotion such as posting your cover art on Wednesdays and sharing your free reads on Thursdays. You can go here to become a part of this Facebook group.

Finally, if you want to learn more about hybrid publishing and if it’s for you, check out this free chat at Savvy Authors this week on November 13. Hybrid publishing is when an author is using all the variety ways to publish–traditional, small indie presses and self publishing. The chat is hosted by romance author, Cynthia Eden, who writes paranormal and historical suspense.

If you have found any great opportunities for marketing, let us know in the comments!

 

 

 

 

No Plot No Problem Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Rich L. Rich is the winner of No Plot No Problem by Chris Baty!

In December, I’ll be doing another giveaway of a writing craft book which might be helpful when you’re thinking about editing those NaNoWriMo drafts!

Happy NaNoWriMo!

 

 

Community Opportunities for Writers

In the last few weeks, I’ve had a first page critique, a query critique and a first chapter critique on my middle grade in progress, Granddad’s Toys. I’ve also participated in two chats–one about writing love scenes with Harlequin Blaze author, Tawny Weber, and one with a Harlequin editor, Leslie Ann Tuttle, for the new digital only line. As a result of that chat with the Harlequin editor, I participated in a pitch contest for Harlequin’s new digital only line for a novella series….waiting to hear if it was accepted.

But, the best thing? All of these critiques and chats have been extremely helpful and all have been free.

How were all of these free? After helping out with the Amazing Race where I spent the week picking up requests for query critiques, social media requests and answering questions about being a writer, the sponsors of the event, Becca and Angela, offered their services to the authors who volunteered in the Amazing Race. I popped the first page over to them and received great questions about one of the character’s reactions to the unfolding scene.

The pitch critique came from freelance editor, Ellen Brock, who offered a contest on her blog. Part of the contest asked writers to post pitches and queries in the comment section of her blog. At the end of the week, she critiqued those of us who posted our queries.

Although I didn’t win her free critique on 25,000 words, she did offer to critique the first chapter. I popped it over to her and three days later received it back with great comments about character motivation as well as amazing line editorial advice. Ellen was the head editor at the Musa Publishing’s YA imprint and she’s an amazing editor.  This free chapter critique gave me a chance to see her style and to see if we’d work well together if I ask her to do a paid critique on my middle grade later this winter.

All of these recent opportunities are the same things writers seek out at conferences. But conferences aren’t always practical for various reasons–scheduling, travel, cost.

What I have been amazed to realize in the last two weeks is these opportunities also exist without going to conferences. No expense. No travel. No time scheduling committment.

How did I seek out these opportunities?

First, find an on-line community. There are a lot of great communities on-line for authors. Some of my favorites are:

Savvy Authors: The chat with Tawny Weber about Writing Love Scenes, was offered at the Savvy Authors Community. Although you can pay to be a member and receive discounts on classes and other special opportunities, you do not have to be a premium member to participate in the on-line community. There are frequent free chat sessions and pitch opportunities for romance and YA romance.
The Harlequin Community–Harlequin also has their own on-line community where editors from the various lines offer pitch sessions, chat sessions, and writers have a place to talk about writing for Harlequin. This is a free community board here.
Verla Kay’s Blueboard–Verla Kay’s Blueboard is now a part of SCBWI. You do not have to be a member of SCBWI to access the blueboard. But, if you are a member and the more you post, other boards open up to you. This is an invaluable source of information and I have often found new places to submit for children’s markets as well as opportunities such as volunteering in the Amazing Race.
Volunteer–Volunteering can include hosting other authors on your blog, helping a well-known author get a new book launched by promoting their boo on your blog, or helping out with something such as the Amazing Race where you are offering to critique and help other writers.
Connect with Facebook: Beside my personal page, I belong to a handful of Facebook Pages–some are closed groups to the public. For example, all of my publishers have Facebook groups for their authors. On the pages, we post about upcoming promotion opportunities as well as talk about what is working and what is not. I also belong to a handful of specialty Facebook groups such as  Middle Grade  Writers (this is where I heard about Ellen Brock’s opportunity), and Marketing for Romance Writers.  These groups are far more than marketing our current books. They are about building community.

Finally, seek out the opportunities that might not be as well known, but are just as valuable. For example, Ellen Brock wasn’t flooded with query requests on her blog contest the way she might have been had she been a well-known freelance editor such as Dear Editor (who is also offering a contest on her blog right now) or Brenda Novak’s charity auctions which draw hundreds of writers bidding on manuscript critiques with editors.  Also, look for places where authors are hosting an auction that benefits a specific cause. It may not be as hard or as expensive to bid on the big items like manuscript critiques. I won a first chapter and query critique on my memoir with agent, Sarah LaPolla, last winter while bidding for a kill free cat shelter. The money went to a good cause, and I received a great critique.

Now, thanks to all these great opportunities in the last few weeks, I have a lot of writing work to do! Let us know in the comments below if you have found any great opportunities.

No Plot, No Problem Book Giveaway

In honor of NaNoWriMo, I’m offering a giveaway of one copy of  NO PLOT NO PROBLEM by Chris Baty. Chris is the original creator of NaNoWriMo and his book offers pep talks and lots of great tips for writing a novel in a month–any month if you’re not participating this month for NaNoWriMo. You do not have to be participating in NaNoWriMo this year to enter the giveaway.

The giveaway is for one ebook copy (Kindle or Nook), of NO PLOT NO PROBLEM. To be entered, leave your name and an email address in the comment section of this post and tell me why you want to win this book now.  US and International entries are fine. I will announce the winner on Friday, November 8, 2013.

Good luck!

NaNoWriMo

It’s November and for writers that means one thing–It’s National Write a Novel in a Month! (NaNoWriMo).

You can find out more about NaNoWriMo at the official website here.

During the month of November, writers are challenged to write a novel in a month which means 50,000 words.  I love the idea of NaNoWriMo and in 2008 participated with what is now my novel, WEAVING MAGIC.

I had started a draft of WEAVING MAGIC during my graduate work in Vermont College but really needed to dig into it. During November 2008, I challenged myself to write the whole story–fast!

And that’s what I love about NaNoWriMo. The idea is that you write a fast draft and this process overrides the critical brain which wants to jump in and say, “But are you sure that works there? I don’t think this character should really do that!”

One hint: It does help to do some character sketches and outline a general plot before you start–unless you write by the seat of your pants.

I use the NaNoWriMo process every time I draft a story–whether it be romance or children’s. I challenge myself to do nothing but draft that first draft in a fast series of days.  Then, I let the story sit for a bit and go back and start the editing process which is where the story really starts to take shape.

I’m not participating in the official NaNoWriMo this year.  This month I’m working on editing and polishing the last in the Elmheart Hotel series of my sweet contemporary romance novellas and, later in the month and into December, I’m editing and working on a middle grade which has been hanging around my computer files for what is beginning to be years! That story has already been fast drafted and now I’m in the process of editing and cleaning it up with the goal of getting it out on submission in January.

But I will be giving a NaNoWriMo workshop at the Mulkiteo Library on Thursday, November 14 from 3:30-5:30. During that workshop, the bulk of it will be writing and working on the word count for the day, but I’ll also be doing a quick presentation on “Murky Middles.” The workshop does include a handout which I’ll post on this blog the day of the workshop.

The library workshop falls right in the middle of the month and it’s been my experience participating in NaNoWriMo, that’s about the time all the fun and excitement has worn off and the drafting is really dragging in the middle of the story. In the workshop, I’ll give tips for how to perk up that murky middle and ways to keep going through NaNoWriMo.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

The Barmback–An Irish Halloween Tradition

When I was writing my sweet, contemporary romance novella, HALLOWEEN LOVE FORTUNE, I had a great time learning about the old-fashioned tradition of Halloween as a day of love. During Halloween of the past, there were many customs which  included fortune telling. You can learn more about Halloween fortune telling on my blog post here which is a part of the Haunting Blogging event at the Long and Short Reviews.

One of those Halloween fortune telling traditions includes the Irish Barmback bread.  Often called, “brack”, the bread contained various objects baked into the bread such as peas, sticks, and a ring.  Each item, when received in a slice, would foretell of the following.

A pea–The person would not marry in that year.
A stick–The person would have an unhappy marriage
A piece of cloth–Foretold of bad luck or poverty
a small coin–Good fortune or wealth
a ring–Marriage in the year.

Here are a couple different recipes for the Irish Barmback Bread in case you want to try your luck this Halloween night!

Barmback Bread Recipe One

Barmback Bread Recipe Two

Happy Halloween!

Haunted Halloween Blog Fest

I’m blogging at the Haunting Halloween Blogfest at Long and Short Reviews.  My blog post is all about those old-fashioned Halloween love traditions.  You can read it here. As a part of the Haunting Halloween Blogfest, I’m giving away one copy of my sweet, contemporary romance novella, HALLOWEEN LOVE FORTUNE, to one person who comments.

You must comment over on my post at the Haunting Halloween Blogfest here, and not on this post, to be entered to win.

Happy Halloween!